THINGS I AM LEARNING FROM MY EARLY MORNING RIDES.

• How to make my body work harder than it wants to at a time earlier than it wants to;
• How to get more organized so I can ride longer (or just be late for work, whatever!);
• How to figure out the early morning nutrition, for the bike time at least (still haven't figured it out for the rest of the day--hungry all the time!);
• How to get my bike set up and get riding before the mosquitos either eat me alive or drive me crazy;
• How to deal with the early-morning rude-ass drivers who think them getting to work is the only thing that matters;
• How to get my legs to turn over better each time;
• How to enjoy the early morning solitude, satisfying my need for alone time;
• How to identify the different types of birds that dance about in the morning;
• How to use this as practice for transitions.

I am also finding out that:

• the more I ride in the morning, the more I want to ride in the morning;
• the more I ride on the road, rather than the trail, the more I want to ride on the road;
• you need to go to the bathroom before you get out there and nothing is open;
• skunks leave their calling card lots farther than their actual location;
• its more fun to ride outside than spin inside;
• the more I ride, the stronger my legs get;
• that I may not be that fast in my upcoming triathlon, but these morning rides are helping.

These are just some of the things I am discovering on my morning rides. I don't know why I didn't figure out a long time ago that I could ride outside in the morning. I used to do it until I moved into the city. I almost hate to spoil myself since we have such a short biking season, and then have to go back to winter and inside riding again, but I am definitely going to enjoy this while it lasts.