Sunday ride - Instant cure for a foul mood

After a week that was short (thanks to a 3-day weekend) but felt terribly long due to many after-work-obligations-for-work, the weekend finally arrived, and I couldn't have been happier.  I/we had major plans:  a longish bike ride Saturday morning and a longish run Sunday morning or afternoon.  It ended up that we switched the ride and run which worked out quite well.  I was, however, pretty pissed yesterday morning - we decided to do a ride around Irvine Lake in the OC (yes, we drive to ride and yes, I know that it sounds idiotic, but I do like to ride places that have nice wide roads, huge shoulders and rolling hills, and our little neighborhood does not offer these in abundance), but on the way down, about 30 minutes into the drive, I said "Shit, we have to turn around.  I forgot the helmets."  And I had forgotten the helmets.  This is what happens when you have gear scattered throughout the house.
So, we scratched that plan, returned home and opted for a run along the Arroyo.  I planned to run back home from our starting point, making it a 10-mile run or so.  As soon as we started out, I knew that it wasn't going to happen - my calf was incredibly tight.  Call me paranoid, but the last thing that I wanted was to end up stranded 5 miles from home (and no cellphone to call for a ride).  So, I tried to content myself with a 3.5-4 mile run, but it felt pretty lame to me.  What was even lamer was that I did not focus on the fact that it was a lovely Saturday and I had the good fortune to be out and about.  Rather, I stewed in my negative mindframe for the entire run, and then when I got home, I obsessed about tight calves and bad knees, looking up every possible website on both calf issues and osteoarthritis (the back of my knee is bothering me again and I like to self-diagnose).
I decided to focus on the possible ride this morning and found a great route - a loop that would take us to some nice rolling hills and not much traffic.  We set out, AGAIN, for the southland, and arrived at more or less our destination, which was shrouded in a very thick fog.  I'm happy to call myself a light-weight when it comes to the whole bicycling culture, and this is just one example of that.  Because it was a new and unknown route, I didn't feel super safe about biking in the fog.  I cursed and probably would have stomped my foot, if I could have.
Michael, however, suggested that we head to the coast since we at least know plenty of routes in Newport and environs.  We arrived in Newport and started to gear up.  I continued to curse because it was rather chilly, but he told me "You'll warm up" - that was a nice way of telling me to shut the f-up, which I needed at that point.  From Newport, we set out and more or less followed the route described here, which I found on the way to Newport.
Can I just say that the ride was AWESOME!  We were along a bike path for part of it, which was beautiful, and then we climbed a bit, only to be rewarded with a lovely downhill.  Nice shoulders and good roads for most of the ride.
Before heading back home, we stopped at A's Market, and treated ourselves to a scone and coffee.  The scone was just what we/I needed - fat and sugar?  Yes, please.  I did start to crash as we got home, as my need for protein kicked in.
Fortunately, all of this erased the crappy way that I was feeling about the entire weekend.  It's obvious that I need to adjust my attitude, but October may not be the best month to try to be all 'zen'.  Maybe I'll tackle all of this in June when I'm on summer break?
Back to my Sunday afternoon - I do have to dedicate a few hours to grading and planning, but knowing that I had a great ride makes that so much easier.  Here's to a good Sunday ride and maybe a great week!