60x60 Success - 500 miles

My 60x60 handle stands for 60 things I want to accomplish by my 60th birthday. Only one of which had to do with weight loss (maintain my 100 lb loss that I had attained over a four year period since my bout with cancer, so far so good); about 1/4 pertain to physical health and fitness. Other goals/challenges vary from the cosmic to the mundane, but all are attainable with a little focus on my part.

I attained a big one yesterday. I have ridden my bike 500 miles in a one year period. That, in itself was fun. As my odometer hit 500, the few people on the path saw a 59 year old woman on bright purple 3-speed, pumping up a hill, smiling and singing "500 miles, 500 miles".

Better yet is the fact that I rode for an hour at a pace of 14 miles per hour up and down hills without getting winded (okay there was a breeze, but no wind in my lungs) for over an hour before dinner after an intense day at work. When I started a year ago, my pace was 5-7 miles per hour and I could go 15 minutes on a flat surface and it was my activity for the whole Saturday. So my improvement in strength and power is huge.

What iseven better (yes it gets better!) is that I now understand enough about how my muscles work that as I was going up hills I could adjust the power of my pedaling by engaging the muscle in my thigh and directing the power from my thigh to my foot and the pedal to go faster and stronger while conserving energy. A year ago I had no clue how to make my brain and body work in tandem with a machine.

I realize this is not prime time for posting and responses and for many this represents but a shadow of their strength and achievements, but fair warning, I am going to bump this when I get home from work. I unashamedly want some kudos, because I have and will continue to work so hard to improve my health and energy and "500 miles" symbolizes both the continuing effort and a milestone goal!