Just a little bit smug

smug

sməg

adjective

1. 1.

   having or showing an excessive pride in oneself or one's achievements.

   "he was feeling smug after his win"

   synonyms:

   self-satisfied, self-congratulatory, complacent, superior, pleased with oneself, conceited

   
   

   Okay, ouch.  I don't want to live up to that definition.  Sigh.  So I'll just tell you what happened last night and you can draw your own conclusions.

   
   

   
   

   I had a meeting in the next town over that was starting at 7:30.  I hadn't been on the bike since Friday, so I was very frustrated.  We decided to (all 4 of us) go to dinner in that town, with the bike on the back of the car, and then I'd go to my meeting and ride home on the trail afterwards.  There are several members of the group meeting who ride home on the trail, so I knew I'd have company.

   
   

   What we didn't realize was that a storm was on its way!  When we finished the meeting it was 9:15pm, definitely dark.  We walked outside with our bikes and it was raining.  I have good lights (broke down and bought a new blinky tail light yesterday) so I was fine with the lights, but not sure about my visual acuity. Still, the trail is a paved, straight shot from that town to ours.

   
   

   One of the guys who serves as a Trail Patrol volunteer rode with me.  We set a medium pace.  We wanted to move quickly, but not so quickly our wheels would skid.  About 2 minutes into it there was a HUGE flash of lightning.  I asked if he wanted to stop and call for a ride and he said, 'nah, we're fine."  Um, okay. He's the TP so I went with it.  There wasn't any more significant lightning after that, so we were fine.

   
   

   The trail is beautiful at night, and in the rain there were all kinds of peeper frogs hopping across it, illuminate by our headlights.  I know what you're asking and no, I didn't squish any.  They were pretty savvy.  We did see one deer cross a ways ahead of us, and one ninja (person riding/running without lights) who was pushing his bike. We asked if he needed help and he waved us off.

   
   

   I peeled off to head towards home and that's really the only time I was nervous -- not because of traffic or the rain, but because I had left my phone at home so if I had a problem, I didn't have a phone with me. Ouch, stupid, I know -- so maybe I shouldn't be smug at all!

   
   

   But, no problems other than having to wipe my glasses occasionally.  Turns out smeary is easier to see through than raindrops.

   
   

   Arrived home safely and everyone here acted like I had been missing for days. Sheesh.

   
   

   We actually made very good time, and I was pleased with how darn physically fit I felt!  There's one bad hill on the way back, and I even climbed it without wimping out.  I was concerned that in the climb my tires might slip, but they were fine. When I arrived home I felt like I had conquered something I had feared.  That felt pretty good.

   
   

   I still want to get my eyes fixed though. At least the frogs would have been in focus.