I think I have too many things to do.

As is too often the case I have one again neglected to post anything here for quite some time. Fail. The past few months have felt just insanely busy. Tis the season!

First and foremost work really really gets in the way of all of the things I really want to do. And to make matters worse my work doesn't stop at 40 hours a week. Every time we have a concert or special event there goes any "free time". The spring is definitely the worst. And just looking at the calendar May is the most ridiculous month. Between April 30 and May 25 the only non-work day is the 12th. Ouch. Although I do plan on taking a few other days off. Now if I could just get someone to do my job when I'm not in the office things would be rather more dandy.

So it whatever time is left to me I have all of the following things to do:

• House work: The cat is not pulling his weight around the house and I have to do it all. The little jerk.
• Yard work:  I think I had to start mowing a full month earlier with the weather so warm. And I've expanded my veggie garden. Here's hoping I keep more than just cucumbers alive this time.
• Friends: After years of being largely, but not entirely, anti-social it seems that I've recently managed to re-connect much more with some old friends. And I've even found new ones - whoa.
• Band: The music is kinda bad all too often, but I could never give up playing so i'm glad for the outlet.
• Video games: Bran got me hooked on World of Warcraft and now he's dragging me into Diablo as well. I try not to admit it but they can be fun. I just wish they took less time and or I could knit and play!
• Biking: Exercise is healthy and can even be fun, I should do more of it.
• Photography: My photos really are getting better I think. But as with all learning/improvement more time is always a sure way to better results.
• Reading: I really don't know how I did it but as a youth I would fly through books sometimes to the tune of multiple books in a week. I've been doing a bit more lately but sometimes it feels like I'm just slogging through them. And the library deadlines come up so quickly!
• Knitting/Crochet: Aside from the perpetual desire to be working on dozens of projects of my own I even have the opportunity right now to work on growing a bit of my own crafty business. Maybe I should learn lever knitting or whatever the supposed current fastest knitting method may be.
• Spinning: I am totally getting better at spinning. Latest discover is an awesome DKish single. Knit up so wonderfully.
• Other Crafts: My awesome sewing machine is practically begging me to use it more often. And wouldn't it be wonderful to work at sketching/doodling/zentangling. Oh and what about the sweatshirt that I've wanted to paint for myself for over a year.
• Relax: Eh, overrated!

July Results

Here’s what I accomplished in July:

TdF – I pretty much rocked the first ¾ of Le Tour. But alas when it got down to the wire (last 3 days) I was too distracted with camping prep and actually camping to finish my goal. Alas I really barely even started the last part. But the endeavor really was quite a success as I did in fact finish 2 UFO’s, over ½ complete a Christmas yarn, and learn to spin awesome laceweight.

5 afghan squares – Actually the last one was finished on August 1st, but eh close enough for me. I really need to spread out these suckers and take a photo. There’s a lot of them really.

WoT book 7 – Hooray for past half way! This month was particularly good because I had like no reading time during the TdF so I ended up saving most all of the book (600+ pages) for camping. Then I spent glorious hours just sitting and reading and being fully immersed the fantasy world. I’ve not had the opportunity to do that with a book in quite a while. Really I ought to get back to it methinks.

April Recap.

So it feels rather like April pretty much kicked my butt. I really don't know what happened....

Home time: I went back to my parents house first for Easter and then later to visit my Grandfather (he's on hospice now).  As much as I like going back to see my family and enjoy spending time with them it always feels like I accomplish nothing from those days. That said I wouldn't trade them back just to get things done. Umm...yea I don't think there is a way to properly express this. Oh well.

Boy time: Bran and I spent a lot of my free hours together. This is also 100% a good thing as our relationship is just getting stronger and stronger and more and more awesome. But seriously he doesn't even let me knit when we're watching movies or TV. No worries though someday I'll overrule him :-)

Crafts: Towards the beginning of the month I do believe I was thinking spinning. I made that little batch of yarn. But then I was distracted by other things. On the square front I only managed to whip up 3 crochet and 1 knit square. With everything going on I've just not had my normal free time. Goodness.

Reading: The Shadow Rising, this months WoT book was just shy of 1000 pages. I hit the middle of the month and realized I was only like 1/3 of the way through. But in this last week I dug down deep and finished it last evening before midnight even :-)

Biking: I do believe that I hit just over 100 miles in April. Better than March, but less good than it should be. Must improve in May.

Video Games: Bran has me addicted to games now dammit. I bet I lost a oodles and oodles of time to the DS. Plus he was trying to get me into a new game. And now in the last few days I am getting into the new game. Uh-oh.

So all in all, aside from work and my regularly scheduled events, ballet and band, I do believe those things can account for pretty much my entire month....hmm...that seems kinda pathetic.

Back in the saddle.

So far April has been a pretty good biking month. We were blessed with some ridiculously awesome weather early on. Here's what I was up to:

4/2: My ballet teacher has always wanted to ride the full path round our city so I offered to take her. It was quite pleasant to chat with someone the whole time and made the miles pass quite quickly. 18.1 miles, rather slow.

4/6: Finally I got myself up and out for a full solo loop around the city. It is significantly helpful that I finally have enough daylight for such things. I felt quite strong the whole time but my average speed says I wasn't very fast.

4/10: Bran bought a bike and out we went! At times it was another slow ride. But at this one nice flat paved part he put on the gas and honestly it would have been a problem for me to maintain that for very long. Uh-oh. (Actually this could be really good, I need someone to push me to improve.) 11.1 miles.

