today, i vowed to go easy on my bike. and i did. until i didn’t. my ride on san vicente = 11.22 miles / 48.22 minutes / 13.9 mph average speed. i only used a handful of speeds. i felt great. i walked around for a bit to cool down. and then, in my infinite wisdom, decided to stuff a backpack full of computers and books and stuff i didn’t use and attempted to bike to the library. i made it there and back just fine, but it.is.just.so.much.harder to bike with all that crap…i’m not the brightest light bulb or the sharpest knife. to top it all off, i didn’t wear any spf so my arms are a bit red. i blame that on santa monica as i wear a jacket most of the year and now my skin is wimpy. (library = 2.25 miles / 18.04 minutes / 7.3 mph average speed) and just let me tell you…traffic was nasty. everyone angling to get somewhere faster than someone else. i biked like he** to get home just so i could get off the street. and let me repeat this again: it didn’t help that i had about 40 lbs on my back. (what a dupa…)