Until today, I hadn’t ridden my bike for exactly a month, due to some broken spokes, and a two-week trip to Europe.

I finally got my spokes fixed the other day, and today I made my first lengthy trek on the bike. I set my goal at 20 miles—a little low—since I hadn’t ridden in so long. I made it, and even made pretty good time. It was a bit painful, as expected, though. Here’s my stats:

• Distance: 20.3 miles
• Avg. Speed: 10.4 mph
• Max. Speed: 21.3 mph
• Time Taken: 1h 57m

I tried some of those energy gels, they’re not bad. It’s hard to tell if they gave me a boost, but I’m leaning towards yes. I’ll try them a few more times and see if it helps at all.

I also acquired a chain cleaner while I was out, and now my chain and everything is spiffy clean!