Oops!

Note to self: get a bike computer with GPS for the new bike.

Sunday's scheduled training ride was 40 miles: a loop from Decatur to Dunwoody and back. Although I was up early, the morning was cool and overcast, so I wasn't in a hurry to get on the bike. First mistake. After screwing around on the Internet, having coffee, pumping up the tires, etc. when I started the ride it was 10 a.m., the clouds had dissipated, and it was getting hot fast.

The first 30 miles were great--I felt strong and rode fast. Well, fast for me, anyway. Riding a new route was interesting and I really enjoyed the first 1/2 of the ride. After a quick Smoothie King detour in Dunwoody I headed home feeling great. By the way, the problem with any long-ish ride is when you get to the middle and realize you have to do it again to get home . . . .

Somewhere between Chamblee and north Decatur I took a wrong turn. Instead of heading south on Shallowford Road I was on Chamblee-Tucker and going the wrong way fast. I cruised by Northlake Mall before being able to get back on track, but by this time it was early afternoon and traffic was heavy on my planned route home. I decided to detour through a neighborhood. Good idea, wrong neighborhood. Surely, I thought, one of these quiet streets will lead to a street I know and I'll be back on track. Note to self # 2: Despite best intentions, a full Cambelbak, a bottle of Gatorade, and a smoothie may not be enough to get you through a long ride. Especially if you're lost. Hill by hill, turn by turn, I kept riding, refusing to accept that I might be lost.

Now I know how it felt for Moses to wander in the desert for all those years. "No, Aaron, we're not quitting. I KNOW the promised land is just around the next corner. Ok, it's just over the next hill. Ok, maybe it's the next street. I can hear the traffic of the other tribes. It's gotta be here somewhere!"

Finally when I had nothing more to drink I gave up and called Vallerie to pick me up. I was so lost that even SHE couldn't find me; she drove around for a while before finding the right streets. I've never been so glad to see that VW wagon come driving up.

Later, at home, I used a mapping program to figure out how far I'd actually ridden. 40 miles. Exactly.