Thrills and Chills

Today was a great day overall. My church had "Small Group Olympics" - getting our small groups together to interact and play games. It was cool, and we were so fired up. My small group's leader made these really cool T-shirts for us with our names and numbers on them. Jerseys of a sort... it was really neat and we were quite the spectacle. A couple of other teams had team shirts, but ours were the best. :) I am pretty sure we made it into a lot of pictures. However, at the end, it felt like I pulled a muscle - make that TWO muscles. Both my quadriceps were on fire and I could barely lift them. The left one is okay, now that I have had time to ice them, stretch out, and take some ibuprofen. But the right one definitely does not have the full range of motion and lifting it without my hands is still a challenge. I can ride my bike, but climbing can be a real bitch. I met another nice CL guy for this bike ride down the Mount Vernon trail again. He seems pretty decent and pleasant, and he has a nice smile. We didn't really stop for long this time because it was late in the day and it was getting darker. We stopped at Gravelly Point to watch the planes land/take off from Reagan National Airport for a little while, but didn't make it the whole way down to Mount Vernon. One of these days...! I also happened to see one of my soccer teammates along the way when we hit Old Town Alexandria. How freaky is that?! We took it pretty easy because of my leg, but I pushed myself to go hard and fast in a few places. Yeah, what a champ, eh? Pushing myself is what got me into this mess in the first place! But I like to play hard and play to win - that is just the way I am. Today was beautiful; it was a perfect fall day. Bright and warm, but not too hot... and in the evening, cool and crisp but not too cold. The sun painted the sky in a way that only God can; the beauty of the area really becomes apparent at times like these. I wish fall would last a little longer. These fall bike rides will make for great pictures as long as I remember to bring my camera! Doh, I'm such a nimrod, I forgot it again today! I have a ride tomorrow up through DC on a different trail with yet another new CL guy. Tomorrow's trail is the Rock Creek Trail, and that should be interesting. Bikewashington.org says that the trail is not in good condition, but it shouldn't matter for my bike since it's a hybrid mountain/road bike. Still, this should be good. It will be nice to go through the park because I haven't actually BEEN through it. 3 years and what a shame... I haven't seen squat outside of downtown. But I'm working on remedying that...and this time I put my camera into my helmet so I won't forget it. :)