4/11: I was determined to get out for my first ride of decent length this year. The goal was 30 miles. Out by the river it turned windy and on a bike a head or cross wind is pretty much death. I kept going anyway. Having gone out a bit before a normal dinner time I determined that gel chews are a totally awesome bike food. Much better tasting than cliff bars and still filling. In the end though I think the challenge of the longer ride plus the wind helped me push myself harder because when I ended at 29.7 miles my average speed was the best yet! And for next time I think I know where I can easily add a mile.

And as an added bonus none of those rides really killed me. A few of the times I was tired that evening. But I particularly noticed that on the 30 I didn't even feel it the next day.

Rock on.

Weekend.

This past weekend was quite rather spectacular. And really what made it so good was that every bit of my glorious free time from 7PM Friday til 1PM Sunday was spent with my man, whom I do believe I shall now take to calling Bran. I love being with him and we did awesome stuffs.

On Friday we started by doing a bit of bike window shopping. Then we went to a hip restaurant. There we had a decadent feast that for me included an appetizer (yay free coupon) of Nachos, French Onion Soup, and a delicious Chicken Fajita entree. Plus I even got me a nice fruity alcoholic beverage (Mango Rum Drop). Holy moly! Bran got a steak because he is a man and eats manly things like steaks. And then he drove home because I was acting really giddy (completely convinced it was more placebo effect than the actual alcohol).

On Saturday we went bike shopping for real and Bran bought himself this new beautiful shiny bike. I think I'm in love. Of course we immediately went home and went for a bike ride. It made me happy.

Then that evening we got together with a bunch of his friends to eat pizza (always a yum), watch the end of A Knights Tale, and play trivial pursuit. There are many funny parts to this because these boys were in the middle of watching a chick flick that they tried to say was not a chick flick but it obviously is. And really I gotta love me any group of people who has the intellectual capacity and desire to play a game of trivial pursuit. Plus given that here it was/is considered a fun activity. Well now that just means I've found a good group of people methinks.

Sunday we were supposed to have brunch but ended up doing lunch at a local place that's been on the 'go there' list. It's a burger and fries type place (even though I get a chicken sandwitch). I hadn't been in a long time plus I'd never been to this particular location. But it was a rousing success! Bran enjoyed his ginormous plain burger, my chicken sandwitch was good, and they had nacho cheese that I could dip my fries in. Yumm.

Finally before he left Bran started us on a new TV series: Arrested Development. So far it's a good bit out there, but enjoyable. And if the boy is to believe it'll be getting better.

All in all: happiness.

March Progress

March definitely came in like a Lion for me. And while it's calmed down some, I really don't see many lambs in my future.

The stress is entirely work related. This is always the busiest time of the year and there were a few compounding issues thrown into the works this time around. And so I’ve been feeling pretty stretched since late-February-ish. Then pretty much from right around when March started it’s been like running full throttle into a brick wall. Over, and over, and over again. Can you tell from all of my amazing metaphors (and I could easily think of dozens more) that things really are not very happy for me there? Yes? Good.

Thank goodness that my personal life is actually for real happy, or I would be completely doomed. Reason #1 for this is the continued awesomeness that is my Man. We hit six months on the 11th. Yay for us. I’ve also been happily crafting, reading, managing to ride my bike at least a bit, and I’m a bit loath to say where the Man can see it but I’ve even been video-gaming it some as of late. These things make me happy. Although even some of the happy things have been a bit stifled owing to exhaustion and what not. Boo.

But let’s take a closer look at my specific March goals:

• WoT Reading: An easy easy check. I finished book 2 early in the month and as I only have 170ish pages left in book 3 I may actually be back on track with my book a month plan.
• Bike 100 miles: Uh-oh. Right now I’ve only logged 35 miles. And I have absolutely no excuse as the weather has been incredibly gorgeous. It’s just so hard to get motivated when I can collapse on the couch and read or do a craft. Or if I want to enjoy the weather I can go read outside. Technically I still have 10 days which is quite enough for lots of miles. But I don’t see it happening. Maybe I should modify and try for 50?
• Blocks of the month: Double-ish check. I finished the planned 4 squares. Then at some point I calculated how large the afghans would be and decided I ought to be doing 3 of each (6 total) blocks each month. Last night I started to question that so who knows what I’ll really do. But so far this month I have completed 2 crochet squares and 3 knit squares plus have 1 crochet block started.
• Art Journal: I started 1 page and didn’t finish anything. New things are totally not my strong point. Must kick self into action.
• Wall-decal: 2 weekends ago when I was actually not working I found that I can easily freehand a dandelion seed. I was very proud of myself and promptly cut and ‘hung’ one lonely seed which floated their alone for a time. Then yesterday I was re-inspired and drew up a bunch, cut out 4 and proceeded to attempt the stem. It’s much too big and heavy now, but it’s still good progress and quite awesome.
• Blog comments: So far I’m slacking. It just feels so weird. And is exasperated by my own lack of bloggage recently. But I should be able to do it now that I am posting again.
• Postcards: I was going to do something for St. Patty’s day. And even started/tried something new. But the new thing wasn’t so cool and I never kept going. But if I do something relatively simple, maybe design something printable, the goal could still be easily met.
• Organize craft stuff: Check! I did this 2 weekends ago. It was awesome. I took many pictures with the intent of blogging about it.
• Cook: Kinda doing ok at this maybe? Early in the month I made Chicken and Biscuits which is kind of cheating because everything, the meat veggies and starch, are all in the one dish. Last week I had two good dinners of ham steak and pierogies with peppers. The peppers thing was an unknown but it worked out happily.

Well I do still have some work to do. But seems like I stand a chance at being moderately successful. Rock on!

March Goals

Goal setting has never been one of my strong points. If it's something I can do right away I'm perfectly good at that. Frequently when I have free weekends I'll make giant task lists and typically do pretty well at accomplishing them. But the farther I get from the goal-set date the less likely it is that I will complete the task.

