City Bakery Ride

Met up with the Asheville Bicycle Racing Club crew today for their weekly 10am Saturday ride. It was obvious that I was a visitor from the north, as I was the only one in shorts. Still, by noon it was straight up balmy. Despite sore legs, I still put in a good showing, taking hard pulls and winning the one town line sprint. I made many friends too. I felt that I was a good ambassador for Dartmouth Cycling.

I sat outside and enjoyed a fantastic lunch of a portobello/tapenade sandwich and a GIANT sugar cookie/scone in the arts district of Asheville. Wow...I love it here.





To say that I'm smoked would be a vast understatement. As you'll see below, in the past seven days I've ridden 8 times for a total of almost 21 hours, covered 317 miles, climbed 28,300 vertical feet, and burned almost 21,000 calories. Whether or not its raining tomorrow, I'm taking a rest day. I'm headed for certain doom if I don't. Still, its hard to believe that I've gone from incapacitated by major surgery to riding like this in only 9 months. Perhaps the lesson of this trip is hidden in that miracle.



I find it hard to believe that my journey north is imminent. As I've said before, I wonder if I've had enough time for quiet reflection. I wonder if I ever needed it. I wonder what my integration back into med school will be like. One thing is for sure, I've definitely had my last stint of the euro-pro lifestyle down here in the south. Hard to believe that I'll be back at the books soon.