What's on my mind today

I'm still here!

2009-11-22T20:37:00.002-06:00

...I just can't seem to find any time to write about it. Most of my "computer" time is spent via my phone, whose capabilities are pretty limited. Life is busy and full and complicated. I'm still riding my bike, thanks to the beautiful November weather we've been enjoying after a cold, wet October. I've been running a little...up to 2 miles, but it isn't going so well. lol. My class has reached and passed critical mass...past the number where I feel optimally effective, so that part of my life has taken on a new stress. Nathan is playing club volleyball in St. Louis, so three nights a week one of us is gone for 4-5 hours between the drive time and practice time.

Life is hectic. Add to that some other things that are going on in my life. Not bad, necessarily, but things that I have no intention of discussing in a public setting such as this. And yet, just chattering on about life withough mentioning all of that feels fake. And so I don't write about anything. For now, anyway.

Ride the Rivers century

2009-10-16T10:15:00.003-05:00

I rode my first century this past Sunday. What an experience! I "decided" to do this century back in June or so, and then went back and forth all summer about whether or not to actually do it. I'm glad I did!

The weather forecast the week before the ride was enough to make a person bipolar. Up and down, up and down. "Yea! Highs in the 60's!"...."Ugh...lows in the 30's...." Well, when we started, the temperature was a blistering 39. Definitely on the "ugh" side of the thermometer.

I'd like to say it warmed up quickly, but it really didn't. Even when the sun came out, it was pretty cool. It wasn't as bad as I had anticipated, though.

We started in St. Charles, near the Ameristar Casino. I rode for the first mile or so with a friend, but once we hit the first hill he was off and away. Here's the first bridge we crossed...

We passed Westport and Creve Coeur Lake, around which was the monster hill of all time. Oh, my gosh...it just kept going up and up and up. You know that children's song, "This is the Song That Never Ends"? Well, I was humming, "This is the hill that never ends/It just goes on and on my friends/We starting climbing it a long, long time ago..." You know how it's hard to keep your bike upright when you're going really slowly? That was me. I got well acquainted with my granny gear!

The ride was primarily road riding, but we did ride on parts of some trails. This one was somewhere around Creve Coeur.

The first SAG, or rest stop, was about 25 miles into the ride at the St. Louis History Museum. Good snacks, but only two port-a-potties and lines at both of them. 25 miles is a long time to wait for a bathroom when you're hydrating like crazy!

After leaving Forest Park, we rode into downtown St. Louis. Traffic wasn't terrible, but with a Rams game later in the day, there were already quite a few people around and the tailgaters were already set up. I was very glad that there were other riders around during this portion of the ride. I was definitely a little intimidated by riding through the city streets.

There's the pack...way ahead of me. This was to be a theme for the day, except that usually they were too far ahead of me for me to see! :) In the city, I was able to catch up at the stoplights.

The next section of the ride was along the Riverfront Trail.

There was a mix of river views and industrial stuff.

Rest stop number 2 was about 43 miles into the ride at the Old Chain of Rocks bridge.

It's a very pretty bridge.

After crossing the bridge into Illinois, I was on a bit more familiar territory. We rode the levees along the river though the Hartford/Wood River area to Alton.

Lewis & Clark Confluence Tower, Hartford IL

These were fun. The levee is broken up in several spots by roads that cross it. You have to ride down from the levee, get off your bike, walk it across the road, pass through another set of gates, and then ride from a standstill back up onto the levee. So much fun to ride uphill from a dead stop after riding for 50 miles, but it was definitely a nice break for a bodies that have been sitting on a bike seat for all that time!

Melvin Price Locks & Dam 26, East Alton, IL. Incidentally, this is also the home of the National Great Rivers Museum, which is a neat place to visit.

The Clark Bridge in Alton is one of the prettiest bridges around, in my opinion, and worlds better than the tiny little Clark Bridge it replaced!

Rest stop #3 was at Russell Commons Park in Alton. At this point, we were 59 miles into the ride, and I was starting to realize that I felt pretty good. All along as I planned to do the century, I was very unsure that I would be able to finish it, but 60 miles into the ride I wasn't even feeling sore or tired. It was a little distressing to see all of the riders who zoomed by me, but I know that I'm slow and I wasn't out there to race.

Lunch stop! I still get a kick out of seeing this many bicycles in one place. :)

Yes, I took a picture of my lunch. It was sooo good! The roast beef sandwich I had was truly the best roast beef sandwich I've ever eaten...and it wasn't just because I had ridden all morning to get it! Hats off to Lone Wolf Coffee Co. for a fantastic meal!

I went to high school in Alton, so this portion of the ride was something like home territory for me. The first thing we saw on the Great River Road was the Piasa Bird painted on the bluffs.

The legend of the Piasa Bird is an interesting one.

The River Road is a beautiful area to drive or ride any time of year, but particularly in the fall when the trees are changing colors.

My aunt lives in the Calhoun County area, and I went to college in Quincy, so I've logged a lot of time driving on the River Road. I can remember stopping with my parents for peaches at the place below.

After passing through Grafton, we did some riding on the bike trail that parallels the road. Very pretty, but hillier than the (blessedly) flat road. I had to walk my bike up one hill here. :(

A neat thing about the ride was that we got to ride two different ferries. This caused me a little stress, though. As I rode along the bike trail, I could see the parking lot for the first ferry. I hadn't had any problems finding the trail markings before this point, but I started doubting myself. Did I miss a turn? Am I going too far? Oh, no...I'm going to have to ride even FURTHER! Never fear, once we reached the Marquette Park stables, there was a turn and a short 1/3 mile trip back to the ferry.

