Good Monday

Well so, I’m not quite done with my rough draft of the Arkansas assignment, so I’m gonna have to post that one tomorrow. But I do have a quick story.

Being new to cycling, I tend to be a bit naive and hopeful. Today, when I was pedaling out of town, cruising fairly easily at 25 mph, I was thinking to myself, “Wow, I’ve really improved since Saturday.” Once I turned into the wind, however, I discovered why the upper 20s came so easily.

Later, I took a couple different turns, relying on my wonderful sense of direction to get me back to Madison. An hour later, as I was approaching a busy intersection, I thought, “Aha! That must be the edge of Fitchburg or something. Madison’s got to be straight ahead.” Turns out I was just entering Paoli, which is 12 miles southwest of Madison. Oops.

When I finally got home, I discovered further evidence of my innocent unpreparedness. Eileen was gone, the house was locked, and I had forgotten to take a key. Doh! Guess how I got in. Through the bathroom window. It was the hardest part of the whole workout, since I had to hoist myself up there and crawl through head-first. The window itself is about 7 feet off the ground, and the opening is about 12 X 18 inches.

Oh well.