The crowning achievement of last summer was a group ride up Skyline Drive over two days, fifty miles each day. We had perfect weather with low humidity, so the sweeping views on both sides of the ridge were almost endless. I love the way the distance lines up in layers of blues, hence the “Blue Ridge.” If you’d told me at the beginning of last summer that I’d be able to do a half-century by the end, I wouldn’t have believed you. But having done that, a century now seems infinitely doable. Perhaps for the MS 150 next year; this year is devoted to the marathon in October.