I lucked out and made it to the ferry just as they were loading the cyclists, so I didn't have to wait at all.

Here are some of the other riders on the Brussels ferry.

After the first ferry, we passed through about 10 very farm-y miles.

As we had gotten off the ferry, I just let everybody else go ahead of me. At this point in the ride (about 80 miles in or so), I had been passed by probably 90% of the riders (another 8% probably having started ahead of me!) and was clearly going to be at the back of the pack. I actually stuck within sight of the pack for a while...I felt pretty good after getting off the ferry...but eventually they passed out of my sight, as I knew they would. Well, that was OK, but when the group of riders from the next ferry started passing me...THAT was a little depressing!!

And funny, too...I mean, these people had to wait for the ferry to cross back across the river, load the cars, load the bikes, cross back across the river, unload the cars, and finally unload the bikes...and that still wasn't enough of a head start for me to cover those 10 miles to the next ferry without getting caught!!

Here are some other riders on the Golden Eagle ferry...only about 10 miles to go once we cross!!

The end of the century, funnily enough, was about the same place that the Katy Trail ride ended!

I have a picture of myself, back on a much warmer day in June, eating lunch at this building after riding the entire Katy Trail. :)

That was pretty much it. I rode into the parking lot, and the ride was over. It was a little sad...I felt such a sense of excitement and accomplishment...I did it!...but at the end of the ride there's no finish line or cheering group. You just pack up and go home. And I guess that's just kind of how life is.

I did think it was one of the less friendly rides I've been on this year. Probably 75% of the people who passed me (and, as I said, there were a lot!!), didn't speak at all, even to signal "on your left". Overall, however, it was a great experience. Trailnet provided great maps, the route was scenic, interesting, and well-marked, and good support was available. I'm already thinking ahead to next year's rides....

My first century...how I got there

2009-10-16T09:55:00.004-05:00

I actually did it. I completed a century, a 100-mile bike ride. I feel a little bit like the guy in the commercial..."I can't believe I [rode] the whole thing!"

It all started in April 2008, when my mom and brothers gave me a new bike. The first time I took it out on the bike trails, I got lost and ended up riding almost 20 miles. I decided that, if I could accidentally ride 20 miles, I could do it on purpose, too. That summer, I just rode locally on our wonderful bike trail system.

This year, I was excited to get out on my bike as soon as possible. I think my first ride was in February. I have an aunt who's an avid cyclist and runner, and we started talking (emailing) about bikes and riding. She suggested I come and ride a leg of the Katy Trail bike ride sponsored by Missouri State Parks, one of the shorter days, you know, "only" 50 miles. I thought she was delusional, but the more I looked at the website, the more I thought about doing the whole ride. So, eventually, I did.

The exciting thing about the Katy ride was that I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it. Then I started wondering what the next big thing would be. Around that time, I got a flyer from Team in Training, and one of the events was a century ride in Arizona. I started thinking about that, and while I never got around to going to the Team in Training meeting, the century idea stuck. After coming back from the Katy Trail, I started looking on the internet for bike rides and found the Ride the Rivers Century...right in my area!

Homecoming weekend

2009-10-04T13:14:00.003-05:00

I remember being in high school and all the fun and excitement surrounding big events like Homecoming. Now that I'm parenting two teenage boys, I'm looking back at my high school days and appreciating all that my parents did to make that fun possible. Here's my Homecoming day this year:

10:15 Leave for Nathan's football game.

11-1 Football game. Brrr...what a difference between this game and two weeks ago when we were getting sunburned! Saturday I was huddled up in a blanket and holding onto the precious heat from my hot chocolate.

2:00 Pick up the girls' corsages
2:30 Eat lunch

3:00 Wash the body paint from last night's game off Daniel's back

3:30 Remind Nathan he has to get ready

3:45 Remind Nathan he has to get ready

4:00 Remind Nathan he has to get ready

4:15 Insist that Nathan get ready since we have to be at his girlfriend's house in 15 minutes.

4:20 Help decide between two ties

4:25 Make boys stand together for a picture of the two of them before the dance

4:30 Leave to pick up Nathan's girlfriend

4:35 Turn around to go back to house and get Nathan's girlfriend's corsage.

4:45 Pictures at Nathan's girlfriend's house.

5:00 Drop off Nathan and Delissa at supper.

5:15 Pictures at Daniel's girlfriend's house

5:45 Pick up Nathan and Delissa

7:45 Drop off Nathan and Delissa at the dance.

Ahhh....relaxing at home for a couple of hours. Took a nap...

10:45 Wake up and go to pick up Nathan and Delissa

10:50-11:10 Wait in insane line of traffic to get into the high school parking lot

11:40 Drop off Nathan and Delissa at party

12:00 Text from Jeff "Are you OK?" as I was pulling in driveway

Quick shower!!

12:35 Leave to pick up Nathan and Delissa from party

1:10 Drop off Delissa

1:30 Finally back in bed for the night!

It's so much more fun to be tired because you're the one having fun, but it makes me happy to see my kids enjoying their high school experience. And I'm soooo happy that prom is 6 months away!!

School stuff

2009-10-01T22:25:00.003-05:00

We're getting ready to learn about graphing in my first grade classroom, so we've been sorting different collections of things by different ways. We've sorted students by different characteristics of their clothing; sorted completely different items into groups; and sorted foam pieces by shape, color, and size.