But I'm feeling motivated today. This is partially owing to the fact that I have totally been banging out craft projects recently. So I'm going to try for some March goals. And I'll try hard not to be too overly ambitious.

• Finish reading WoT book 2. I should have been able to accomplish this in February but the olympics distracted me. Now I'm going to have to work a bit to make it back up to getting through a book a month.
• Ride 100 miles on bike. This is pretty ambitious and will be entirely weather based. Right now the sun sets around 6 and we only occastionally make it into the 40's. But I'm hoping that by the end of the month I'll be able to push out a few 1 or 2 hour rides with temps in the 40's and if i'm really lucky 50's. Fingers crossed.
• 4 squares. 2 crochet, 2 knit for my 'block a month' afghans. I really ought to like space these suckers out over the month to keep my yarn-crafting itch satiated while working on other things through the month.
• Make at least 4 art journal pages. Maybe even get watercolors to play with.
• Dandelion wall-decal for bedroom. I have wanted to do this for a long time.
• Leave at least 10 blog comments for others. I am a total lurker, but must break out of this habit.
• Send another batch of postcards to friends and family.
• Organize all craft stuff. I have so much stuff and a good bit of it is randomly stored. Organization (or as close as can be) will be awesome.
• Make at least 2 real home-cooked meals (meat, veggies, and starch) from scratch. I've been failing on the feeding-self-well thing recently. But I don't want to do more than 2 because frequently such things feed me for a full week.

 

It would be way to easy to keep thinking of more things but I really must contain myself. It's a good list. A few things may be a challenge (biking), but with some persistence and drive ought to be do-able.

I'm thinking I ought to do weekly reports. Breaking things down into smaller pieces is always helpful to success.

By the glare of life.

I finally did another decent ride this past weekend. It’s quite sad but I’ve been suffering from severe lack of motivation and drive this summer. And cycling is one of those things that has been dramatically affected.

A good bit of it has to do with the fact that I’m completely on my own now really for any rides. Every time I ask Jo if she wants to do a ride, be it around town or a sponsored ride, it’s not worked out. Really quite a bummer.

However one of my father’s co-workers, who happens to be close to my own age, has taken up biking. And so she was kind enough to invite me to a ride earlier this summer and then to a second ride which was this weekend.

It was a metric century. So 100KM, or 62 miles. When I signed up for the ride I figured that I had plenty of time to go riding more and get back in shape. This never really happened. A week before the ride I was fairly desperate and pushed myself on two good rides totaling 50 miles. And then I started to feel more and more off. By Thursday I was downright sick. Go figure. Luckily really only hit me that one day and so despite large quantities of gunk in my head and trepidation about my ability to survive the course, I went anyways.

This ride is not a fundraising one in that I had to ask people for money, yay, but it is a fundraiser for the group because they get so many riders. It was rather crazy. Like traffic jam off of the highway to get to the event. That and I got up at like 5am to make it in time. And then waited for my riding buddies to show up.

We left the start at about 8:30. The weather was nice but promised to get hot. Which it did. It was ridiculously hot by the end. And the route is such that there’s barely any shade. It wasn’t particularly bad when we were moving. But when you stopped at a rest stop you felt completely encased in heat and could just feel the sweat building.

 

 This is actually from a previous ride, but same people and same area!

This was not so good for me with my complexion. I think because I pretty much never go outside during the day and especially not for long periods of time I half forgot how evil the sun is. Although I did have a little travel size one with me that I put some on my nose and back of neck and such at some rest stops. But I think the sun is just too evil because my nose is still a bit red. Then I also got burn in a few places where I either missed or didn't reapply enough like the side of my neck, thin bands on either side of my watch, and bands just below the shorts line. If I tanned I would most certainly have a distinct bike tan. Very annoying.

Stand out moments from the ride for me include: Sometime around mile 6 I think I must have zoned out going down a hill. But I was doing probably 20+ miles and I went off the road…oops. Somehow I managed to just continue down the hill on the field/rocks for probably 100 yards or so and then regained the hill. Whoa.

Also it is notable that I was mildly sick. Got some kind of a cold or allergies or something. It was at it's worst on Thursday when I actually left work early and slept. But I was blowing my nose through the ride. Maybe that's why my nose still burnt. And anyways I had just blown my nose (while riding, no easy feat) when I was informed that bee had flown into my pocket. This was a bit disconcerting because I didn’t want to be stung through my shirt (is that even possible). So after a bit of jiggling around I was informed that the bee was out of the pocket and then it proceeded to crawl around my back up near my shoulder then under my arm etc. And all of this narrated by my fellow bikers being as I have no way while riding of turning and seeing my own back. It was amusing.

It was 62 miles and I came in strong. I felt like I could have done more. And yet it's rather odd because I do still in my mind think it was a good ride, and yet when I think about it all of these painful things come to mind...ah well.


“He, in his developed manhood, stood, a little sunburnt by the glare of life.”

Mountain versus Road

We are in Sedona AZ today and I decided that I wanted to go biking. And being as mountain biking is a big thing around here I figured it'd be a good opportunity to give it a try. I'm a pretty decent road biker (if I do say so myself) so I figured I ought to stand a chance on the dirt.

I talked to the guy at the bike shop, said I was a road biker, and asked what trails he recommended. They had a map so he showed me the main trail that started right across the street. But that trail wasn't particularly long so he recommended going about half way up it and then taking this other trail. That sounded good to be so off I went.

I discovered fairly quickly that my rental had the most squeaky brakes ever, that was annoying, but so it goes. All in all the thing was harder to propel. That's to be expected though given the weight and the fact that it wasn't necessarily so properly fitted to me.

