Sometimes you gotta ride 'em anyway, cowboy

Gentle slope,  handlebar's eye view.

After a nasty attack of pericarditis (two weeks ago) and a simultaneous flare-up of the pinched nerve in my neck, and asthma during the week, I was a little leery of riding at all, but last week's paddleboarding was not even close to enough aerobic work and outside time for the week. 

Despite the shoulder pain from the pinched nerve, the body was screaming louder for exercise. 

The work week had not allowed for any midweek evening gym trips— [what already? am I going to have to convert from being a night person to a morning person?] 

I could not face another week without getting some lungfulls of O2 and some work for the legs. Not to mention that time we thrive on to connect with the outdoors, even if it's riding a bike.

The plan was for a few laps locally, quick in and out, but at the top of Eastern Crest, the bike said " to the hill we go." Yes, the big-ass hill. Up the North Face! It always feels good when you make it, especially if you make it alive. I tried to take a pulse reading, but it was too intense. Nevermind. 

Even a bike has a hard time not doing 30+ here.

When all was said and done, my lungs felt better for it, and I felt 5 lbs lighter. The neck hurt more, but that's what you get. The chill phase I was pulsing 96 bpm for a bit, but slipped back to a normal rate pretty quickly.

This was an ibuprofen pain ride no doubt, but sometimes you gotta ride 'em anyway, cowboy