Today we worked on putting items from a group onto a graph. We had practiced this on the board with magnets yesterday, so we reviewed what to do as a group. Then, the students each sorted a handful of shapes by color and chose two colors to use. They were to glue their groups of shapes onto graph paper. After the review, we looked over their work together and decided if the graph could go into the "Yes! That's right!" group or the "No, not quite" group and taped them on the board. This is what we got the first time around:

After reviewing each graph and deciding if it was correct or not, we repeated the exercise. This time, we had a much better result:

It's always exciting to see the kids "get it". Now if only I can teach them to figure how many more and how many fewer!!

Club volleyball

2009-09-29T06:24:00.002-05:00

We are entering our first foray into "elite" sports. Nathan tried out for and made a local (St. Louis area) club volleyball team. That's pretty exciting. He has a lot of potential to be a great player. The excitement, however, was quickly followed by stress.

Club volleyball is not only a huge financial commitment (and, honestly, we couldn't do it without help), but it also requires a large time commitment. Practice three times a week in St. Louis, I knew that before signing on. But last night I got an email about athletic training, uniform fittings, etc., all on top of the 2 hour parent meeting I have to be at this week. I'm hopeful that once things are set and they're on their regular schedule I won't have this ball of panic in my chest. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that the other local boy who made the team has practice at the same time so that they can carpool.

Someone who also did the Tour de Coal ride on Saturday kindly emailed me with some suggestions for my first century. The main thing, of course, is to keep riding and get in at least one ride of a good distance. I'm hoping to manage something on Sunday, but with the way my week is shaping up I can't imagine how I'd get in a weeknight ride...and I'm tooo chicken to ride in the dark before school. (Not to mention the fact that getting up at 5:40 is plenty early for me!!)

Tour de Coal

2009-09-27T12:13:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was the Tour de Coal in Benld, IL. It's a metric century, or 63 miles. Last month, I rode in a "60-mile" ride that turned out to be a 68 mile death march. I had terrible leg cramps from about 25 miles on, largely, I think, because I didn't drink enough. It's pretty easy to stay well hydrated when it's hot outside because you're dying of thirst. Cooler days, while great for riding, make it a little harder to remember to keep drinking.

The Tour de Coal was my warm up for the Ride the Rivers century next month. My first century. Gulp. I was a little apprehensive how it would go after struggling so much last month. I even told the friend I rode with, "I should have sent my century registration before this ride!"

Despite a rainy forecast, we had a really nice day for a ride. The sun was out a lot of the time, and it was fairly cool. The route was advertised as flat to rolling hills with some substantial hills. Pretty accurate. I love the rolling hills. They're a lot of fun. Not so much a fan of the bigger ones, though!! At one point, I went down a pretty steep hill. I've gotten braver than I used to be, but this one made me a little nervous. At the bottom, I thought, "Boy, I'm glad I didn't have to go up that hill!" And then I came around a corner and was facing its evil twin!

One of the nice things about the organized rides is you always find people to talk to. This one was no different. I rode the last 20 or so miles with an older man who passed me. After he passed, I decided I was going to at least keep up with him and so pedalled along behind him. After a while, I pulled alongside me and started chatting. Nice guy, but he managed to unintentionally insult me twice in our time together. First, he told me I was good to ride behind because I'm big. Okaaaayyyy. Then, later, he told me it was good that he came across me because he had been starting to break a sweat!! So...I'm fat AND slow. Haha. I know he didn't mean it that way, but it sure came across that way. If he was someone I was going to hang out with in "real life", I'd have called him on it for sure!!

Overall, I was slower than I'd like to be, but I felt great until the last ten miles or so. Then, we hit a very unwelcome headwind that really slowed us down. That's when I had to start the self-talk: "Only 10 miles...you can ride 10 miles...you've done it before....only 9 more miles...you can ride 9 miles...you've done it before..." And I did, indeed, do it. :)

The rain started about 10 minutes after we got into the truck. Great timing! For us, anyway. I'm sure it was a little disappointing to those attending Benld's fall festival. All in all, it was a good ride. Well marked, nicely spaced SAGs, and a good route. I'll likely be back next year for it.

Casey

2009-09-06T22:25:00.002-05:00

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are never far from my mind. Both my nephew and my brother are serving in the Middle East. Both are on their second tours of duty. That's my nephew above in the picture with his daughter, who is now 5. He's a gunner on a helicopter crew serving in Afghanistan.

At least, he was until Thursday night. On Thursday night, a missile hit the back of his helicopter. The pilot was, thankfully, able to land the helicopter safely, but Casey was seriously injured by shrapnel. The war has been made far more real to our family. We read in the papers all the time about people who are killed and injured, but this person is ours.

He was sent to Germany, where he had six surgeries, and arrived at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., tonight, where he is undergoing yet another surgery on his abdomen. At this point, the tests show that no vital organs were damaged. He has a lot of therapy and healing in front of him, but the outlook is positive. Please pray for him.

Families sacrifice for each other. That's just part of the job. Military families have an even bigger burden to bear. I've watched my niece live though her (single parent) father's year-long deployments and regular absences for trainings. I've watched my nephew's young marriage fall apart during his first deployment. Seen his young daughter live without her daddy. It's hard. You know it going in, but you know it like you know labor pains hurt. The knowledge is intellectual until you're in the middle of it, and then you have a whole new awareness of pain.

And through this ordeal, I've seen my sister-in-law's sacrifice and love for Casey. He's not really my nephew. He's not really her son. He's the baby a friend of hers gave birth to...a friend who wasn't really prepared to have a child. He's the baby that she raised for several years until her friend decided that she was ready to parent. And "ready", here, is a relative term. My sister-in-law has been a constant source of love and support for Casey. She's been the one at his high school events, at his boot camp graduation, and even more...she's been the one to care for and bear with him through the day-to-day stuff of raising a child. Not the "fun" stuff, but the real stuff.

