I tend to ride my fastest when I think someone might pass me up. Like another biker. Or a buggy. I love passing buggies and leaving them in my dust. But let one come up behind me and think he's going to get ahead? I ride like the wind. Even if I'm going uphill or against actual wind. This is why it's good for me to ride with someone. My determination is that much stronger, and I push myself to ride farther and faster.

Last night I rode with Nevin, and yes, I rode farther than I would have by myself. We drove to Shipshewana and rode the Pumpkinvine to Goshen and back. We kept going a little farther and a little farther until finally we were only 5 miles from the Goshen end, so we couldn't just not finish it out. Nevin definitely had to slow down a bit for me, and I had to push myself to keep up with his slower speeds at times, but it was a good time!

I got scared 98.7% out of my wits, and I think Nevin was scared completely out of his when a dog leaped out of the ditch, started barking like the dickens, and chased us down the road a little bit. I saw it just before it started barking, but Nevin never saw it coming. I screamed. I am not proud of that fact. But I couldn't help myself. I'm not sure what Nevin did, but I think it was a while before his heart rate returned to normal.

We woke up some relatives for a water bottle refill. (Sorry, Violet! But who goes to bed before 9:00 pm? Oh, right. People who get up exceedingly early.)

Then we stopped at Harvey & Leanna's to use their restroom and chat a little. Had a regular progressive family reunion going on. They wouldn't let us in the front door; we had to use the garage door like a couple of savages. Thanks for the warm welcome, guys. Ha! But they did let us go out the front door then, so that was nice. 

We rode 34.4 miles in all, which is a new record for me! Next time we'll have to get photographic evidence of our ride.

And now, it's vacation time for me. 4 days of being in the sun and doing as little as possible? I can handle that.