..or hoisted by my own petard.  This past Memorial Day weekend, R and I were talking about bike rides we took as kids. Both of us had the experience where you just got on your bike one Saturday morning - maybe with friends, maybe not — and started riding. No helmet, no water, maybe no money, no backpack. And maybe you were between 9 and 11 years old. After 11, you started hanging around in the mall.

Ruthie had a story about how she got lost and had to call her parents likely tearfully from a gas station somewhere in the Rochester area.  Once, I rode all the way to Bethpage NY from Massapequa, NY and back as a kid. Alone. I was really maybe 10 or something. And I did not get lost. (I thought to myself, a tad smugly. Oh my ego.) Once, I was allowed to take my mother’s sunfish sailboat out with a friend onto Great South Bay. We got caught in a current and couldn’t sail our way out of one of the big canals somewhere around Copaigue. We got a tow down the river, and I made a phone call from a gas station, I think. But that wasn’t MY fault, of course.It was the lack of wind and a strong current.

Well, yesterday (cue Gilligan’s Island theme music), I set out from Sharon High after getting the bike to school in the back of my Honda Fit and changing into the Bike Suit after the kids left. I intended to do a little 7 mile loop around the lake. But nooooo.

I rode past the lake and practiced shifting the gears a bunch of times to get used to the front derailleur. The chain came loose and I dismounted in order to put it back on. No problem! I was In Control! (ego watch ego watch warning warning) I rode to the end of Massapoag Avenue since I was feeling so good— a little beyond my turn around goal. And then I took a right. Into Easton? Mansfield? At some point, I realized that this route wasn’t turning back towards Sharon and I was on a road going west. Towards California. I thought I should stop and try and figure out what to do. But, I had no money and I did not want to ask for directions. I did have a GPS in my phone though, which, dramatically enough, was running out of power. So, I checked it and double checked it and clipped it the front of my bike. I was only about 9 miles away. I had 3 centimeters of orange Gatorade in the bottom of my bottle and some water left. It was past my suppertime. I could feel glycogen leaving my leg muscles. No kidding, I think.

I pedaled back, finally, getting passed by one speedy woman (“On your left!” I nearly fell sideways in shock — I had no idea she was there.) and seeing another with those fancy handlebars you can lean on whiz by going the opposite direction. This did prompt me to increase my speed for a strong finish. (ego ego — I am seeing a pattern) I drove home uneventfully, thinking about how to make sure I am adequately fueled.

I am officially fatigued today. I was planning to do a rest day today for sure, but unsure what to do tomorrow. Maybe yoga and weights and just make SURE I am not overtrained. Then back at it.

Learning all the time.