And I've watched as his "real" mother has pushed herself to the forefront at his wedding, and now again as this drama unfolds. And watched as my sister-in-law, out of love and a desire for Casey to be happy, to avoid feeding drama, steps backward. She is the embodiment of the real mother in the story about Solomon's wisdom, the one who is willing to give up her child to avoid him being cut in half. And she'll be the one who is supporting him once the "excitement" is over. And, in the long run as well as the short, she's the one who gains. Because though she didn't give birth to him, she's the one who's had him, in a very real way, for most of his life.

7/14/09

2009-07-14T20:40:00.001-05:00

Distance: 14.229 mi
Time: 1:07:33
Avg. Speed: 12.7 mph
Max. Speed: 20.7 mph
Calories: 527.6

Plans

2009-07-13T22:10:00.003-05:00

I have some bike rides planned through October. I had seen something about the Ride the Rivers century ride, which looks to be cool and isn't far from me. I thought a century would be a neat accomplishment and something to keep working towards. Waiting til October gives me more time to prepare for it, but it also gives me plenty of time to backslide. Knowing myself, I know that I need closer goals to work towards as well. So...

August 22 I'm riding 60 miles.

Sept. 26 I think I'm doing this 75 mile ride.

That should put me in good shape to ride 100 miles on October 11. I hope.

I think I've managed to drag one friend into the 60 mile ride, and I'm working on several for the century. The cool thing, though, is that I'm meeting new people, too, as I do different rides. I'm loving this cycling thing. :)

7/13/09

2009-07-13T22:02:00.002-05:00

I got up this morning at 5:10 to ride my bike. Daniel spent the night at a friend's house, and Nathan had volleyball camp at 8:30, so my babysitters were gone during my normal bike ride time. If I didn't get up and ride before Nathan left, I wouldn't have been able to. Also, I figured it was good practice for when school starts again.

I am not good at getting up, but I had an online friend who was also getting up, so I felt like I was accountable to someone...even if the someone is 4 hours away. It was pretty dark at 5:10, but by 5:30 it was light enough to ride. Boy, was it chilly!! I tried pushing myself some after warming up, attempting to ride for 5-minute increments at or about 16 mph. The first increment, I held out for 4 minutes. The second one I managed 3 minutes. I felt, for the most part, like I was riding in jello. Maybe I was pushing too hard after pushing myself so hard on Saturday.

My stats for the ride most certainly weren't very important...but I saw a fox on the bike trail!! Not 1.5 miles from my house, basically in the center of town. Very cool!

Distance: 17.025
Avg. speed: 12.3 mph
Max. speed: 21.2
Time: 1:22:52
Calories: 619.9

Minor revelation

2009-07-12T14:10:00.003-05:00

Nothing earth-shattering, for sure, but when I was sitting in church today I did have a minor revelation about something.

Back in January, in the midst of a not-so-pleasant conversation, Jeff asked me if I was happy.

"(sniff, sob)...sometimes," I answered.

He asked me what would make me happy, and sadly, I didn't even know. I told him how I never really had an opportunity to find my "thing". I've been raising kids since I was 19. I'm not complaining--my kids are blessings and my own doing, for sure--but I've been parenting and working and going to school and married to first one man and then another. I've always done whatever it is that my husband wants to do. With Jeff, we do a lot of camping, we watch a lot of movies, and we go to sporting events. And I love those things. But they're none of them "my" things. I didn't even know what I'd want to do if given the opportunity.

Well, in church today I realized (kind of out of nowhere, because it had nothing to do with the message...except I guess just in looking at what God has done in my life over the past 6 months) that biking has become that "thing". I wasn't looking for it to or planning for that, but it has taken that place.

Of course, that leads to some reconfiguration in our lives. It has been a real adjustment for Jeff that I have something apart from "us" to do. I've tried to interest him in cycling, but he couldn't be much less interested in either participating himself or just being involved in what I'm doing there. I guess he's accustomed to me being available (for the most part) for whatever, and now I have other plans. He's been fairly supportive (understanding that I needed to be riding to train for the Katy Trail ride), but sometimes I wonder if that's wearing thin for him as he realizes that it wasn't just a one-time ride but is, instead, more of a lifestyle change.

It's going to be interesting for me to balance this new love with still making my husband feel secure and loved and still fulfilling my role in our family. I'm not quite sure how that'll work out. And I hope, additionally, that he can find (or return to) something of his own so it doesn't seem so one-sided to him.

Tour de Donut

2009-07-11T16:23:00.003-05:00

Well...what an experience. Today dawned cloudy and slighly ominous. I actually got to Staunton pretty early, and Daniel and I checked in and got our t-shirts and everything. There was a huge pack of riders...1,120 showed up to ride today, trusting that the weather would be good to us.

In front of us...

Behind us...

As we stood in our place in the pack of riders, it started to rain. Of course, it was windy and chilly, too. Trying to think positive, I said, "Well, it could be worse."

Daniel looked at me like I was crazy and said, "What are you DOing??? Do you WANT it to rain harder??"

And then it did.

It POURED on us. Big, fat, hard raindrops. All you could do was laugh...and shiver. We were soaked. The worst part was waiting in the rain for the start. We were there for about 40 minutes before they started us off. Once we were riding, I didn't feel cold anymore, though I still needed sunglasses to keep the rain from pelting my face.