Once I hit the dirt and all of its numerous accompanying rocks I discovered the joy of the mountain bike design. I felt those obstacles but all in all the ride was no where near as jarring as my road bike (particularly my awesome new road bike which is partially carbon and lets me feel every bump in the road).

I also discovered that mountain biking can be scary. For me it was alot like skiing. They can be totally awesome and I'm sure I'd love them. But I'm also not at all very practiced in the sports so I spend much too much time concerned that I'm going to fall over. And on a mountain bike this falling over involves falling onto hard dirt (which is also dirty) and rocks. Not exactly so ideal. It seems to require a lot more control on a mountain bike to keep it going where you want.

It also seemed to take quite a bit more power (although my being winded could also be because I'm not nearly as in shape as I was this summer), and I found it nearly impossible to maintain any speed.

But enough of that back to my story!

So I went down the main trail. Went the wrong way once, hit a parking lot figured I must be wrong went back found the main trail again and managed to keep it this time. When I got to the other trail he had recommended I was speculative that it was actually a trail. It looked more like a narrow washed out portion down the hill. But there were bike tracks, down I went.

Before that I was of the mind that I was capable of this mountain bike thing. I'd gone up and down and over and around rocks. Some of the stuff was even like crazy jagged rocks and ledges that would be a few inches up and what not. I quickly realized that I had been on the "nice" trail and that this new devilry is most likely 'real' mountain biking. It was something similar to somewhat loose jagged rock in a significant downgrade with some curves thrown in for good measure.

Going down I would stop probably ever 25 feet because I either thought I was going to or actually did nearly fall off. At least once I definately executed a jump off the bike because I'm falling but try to make it look like I meant to do that maneuver. It was impressive.

I got down to the bottom of the mess and it really didn't look like the trail was anything more trail like after that. And so I conceded. Back up the craziness I went. And somehow I was actually able to ride the whole way up (albeit granny gear).

And off on my nice trail like trail I went again all the way to the end. On this one part there was some kind of mound running across the trail, I don't know the purpose. But it was on a down hill so I had a bit of speed and on a whim I pulled up the front to become airborne. Such things are actually possible on mountain bikes, and I must say they really are quite a bit of fun.

All in all good times. I'm definately not ready to give up my road bike (especially since it's awesome, shiny, light, new, and awesome). But it really would be cool to have the opportunity to do more mountain biking and learn to be able to handle some of the tougher stuff. Inevitably this is such awesome mountain biking territory here, I'm not sure that they have such cool places at home.

5 days in a nutshell

Date: 7/8/08
Time: 6:15PM-7:15PMish
Distance: 11.936 miles
Average Speed: 13.3 mph
Time Moving: 54 minutes 07 seconds

Let's see what I can remember of this ride....

Well it had been planned that Jo and I would go out after work. She gets home later than I, generally between 5:30 and 6. Originally I was thinking that we would ride a whole loop, 20 miles, which is approximately 2 hours. But then we realized that the Olympics opening ceremony started at 7:30. The plan had to be changed.

So around 6ish Jo was home and we're getting all ready to go. I went through all my normal getting ready to ride routine of getting the water bottle, puting the cell phone and whatever else I'm taking in the pack, checking the pressure on and adding extra air to the tires. And I was ready to go. So I wheel out of the garage and Jo comes behind me.

I look at her bike and I'm like "umm...forget something?" She looked at me somewhat quizzically and I pointed out that her rear tire was completely flat. Which was odd being as it just came back from the shop, but whatever. So she goes to pump it up and it is determined that she has a flat. D-oh.

So she goes inside to go get a spare and change the tire and I ride around our little loop. I pull back in the drive way and she's unfurling the new tube. I've never actually changed a tire (kinda not idea for as much as I ride now, but hey we'll cross that bridge when we get there) so I thought the tube looked a bit off but didn't comment much. Then I saw the valve. "Umm is that going to fit"? See we both have road bikes with those little skinny tires. And those skinny tires have smaller valves, Presta valves. The tube she had in her hands had a Schrader, larger and what most people are used to, valve. She thought it might still fit, but called the bike shop before she tried...and it was a no go.

So then the plan was completely scrapped and I went off on my own and she went to the bike shop to exchange the spares for ones that would actually work for our bikes, so that she could ride the next day.

Other than all that it was a quite uneventful ride. Although I totally was working hard and pushing myself and so managed to post my fastest average speed yet of 13.3. Yay!

Oh and the Olympics opening ceremony was pretty cool. People in China are crazy. Staying up late to watch that was just the beginning of many nights to come.


Date: 7/9/08
Time: 8:20AM-I don't remember probably 11:20ish
Distance: 31.543miles
Average Speed: 12.0 mph
Time Moving: 2 hours 37 minutes 11 seconds

The next morning came early. But we managed to drag our lazy butts out of bed and were in the saddle on 20 minutes behind schedule.

It was crazy cool, for August that is, and so I got to wear my awesome arm warmers that I got back when it had just started to turn from cool into the summer heat. They were quite good and I like them. I have this amazing ability to be constantly cold. And the wind you generate biking can, in my opinion, make it quite chilly.

Jo was impressed how much faster it seemed like I could go. And it does feel faster, although the final averages speeds don't seem all that impressive.

I was originally hoping to go for 40 miles, and we probably could have pushed it and done it. But I was feeling fatigued even in the first 10 miles so decided to cap it at 30 miles for the day.

One amusing part was where we made our turn-around to go back was just after a long straight on a nice, although sometimes there are cars, road. Heading out, away from home, we were fighting against the wind. I hate wind it is evil and kills me every time. Jo was out ahead pumping away and I just started trailing. But when we turned around to come back you couldn't feel the wind at all any more and I was keeping up with her easily. I was even amusing myself by drifting (aka making her do more work to my own advantage).

