Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

Since Sunday, I've gotten in 75 more miles on the bike and a half mile in the pool. Good week going so far. The last two days have been absolutely gorgeous weather-wise. Not a cloud in the sky, and today, the slight breeze we had didn't even make the turbines move. This morning, as I was finishing up a meeting with my boss, a colleague stopped by my office and asked if I was going to attend the teaching presentation of a candidate for a position in the program. Aghast, I replied, "No wind." He had absolutely no idea what I was referring to, but my boss laughed and clued him in that I was going to be occupied and would not be attending the teaching presentation. As soon as the meeting ended, I made my way home, into my cycling clothes, and out the door for a ride south of town. Today was mostly just meandering. I was wondering when the fatigue from Sunday was going to really kick in. It did today, so I just enjoyed riding territory I've never been through before....

Yes, I did it. I completed my first century ride, the Swedish Days Ride just west of Chicago. In the end, exhausted, almost overwhelmed by having actually finished something I've longed to do for a year now, I could only lean against the truck and take deep breaths to stay calm. The last ten miles forced me to dig deep mentally and physically, and at times I doubted my strength. Thankfully, at that ten miles to go point, I could see the tower marking what I thought of as home. I kept my sights on it and just kept pedaling. The last leg was maybe a mile, all uphill and into the wind. I put my head down, telling myself Hubby, food, and clean clothes were right around the corner. Turning into the school drive, I didn't have to pedal any longer. I coasted from the top of the drive down to the truck parked in the lot just outside the school. Like with all the crazy things I do, Hubby was there, and when I saw that smile of his, when we high-fived, I just wanted to grab hold of him...

Two weeks ago I had a minor procedure done to remove a super freckle from my left cheek. This brown spot had been a part of me for nearly 16 years, and for the last six years I've had it checked periodically to make sure it wasn't becoming something I really didn't want to have to deal with. A few months ago, I went to the dermatologist for a check up, and she recommended having it removed as it had gotten bigger in a very short amount of time. So I had it removed. Two days after the procedure, as I was pedaling out for a long ride, my phone rang. I pulled over and answered, listening as the nurse told me the results from the lab work showed the spot was benign. Very happily I shared the news with Hubby, and we set off in high spirits, both very thankful.  Today, I returned to the plastic surgeon who'd performed the procedure. The scab over the wound had come off yesterday, so what now remains is new, soft pink skin. A slightly raised ridge rings the bottom, and whe...

Yesterday afternoon, after the morning's heavy rains tapered to showers then to sprinkles then to drops dripping from the tree leaves, after the clouds began to pull apart to allow some sun to wiggle through, I checked the forecast, which offered the same as for every other day during the past week: scattered thunderstorms, some severe. Chance a ride? You betcha. A glance at the clock above the sink showed me I had at least four and a half hours of good daylight left. Depending on speed, I could go as far as 60 miles, maybe even 70. But I didn't want to push the speed. I just wanted to be out. I started the route to the lake, but on a whim I turned off the lake road and onto a road I'm familiar with but usually ride coming from the other direction. Riding it in reverse gave me a completely different view of the houses, the barns, the silos, the horses, and the creeks. One sight I'm definitely going to return to with a camera is an old windmill, the blades cockeyed, be...

Last evening, as I was finishing up a short ride, cruising smoothly on one of the final legs of the route, I saw a woman in a car heading the opposite way, looking at me then yelling, "Get on the sidewalk!" I wasn't impeding her progression in any way. I wasn't impeding the traffic behind me in any way. In fact, right when she screeched at me, I was passing a "Share the Road" sign. I found this to be incredibly funny and just shook my head. Some motorists plainly don't realize cyclists and motorists operate under the same set of rights and rules. I'd much rather ride on the road than on the sidewalks where there are walkers, runners, babies in strollers, rollerbladers, and dogs. I'm pretty sure all of these people and their pets are extremely happy for the fact that I'm riding in the street and not barreling towards them. So sorry lady, I'm staying in the road and you're just going to have to learn to deal with it. Another funny I w...

Fresh strawberries from my garden. I love the deep red of homegrown strawberries. Strawberry shortcake with real whipped cream. Yummy!

