After my doctor’s visit on Tuesday, I got the ok to ride “slow, like 15 minutes” from the doctor.  So on Wednesday, I did just that – 15 minutes on the trainer.  Thursday I increased it to 25 minutes and did a little bit of climbing to get my heart rate up and to see how I’d feel.  I was a little sore but otherwise felt great.

Today – I got back on my “real” bike and rode outdoors for an hour!  It was wonderful.  I took it easy – only covered 12 miles – but instead of worrying about how fast I was going or what my heart rate was, I just looked around and enjoyed my surroundings.   It was a little strange to ride with traffic after being away from it for over 4 weeks.  And trying to ride slow was a new experience – I’m used to pushing to ride harder and faster.

I spent the next few hours supporting my husband on his climb to Mt. Baldy.  While driving on a long, curvy mountain road I actually got yelled at by another cyclist.  I was coming around a blind corner – slowly, with my bike on the bike rack – when I came upon 3 riders riding 3 abreast coming at me.  Both I and the riders were startled.  I was even more startled when one of them yelled at me to slow the f–k down.  I was already going less than 20!  I really wanted to shout back to suggest that riding 3 abreast on a blind curve on a narrow mountain road was an idiotic thing to do, but decided to be the bigger person and drive on.  Unfortunately it’s hot heads like that who give other cyclists a bad name.

While I waited for my husband to finish riding, I sat in the park and read a book.  I can’t remember the last time I did that!  But it was awesome.  I figure I may as well take advantage of a beautiful sunny afternoon by doing 2 things I thoroughly enjoy – reading, and being outside.  Soon enough I’ll be back riding Baldy and wondering where I left my lungs.