1 down 7 to go!!

So here we are in Norwich, CT...I will start at the beginning:

I left the house around 7:45 this a.m. - it was a little hard to leave; I felt like I was leaving my 'comfort zone' into a big unknown, which it was! The first 20 miles or so was nice. I knew where I was, had riden on those roads before and was able to tell Stephen where he was (his GPS sent him a different route than my bike one did!). oh, I stopped to take this picture, because I was going into a different State than I left from.

I took these pictures myself since Stephen wasn't there...I pretended (in my head) that I was from another State (other than MA) and that's why I was taking a picture in front of the CT sign...it's only 9.2 miles from my house!!

So, it was pretty uneventful untel about...Windsor - I called Stephen to see where he was, and his GPS sent him into Springfield and the to East Longmeadow...I was in Windsor at that point, so got him to catch up with me. I was on Route 5 South...then I turned onto Sullivan Avenue, so called to tell him to catch up with me. He didn't show up, didn't show up, so I stopped again to call him and his phone went right to voice mail. I called back and it did the same thing. He had only been about 4-5 miles behind me, so I thought for sure with all this that he had been in a car accident and I would have to ride back to find him! I got through on the 3rd try, thankfully, and he was somewhere else I don't know where. By this time I was down by Evergreen Shops, and gave him that address...I rode down into the shopping area and took a picture there:

This is me with a picture of CHICOS in the background...if I thought I had time, I would have gone shopping!!!

This was the last picture I took for the day...not even one at the end of the day! I will get better I think taking pictures of the route...when there is a little more scenery. This was 28 miles from home at 10:13 a.m.

So, Stephen met me and we talked about what we would do. We decided that our directions were different, but the ending would be the same so we decided to go our own way. I continued riding, and it was getting hotter. I started hitting some hills, and hadn't seen Stephen for a little bit, and then I was going up this one hill, and my chain fell off! I came to a standstill, and couldn't get my feet out of the clips and almost fell off my bike onto a squashed racoon on the side of the road! I walked up the hill a little ways and tried to get the chain back on and couldn't. I called Stephen and when we tried to determine where we each were, I couldn't remember the route I was on, and hadn't figured out that the coordinates are on my GPS...it was not a pretty sight!!! Long story short, I got the chain on, figured out where I was so I could tell Stephen, and started on my way. There were an increasing number of hills, it was getting hotter and my legs were really tired, and it was about noon and I had gone about 40 miles! This was the turning point of the day...the point when my expectations were challenged and realized that I did not calculate properly and that it might be more difficult than I thought. When Stephen caught up with me, I stopped and ate some food and had some gatorade. From that point on for the rest of the day it was 'downhill' - I got a handle on my thoughts and began just taking the roads as they came, so to speak! I decided that my brain might be my biggest challenge and needed to pay attention to my thoughts and my body and keep my thoughts on a positive note and accepting of what IS and ride in a way that doesn't tax my body too much; I need to slow down and take hills easy so I don't burn out.

ok..enough of that. I rode for another 21 miles and it went by rather quickly and uneventfully and I felt like I 'hit my stride' and almost could have kept going! But we didn't...we met up, put my bike on the rack and went to find a place to stay for the night! We were just past Colchester at that point and stopped at a real nice campground, and were told that most of the campgrounds in the area had no electricity and some had no water due to the storm. So, we ended up in a Holiday Inn and it's rather nice! I had a nice shower, had a good dinner and then we were able to chill out for several hours! We booked the next 2 night's stays along the route, and actually had to change some of where we originally wanted to go. It is Labor Day weekend, and we are having a hard time finding availability, even at campgrounds!! Glad we thought of it tonight...didn't think it would be this big of a problem...bad thinking on our parts!!

But, it will all work out I don't have any doubt. I have a long day tomorrow...maybe 80, though it should be fewer hills, so might not be as gruelling! (sp?)

Stay tuned for more adventures!

Karen