It's Easter, it's Spring!!

I am so happy that it finally feels like Spring out there.  It was Lucas' Spring Break this week so I took a few days off, too, in hopes that we could do some riding together.
I worked Monday and Tuesday and successfully rode to work on Monday.  The ride to work was a little dicey because I chose a direct route straight in on 17th.  I had to negotiate through traffic, no fun.  Determined to find a better way, I followed a bike route home heading east on 7th and then cutting over to Alameda between Monaco and Quebec.  I felt safer, avoided the traffic and was surprised to find that the route was a tenth of a mile shorter than the route to work.  Round trip was almost 18 miles.  Those 18 on top of the 23 miles the day before were all than my backside could take so I drove to work on Tuesday.
Tuesday night, we attended a class at REI on training for the long ride.  I plan on riding in the Elephant Rock Ride in June so a few tips from professionals couldn't hurt.  The session was informative but I left feeling a little intimidated.  I had not really thought about the other 1499 people who would be traveling the same way at the same time.  I'm not much for crowds especially when I am on my bike.  I am trying to put that out of my mind and just focus on my training.
Wednesday, we bought a bike for Lucas.  With it, I was confident that he could keep up with me and would enjoy riding.  On Thursday, we put that theory to the test.  We drove to Cherry Creek State Park to try a ride around the lake.  You might remember that I have not made that loop yet.  Each ride as gotten me closer to that goal but I hadn't yet actually entered the park.
We set out at about 10:30 in the morning.  The birds were singing and the sounds of nature were wonderful.  As we rode, my plan was to keep the water on our left.  We chatted some but also rode in silence, listening to the sounds around us.  On this weekday morning, it often seemed that we were the only ones in the park.  After about 40 minutes, the trail we were on headed out of the park.  Hmm, that didn't seem right.  I knew we were pretty far south.  Sure we just missed a turn somewhere, I turned us around.  I was worried that this might not be the positive experience for Lucas that I had hoped.  Well, God bless him, he kept his sense of humor.  We discussed our options at every intersection and traveled some routes that were not meant for bikes.  Eventually, we made our way to the Park Office.  There Lucas found a much needed restroom and I got an obviously needed map along with some explicit directions from the Park Ranger.  With renewed confidence, we set out for the trail that would take us around the dam and back to the car.  We survived the ride which was over 14 miles!  We could only think about one thing when we were back in the car.  LUNCH!
Saturday, I signed up for the Elephant Rock Ride committing to ride the 34 mile course.  Once I had paid my non-refundable fee, we set out to see what I was in for.  We drove the route.  It leaves from the Douglas County fairgrounds heading up a fairly long hill.  It then wanders around the hills east of Castle Rock and over to Franktown before returning to the fairgrounds.  As I drove up and down, up and down, I had one thought that kept running through my head.  WTF was I thinking?!?!?!
Training took on a whole new meaning.  I couldn't just ride to ride and clock miles.  I actually needed to prepare for these miles, crowds and hills.  #$%^!!
I am happy to say that the week ended on a high note.  Rather than celebrating Easter by overeating a wonderful brunch and a few chocolate eggs, we went for a ride with family!  We were back at the reservoir with Jim and Lynn.  We rode another 14+ miles but were never lost.  There were plenty of hills.  I was often the last to the top but I climbed those hills, I paced myself.  I did it.
I wrapped up the week with a total of 46.35 miles for the week.  That's a new weekly high.  And, for those of you keeping track, I have now ridden 205.6 miles towards my goal of 1855 miles!