Wear a tank top. Support your right to bare arms.

It was hot and very sticky on this week's rides, but clouds and a bit of wind made it good riding. We've had rain every day. Luckily, it hasn't rained in the morning and that's when we ride. This week our only goal was to ride our favorite 30 mile loop at a reasonable pace. We needed "butt time" before we did longer rides.

I was amused at a friend who thought that since we do water skiing all summer, the transition to cycling would be, like, automatic. No such luck. Water skiing works muscles from head to toe. It gives you shapely muscled arms and shoulders, strong core muscles, and strong legs. Water skiing is an extremely intense activity, but one measured in minutes, not hours. It's about strength and balance, but it isn't about cardio. That's the fitness we have to get back up to snuff before we can enjoy the upcoming bike season.

Oh, yeah. And we also have to toughen up our butts. Padded shorts and cut-out saddles are great, but there is nothing like mileage to toughen up the butt and make long miles do-able.

Next week we move back to our regular riding mileage. We have 14 days before we do a metric century. It's going to be great. (Oh yeahhhh.)