It was an awesome training day! I left the house and rode down to the river then out to the farmlands. I rode through England then planned to ride even further out but it was getting sort of like it was trying to build those spotty rain showers again so I headed back to North Little Rock. The corn was knee high, the wheat was ready and the rice was just starting and the snakes were everywhere. I've never seen anything like it. All kinds and sizes. All dead in the road. There was a swamp that I passed and I'm not sure what the splash was but it was a big animal. I kept thinking it might have been one of the alligators the Game and Fish have been talking about. we have them so bad now that there will be a first ever alligator hunting season this fall. But the air was filled with Magnolia, honeysuckle and several other smells that just made me so glad to be alive and able to enjoy the ride. Funny story: while I was out on the farmlands I could hear something and glanced over my shoulder to what I thought was a oncoming car but it was a whole herd of Carve riders ou for their training ride. They had a huge group. Always a bunch of friendly guys. They turned on Honey Road and I went straight to head on out to England.

Just as I get back to the river the BUZZ BBQ was in full swing! Oh man did it smell good! I rode a bit longer then stopped by my office and dined on Cheese Peanut butter crackers and an oatmeal cream pie. At first I thought the Little Debbie snack was going to make me ill because my tummy kicked a few seconds afterwards buy I strectched out for a few moments and was was well. I got back on the bike and headed out. 82 miles, not bad. I was in the office 17 minutes but it seemed like a lot longer.

I headed back over the Broadway bridge and over to the soccer fields to met up with friends for the CARTI training ride. I was feeling really refreshed and ready for more riding which was a big confidence booster! There are 2 groups and my buds talked me into going with them. When we hit 20-22 mph I thought this was a bad idea. I told Shawdawg and Shawkitty (yep, they are married) than if they dropped me not to wait. Dawg gave me the smile and said they weren't planning on waiting! We laughed and I told him I'd put a garage sale sign in their yard! They just put there house up for sell about an hour before they came. I hope it sells fast for them!
Any way we had a great ride and even went through a bust rain shower that lasted about a minue and a half but it was fairly hard. I stopped under a tree to drop my hearing aid into a zip lock. Nope, not getting that thing wet!

I rolled over 104 miles by the time I was home. I felt good all day. I mean ready good! When I got home and cleaned up I was feeling the love. I had a juice glass of Java Chocolate milk which set a little off with the tummy. Guess I ought to cool off a tad before drinking that stuff. But once I showered I felt good. I wasn't expecting that at all. I didn't feel any where near this good last Saturday after the ride.

Here's a few things I did different. I kept my gears in the small ring on the front most of the day. This was a coach trick and I think it worked. I love the big ring but it seemed to tire me out a lot faster. I drank FRS as my supplement drink. Yes, I really believe in the stuff. I rode solo all morning and kept it around 17 except for a short stretch on the farmlands where the wind was beating up on me and dropped to 14 at times. Wind is wind and if your solo riding it's going to slow you down. I rode with friends in the afternoon which seemed to help build up my confidence as well as allowed for a draft and get my speed up a notch. Jenn, Chris, Yale, Keith, Marvin and Razz... thanks friends!!

We headed down to see my folks who had just come in from FL today. They had a perfect trip thanks to Cathy and Doug and perfect weather and water. Both seemed rested and happy. My sister Sherry came over and brought mom the biggest mothers day card I've EVER seen. It was poster board sized! She's a third plotter!!! (Family joke). It was just really nice to hang out with the folks and Sherry and my little bratty sister Barbie and her husband Tim. Never a dull moment.

Ya'll call your momma or think of all the good things about your momma!