This sat. last I did one of my usual charity rides, the "Pedal for Paws", a benefit for the local humane society. My intent was to do the first part of the 65 mile route and cut it short by backroading after the 2nd rest stop. I wanted to do that section as it is a bit hillier than the back half, would be a good workout and give me an opportunity to feel self-righteous about "a serious" workout (as opposed to my usual rides of this year).

After checking in, I headed out, grumbling a bit because I had a short steep hill almost immediately. Does anyone else need a bit of extra time to warm up? Once I conquered that I felt good and cruised along nicely. Then I came to the 1st rest stop. Drat! There standing and talking with the volunteers was an acquaintance of mine whom I didn't even know was a rider.

He mentioned that he had signed up for the 65 and had only been out a few times this year. I asked if he wanted company for a few miles and off we went. At the 2nd rest stop I must have gotten a bit confused with the heat, at least thats my story and I'm sticking to it. because when we left it was in the direction I had originally not intended. So much for the "best laid plans".

It turned out to be a tough 65 miles due to heat, his bike themometer registered 102f at one point, a brisk head wind on most of the back half and by the fact that I had only ridden 500 miles with a long ride of 27 up to that point. Worse yet I didn't have pie at the finish. I must have been more than tired!

On the upside, it underlined the boost having company can give, gave me my 1st metric century of the year and the justification to eat ice cream for 3 consecutive days!

P.S. Can I this count as my b-day ride?