RCC- First real training Ride

I finally got to take my bike out for a real ride. My goal was to do ten miles. A hefty feat considering my last real ride I threw my bike and myself on the side of the road after 7 miles and called for a ride home. I wasn’t sure what I would do if I couldn’t survive all ten. This was my first test to see where I was compared to where I should be with training for the ride. I was scared to death to go out on this ride because I was afraid of the level of disappointment I would be feeling when I wasn’t able to do the full ten I wanted.
I did a quick bike check, aired my tires and headed out the door full of ambition and drive that I could do the ten miles. I headed on a path I had taken a few times the summer before that takes me in the direction of my dad’s house and a gas station in case I needed to stop for a rest or CPR. The first hill I hit I was at the top of before I realized I had even started it. It isn’t a huge hill, but it is a long hill that I huffed and puffed to get up last year. First hill down and I was feeling good, of course I had only gone one mile. I figured I’d ride through my dad’s neighborhood next. Keep it safe. When I made it through all the hills there I decided to see if I could do the big hill. I didn’t make it all the way, but I did make it about ¾ of the way up!! Hell yeah. Feeling great about that. Instead of walking up the rest of it I turned around and rode back down and made my way to the gas station for a snack and a drink before continuing on.
Back on the road I was kind of stuck. I could only head back the way I came because to get anywhere else I had to conquer the huge hill. Wasn’t going to happen today, so back the way I came. There is one spot on the way home that I struggled and struggled and struggled with on every single ride. I only made it up this long drawn out hill once and had to stop at the top to recover from it. Today, I made it up! It was work, but I made it the whole way.
Still full of energy and sunlight I continued past my path home and further up the road in a different direction, looped around and came back. Not ready to be done, I went one more direction and rode it as far as I could without having to hit another huge hill. Running out of day light I had to head home. I could have ridden longer, but the sun was telling me no. When I got home and checked my mileage and re checked it against mapmyride.com I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The ten miles I thought I’d struggle to get done had turned into a fairly easy 15 miles! Cloud nine, top of the world. I can do this!! I can do this ride! Today was a great day!