I've never ridden with so many people before, so that was a little scary, especially combined with the wet roads. Daniel stayed ahead of me for the first 10 miles, and I was starting to wonder if I was going to get my butt kicked by a kid who's only ridden his bike twice this summer.

One thing I hadn't really expected was HILLS. There were sooo many hills on the course! My legs definitely got a good workout today! I am usually a big chicken going downhill (just ask Jeff about riding bikes at Meramec State Park!), but today I needed the momentum just to get up the next hill. At one point, my bike spedometer showed I was going 29.9 mph. I had to just hold my breath and pray.

I saw Daniel at the first donut stop (Prairietown...about 10 miles in). I believe he ate 6 donuts there. I limited myself to 3. I left that stop before he did, and I didn't see him again until he crossed the finish line.

The first 10 miles were quite an experience, what with all the other riders, the rain, and the hills. I was asking myself, "Why am I doing this?" After that first stop, though, it got easier. The second stop was in Wordon. I ate 3 more donuts, which made the 6 I had planned to eat; then I ate one more for good measure.

The end of the ride was really neat. There were people standing on the sides of the roads clapping and cheering for us. It was a nice boost there during the last 2 miles. In the end, I crossed the finish line after 2:02 hours of riding...and 2:16 including the time at the donut stops.

I averaged 14.1 mph over the 32 miles, which is my best average speed yet. I was really surprised by that because of all the hills and the wind. Even with my best effort yet, I was number 453 to cross the finish line, barely in the top 50%. But still there. :) Daniel and I are both strategizing about how to do better next year!

Bike log 7/9/09

2009-07-09T14:21:00.002-05:00

Today Daniel and I took a ride in preparation for Saturday's Tour de Donut. In case I haven't posted this yet (I think I only did on facebook, so I apologize if I already put it here), here's a video that gives you a hint of what we're in for...

We're doing this ride together because he was annoyed that I wasn't taking him with me on the Katy Trail (and never will...it was too lovely to only be responsible for myself!), so I offered to do this ride with him instead. Unfortunately, he hasn't been too motivated to train. He did manage to drag himself out with me today, though, and it was a nice ride.

It's nice to ride with someone else again. I'm once again getting accustomed to the solo rides, but company makes it more enjoyeable. We actually got a chance to talk, something that can be in short supply with the busy schedules of teenagers. And having a partner makes it easier to ride faster...and to be dragged back as well. He was definitely struggling by the end of the ride, but he hung in there. He wasn't at all happy with me because I told him that we were going to ride a 22-mile loop, but it was actually 26 miles of riding (time to and from the loop)...I had told him that before, but it didn't really register.

Distance: 26.541 mi
Time: 2:02:18
Avg. Speed: 13.0 mph
Max. Speed: 20.1 mph
Calories: 1038.7

Bike log 7/7/09

2009-07-07T22:42:00.002-05:00

Back on the bike after mud volleyball weekend. I was a little worried how I'd do because I somehow tweaked my bad knee in the mud, and after Monday's league volleyball game I couldn't straighten it. Not good going into Saturday's ride. It was OK, though. I woke up with my knee feeling better, and the lesser range of motion didn't affect my pedaling.

Distance: 17.044 mi
Avg. speed: 13.8 mph (I think that's a new best!)
Max. speed: 21.7 mph
Time: 1:14:25
Calories: 666.1

I've decided that I am, indeed, going to do the Ride the Rivers century in October. I'm excited. Now to work up a training plan. I've googled and come up with one resource that I'm going to combine with a book I bought a couple of months ago (Bicycling Magazine's Century Training Program: 100 Days to 100 miles, by Marla Streb. The book has all kinds of information, but seems a little thin on specific DO THIS training info.). This is definitely a challenge I need to work up to, but I have a few months to go. I'm busily trying to drag every cyclist I know into doing it as well!

Bike log 7/2/09

2009-07-02T15:55:00.002-05:00

I did not want to ride my bike today. The first thing I thought this morning was how little motivation I had. But...Jacob had vacation Bible school for 4 hours, and I hate to "waste" that time apart by not doing something out of the house. After some hemming and hawing, I went.

Every time I do this (drag my complaining self out of the house to ride), I'm glad. Once I got on the trails and started pedaling, it felt great. Of course, it helps that today was a beautiful day--gorgeous!!--but it just felt good to be outside and riding.

Distance: 16.08 miles
Time: 1:14:04
Avg. speed: 13 mph (an increase...would have been more if I hadn't spent some time texting while I rode...also, the last portion of the ride home always kicks my butt)
Max. speed: 24.1 mph (after a hill, but I kept it up for a while :D)
Calories: 625

Once again, I felt pretty good on the hills. I felt pretty strong overall today. And, while the scale doesn't show it, I think my body has definitely tightened up. I won't be modelling swimsuits any time soon, but wearing one won't be as painful.

Bike log 7/1/09

2009-07-02T10:52:00.003-05:00

Distance: 24.135
Max. speed: 21.4 mph
Avg. speed: 12.3 mph
Time: 1:58:02
Calories: 855

Notes: Went 15 miles out on bike trails, rode home along the road. Lots of hills on the way back. I'm getting a little bored with same old bike trails, so this was a nice change. Well, maybe "challenging" is a better word than "nice". I was so close to getting off and walking up the first hill, but I did better on the remaining ones.

I'm dragging a little this week. I'm missing having company on my rides, and I'm kind of goal-oriented with the donut race and the century coming up. After the donut race, I'm going back to just riding because I enjoy it. I think my focus on getting faster (which, frankly, isn't happening) is taking away some of my enjoyment of just being out and doing it.

