The last two days have been "long and slow" bike rides with an old pal…he’s even older than I by a year. We did a languid 36 miles, mostly flat, yesterday and 40 miles ,with some hellish, long hills, today. We also had a long lunch at a wonderful country inn today…oysters, a perfect salad, a little bread. We knew the owners from old bachelor days in New York where they had the restaurant, Provence. Lots of pleasant nights in that place, summer and winter. And now they seem to have followed us to the country. What good luck.

You have to force yourself to stay slow on these long and slow days…use the granny on the hills and don’t show off. The point, remember, is to build that old, aerobic base. A magical thing, when you think about it…like being able to increase the horsepower of your car at will. And to be allowed to do it in these stunningly beautiful hills, in perfect summer weather….yikes, what a break.