Thanks guys. It's funny, the first time I did a pretty hard ride a few months ago (I think it was about 45 miles on the road, riding a mountain bike with some moderate hills) I remember thinking I never want to do that again. Then I did it again the following Sunday. And then again almost every Sunday since. I felt the same way when I got off the bike Sunday. I didn't want to even think about riding that far again. Now I'm already wondering if I can fit that same ride into my schedule this coming Sunday.
As far as the pace goes, I *knew* I should be riding a bit slower to start with, but since many parts of my route were so familiar, I just kind of fell into riding at my slightly faster pace. I'll watch that next time.
Now I have a base line for comparison with future rides.
-Matt