Logging Miles

     This week has been one of those weeks that reminds me that winter doesn't last forever- which is great because I have been feeling really down lately with all the horrible weather and grey skies.  We started the week off on Monday with a 40 mile bike ride on the GAP trail.  I was able to rope a friend into watching the kids for the morning (thanks again!) and Bryan, Tannon and I were on the trail by 8:00 a.m.  This was amazing in itself.  I don't think I have ever gotten the kids out (with food for them and us, along with bikes, gear, ect.) this early!  The other great part was that the weather held out for our entire ride as well.  This was my longest ride yet. Prior to this I had been 25 miles in one trip which was a disaster**
      We started out at about a 11 mph pace and after ten minutes picked it up to a 12 or so.  Bryan and Tannon are like two chatty girls so I passed them after 6 miles to let them gossip about their hot wives or whatever it is that they do.  I stayed ahead of them for a while until I REALLY needed a granola bar.  By then we had kicked up the pace even more.  I think we must have averaged about 14mph for 13 miles or so.  We hit the turn around point under I-70 (it is a HUGE bridge~if I would have thought about it, I would have taken a picture), stuffed our faces with some food, water and G2 and headed back the way we came.  I felt like I could keep pace until about mile 32 and I hit this mental + physical wall where my  legs whole body wanted to die. I was glad to be riding with the boys at this point because I didn't want to wuss out.  I am happy to say that we made it there and back in about 3 hours and 20 something minutes of peddling time.  We picked up the kids and Bryan was back at school by 1:00pm.  It was a really great experience and has got me even more excited for our trek in 3 weeks.
     Bryan and I sat down last night and planned out each leg of our trip and where we are staying along the way.  We are hoping to get at least 2 more big rides in before we leave.  I am hoping to ride from Ohiopyle (that is an awesome state park along the trail) back to McKeesport.  If the rain will just stay away... 
**The disaster trip: Saturday we attempted to take the kids on a really long ride.  They get REALLY heavy to pull that far in a trailer.  But the worst part was that my body decided to get sick on me when we were 12 miles in the middle of nowhere and I was MISERABLE.  I don't recommend it to anyone.