Day 1 Success

I have officially kicked off my Operation Morning Ride task this morning with a 20 minute bike ride close to home.  I didn't get up as early as I had aimed to get up (7am) but it wasn't about the time, just completing the task.   I finally dragged my carcass out of bed at 8:30 am after punching the snooze forever (yep, another bad habit to eventually kick) and my first thought was (whiney voice) "I don't wanna go for a ride!"  My weekend morning routine is to get a cup of coffee and take it back to bed and spend 2 to 3 hours surfing the 'net.  However, I had my task and so I told myself I only had to ride around the block and come back home. 

So, I pulled on my yoga pants and found a clean t-shirt and slipped on my tennies.  I brushed my teeth and hair (although the latter was sticking up in weird places, but I was hopeful the morning breeze would camouflage that) and went out to the garage to jump on my bike.  No food, coffee, or sitting on the edge of my bed rubbing at my eyes and giving myself a chance to wake up more.  (Well, to be fair, I had lounged in bed waking up for over an hour, so it wasn't like I was all "ack! the light!".)

I decided to take my default route (more than a block!) as it is about a 20 minute ride, and a fairly easy ride.  We have a bike/walking path fairly near to the house, but it is only about 1 mile long and it just suddenly ends on a busy street rather than circling back around.  So, my routine route is to take a circuitous route to the end of the path through a residential neighborhood, down the busy street, and then onto the bike path at the other end.  I then ride the approximately mile back, down the bike path, which is somewhat scenic.  I'll take photos next time, but it is basically an asphalt path that follows a creek, with houses on one side and on the other side of the creek.  There are trees and bushes that were specifically planted along the trail, but they are young yet so pretty small.

I got home and finally showered and it felt pretty good.  Not amazing like the skies opened and angels sang, which I had half been expecting since I had FINALLY met this goal after literally months of "planning" to meet this goal.  But, it was a nice ride, with the birds singing and the sun just warm enough without being too hot.  People were out walking or jogging, mowing lawns, working on outdoor projects.  Any outside stuff has to be done early because it gets into the 90s and 100s by mid-day. 

Now I am sitting here and enjoying my coffee and feeling pretty good.