15 + 15 = 43

So I never thought I'd do a bike ride in my underwear. Oh, relax, it's not what you're thinking.

My tri-team is staying pretty active in the off-season, and as part of my early Ironman Training we went for a medium-length bike ride on Saturday. It was a very cold start. It had been a while since I'd done any really cold rides, so when I saw a pair of long black sport pants I just assumed they were my usual winter joggers. As was pointed out to me on the ride however, they were not. I was wearing the thermal underwear I use for skiing. Oops. It may have been a fashion faux pas but they did keep me warm.

We originally planned on doing 30 miles down the San Gabriel river trail; 15 miles down, 15 miles back. After about 12-13 miles, we were all feeling great and decided to ride another 8 miles down. Well of COURSE we were feeling great; when you ride DOWNstream along a river, you're going DOWN hill. We'd pay for it - only slightly - on the way back.

It was a little unsettling to ride over 20 miles and end at Wilderness Park in Downey, which is where we STARTED all of our multi-loop rides last year with IronmAnnie. But this time, my car wasn't there waiting for me with a cooler of Mountain Dew and cookies.

On the way back - a very slight incline all the way - the bridge got knocked out by floodwaters and I saved the day by jumping into a bulldozer and buiding a makeshift dam to cross.




OK, not exactly. We took a short break at a small construction area and since there were no benches around I took the only seat I could find. That's how I roll.

The 30-mile ride turned out to be 43 miles and I think we were all happy with it.