Well, I made it through the weekend, but it wasn't my happiest moment! I got up early on Saturday morning to continue the Mt. Lemmon saga, and left the house at 5:30am. Ron was kind enough to put a new bike computer on my bike, so this week, I knew exactly how fast I was moving up the mountain (about 5.5mph most of the time). It was a pretty tough ride and I was fried by the end.

I started up the mountain and was feeling pretty good about things in spite of the fact that I was engulfed with bugs all the time. We have had lots of rain recently and so everything was blooming and hatching. As long as I kept moving, it didn't bother me too much, but once you stop, you are set upon by a million gnats, etc. I pedaled up to Molino Basin, which is about 5.7 miles up, and stopped to go to the bathroom. I never do this because I object to using bathrooms that recycle everything deposited right there -- they are never cleaned out (or at least they are always nasty smelling). It was an emergency and I decided that I would rather whiz in a nasty toilet than on the side of the road in full view of the traffic. So, once I was done, I looked up to see a HUGE hairy spider sitting on the wall right next to the toilet. I would rather deal with a full grown rattlesnake than any kind of spider, especially one of this size. I made a very rapid exit of the bathroom, and headed out on the road again. This spider was so big, that if it had decided to keep me there, it probably could have.

I kept on pedaling up the mountain and made it to mile post 9 and was starving so I stopped and had some clif bloks and almost an entire bottle of water. Then I started pedaling again, but was starting to feel kind of wasted -- I think I waited too long to eat and drink. The guys' pediatrician passed me then and told me that this week the ride was much much more difficult than it had been last week (this is as she passed me). I caught her at about 11.5 miles, and stopped to talk. She is just a great person. After a few minutes, we headed on up the mountain again.

Between miles 12 and 14, there is a big increase in the incline of the mountain, and boy howdy, you can sure tell. It is horrible and steep and for me, very slow. I wasn't feeling so hot by now - my back was bothering me and I was hot and covered with dead gnats (they land on you and die in your sunscreen and then stick there). I promised myself that I could stop for 10 minutes at mile post 14, which has a nice touristy overlook and is called Windy Point. There is a lot of moving air there and I thought it would be a nice place to take a rest. When I finally got there, I was so grateful -- and so I ate a clif bar, and drank most of a 24 oz. bottle of water. This becomes very important later on.

After my stop for 10 minutes, I started on up the mountain again heading for mile post 16. That is as far as I had decided to go today. The road got even steeper and I dropped down to about 3.5mph. I had to stop 3 times between 14.5 miles and 15.5 miles -- it was that bad. Finally, there was a small downhill, and then and up and a down, and then... nirvana -- mile post 16. I stopped for a couple of minutes and drank the rest of my water. I figured that I would refill on the way down at Windy Point. I turned around and rode down to Windy Point only to find that there is no potable water on the entire mountain, except at mile post 25. I was very sad about this, but there was nothing I could do, so I headed home. It was a very tough ride, but I think I can make it to the top next week. I will try to remember to bring my camera so you can see what I see.

Today, I took each of the guys shopping for school clothes, one on one. It was a very busy day. I started by doing all their haircuts since Thursday is the first day of school. Then I took Andy (and Brigid) to Macy's and The Children's Place and we bought two pairs of jeans and six tops. Then I took Andy home, and exchanged him for Benjamin and did the same thing. Once Benjamin was done, I took him home and exchanged him for Elias and did the same thing again. All the clerks knew me and Brigid by the end of the day. I am totally wiped out. Tomorrow, I have to take James out and get him some clothes too -- I just couldn't fit him in today. I have a couple days grace for James since he doesn't start school until the 11th of August.