Great, great, great day

I'm having an excellent day. I started with a 53 mile bike ride from Davis out past the Monticello Dam (Lake Berryessa). This was the first hill climbing I've done in over 2 years. Literally. And the first I've ever done on my tri bike. It felt fantastic! Hard but doable. My road bike has a granny gear, making hill climbing much easier, so I was apprehensive about only having a big ring and a small ring but I did it. In fact, when we (I rode with my friend and fellow entomologist Michael BBMGB) got to the top of the hill, we decided to continue so we could ride more hills. Bring it on!

This was the best ride I've had in a long time. I felt strong. Michael even commented that he could tell that I've been training because I seemed faster and stronger. Awesome!

Now I'm going to relax for the rest of the day with a book and lots of tv. No dissertation writing for me today!

Next weekend, we're going to conquer the dam hill and Cardiac and some rollers. Afterward, we'll celebrate with pizza in Winters. Already excited.