Back to back

This weekend I did back-to-back rides. The first, an 86.76 mile ride from my house out to Lake Berryessa. The second, a 50 mile ride through the rolling hills in the Sierra foothills, plus one gigantic hill in Folsom, CA. I'll do the math for you -- that's 136.76 miles.
I forgot my camera today, so I don't have the excessive photo-documentation.
Just this one (notice the woolly sheep in the background -- we wondered whether the kids can also sheer and loom):
The ride was lovely -- a rolling 36.5 miles. A little slower than I'd hoped for, but I agreed to help out the ride leader by riding 'sweep.' So I hung with the folks in the back and sang songs to stay busy. It was an interesting exercise -- I spent some time focusing on my pedal strokes, my posture, and my cadence.

Before we did our last five miles, we turned off to tackle a gigantic hill. About 4 miles into the hill, we could see the 'top' -- if we lifted our heads, pushed back our helmets, and squinted real hard. The traffic lanes opened up to allow for passing. You know why they do that? So cars have lots of room to pass the slow vehicles on hills. You know it's steep when it opens up to three lanes.

I yelled on that hill. Loud. More like a scream, actually. I made to the top with weak legs, and a hoarse voice. Then we turned around to remember the deals we make with hills: I'll climb this hill if you give me a smooth, fast downhill. It's a good deal. My max speed was [close your eyes, Mom) 42.1 mph. Yikes.

I think it's time for bed.