Good stuff

It's all good. I have said that a million times, heard it a million times, but this time, it seems to really be true. Sure, there is 'stuff' everywhere, in my life and in yours I am sure that is not so good, but overall, the big picture is pretty darned fine.
Last Saturday we did our 49.8 mile ride, against a stiff headwind, which hit us going and coming (how is this possible?). At times, it became a sidewind, which just about blew me off the road and I am no lightweight.
This week, because of our lovely New England weather, and my work schedule, I opted to do the long ride on my own on Friday. Now, I am sure my ride was not as physically challenging as the team ride will be on Sunday, but this was really the first ride I have taken alone, of any distance, and of course on the road. I looked over the routes we have done on the group rides, and I wanted to stay on familiar ground, and of course I wanted to avoid big intersections, and I wanted to only go on roads with good shoulders and after looking at the maps and knowing the roads the way I do, I figured I would end up going up and down my driveway for 55 miles. Knowing that I need to get over my hangups about biking on the road, I set out.
At first, I missed the group calling out the obstacles...there was no one yelling "Grate", "Gravel", and if I yelled it and pointed at the obstacle, no one repeated it after me. It felt like one hand clapping. After a bit, I started to enjoy the quiet. The cars going by were few and far between (morning rides are great), a huge red-tailed hawk landed in a tree right off the road, while there was enough going on around me so I had to keep focused, there was also some time for me to let my mind wander a bit.
My route wandered out to Collinsville, and then up Route 44... had to make a major left hand turn onto route 44.. it took me a minute of sitting on the side of rt 179 before I got up the nerve, but I did it. From there, I went up by Ski Sundown and around the reservoir, back down and back to Collinsville. From there, I came back through Farmington, and did a loop around by the farm, down West Avon Road, around Avon a bit and when I realized I was going to be short by about 10 miles, I went back to Collinsville, trying to make better time on the hills. I did have hills, and like I said, I know my route was not as challenging as the Team will ride tomorrow, but sometimes the mental challenges we face are more significant than the physical ones.
I know that if I am faced with a hill, if worse comes to worse, I can just put my head down and try to power through it, my body can do it. But can my head? Right now, after doing 'my' 52.8 mile ride on my own, the answer is YES. My head can do it too.