Where I rode to today I'm pooped. After 84 miles and 5 hours in the saddle, my body is saying enough. I've always wondered exactly where my threshold is, and today I found it right around mile 75. At that point, my quads where tired, tight, and aching. Even with the wind helping me from behind, I couldn't find the energy to muster a speed above 18 mph. I think part of this was not eating enough as I rode, the other part being battling the wind for 40 miles. The combination of the two pulled a one-two punch to make my body say okay, let's slow down and call it a day. I would have, but I still had 9 miles to go until home. I read recently that when a person rides a century, the 85-90 mile mark is the wall, much like the 18-22 mile mark is the wall for marathoners. The longest distance I've ever ridden is 62 miles, so I figured my wall might come sooner than 85. It did. At that point, I pulled out a fruit and nut bar to eat and drank some water. I slowed down some...

Yup, that was me yesterday afternoon. Fourteen miles from home, four miles from the nearest small town, and a Hubby standing next to me with a very apologetic look on his face as he was the one who said, "Oh, it'll be alright to ride on the gravel road" after I had already said, "Gravel roads aren't good for my bike." A quarter mile into the road, a phhishhhht came from the rear tire. I didn't even have to say, "See? I told you so" before the apologies started. It was supposed to have been a short ride, just down the new bike path running along Route 66, to where it ends, then back home. Hubby, though, suggested we continue on to where I had gone the other day. Always up for more mileage, I agreed. We took a different route, sort of a back way into the area of the nature preserve, Unfortunately, the road taking us closer to the preserve turned into gravel. I knew better. I did. But since Hubby hasn't ridden with me for some time, and sinc...

Today I headed southwest again, more south than west actually, zig-zagging my way out into the countryside and hoping I was taking all the right turns to get me to Route 66. Initially, I had planned to get up early and make my way to Lincoln, which is almost 33 miles exactly from my doorstep. I fell back to my old ways, though, and succumbed to sleep when I should have gotten up. I slept an hour past when I wanted to start out, so instead of doing the roundtrip ride which would have given me 66 miles on Route 66, I did 33 miles which included the new bike path running alongside Route 66 to the teeny-tiny town of Shirley. From there, I actually had to ride on the road, but traffic was light, and motorists were very considerate, moving over to make space between us. I've now lived in this area for 12 years, but until today, I've never been to a local attraction located just off Route 66. This place is known for its nature preserve, its chapel where lots of summer weddings take ...

I tried out a new route today. Rather than heading west then north to the lake, I rode southwest, out to a small farming community. The new route offered rolling hills and very lightly traveled rural roads. Having no traffic to worry about (well, for the majority of trip anyway) made for a truly relaxing ride. I started out early, not long after sun-up. I think Sunday's early morning run infected me with a desire to now get up and get out before the day really starts humming along. Today, the temps were in the low 70's when I clipped in and rolled down the street. By the time I got back 2 and a half hours later, the sun was beating down in the high 80's. A cool southwest breeze kept the ride from becoming unbearable. My rest stop to fuel up Going out to the small town, I knew I was on course as I could see quite a ways in the distance the large grain bins marking where the trains pass through during harvest, loading the cars with corn and soy beans. On the return rid...

The weather since last Thursday has been up and down. Rain, lightning, wind, sun, 90 degrees, 65 degrees: you name it, we've had it. Up until yesterday afternoon, I hadn't ridden since Wednesday, not solely because of the weather, and I was feeling the need to get out for a long one. I did pull myself out of bed early yesterday to get in a two mile run, in the rain, initially hoping to go at least three, but the lightning lit up the dark gray sky, so I turned tail and scurried for home. Afterward, as I sat drinking a large glass of ice water, I marveled over me actually getting out of bed to go for a run. No doubt I really needed to expend some energy. By noon, the clouds and the storms they carried moved on by, and the clear sky, the little to no wind, beckoned me to ride. So I did. 56 miles. I've ridden this route one time before when the wind was blowing 20+ mph out of the southwest, right into my face the last ten miles. That ride was brutal, taking me 3 hours and 25 ...

Wednesday, after two days of 25 mph winds with gusts to 32 mph, I awoke to stillness. Hubby was already awake, as usual, and whispered, "Winds are only 4 mph." I looked at the clock: 5:45. The battle began--get up and go or snuggle under the covers and sleep for another half hour? Then I remembered I had to stick around to call my son out of school, so I snuggled under the covers, hoping the winds stayed calm. Once the youngest was dropped off, once I finished my oatmeal with banana and a pre-workout nutrition bar, I was ready to go. As I walked my bike off the deck and out the gate, I examined the tree tops across the street, trying to gauge how much the wind was blowing. Nothing. I set off, deciding to take my fave route of going west then north to the lake then around the lake then back home. When I made the turn to head north, the wind turbines were still, like sentries standing guard over the farmlands. The turbines usually won't begin turning until the wind blow...