I started Sunday morning with a call to my sister letting her know I’d be at Kleifeld’s for breakfast. Saturday had been too crazy to make the trip and I didn’t want a whole week to go by without a dose of ham and cheese omelet.
She’s a good girl and was late because church had run over. My soul, being beyond redemption, does better with coffee and an omelet. In reality though, I still find that I struggle with sitting through a service. I was never one to take much away from the ritualistic nature of the Catholic or the Episcopalian Sunday services. I knew them by heart from years of reciting the prayers and often found my mind drifting to other things as I sat there. I truly find my spirituality more on a hike in any park, exploring the beauty and wonder of the natural world my Creator provided me to enjoy. It keeps me balanced and focused on what is important.
I conversed with other patrons and Stephanie, my waitress, because they didn’t have anything else to do and are terribly fascinated about all I have to say. Common occurrence wherever I go. Cecilia arrived and we had breakfast and talked for an hour about mostly my life and where it was going. Self-centered as I am, it was a good subject.
We called Donnie to let him know where we were eating, which he appreciated immensely. “Perfect, John, perfect. Glad you’re enjoying the breakfast and the spandex,” he said. I hate to rub it in by calling him and giving him this information, but, well, I actually like doing it.
I stopped at BJ’s on the way home and picked up my 2-pound piece of salmon to cook off and eat through the week and drove back thinking about my exercise for the day. It would be a ride, I concluded.
After do the voluminous household chores I’d ignored for the week, I suited up and headed out on my Waite Hill course I’d done the day before with Kathy except that I was starting from home. I lengthened it slightly and pushed rather hard, downing two bottles of water as I poured sweat. My legs, unused to two straight days of riding, began to cramp as I neared the final hills. I shifted down and stayed in the saddle for the climbs, a combination that seems to keep them at bay. When they hit, riding becomes nearly impossible.
I finished in a little over two hours and was sore from being in the saddle two straight days for two hours or more. Still, it is what I need for some good hikes in the Adirondacks, which I’m planning in earnest for September. I’m planning on a trip back to Flowed Lands and a few days in the back country, which means carrying a heavier pack with food for the duration and another trip up Skylight…my favorite peak.
Bike duration: Two hours.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories Burned: 1700.
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