The Itch

I got the itch last Friday. The sun was warm, the weekend was approaching, and the open road was beckoning. As every human has had the opportunity to personally discover, the only way to relieve an itch is to scratch it.

So, I did!

I may have been a little too gung-ho (is that how you spell that?) about it, though. I hopped on my bike and rode all the way from Woodruff to Lyman. It's really only about 15 miles from my house to downtown Lyman. The catch there is that it's also 15 miles from Lyman back to Woodruff. So my total distance for the round trip was 31 point-something miles, using many familiar back roads. Prior to Friday I hadn't gone on any "serious" rides since before Thanksgiving. Thanks to the cold weather and the usual time constraints, I spent the off-season spinning my wheels on my trainer inside while watching seasons 1, 2, and 3 of CSI. It's a nice workout, but bicycles aren't meant to be ridden indoors. Thus, the itch.

I would like to say I did the 31 miles without even having to stop to catch my breath and without experiencing any pain or fatigue along the way; but, there's really no point in lying. Reality reveals that my bum has to toughen up once again to withstand the long, idle hours spent on a tiny, minimally padded seat, that my legs need to be awakened from their four and a half month slumber, and that I need to go ahead and buy more sunscreen because the heat has come early this year. However, on the positive side, a 25-mile route is what I used to strive for when I first began cycling. Compare that with a 31-mile season-opener and it's easy to see some improvement over the years.

I was tired and hungry (oops, forgot to pack energy for the trip) by the time I got back home, and my legs were burning slightly; but, I survived without too much fatigue. And, as always, I'm glad at the end of a ride just to have ridden.

The itch has been scratched.