Today the weather was beautiful. This was a good thing because a) who doesn’t love riding in perfect weather and b) I was super stressed out when I left work. To be honest, I’d never really used the bike as a stress relief before. But today when I left work, all I could think about was getting on my bike.

I find biking to be, in turns, contemplative (when I mull over an issue that’s been bothering me), meditative (when I commune with nature and the bike), and relaxing (when I listen to a podcast and just ride). Today’s ride was definitely in the relaxing category, as I rode to leave behind all the bad jou-jou of the day. I listened to an episode of The Flamme Cast and remembered what really matters in life.

I rarely bike in regular clothes. I think this is mainly because I rarely go out on my bike for errands. Even though I don’t have a car,  I often just walk to places I need to go. Right now I mainly see my bike as exercise. And I’m still a little nervous to take my bike places and leave it locked up for long periods of time!

Anyway, all this is to say that I indeed did use my bike to get groceries last night and rode to the store in jeans. Mainly because I wasn’t in the mood to take a longer ride nor did I have the time- I needed to go to the store, Survivor was on at 8, and Shannon was coming over for gourmet grilled cheese. So I rode to the store in jeans.

After one day of summer weather, we went right back to winter. It was a yucky one to be sure, but I almost prefer it when it’s cold, overcast, or a little rainy. This is because I have the trails to myself. The trails have a different feel when it’s overcast. As the clouds come in and the temperature drops, those who venture onto the path become few and far between. With the low hanging clouds pressing down, the deserted parks and paths, I feel all alone out there.  They become my trails, where I can go as fast as I want and where there is no limit to my ability. I know these colder, cloudy days will soon be over, so I’ll take advantage where I can.

Today we got a taste of summer- hot and humid. Although only a fraction of what summer is capable of producing, it was enough. Surprisingly, I wasn’t dreading a ride as much as I normally would in such heat. I think this was because I was excited to try out my new jerseys I had just received.

The warm weather of a couple of weeks ago motivated me to finally order some short sleeved jerseys. I hadn’t been looking forward to this moment. I was nervous about finding tops that fit me after my experience trying to find a new riding jacket (I couldn’t find a single cycling specific jacket at the store which fit both my hips and my boobs- men’s or women’s). But after massive amounts of research and obsessive checking the sizing, I ordered some jerseys online and once they arrived, I was pleasantly surprised that not only did they fit, but they didn’t look too bad either! I mean, they aren’t the most flattering pieces of clothing I own, but I can’t expect too much from cycling clothing!

I took up my #30DaysofBiking quest again after my parents left town. Despite going through withdrawal, I was surprisingly uninterested in going on a ride. But I pushed on in my quest to bike 30 days.

One thing I’ve discovered in riding the trails in my area are the number of parks there are along the way. And not only are there a lot of parks, but there is a a lot of usage of these parks! This makes me happy. I love seeing people out enjoying the outdoors. This lovely Sunday afternoon, there were countless cookouts and soccer games being enjoyed along the whole route. There are also these little workout stations along one section which are always being used. And unless it’s wicked cold out, there is always someone using at least one of the park spaces!

(yes, I know I’m behind. I’ve been busy, okay?!)

Day 6: Not much to say for today. It was nice. I rode my bike. I did ride further than I had planned because it was too nice to stop. Nice enough to ride in shorts again. Nasty headwind coming home, though. That sucked.

In other news, the jerseys I ordered online came today, and, much to my surprise, they fit pretty well. So I’m excited to have some good tops to ride in. I imagine they’ll be an improvement over t-shirts.

In other, other news, 30 days of biking will be taking a short break. My parents are coming into town through the weekend and I’ll be staying with them at their hotel in Virginia. The logistics of getting my bike there and back was too much, so the bike stays in Maryland. But I will be live-tweeting my weekend adventures, so there is that to look forward to.