Look out! Here I come!

This weekend brought warmish weather and with it came some bike riding. Saturday I rode up and down Lookout Mountain with Chris and Bill. We had a great time and the weather was perfect (at least on the way up). Chris left early in the morning to ride down to Golden while I slept comfortably in bed. I tend to wuss out of rides like this so I told myself that if I got up to go on the ride, I would buy myself some new bike shorts and a long sleeved jersey that I've been lusting after since it went on sale. Well, it worked and I got up in just enough time to swing by Bicycle Village and pick up my new shorts and jersey on my way down to Golden. I bundled up and was nice and warm on the 40ish minute ride up the mountain (snail pace for those familiar with the ride). I wasn't sure of the climb so I took my time and didn't kill myself on any one part. A few times I began to wish I had an easier gear on the road bike, but overall it was a comfortable pace and I enjoyed the scenary and some good conversation with Bill (as Chris bolted up the mountain to catch some snob on a custom bike we concocted a great idea to somehow attach missiles to our bikes to make watching him kick our butts a little more interesting). We made it up and I was proud of myself and very pleased with my new shorts purchase. The way down was a little scary seeing as I HATE downhills and had very very numb toes and fingers by minute 2 of the descent. Note to self: even if it is in the 50s, going down hill is very cold and I should probably bring some sort of toe covering for my well-ventilated road shoes. I also learned that it's a million times easier to brake with your hands in the drops of road bars instead of on top. Ah, I always wondered what the silly curve was for ;).

Overall a great workout and I hope to do it again soon. Hopefully next time I will have a little oomph to my pedals on the way up and I won't think I'm going to lose extremidies on the way down. Pictures to come when Bill sends them our way.