So all in all, good, though not spectacular, ride. We then ran all of these errands which killed the whole afternoon somehow. But I did get supplies for some Christmas presents so I'm very proud that I'm finally actually going to work and plan ahead this year. And we also got more fishies - our tank is looking significantly more awesome, and less empty, now. And that evening we watched a bit of Olympics then went and saw Mamma Mia. Which I totally recommend. It's out there and in a good many ways pretty bad. But just so much fun that it trumps any flaws. And after the movie it was even more Olympics and a much too late bedtime, again.


Date: 7/10/08
Time: 8:15am-10:15am-ish
Distance: 23.813 miles
Average Speed: 12.7 mph
Time Moving: 1 hour 52 minutes 26 seconds

It was even more difficult to get up on Sunday. But again somehow we managed it.

Honestly I don't remember much from this ride. Maybe the sleep deprivation was getting to me.

Back on the Thursday prior I had wanted to do 60 on Sunday. But riding that morning I could feel there was no way that would happen. Up on the bike while peddling away, when I am normally quite awake, I totally wanted to take a nap - not idea.

Although we really were pushing it for the first 10 miles or so. Theres this one mostly flat, maybe a bit down hill section that has gentle curves but its open so you can see what's ahead. It's my favorite spot of the ride, albeit brief and I typically race through it a bit. When we hit there today we happened to be behind a small group of other bikers. Jo was ahead and was itching to pass. So when we hit the spot, having come off of some hills, she sped up to get in front. And I sped up with her....and we were definitely flying along at 20mph for a bit. Pretty durn sweet if you ask me.

Oh! one other thing. One of the stops on Saturday errands was to Dick's sporting goods where I picked up the bike gloves that I've been drooling over for quite a while now. I wore them on Sunday and while I wasn't quite sure initially, it seemed like the padding wasn't hitting where I thought it should, I didn't notice ever having the pain in my hands that I'll normally get on a ride - yay!

We just went with one loop, 20 miles, especially because we were originally going to go hiking that day as well. But both of us were pretty wiped and wanted to do things around the house.

So the hiking was canceled and I had a nice rather lazy Sunday: cleaned my room and the kitchen, read a bit, started testing and even had time to complete my Christmas present craft (it came out well, I'm happy). And of course watched the Olympics, got sucked in, and stayed up too late.

And now just because I've a bit of a theme going (the whole stay up too late Olympics thing) I shall deviate from the bike-centric blog, which this kind of-almost was.

So oddly enough while we were out on Saturday I got in line at Dick's Sporting goods and who is in the line next to us but Ally, who has been taking ballet class with me all summer. It was one of those slightly awkward moments where you first see someone in a completely new context. But the real point is that she said that our teacher had moved class to Monday. This was news to me, last I heard she had moved it from Tuesday (which was different than the original Thursday) to Thursday. But sure enough on Monday while I was at work she called and left a message to remind me that class was on Monday. Take note that it was a 'reminder' of the thing I had never been technically informed of.

In all of the original planning Monday was to be a day off so by body was not quite so keen on ballet. But I went anyways and my teacher denied that Thursday was ever an option - that irked me a bit. It was a rather uneventful class, except that I forgot my shoes -grr. And I came home and was sucked back into the Olympics, although I did exercise some will power and went to bed earlier than the past few nights.

So yesterday I finally got my rest day of no physical activity. And I used it to get a good bit of reading before, once again, letting my addiction get me. But womens team gymnastics was live. And since they're on the other side of the world that meant that it began at 10:30. But they were actually showing nearly al....


whoa the post was cut off by the MS site...how annoying.

Re-Engage

Date: 7/6/08
Time: 6:10-7:10ish
Distance: 11.647 miles
Average Speed: 12.3mph
Time Moving: 65:53

I'm back!

The last time I rode was July 19/20 when I participated in the Central PA MS ride. It consisted of riding up and down 100+ miles of way too many hills in scorching heat. Rock on.

So basically I'm crazy for this all. But it actually felt quite good to be back on the bike again after about 2.5 weeks off.

I made one serious adjustment to my bike. I raised the seat probably about 2 inches or so. Now I'm not a bike or fitting expert but I'm pretty sure that my bike frame is too big for me. So to compensate when I first started riding I lowered the seat so that it was all but sitting on the cross bar (this is a good 1+ inch lower than the 'do not lower past this line' on the seat post). This was just more comfortable for me. However as I rode more I realized that I wasn't extending my leg as much as I could, and should, but I didn't want to raise the seat before the big ride #1. A random guy on the ride actually said it looks like you should raise your seat...and I was like yea I know.

So anyways the seat is up so now I do quite literally have to hop on and off of the seat when I stop being as my leg does not reach the ground from the seat. But I do have quite a bit more power to my petal. It was pretty sweet. Felt weird...but hopefully I'll get used to it. I could get up to 16mph and maintain it much more easily. Although I was fatiguing quickly, I think that was more to do with the break/out of shapeness.

So seat change = good. Now I should just clean the drive train again (that was a mess last time) and if I can actually zip tie my cycloputer (thing that gives me those stats at the top) instead of twist tie-ing it to the frame my bike shall once again be tip-top.

Now that I'm done rambling on about that the actual ride:

Uneventful. Jo was sore from the gym so I went on my own. But it was just a short jaunt. I wanted to do an hour at try to make 12 mph. Check and check.