6/29/09

2009-06-29T22:37:00.002-05:00

I had a chance to get in a better ride today. Just on the regular bike paths here in town. I maybe need to start branching out to some road riding because I'm getting a little tired of the same old paths, wonderful as they are.

Miles: 19.630
Max. speed: 22.2 mph (downhill, but I WAS at 20+ on my own today :D)
Avg. speed: 12.7 mph
Time: 1:32:57
Calories: 732.5

I did a couple of hill repeats at the end. I also was trying to stay at 14-15 mph. After doing passably well on the Katy ride, I'm thinking I might actually want to try for some speed in the Tour de Donut in two weeks. I managed to keep at or near my goal on the way out, but slowed way down on the way back.

I'm recovering from the big ride. My rear itself isn't too sore, but my skin still has some spots that are somewhat chafed. I find myself missing the ride, though, now that I'm back in the real world. I guess that's good, to leave wanting more. And it gives me something to look forward to for next year.

Bike log 6/28/09

2009-06-29T09:56:00.001-05:00

Rode around 10 miles just around town. 8 on the bike path with Jeff. I was towing Jacob. Another 2 riding back from dropping off a truck at my mom's house.

Katy Trail bike ride

2009-06-27T22:07:00.001-05:00

We had a GREAT time!! It was hot as can be, oh my gosh it was miserably hot. I don't know that I've ever slept so little in my life...in bed after 10 (and the last few nights I had a terrible time falling asleep and didn't get to sleep til after midnight) and up around 4 or 4:30 a.m., and I'm sure that I've never pushed myself so hard. And it was wonderful. I met so many new people AND got to hang out with my aunt Nancy. It was a blast. Here's a loooonnnngg rundown on the week.

SUNDAY: We arrive in Clinton. Jeff and Jacob drove me there, which stuck them with about a 9-hour round trip on Father's Day. I have the best husband in the world! After they dropped me off, I checked in and dragged all of my stuff (I took waaaayyyy too much stuff. Next year I'll take about a third of what I took this year.) to where Nancy was camping and set my stuff up. We went to enjoy the a/c and wait for the rider's meeting. After the meeting, I met three other people from my hometown whom I'd never met before. Eventually, we headed back to the tents, to shower, and to bed.

MONDAY: Clinton to Pilot Grove (61 miles)

Everybody got packed up before I did, so I was back in the breakfast line. I made some new friends (who happened to live in the St. Louis area) and then headed out on the trail. The weather wasn't too bad until noon. We had good cloud cover. I caught up with Nancy in Sedalia while she waited for the vendors to set up for lunch and we stuck together more or less for the rest of the day. Monday was a 61 mile day, and I was REALLY dragging by the end of it. The day ended with a couple of long inclines which were pure misery. Possibly the hardest part of the day came towards the end. We stopped at a SAG (kind of like a cyclist's rest stop with water, Gatorade, fruit, bathrooms, and moral support) that was only about 4 miles from the end.
And then the girl there said that we actually had 6 miles left. My odometer was off. I wanted to cry. I know it's "only" two miles, but it was a long darn day.I have never been so glad to pull into a place as I was to see Pilot Grove. My rear was sooo sore, and I was wondering a little what the heck I got myself into. Even so, I was having fun. We got the tents all set up, and then I headed over to the shower truck for the first of many cold showers. I'm sure it had hot water, but after riding all that way in the heat, all I wanted was to cool off!!We had a nice dinner, then I read for a while in one of the shaded pavilions while my phone charged and then went to bed.

TUESDAY: Pilot Grove to Jefferson City (64 miles...or 67 miles if you're insane)

I was ready this morning. I didn't want to be one of the last ones packed up. The second I heard a tent unzip, I jumped up, scrambled to the end of my bed, and let the air out of my air mattress. I hustle back to the front of the tent to start getting stuff packed, and for some reason I looked at my cell phone. It was 3 AM!!!!! So...back to sleep til about 4:15 or so. Then we got packed up and had our first encounter with The Pancake Man.

The Pancake Man has a griddle that's maybe 10 feet long. Maybe it's more. He has a machine that shoots out batter for 4 perfectly-sized pancakes at a time. Maybe it was just riding 61 miles the day before, but I have NEVER had a better pancake (sorry, Mom). We also had fresh fruit and sausage. Then, we headed off. Honestly, I was kind of dreading this day. I was really sore from Monday, the heat was supposed to be as bad, and the ride was even longer.

Somehow, though, Tuesday was much easier. Nancy and I rode together for a lot of the day. The trail was really pretty and had a lot of shade. Maybe Nancy remembers more anecdotes from the day...I just remember it being a nice day.After 64 miles of riding, we had a decision to make. We could either ride a shuttle into Jefferson City or ride an extra 3 miles into town to the park where we were camping. I felt pretty good, so I asked the volunteer at the SAG about the ride in. He said there were a few hills, none bigger than the first bridge on-ramp (there were three bridge/overpasses to cross, including the big bridge over the Missouri River). Well, surely I could handle that, so off I went. Nancy and our friend Randy, being somewhat smarter than I was, opted to take the shuttle.

