After work, I went on a long evening bike ride, and it kicked my ass. Normally, by the end of the fall, after seven months of riding, I'm in good enough shape that it is merely strenuous (but fun) but after five months of NOT riding, the first few rides always kick my ass as I struggle to get back into riding shape. So, this is like my third or fourth ride of the season and the longest one since late October. It was a good ass kicking, and I'm tired as heck, but it's a good tired. The hills felt a lot harder, but the downhill still was as exhilarating as always, and the hills were green and in bloom and thankfully the summer heat and smoke- always a pain- was not in effect yet. It was a cool 60 degrees, maybe upper 50's at the top. I love this time of year when you can have a great snowboard session one day, and a great mountain bike ride just a couple days later.
There are many negative things about where I live- but I'm very grateful for the positive. So this was a good day. The ride kicked my ass. Sometimes we all need a good ass kicking to feel alive. ('Course it would feel better with Mistress and a paddle but I'll take the next best thing!) Happy Spring!