A rather amusing thing that happened was as I was approaching the big steep hill that is the start of the Greenbelt this other biker came out of no where and passed on my left. I don't know what I was doing but I was just poking along, still getting used to the new seat position I think. He was an older gentleman riding a mountain bike/maybe hybrid. I could tell that he was a somewhat serious rider by how he moved. And he was also wearing a volunteer shirt from the Tour'de'belt that I rode a few months ago.

So anyways he kind of blows by me in a not really 'greater-than-tho' fashion, but not particularly friendly like either. The gap between us grew, partially because I go slow on those crazy switchbacks. But then once we were down on the trail I found that I could go fast given my new bike-awesomeness so I kept him in my sights most of the whole ride. Then fairly close to the half way point he stopped for some reason and was standing there when I breezed (is that english?) by. By now feeling quite confident in my bike off I went. But then I soon started being all slow like again and was taking a drink when he came up next to me again. "I thought I left you way behind" he said. "Nope" I just smiled as he proceeded to get in front of me again and pedal away. I proceeded to not stay right on top of him, but definitely kept up for the 1 maybe 1.5 remaining miles before I turned around. I'm pretty sure he kept looking over his shoulder to see if I was there.

So that all was quite amusing. The most crazy part of my ride, in my humble opinion, came right near the end. The last 7/10 or so of our ride is downhill. Which is pretty sweet. So I'm just cruising along, seeing what speed I could keep up for it (a little over 20 mph). And I just happen to glance down a fairly wooded driveway on my right and what is standing in the middle of the drive way but a peacock. Now the plumage did seem a bit on the ragged side, but I'm positive it was a male peacock. Well that or I'm positive that I am delusional and I saw a male peacock. I was incredibly amused, considered turning around to check for my sanity's sake, but decided the uncertainty was more amusing, and proceeded home.
Jo says that peacocks do exist in the wild....but I think it's crazy that one could exist in 'the wild' of someones drive way in suburban Harrisburg.

Good times.

I intended to ride today but there a Thunderstorm so that plan was scratched. The new plan is to go out tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. 60 miles by Sunday maybe?

40, 44, 25 - I am a slacker.

Sorry for the lack of posts just in case anyone is still reading this. Life and a lack of motivation caught up with me. So here's the rides I've done since I last posted. You may notice that they are much too few and far between.

Saturday July 5: 40 miles.
Jo and I got a fairly late start at 8:30 that morning. But being as I was perpetually out late at concerts that weekend so it goes. It was a bit overcast and we even were lightly misted upon but overall it was uneventful. After one lap Jo wasn't feeling it and her bike seemed to be complaining as well, so she went off home.

I was determined however. Given that the event was looming even then I knew I needed to do more. So I went for the second lap. I saw a doe and fawn at one point. They didn't even run completely away - crazy.

I made it home a bit before 1 and moved on to have what turned into a fairly rotten weekend. But thats neither here nor there for the purpose of riding.


Saturday July 12: 44 miles
So I didn't ride all that week in between. Total slackerage. But the rotten weekend blurred into my week and Jo wasn't feeling great either.

On Friday some bike stuff that I ordered from Amazon finally came in. Most importantly was a cycloputer. So now I know how fast and how far I go etc. Sweetness. Although go figure the package was missing the instructions. I've figured out most everything anyways I think.

Saturday owing in part to my excitement about my new gear and some half decent weather I was out by approximately 7:30. Jo was away all weekend so I was on my own.

It was a mostly uneventful ride save a few interesting occurances. First I noticed some fire truck setting up in the Farm Show complex on the first lap so I was like hmm....fire show or something? But didn't may that much mind. So then later as I'm just going on my merry own way down Riverfront park next thing I know I'm suddenly in the middle of some sort of Fire-people-history-i really don't know festival. Whoa. I carefully navigated my way through and at the first opportunity took to the road (front street). Now I don't even like driving front street because its like 3 tiny little lanes. I do not recommend being a slow bicyclist on it. Not cool. And then farther down it turns into just one lane one way (the opposite way) and people were parked all along both sides with people trying to drive through and me trying to bike going the opposite way past them. Really not my favorite.

Later on my second lap I 'rescued' a turtle. The path goes through this decent sized nature park and theres a road up into it. So I was just going along and past something on the road. Realized it was a turtle, stopped, turned around and proceeded to chase him to the other side/nearer to the pond/lake thing. Good deed done.

At the farm show there were dozens of fire trucks on display on the second lap and later at front street I managed to again not die.

Pulled in home just before noon. My average speed was 11 something. Not so fast as I would have liked but o well. At least I finally felt like I stood a chance at 50 miles.

O its also notable that I hit a top speed of 29.9 mph. Its even more interesting that that happens to be on a road with a speed limit of 25. Yay for large downhills.


Monday July 14: 25(ish) miles
Really it was just a basic uneventful ride around the loop once by myself.

The thing to really talk about actually occurred Sunday. I decided to clean my bike. I'd actually decided this a while ago, it was purchased from a yard sale and I think it sat in a garage or something for a long time before it came into my possession. But it was rather dirty in spots. So after doing a bit of shopping (purchases included padded shorts which btw are very very good) and gathering up supplies I set to work mid-afternoon.

Ideally one has a bike stand on which to put up your bike. Things are rarely ideal with me but I like to improvise. I backed my car up to the garage and put the bike rack on my trunk and angled it really low so that I could set my bike on it and have it still be out from the car. Score.

I then proceeded to remove the wheels (improperly of course being as I couldn't figure out how to release the brakes) and pin the chain back up using a knitting needled so i could still run it without hitting the frame. Yup - I'm awesome. I scrubbed that thing as much as I possibly could. The result: one moderately clean bike and me covered in grease splatters. Good stuff.