Well, those hills were miserable!! The bridges weren't too bad, but it seemed like all I did was climb hills after that, too, and the last hill up to the park was a killer. I was about half dead by the time I got there. All I could do was lie on the ground for 45 minutes or so until I could both breathe and stand at the same time. After the recovery time, I was OK. We set up our tents and hung out for awhile in the shelter before dinner. After dinner, we got to hear from both the director of the Missouri parks dept and Jay Nixon's wife. The parks guy was dressed in a suit and tie...in the 90+ degree weather. Probably kept his speech shorter!Tuesday night we got a welcome respite from the heat. Storms off in a distance sent in some nice, cool breezes. We were a little nervous about the storms forecast and the trees blowing around over our heads, but the rain stayed away and we had a nice, comfortable night of sleep.

WEDNESDAY: Jefferson City to Herman (50 miles)

We left Jeff City nice and early. We were on the road by 5:30 a.m. because the ride had a police escort to help us get across the big bridge before rush hour traffic got started. Once we got back to the trail area, the Pancake Man served us french toast (also very good)...and off we went again.Wednesday was a challenging day for me. Instead of pedaling along at my own rate, I chased the back wheels of some of the faster guys. I managed to hang in there for most of the day, only dropping way off once, and they were kind enough to wait for me a the next SAG. We pulled into Herman by 10:40 and got the tents set up.

Once all of our group made it in and got showered, we walked (uphill...I swear, everywhere we had to go was uphill. I hate hills) to lunch at a local restaurant. Not my favorite meal of the trip, but one of the more entertaining ones. I was talking away (no surprise there) when one of the guys with us made a signal that he was tired of listening to me babble. So I offered to not speak for the rest of the meal, AND HE TOOK ME UP ON IT. (Don't get any ideas!!!) I am proud to say that I remained silent for the rest of the meal until he gave in and asked me to please start talking again. Unfortunatly for the rest of the table, the vacuum left by my silence was quickly filled by someone else. I, meanwhile, managed to get my point across here and there with expressions and gestures. I did feel a little sorry for the guy from Texas who joined us after the beginning of the silence sentence. No one bothered to explain to him what was up with the mute girl at the table.

We had dinner that evening at Mt. Pleasant Winery. Beautiful building...uphill, naturally. Up a pretty long, steep hill. And that was supposed to be our storm shelter!! No way would I be dragging myself back up there in a storm, and luckily we didn't have to. After dinner, some of us headed for some ice cream, and I learned that I can, indeed, ride my bike in a sundress. If I'm careful.

THURSDAY: Herman to Augusta (38 miles)

I was pretty beat this day from pushing myself the day before. That 38 miles felt like a long way. It was probably my hardest day since Monday. I don't remember anything too noteworthy from the ride, but at the end we were faced with yet ANOTHER hill. This thing was a monster. Since I was dragging halfway into the 38 miles, I had decided early on that no way was I climbing that hill on my bike...but even walking my bike up I had to stop and take a break. Nancy, on the other hand, rode the whole way up. That woman is something!! I was both proud and amazed. I never could have done it.

We got a fantastic camping spot that night. Great shade, right next to the bathrooms (flush toilets...ahhhhh!) and the air conditioned dining room and just down the street from the shower truck. The only problem was that we had (you guessed it) another hill to go up to get there. I walked my bike up and then went back for my bags. My thousand pound bags. As I was hoisting them onto my shoulders and looking despairingly at the hill, a guy across the street offered to carry them up for me. Oh, my gosh! It was like the sun came out and angels started singing. I definitely took him up on the offer...though I took a lot of grief from my camping family for my "Sherpa". And let me tell you, it was worth every verbal jab!!

The shower truck had some major problems getting parked where the ride staff wanted him, so we all went to lunch just as nasty and stinky as we got off our bikes. We ate at a neat little restaurant, Bella's Cafe, uphill from the restaurant. The food was great, and the waitress, who was seriously harried by the influx, was wonderful as well.Back to camp for a nap and some talk and relaxing before dinner. After dinner, we took a shuttle up to the legion hall for our last rider meeting. Then, we walked back. I had planned to go hit the wineries, but they were closed. We hung around outside talking for a while and then went into the a/c to play some cards.

FRIDAY: Augusta to St. Charles (27 miles)

After the rest of the days' rides, this day was a piece of cake. Right up until my flat tire. Luckily, my riding partner knew just what to do (since I only had the vaguest idea...something that I should maybe do something about) and fixed it for me. As he worked, tons of people passed us by. Once it was finished, though, we were back in business and made up quite a bit of time. Pulling into St. Charles was a little bittersweet. Boy, is my body tired, and I missed my family (except Nancy, of course)...but I had a lot of fun and met some neat people. And now I'll miss Aunt Nancy. :) I can't wait til next year!!

Katy Trail bike ride

2009-06-20T23:55:00.002-05:00

As anyone who's been within conversational (or blog) range of me in the past several months knows, my aunt Nancy and I are riding the Katy Trail on an organized group ride from June 22-26. 240 miles in 5 days...yikes. We ride all day and tent camp at night...which should be quite a change from our camper.

Jeff is taking me to Clinton, MO, tomorrow (almost today) afternoon. I'll camp there and then depart the following morning. If the forecast holds true, Monday's high should be near 100 degrees. I will be drinking A LOT of water and Gatorade!!

I am very excited and a little intimidated by this undertaking. It will definitely be a challenge. I've done a lot of riding in preparation but have never ridden as far as I'll ride any of the first 4 days. I'm also excited because I realized last night (during insomnia-induced web-surfing) that I am actually going to have "free time" after the riding portion is finished each day. I'm not entirely sure I'll know what to do with it, but hopefully it'll all come back to me!

