Brickity Brick

I'm so glad I finally got on my bike and discovered that I hadn't lost all my fitness over the winter. I love riding my bike.

This morning I decided I was going out for a little ride near Lake Monroe. I adapted the BBC Strain Ridge Old 37 route to leave from my house. Here is their route:



I left my house and headed south and east. I wore my new jersey and baggy shorts to test them out for the Hoosier Tour. (I love this jersey. The shorts are okay. Can't beat the super sale price of $16.99 that I got them for.)

I passed the Smithville Farmer's Market. I wanted to stop, but didn't have any cash, so I kept going. I enjoy riding through the little town of Smithville. I made it to Ramp Creek with no problems, having a great time! And then I climbed Ramp Creek, no big deal, like I hadn't stopped doing it for... six? months. Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long. Wow.

Anyway, I saw a deer, but the nice thing about country deer are that they see a person coming toward them and run away. Unlike Bloomington deer that just stare you down like you're out of place.

But, by far, the most important part of this ride....

I BLEW A SNOT ROCKET!

My nose runs when I ride my bike, especially here in the spring, and usually I just use a bandana to blow it, but that gets annoying and it only takes like three blows before that thing is gross. So I decided I was going to master the snot rocket. I had been avoiding it because I didn't want to get it all over me, but amazingly, after studying up online, I tried it today and was successful on the first try!

A successful snot rocket!

So I just kept doing it. No gross bandana! Yay!

You may notice on my wrist, I'm wearing a Silly Band. It's the Camp Kesem mascot that I received in my 100 Miles of Nowhere kit. I'm glad I wore it. If I started feeling tired, I'd notice my little worm and think about how lucky I really am, and then sucked it up and kept pushing. So, thanks, Fatty!

Anyway, it was a really beautiful day, with great scenery. I really love that route. I did have one slight problem, where I tried to get on Highway 37 instead of Old 37, but I figured that out really quickly and corrected myself. Old 37 is deceiving every time. Those hills feel a lot harder than they look. But soon I was passing the drive-in theater and was almost home.

I made it home in 1:47, completing 24 miles at a 13.4 mph average speed.

Then I changed shorts and laced up my running shoes. I intended to run the five miles up to the Bloomington Farmer's Market to meet Seth for lunch, but got distracted by a water fountain and missed my turn and didn't realize it until I'd gone 0.75 miles in the wrong direction! Also, it was getting pretty hot (I think it reached 85*F today) and I was tired, so I just turned around and went back home. (After talking to Barb briefly, who was out riding her bike on the B Line trail.) So I ended up with a 2.5 mile run at an 11:46 min/mile average. Don't judge, it's hard to run on brick legs in the hot unshaded sun.

I'll probably try to do an actual 5 mile run tomorrow. Before the day starts baking.

And for all my hard work, I treated myself to a Thai Bubble Tea. Yum.