Well, best laid plans sometimes go wrong. My training was going great, then life, as it often does, through a wrench in the works. I found myself having a huge garage sale, packing everything into my travel trailer and moving to California. The result, three and half weeks without once setting foot on my bicycle.

Today, I rode for the first time. I took off for what I thought was an easy 20 mile (32.2 Km) jaunt through the hills.  I left expecting rolling hills. It started that way. Then, 13 miles (21 Km) into the ride it hit me. I found myself on what the Tour de France would call a Category 2 climb. I felt like Cavendish on the Col du Tourmalet. I loved every minute of it.

I was glad that I minimized my fitness loss during those 3.5 weeks, or this would have been hell. I will share these secrets with you all later. Until then, keep riding.