When I went out on Monday though you could feel the cleanness. It was amazing. And peddling was practically silent. I love it.

That is all. Jo and I are going out tonight for a loop before So You Think You Can Dance.

Good times.

11.2 - I am slow

I was figuring on a short ride yesterday. Inevitably I have other things which make me not want to loose all of my evenings to crazy rides. So I was figuring on a short ride right after work. The idea was to try and go faster for the short distance.

That was the plan. Then I ended up staying over an hour later at work than I normally do. But I was still determined to go on the ride. So finally a bit after 6 we started off.

I am no good at riding fast. I couldn't maintain any higher speed than what I normally ride at. I just get fatigued so quickly. It's disheartening.

In general I feel for the past week like I've been becoming overwhelmed. Not just with these rides but kind of everything.

Now you may be thinking But Carlin there's a holiday weekend coming up. You'll have extra free time off and be able to rest and recuperate.

Nope, instead of having a nice little vacation I have 5 concerts to work. And realistically they're fun concerts and it's not like theres a box office to run. But still no possibility of evening rides or evening relaxation.

I shouldn't complain and I'm sure my positive demeanor should be returning soon. But some days.....

32.4 - and wet

On Sunday the weather did not cooperate. We had intended to go out in the morning again for another, probably not as long, ride. But when we woke up the skies were overcast and it looked like rain. All day it would go back and forth - sunny - ominous. And basically we totally could have ridden. But chickened out for fear of the crazy little storms that have been going around and terrorizing my plants.

So anyways, it was determined that we absolutely must get out today. The goal was 30 miles. And a secondary goal was to keep the pace at 12 mph or above. And Jo decided just to torture me even more by riding out ahead at faster rates thereby forcing me to be all somewhat speedy like.

When we reached just over 15 miles we stopped, had a snack, and then turned back around (thereby avoiding the nasty hills - yay).

One of the awesome part of our rides (except for all of the other people one must not hit) is riding along riverfront park. For those of you not familiar with Riverfront park it's just a thin strip of land that runs for quite a few miles along the Susquehanna and downtown Harrisburg. It is quite pretty.

Today we went both down and then back up riverfront park. At first it was just a normal trip back up. I was tired but still going. Then probably a third of the way up there was a bright flash of lighting off over somewhere a few miles on the other side of the river. And along with the singular lighting were giant grey clouds. Uh-oh.

It is also notable that riverfront park is still a good 10 miles or 45 minutes to an hour from home.

Jo made some comment about how we were going to get wet, we started contemplating various places to seek shelter (underpasses, gazebos, public buildings with overhangs...), and began to pick up the pace. Jo says we were doing about 15 mph back up the trail. I just know that it felt like I was going as fast as I possibly could (which was true).

We kept going and going up riverfront, to the east/north through a suburb, up over an evil bridge which is going through construction work. All as it got gloomier and gloomier.

On the other side of the bridge was the first really ideal safe-haven (a large gazebo in a nice park) but I opted to keep going as it was right after a downhill into a long straight stretch which I figured was the last I'd be able to crank out. On we went.

I promptly regretted continuing. And after a bit more it started truly raining on us, lightly as of yet. But we could see the rain off just a bit to our right (our west at that point).

Then the gusts of wind started hitting us. The rain I could deal with. I don't like being wet, and it was cold, but I could still peddle. The wind however...that stuff nearly stopped me in my tracks.

The rain was picking up and so we rode in to shelter under an overhang on the local community college campus. We contemplated who we could call to come rescue us as it began to serious pour. And by luck of the draw it seemed like there was no one around to rescue us.

After just a bit the rain seemed to be slacking off. From our shelter, looking south, it had never seemed like we were really in the storm. The sky was overcast but not stormy. It seemed like the storm was passing to our North!

Sure enough just about then my valiant prince charming returned my call. But given that his noble steed of a tiny black two door wouldn't be able to transport our bikes anyway I voted for continuing the ride and we'd call him if it got bad again.

Off we went again. There were some drops but the closer we got to home the more dry it seemed. We rolled into our garage at approximately 8:45 having left sometime around 5:40. Slightly drowned-rat-esque, but really no worse for the wear (at least so far).

Once I managed to move off of the couch we got ice cream from Friendlies being as they sent us a coupon and their marketing ploy worked and has had me craving ice cream the past few days.

It is way late now being as I had a project I needed to complete so I want to sleep. But first something needs to be mentioned of the fact that I've met goal #1!!!!!!!

Millions of thanks to everyone who donated. I really need to spend a better entry devoted to how much all of your support really means to me!

Thank you so much!
:-)

30- Whew

I did it!

Given that we weren't able to get out last evening a 7am start time was decided upon.

We managed to be on the road by 7:25.

It started as quite a muggy foggy and a bit dreary day. But it did clear up some. Although the humidity never let up.

You may notice from my new picture up there that I've added some awesome things to my bike.

First there is the strange blue tube. This is part of an idea I had a while back. See I fail at water bottles. I have this bad habit of taking a drink then reaching down to put it back in the cage. But then I miss the cage, drop the bottle, and my back tire then runs right over it. Ooops.

Actually I had this idea before that ever happened but its a fun story so moving on....

I was thinking about/ discussing with Jo the usefulness of a Camelbak (that tiny backpack looking thing that has water and a tube from which to drink it running up over the shoulder). She said that she had used one and wasn't the biggest fan because the weight really can get to you on a long ride plus the whole makes your back hot. So then I came up with the idea of making a kind of water pouch that would hang from the frame on ones bike and then you could have a tube from which to consume the water. I would occasionally speculate on how I would accomplish this (I figured that sometime when I had too much free time I'd hang a plastic bag and use a tube from the hardware store or something and see if the idea was at all feasible.)

