The weekend before last I took Lullubelle for a long ride around some local towns to get some fresh air and pictures of the blossoms of early spring.  I didnt really have a distance goal in mind, I just decided to ride until I got tired and then turn around.  I started on the country roads around my town but after about four miles I moved onto a main road (by main road I mean a two lane country road instead of a one lane, barely paved road).  I was pretty nervous when I got on the two lane road and almost wobbled right off my bike the first time a car passed, but this is a very bike-friendly area and the cars were giving me a wide berth so I got comfortable pretty quick.  Most of the ride was flat and I stopped occasionally to get some pictures.

After I had been riding for a while the sky started to look dark so I stopped at a local bridge before heading back home.  This bridge goes over a small dam, which tends to flood whenever it rains for more than 30 minutes at a time.  Normally the flooding wouldn’t bother me but if I want to go home after work I have to cross this bridge, and going home after work is a pretty exciting part of my day.

By the time I got back on my bike my butt and legs were crazy sore and I had a long way to go.  I tried to stop on the way home for pictures but every time I got off my bike it hurt more to get back on and start peddling so I decided to keep pushing through until I got home.

I made it back to the house without getting hit by a car, rained on, or fainting from exhaustion so I called it a success.  When I measured the distance the next day I found out I rode 20.6 miles! Not bad for my first real ride of the season.  I am trying to work up to 50 miles so I can do a long ride up north.  We will see how that goes…