Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

Rode the Bike Psychos Century today with the hopes of finishing sub 6 hours. I rolled into the parking lot after 5:55, average speed 17 mph. Given the beastly hills and the 10-15 mph winds, I was utterly and completely happy with my efforts. I now have a new marker to keep in mind when I ride my next century. This ride came after a night of very restless sleep. I figured I was going to bonk at some point simply because I was running on so little quality sleep. To help prevent the bonk, I ate and drank often. This time around, I didn't pack the energy gels or bars. Instead, I ate the fruit, the pbj sandwiches, and the other goodies offered at the rest stops. I took the advice of Edmund Burke and Ed Pavelka, authors of The Complete Book of Long Distance Cycling , and ate real food. I also made sure to drink, drink, drink. Not once did I feel low on energy, and I attribute my feeling good the whole 100 miles to taking these two guys' advice. The route took us along the Illinoi...

Went out for a shorter ride today to shake out the legs and to just enjoy the time available. Some fatigue from yesterday's hilly ride, but in general, I felt pretty good. Just ambling along made the ride all the more enjoyable, though all the rides I take are truly enjoyable. Even the hilly ones. Sometimes when I'm out, I find treasures. Not too long ago, I found a droid cell phone on the shoulder of the road. I slipped it into my jersey pocket, and when I got home I pulled it out to show Hubby. He took it, pushed the on button, and within minutes he had the owner's husband on the line. Seems the phone's owner had laid the phone on the bumper of the truck she was using to haul wood and forgotten to remove it before driving the truck. About an hour after talking to the husband, the wife showed up at our door, ready to pay us for finding her phone and calling to return it. We declined the money, saying we were just happy to help. Today, I was rolling along, not reall...

It's Friday, Friday! Which meant I was able to get a longer ride in. Starting Wednesday, I thought often about rolling out right after my youngest set off for school, and that's exactly what I did. I didn't have a route planned out like I usually do. I just went, and when I reached the point of having to make a decision on which direction to go, I followed whatever popped into my head. What popped at Spin Lake was "hey, take the route you rode for the Miles of Smiles century backwards." So I did. And when I reached Congerville, what popped was "hey, you can ride the part you missed during MOS." So I did. Very quickly I found out what I missed: hills, hills, and more hills. A couple were 10% grades, a couple were 7% grades, and one was even an 11% grade. Towards the end of the ride, I was hearing a noise on and off, coming from the crank. The hills put a lot of pressure on the crank today, so I won't be surprised if some maintenance is needed. 60 mile...

See what happens when life throws curve balls at you? Well, they may not have been all that curvy, but they were enough the last couple of weeks to keep me from blogging. I've thought about blogging. I even opened up a new post at one point. I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and actually write. I guess that would be a strike. The same kind of thing was happening with my writing. I thought about story ideas. I opened up a story on several occasions with the intention of working on it. Three minutes later, after staring at the words on the page, I'd close the document. Strike two. Thankfully, now that the semester has begun, things are starting to fall into place and I don't feel nearly as discombobulated as I had been. I'll give myself a ball there. So the count stands at 2-1. If the first week is any indication, my classes are going to be fun. I have some sharp students. Each class has its own personality, which changes things up nicely. If they were all th...

Last Friday we did our usual first weekend of August trip to Door County, Wisconsin. I loaded up Sweetness, excited to be able to see the beautiful countryside of Door County from a bicycle this year. Friday evening I only had time for a short ride, so I did a HIIT workout on the road that follows the Bay coastline. I managed to cycle 12 miles in 38 minutes, the fastest I've ever done 12 miles before, going 19.l mph. I was quite happy with that. Saturday morning, I tip-toed out the hotel door at 7 am and spent two hours exploring the back roads. At one point, I came around a bend and over a gentle rise to find cows being herded across the road. The man herding them called to me to stop as the cows didn't know what I was and might want to investigate. Not wanting to be attacked by a herd of huge black and white bovine, I stood as still as I could until the herding was finished. Though I only got in the two rides during the three-day stay, they were very good rides. Yesterday I...

My epic walk on Monday left me with a blister on each of my feet, both exactly in the same place near the heel. These aren't just run of the mill blisters; they're ginormous. The one on my right foot is the bigger of the two, and yesterday evening I was in some major pain. I've had blisters before, and none of them ever hurt like the one I have now. The slightest pressure on the skin near the blister was painful as well. I was fearing it was becoming infected. As soon as I got home (we were at football practice with my youngest), I dabbed triple antibiotic ointment on it and took a couple of pain relievers. An hour later, the pain was nearly gone. Today, the pain is there, but it's much less than what I was dealing with last evening. I've not had to take any pain relievers today, so hopefully whatever it was is on the mend. With it now being August--can you believe it?--the last couple of days I've been mulling over my goals for the summer. At this point, I...

With it being the first of August, and since I rode over 140 miles Saturday and Sunday, I decided to welcome the new month with a walk. The last time I had my tennis shoes on was sometime back in May, I think, so lacing them up felt a bit strange. My feet were wondering what the heck as I have been barefoot or wearing flip-flops since spring. I gathered up my Garmin and cell phone, and set off to see just how far the local trail extended to the east. About a half mile into the walk, I looked at the Garmin. It showed my speed, but nothing else was registering. After a couple of steps I realized I'd not pushed the start button. You'd think that three weeks into using the darn thing I'd remember to do this when I begin a ride or a walk. Hopefully, I'll not forget the next time I go out, but knowing me, I probably will. I started out later this morning than I usually like to. To be honest, I hadn't decided to walk until after getting up, and I didn't get up unti...