Up at 6:00 am on a Saturday...

So I'm up at 6:00 am on a Saturday morning about to go meet some friends for a bike ride. We'll be doing at least 25 miles, but maybe 50 if we feel up for it. Crazy I know, but there's a certain excitement around getting up early, eating a carbolicious breakfast, drinking some coffee, and hitting the road for awhile. My only real complaint is how much gear is involved in a simple bike ride. For those of you who have read Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" (if not, I highly recommend it), cycling is like one of those sports mentioned in the book that requires an arsenal of equipment to participate. A short list of things I've assembled for this morning's ride include: cycling jersey/shorts/shoes, heart rate monitor, helmet, gloves, sunglasses, spare bike tubes/CO2 cartridges, energy bars, energy gels, Gatorade, water, recovery drink. Insane, huh?