day 22: the 'experiment' is almost over...

The past two days have seen a spike in heat. I attribute much of my fatigue and tiredness yesterday to the heat of my ride home. It was so hot that the sun would sting the back of my legs as I headed westward in the afternoon. After standing up to pedal for a few seconds, my saddle would heat up, making it uncomfortable to sit back down. But it is Arizona, and it is August.

As I face the final day of my commitment of biking every day for the month of August, I am pleased. The heat was certainly the harshest factor - but I am glad I did it this month, because it only makes me more excited to continue commuting by bike into the cooler, more moderate months ahead.

This morning, when I was changing in the facilities at work, I could not resist the temptation to do a little "muscle-check" in the full length mirrors in the fitness room. Much to my pleasure (and surprise), the past month of biking 16 miles a day for 5 days a week has done wonders for the muscle tone in my legs, especially my calf muscles. There is a certain feeling of tightness that comes along with muscle growth, which I have felt in my legs for some time now. But it wasn't until today that I really was able to quantify that by looking in a mirror. I'm ok with that.

After tomorrow's post, I am heading to Flagstaff for the weekend to do some camping with my girlfriend and my best guy friend. It will be nice to escape the heat for the weekend and just get away in general. My plan is to take the first few days next week off from biking, allowing my legs to get some much needed rest. I also won't be blogging for the beginning of next week. But rest assured, I fully intend to continue bike commuting and writing about the experience. Even more, spending some time in the woods this weekend will hopefully provide me with some "introspection" time in which I can absorb the events of the past month. The result will be - hopefully - some organized thought on what I have done this month, and what I have left to do.

Tomorrow will be my usual "it's Friday" post with some news from the week. One thing that I am really excited about is that a piece I wrote about bike commuting is being published on two friends' websites, CoolPeopleCare and C.I.C.L.E. I will of course include links to those tomorrow.

I could not have done it without the Velorution to keep me going.