Jo and I however have this quite interesting dynamic going on. As with the formation of our riding team I spurt out random ideas and then she goes and actually does them. So this week a box from amazon showed up. She had purchased just the inside plastic part of a camelbak as well as the largest bike frame bag she could find. These items were promptly installed on my bike.

Over all I was very pleased with the system. The whole keeping of tube on frame and having it mobile enough to easily reach my face could use a little work. But I declare the idea good. I should patent them and sell them.

Second and more obviously noticeable/cool but it had less thought involved which is why I talked about the other first is my new 'hood' ornament. I sewed him completely by hand being as he is so crazy tiny using a pattern I found a while back online. He's awesome I love him and I'm making Jo one. We're also planning a trip to Jo-Ann fabric later today and I plan on getting many awesome colors from which to make many awesome penguins.

Think I could sell them to raise a bit of extra $ for the ride?

Thats all for now. I ought to try and do something with my day now.
Wish me luck that the next 30 won't hurt so much.

Rain Rain Go Away

Well I was planning to get a good ride in today. But it just started pouring (like alot). Thats quite disappointing. Also, I hope it doesn't hurt my plants. Some of my vegetables actually have fruit!

However what is less disappointing is that I managed to sew an awesome tiny stuffed animal penguin. He is amazing and I shall make many more of him in many more colors. Yay!

*pictures coming soon (we hope)*

And millions and millions of Thanks to Chrissy and the Benfields. You guys rock!

28.4

Today we rode 28.4 miles.

It's rather amazing how easily one can kill an evening biking. It's also amazing how much water one can consume.

Overall I'd say it was a good ride. I felt rather strong for the first 2/3 of the ride. Hit a low point at the same place as last ride. But once again managed to gather a second wind after getting up the hill. And powered it back all the way home. Hooray. And I didn't walk any hills at all.

Also of note today I put the toe clips back on my bike. The jury is still out on their worthiness. Plus they do make crossing streets a bit more dangerous, but it could just be a learning curve issues. Besides they make me feel like maybe I actually know what I'm doing.

Next up on the biking equipment get list is a pair of biking shorts and sport sunglasses. Something definitely got in my eye today. And after those acquisitions a gel seat would make my rear significantly less angry with me.

Along the way I also contemplated the fact that between this training and dance class I'm going to end up with actual potentially even defined muscles in my legs. Whoa. Now if only I could grow me some abs we'd be in business. (Actually Jo and I in discussing this made a pack to to appropriate abdominal exercises every night - wish us luck.)

This was long, wandering, and rather off topic. Oops!

PS: Kudos out to my father who 'pledged' $50. My parents rock!

Life is like riding a bicycle.

Two weeks ago my roommate and I took the opportunity to hit up some yard sales around us. The first place we stopped had a bike. I've been itching to get a bike because J, said roommate, used to ride a lot so then I'd actually have someone to get some exercise in with. The bike seemed like it should actually be small enough for me and it was $30. Sweet deal.

*Side note: I also got 2 CD's elsewhere for $1. I'm hooked on yard sales. Last weekend I found a medium size tent (which will go well with my big and small tents) for $10, a CD for $1, and a game for $.05. Now I've got to kick myself for spending all this money on things I don't need. But it's so cheap it's too tempting.*

Being as the tires were both flat it wasn’t quite in ride-able condition but off to the bike shop it went and returned this Monday in working order. The excitement was too much and I had to try riding it.

It was scary.

Inevitably the bike is still a bit big for me. I had lowered the seat past where it was supposed to be positioned already but still could barely get my toe on the ground. Plus it’s a real street bike with tiny tires so the balance was a bit iffy.

And yet at the same time it was incredibly freeing. It’s so much easier and faster than running. I liked it.

Back in the garage I lowered the seat literally into the cross bar. And it was decided that J and I would go for a ride on Tuesday.

Now people have this bad habit of thinking that I am in shape. It stems from the fact that I am tiny and thin. However the reality is that my appearance is mostly owing to the fact that I don’t like to eat much. Given I’m not horribly out of shape. I’ve always been able to hold my own at sports like activities, but my endurance really isn’t that great. So I was a bit iffy about how I’d do at this whole ride thing. That and I was still afraid of falling off.

Tuesday came and it was all rainy and generally crappy weather, nuts. But miraculously it cleared up by evening and was literally sunny. We ventured outside.

Amusingly enough as we were headed out the neighbor on the end, a later middle aged divorcee with two cats whom J watches when she’s away, came out to talk to us, or well more accurately J. Apparently she has a bike and wanted to know how intense we were. I said I was a complete beginner and would give her the real scoop. And as we pulled out the in-between neighbor, earlier middle aged single, was returning with her dog. Neighbor 1 was heard to say “P do you have a bike?” It’s possible we shall be having end of the development almost all single, I’m the exception go figure, female, intergenerational bike riding. Go figure.

So finally off we went. We happen to live just a mile from the trail head to a city ‘greenbelt.’ And it really was awesome. Since I’ve lived here I’ve not appreciated the constant house and developed ness everywhere. So this trail was really an amazing find with its lush greengage and seemingly not in any kind of city-ness. Plus, most likely because of the earlier rain and the coolness of the evening we were practically the only people on the whole trail.

Physically I couldn’t believe it went so well. I did end up walking up 3 hills, but other than that it was fine. After a bit I’d reclaimed my bike balance and it was all good. I even became somewhat adept at shifting gears.

In under an hour we went 9.6 miles! It really did feel so good and free.

I’m excited to go out again now. The whole loop of the greenbelt is 20 miles so really I think I could be there quite soon.

It’d be nice if my butt could recover first however.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”