First ride of the “season”

With the weather looking beyond gorgeous this weekend, I filled by bike tires with air and went for a ride yesterday. I set a comfortably slow pace, and rode for about 90 minutes, getting in 16 miles.

First, that’s the furthest I’ve ever ridden. Second, that’s the longest I’ve ever been in the saddle. My butt didn’t even hurt until I sat in an auditorium for a couple of hours later that night. This morning, of course, my butt-bones are achy and my legs still have that happy tingle.

The cool thing was getting to see parts of Terre Haute I hadn’t seen before. I got lost on my way up the trail — I took what I thought was the trail, but that ended abruptly at 25th Street — and ended up getting to ride through a lot of residential areas until I found the real trail.

Also very nice: being comfortable on my bike for the first time. Especially since I got this bike shortly after my accident, I’ve never felt comfortable riding on streets. But yesterday was good. I was able to weave through traffic safely, use appropriate hand signs, make left turns, etc., with no problems. Of course, I wasn’t riding on the trafficky Wabash, either, but there was steady traffic.

I think I just fell in love with my bike all over again.