I probably should stretch it out before my bicycle rides. Typically I ride my first mile easily, to let my muscles warm up; but is that enough?

Often my legs start to gripe, \”We don\’t wanna do this!\” after ten minutes or so; and maybe they wouldn\’t if did some quadriceps stretches before I get on the bike. But how much of this stretching do I need? On weekday mornings, my time for cycling is limited; and stretching falls by the wayside.

Probably I should stretch it out after a ride, too; but again, I don\’t have much time between completion of a weekday morning ride; and having to leave for work. When I get home from a salvage store run, I\’m thinking about figuring out how much money I saved over the regular store; and after the Sunday long ride, I\’ve got blogging on my mind!

Yesterday, at least, I thought about on-bike stretching while pedaling home against a headwind. All that rapid, low-gear spinning was tiring my legs; so I coasted a bit while I stretched one leg; and then the other. It probably wasn\’t enough; but it gave me a mini-break from pedaling!

Prior to Ida, my Sunday long rides had reached about 50 miles. Now I\’m working to stretch it out, so to speak; getting back up to 50 miles. But how about riding those miles faster?

Yesterday I was quite poky, because I had to fight a headwind of 13-14 mph most of the way home. It puts me to shame when I\’m plodding along like that; and other riders whiz past me like I\’m backing up. How do they do it?

If only I could stretch the day, as well as my muscles; and have more time to work up to it!