My 4 Hour Ride, That Took 6.
Posted by katymoe on June 13th, 2010A few weeks ago, I was scheduled to do a 4 hour ride. I had been riding a lot, and was really sick of all my 4 hour routes. I wasn’t feeling excited about riding at all, and I couldn’t find anyone to go with me. I was pretty bummed. I finally got up and going around 9 am, later than I wanted to start, but when you’re lacking motivation these things happen.
My friend Katie had recommended a 4 hour ride she had just done with some friends, and it was something I hadn’t done so I set out for that adventure. The first stop was Millerton Lake via Sky Harbor road. The last time I was on this road with tons of HUGE hills, I was running it so it was a nice change of pace to ride it again. It’s about 10or 12 miles (round trip) out to the lake and back and I’m pretty sure there re NO flat sections, you are either going up or down. I got to the end of Sky Habor road, and there’s a little picnic area so I used the restroom, filled my water bottles, ate some bars, and took some pictures.
I headed back to Friant road, from the lake. It was so refreshing to do a ride I hadn’t done in over a year, I was starting to get excited about my day. I was also getting excited to run Sky Harbor again soon. It’s all I could think about on the way back. That’s definitely on the to-do list for after IM CDA. Friant Rd. took me back to Auberry Rd. where I headed up to Prather.
Prather is a frequent stop for me. I think they know me in the gas station now. I almost always fill my waters in the store, and usually buy something. This day, I bought a mountain dew and some cookies. It wasn’t even hot, and I had lots of bars/gels/blocks to eat, but I just felt like something different. I sat outside eating, and came across this little guy.
He was running around, sprinting into the store, sprinting out of the store, chasing bugs, sprinting in and out, chasing any paper that moved, any thing that moved really. He was constantly moving and chasing and attacking. It was so entertaining!
He even checked out the Orbea.
Of course my camera wasn’t ready when he poked his head through my spokes and looked up at me. 
After my mini-lunch break, (with entertainment) I headed down Hwy 168 back towards home, I don’t usually descend 168, because it doesn’t have a great shoulder for riding in, but there wasn’t a lot of traffic, and again it was fun doing things a little differently since I seemed to be missing a large chunk of motivation for the day.
Since the day was already in the record books for Most Breaks Taken, & Longest Breaks Taken During a 4 Hour Ride, I just couldn’t pass by these cute cows without taking their picture. I actually even, rode past them and had to turn around to get their pics. I mean come on, they are totally cute right?
And that my friends is how you turn a four hour ride, into a six hour ride!
Tags: cycling, Sky Harbor