If you're interested in seeing how it's going or what I'm up to, you can go to this link during the ride. Each night they'll post pictures and info from the day. Wish me luck...and pray for good weather!!

http://www.mostateparks.com/katytrail/2009ride.htm

Bike log 6/18/09

2009-06-18T14:14:00.002-05:00

Rode with Daniel today. Once again, got a later start that I should have. We planned to ride abou 15 miles. Since he's going to ride with me in the Tour de Donut in July, I've been on him to get riding. He's been assuring me that he'll be just fine. I think maybe today was an indication that he has a ways to go.

We really needed to ride at about a 15 mph pace to get back in plenty of time to pick up Jacob from VBS. The pace would be a stretch for me, and I ride regularly. In addition, Daniel hadn't, it turned out, eaten much. A good reminder for me that, despite the fact that he's 16, he still needs his mom. lol. It was also the hottest day I've ridden this year so far (my bike computer said 105, but I think that was pretty high. That's the heat index I heard, but we only had a forecast of 95. Anyway, it was hot. Having learned my lesson in the past, I made sure to drink lots and lots of water.

Daniel ended up needing to slow down, and finally I had to leave him behind in order to get home in time to pick up Jacob. Not long after I left him, Daniel had a flat tire. Since our van is currently awaiting a new engine, I had to get his bike home using my little car. Thankfully, my brother lent me his bike rack before he left for Iraq...I just had to figure it out on the fly. My positive take on the afternoon is that this flat tire is God's way of giving me some tire-changing and repair experience. Hopefully I don't need it next week!

Distance: 17.52 mi.
Max. speed: 23.4 mph
Avg. speed: 12.7 mph
Time: 1:22:57
Temp: mid-90's
Calories: 663.7

Bike log 6/17/09

2009-06-17T09:45:00.004-05:00

First hot day in a while. And little rain in the forecast, for once! I'd planned to ride an hour and a half or so but got sucked into facebook, so I ended up riding 40 minutes. Not sure if it's not riding for a week and a half or the heat or the fact that we played 3 hours of nonstop sand volleyball last night, but I was feeling slow. Of course, on the way back I started really feeling it...just in time to stop. :(

I had a couple of stretches on the way back where I worked to keep my speed over 15 mph and did well with that. I even (triumph!!) managed 15 mph going up the killer hill at the end of the trail. Yea!

Distance: 8.229 mi
Max speed: 21.7 mph (downhill)
Avg. speed: 12.3 (which tells you how pokey I was the rest of the time. This actually surprised me a little. I thought I'd have had a higher avg.
Time: 40.09 min
Temp: ~85
Calories: 301.4

I'm hoping I can manage one big ride tomorrow, and then I'll be packing for my Katy Trail ride. Very exciting! =)

Challenges

2009-06-16T14:54:00.002-05:00

Well, we've had a heck of a past week. There have been some major things that have really interfered with my relationship with God, starting Tuesday. Something that I've really been struggling with has reared its head, and it makes me pull away. I am trying to push in towards Him instead, but it's difficult.

Then, we went camping with some old friends this weekend, and on the way home, the engine in our 2005 minivan blew. It is, in the words of the mechanic, "toast". So we get to replace our engine.

And today, I went online to pay one of our credit cards only to find that our credit limit has been slashed. I think this is for the best, but all the sudden our financial crunch is very real because we have no credit cushion.

Whew. I've shed some tears lately.

In the end, I think all of this will work together for our good. I certainly am reminded over and over again that I am no better than anyone. I am a deeply flawed person who makes plenty of mistakes. I know in my head that God loves me anyway, but getting that into my heart and really the fullness of my being is a process for me.

As far as the car, well, that's just a flat out miserable situation. BUT, it did give a chance to really shine a light on our wonderful family. My sister-in-law made the 5-hour round trip to tow our camper back home. My mother-in-law's boyfriend first made the 5-hour round trip to pick us up and then went back with his brother then next day to tow our van back on a trailer so that we didn't have to spend $400 to have it towed home. My brother was willing to make that same drive if he could have come up with a trailer. No one wants to spend their weekend afternoon/evening making that drive, basically for nothing, but they all did or were willing to out of love for us. That was very touching.

And, finally, the credit cards. I have known for some time that we really need to buckle down and get our finances in line. Now we have to get serious about it.

6/19/06...Berkeley

2009-06-11T12:15:00.000-05:00

Here's a new picture of our labradoodle. Last time I tried taking his picture, I couldn't get him to sit still long enough to get a good picture of his face.

He is one sweet dog, but boy, is he high energy! We are signed up for obedience training though, and I am really looking forward to Wednesday night--his first night there. It should be a noisy first half, though, with all those dogs (well, maybe 4-5) meeting for the first time! When I called to sign him up for the training, I told them his breed, and the lady I was talking to said, "OH, yes!" At the vet, too, the nurse/tech/assistant (whatever the term is) said that every labradoodle she'd seen was the same way: sweet as can be, smart, very high-energy and no attention span.

I guess a lot of people are pretty into the breed, or cross, to be more accurate, because they're supposed to be more hypo-allergenic and shed-free, but even the dogs who are those things (Berkeley isn't...oh, my goodness, the amount of hair he sheds!) are very energetic. The people we got him from (for free) got him from a breeded, so I'm sure they paid quite a bit for him. The ones we see listed in the paper are priced from $550 into the $1000s. That's a big investment to lose.

We love him, and we're happy with the decision to get/keep him, but we had a rough beginning as those who've read my blog for awhile know. More buyer beware--I did do some research before we got him, but I just paid attention to the things that confirmed what I already thought (the George Bush school of research, LOL).