Biking!

We just got back from Lake Tahoe. While I brought my running shoes and gear there was no running taking place, it was all about the bike.

We started out our first day with what we thought was going to be a short ride from our campground to Fallen Leaf Lake. The sign as you exited the campground said 1/4 mile. Well, we must have missed the unmarked turn off because I looked down and realized we had gone a mile. So we figured we would just ride Fallen Leaf Road to the other end of the lake, of course we had no idea how far that would be. It was lots of uphill at the start, so I realized that meant the return would be downhill, which pleased me. As we continued more uphill we came to a sign that said Fallen Leaf Lake 2.5 miles, we were already 2 miles in to the ride. At this point we had been riding mostly flat with some rolling hills. I could tell from here on out it was all uphill and the road narrowed so much that we had to slow and pull over to let vehicles pass us. As we approached the other end of the lake it was one more brutal hill climb and then a quick right and downhill to get to the small sandy beach. I was feeling good, but glad to get off the bike for a rest. We let the girls play in the sand and water for about 45 minutes before we made our journey back. I knew it was going to be brutal and I was getting worried ad the traffic coming in was now growing and folks were not driving as slowly as they should be for a one lane road with lots of blind corners.

Getting up and out of the parking lot, nearly killed me it was so steep, thankfully there was the steep uphill that I now got to go down once I made it out of the parking lot. We continued back towards the campground with lots more walkers and vehicles on the road. We had to pull over many times until the road widened. I thought about all of my tri-athlete friends and thought to myself "there is no way in hell I could go run after getting off this bike". I was ecstatic when I looked down and saw that we only had 1.5 to go, that meant it was all downhill from this point. We reached speeds up to 19 mph (which scared the crap out of me) before having to slow down as the vehicle traffic picked up again. As we made it back to our campground we had logged 8.5 miles, for sure the longest ride I've done post babies. I worried about how my legs would be feeling later in the evening and the next day. I was pretty sure that I would not be able to make the same ride the following day.

After lunch and naps for the kids. We decided to take the girls to Baldwin Beach at Lake Tahoe. It seemed like the best option was to bike it. Really? Was I getting back on my bike again? It looked that way, this time I was in a bathing suit and a beachy dress cover-up. It was another 2.25 miles to the beach, but well worth it since it was $7 to park at the beach. We hung out for awhile before riding back to our campsite.

Total miles logged for the day - 13. Really? Who am I?

So, my legs ended up doing fine, it was my butt that was not a happy camper. We rode the next day only about 2.5 miles and yeah, I really couldn't have done any more than that.

I'm excited to have done so much riding because it has reminded me how much I love my bike and riding. I wish it were easier to get out and ride around my house. Will have to figure out a way to get more bike time into my routine.