Not just your average ordinary bike ride...

Well, I went biking again this fine Sunday morning. It was another great ride. Actually, it was more like spectacular.

Before I even got out on the road, I text'd hubby to tell him when I'd be back and the text wouldn't go through. Ugh! So I called the 611 number and found out that my cell phone had been "temporarily disconnected". What!? It ends up what happened (after 20 minutes pacing back and forth in my driveway on hold and on the phone arguing with this lady and her manager) that the payment that I'd scheduled to be made (automatically) on the 10th never went through. Finally the manager (2nd person I talked to) saw that it was their mistake and turned my phone back on—with apologies!

Not a great way to start an exercise session. 8|

Deep breath.

I started out by choosing Memoirs of a Geisha for my soundtrack for the ride (you can listen to sample tracks from that link). It set the perfect backdrop for an absolutely beautiful ride.

So as I rolled down the driveway (finally), I noticed it was down right cold. I started to go back in and put on long sleeves, but I just didn't want to go through any more hassle so I convinced myself that it would get warmer before my ride was over and I wouldn't even notice it. I don't think it ever really warmed up, though.

The only times it would get a little warmer was when the sun would peak out between the trees. The sun was still coming up and so it was behind the trees. And the shade was very cold.

But the dew on the grass was beautiful. The sun would skim across the tops of the dew drops on the fluffy mounds of grass to where it made it look like a light frost had fallen overnight. And the sun was shimmering off the misty water drops so the grass just glistened on either side of the trail.

The ride was so peaceful, too. The music really helped get me focused on the road but no so focused that I didn't become completely absorbed by my surroundings. And there was almost no one on the trail or on the roads. It's like everyone got together this morning and decided to stay in until I was done with my ride. I'll bet I saw maybe 3 other people on the trail and maybe 10 cars altogether on the roads. I was really able to clear my head and focus on me.

Whenever the music would build, my eyes would become fixed on the canopy of trees or a pond of radiant water. All the houses I passed by had such beautiful landscaping. Some had palm tree jungles in the front yards that made me feel like I was riding on a trail through the woods.

And the squirrels were out in force. I saw one, when I first started out, that took off running out of terror but he was running at the same pace I was riding right along side me. It's like I was racing a squirrel for a few seconds (til he made it to the safety of his tree). Same thing happened on the way back. Several squirrels darted across my path at different points in my ride, too.

I heard woodpeckers at 2 different places. A huge beautiful white crane swooped down next to me and landed in a small pond. And just before I headed back, I saw some ducks taking a bath in a lake. I even saw a beautiful bright red cardinal.

It was such a peaceful and rejuvenating ride, I didn't want to come back. At about 40 minutes out I had a choice in the road. I could turn left and head back for home, which was about 25 minutes away or I could turn around and go back the way I came and experience that awesome ride all over again. But it would take me 40 minutes to get back home and I'd already promised I would be back by a certain time. I know, I could have called/text'd to say I'd be longer, but I hate doing that. I like to be dependable. So I made the "right" choice and forced my bike to turn left and head for home.

The peace de la resistance was on my way home. I passed by a huge field or bright green grass surrounded by a barbed wire fence. The fence was right up next to the trail. And like out of no where, there were these huge, beautiful, red-brown cows. They were grazing right up next to the trail. It took my breath away. I rode right past them then turned around and came back and took this picture. One of them stopped grazing for a moment to look up at me. Probably wondering who I was and what the heck I was doing. Was awesome!

Once I pulled into our community, I still didn't want to go home so I headed around the community loop once. My last bit of rebellion. As I pulled into the driveway, I desperately wanted to keep on going. But alas, my epic bike ride came to an end.

All in all, I only went 9.5 miles in a litte over an hour. I went real slow for the most part, but kept it in a low (or is it high) gear (I can never remember what's high and what's low—the one I stayed in for most of the ride was the one where it's REAL hard to peddle). I was able to burn a little over 1,100 calories. So that was wonderful.

I'd had oatmeal with almond milk and bananas before I left so I was full of energy. But I did a bad thing when I got back and fried 3 pieces of bacon and 2 eggs with a piece of toast for my "elevenses". I thoroughly enjoyed it!

So starts a new and fresh week. As I said yesterday, I'm 4/10ths of a pound from the lowest weight I've ever been and I'm 8/10ths of a pound away from getting another paper clip and I'm 2.8 pounds away from my ominous 100 pound goal! I'm NOT, I repeat, NOT going to sabotage myself again. I'm having a great weekend—food-wise. I'm not feeling deprived. Deep breath. I can do this.