Full 35 miles!

Today was a hot sunny day, I saw on the news that it got up in the 80's. I decided it was a good day for a second go at the bike path. My butt is still sore, but not as bad as it was. There was almost no crossfit due to Easter. Tomorrow's the marathon, so I have the day off - it's also Patriot's Day, so a bad day to be biking around Lexington and Concord!

I started at 1:30. By that time it was almost 80! I put sunscreen on my face, but for some reason that was it. By the time I was in Arlington I realized that was stupid. So, I stopped at Trader Joes and the Walgreens that's right by it for a power bar and some sunscreen. I put sunscreen on, but decided to hold out on eating until the end of the pavement. In total it took me about 66 minutes to get to the Depot at the end of the path (minus the time at Trader Joes, but that's allowed given that I don't want to be sun burned). I ate my power bar (which was so good by that point) and debated turning back vs going to Concord. The part from Depot Square to Concord is only 4 miles, it's dirt which is the most fun, and it's the least crowded. All plusses. But, my butt was hurting, it was hot, and I felt tired. I decided that if I went to Concord I could have ice cream, and that apparently was all I needed.

I got to Concord and rode a little past where I had gone the previous time so that I could be sure it's 35 miles (on map my run it's actually 35 and a quarter). While driving through Concord Center I realized that it was Easter, and started to worry that there would be no ice cream, but all was good. I wound up having raspberry chocolate chip frozen yogurt. Which was amazing. And then I headed back.

By that time it was after 1 and I decided that a power bar and frozen yogurt didn't really count as lunch while biking. Sadly there isn't really a go-to place that I've discovered on this route. Will have to work on that one. I went to starbucks because I was starving, and got a sandwich. I sat on the common in the shade and ate. Tomorrow it will be a madhouse there, but there will also be pancakes. So weird that hundreds of years after the start of the revolution we celebrate it with pancake breakfasts, but I digress. After Lexington it's pretty much all down hill on the way home, which I was pretty happy about. I'm definitely feeling more comfortable on the bike - I was going much faster on the downhills. In fact, I got from Lexington Center to Davis Square in a little over an hour. It would have been faster, but there were too many people.  I realized that I have very little food, so in Davis I bought some sushi, and rode the bike home with a paper bag of sushi on the handle bar. We used to carry things on our handlebars as kids, but never sushi. It was really good!

All and all a good ride!  I saw a few pairs of swans, a wild turkey near Concord, got faster on the turns and downhills. I probably peddled for 3/4 of the ride. My butt is killing me again, even though I wore the padded shorts, but hopefully recovery will be faster.