Thanks for all the encouragement, it really helps!

It rained this morning and my mood was getting even blacker as I was up at 4am so I could leave as soon as it was light enough, but the rain kept coming. When it was finally over at 10am it was hot and muggy, but I went on my ride anyway. It was miserable, I felt like I was in a steam oven and I got covered in muddy water from unavoidable puddles on the trail. In the end I covered 22 miles, 4 miles farther then I have done in the past. I actually didn't intend to go that far but I was concentrating so hard on keeping my speed up that by the time I looked at my miles to see how close I was to half I had traveled 11 miles instead of ten. I paid for those extra two miles, I was mentally prepared for 20 but for some reason those last two as seemed long as the first 20. When it was over I was thrilled and very glad I had done it. I got home, managed to get my jersey off but I sat down for a second on my bed and the next thing I knew 2 hours had gone by.

In a much better mood this afternoon. So far no matter how hard my ride has been I still look forward to my next one, I hope that keeps up.

As far as spending money on biking, I knew I had to set myself up as best I could to give myself the best chance of sticking with it. I started on my 10+ year old GT Aggressor but it was too small for me and was not setup for the way I wanted to ride. So I bought a much better bike and took my Father's advice on buying the jerseys and shorts, Halo, biking shoes, etc. in order to make the experience as enjoyable as possible. The better bike and the outfit did what I had hoped and kept me coming back, so I am glad I spent the money. Even though I grumble about it, it was the right choice.