Something to be said for NOT paying attention

I'd love to write that while I was riding I was so in the "zone" that I forgot to pay attention to how long I was riding, but, that wasn't the case this morning. Sometimes I really, truly do get so focused I get lost in the ride, but I'm afraid my inattention was a direct result of my activities last night. I spent the first half of my ride wondering if just around the bend would be a good place to pull of and discharge whatever was left in my stomach from last night's margharita and mexican food soire'. No names will be mentioned, the guilty know who they are. You see, I'm kind of out of practice for these events, and although I had the sense to stop by 8pm, the damage was done. Too much sugar, too much tequila, too fast. As predicted, no amount of coffee this morning could clear my head. This, however, proved to work to my advantage.

Sometimes, you just have to get on and ride, which is what I did, and by the time I decided that I wasn't going to have to stop, I was well past my halfway point, timewise, in my scheduled ride. Seeing an inviting, wooded, stretch of gently undulating roadway, I thought, okay, I'll go until I reach an intersection, because I can be a little OCD about leaving things half done. Along the way back, it occured to me that this was a REALLY nice road to ride on. Well paved, nice breakdown lane, lovely, damp forest smell, and look, there's a horse, and another one. Wow, I am having a nice time. I want to ride this road again, and maybe go past my turnaround point, I wonder what the next few miles would reveal. I spun back home with a smile on my face, and checked my summary file on my bike computer. I increased my ride time by 1.5x, kept my speed to a reasonable rate ( I measure it in KMH so I don't choke at how slow I am ACTUALLY going right now), and yikes, look at the time! Didn't I leave at 9:30 like I usually do? How did it get to be 11:15? Oh yeah.... I slept in a bit today...

The rest of the day was delightful, cavorting at Tripp Lake, pictured above ( picture taken from http://www.adirondackcondos.com/lake-george-ny-mountain-views.html) with the kids, and evening mass. I don't think I'll utilize today's method of training much, but I am going to try to just go out and enjoy the ride more often.