Around about Christmas time Minnesota went all winter on me. We had snow and rain combine to give us a lovely sheet of ice on the roadways. At that point I wimped out on my commuting to work. I don't have the tires to ride on ice, at least that's my excuse. So shortly after the New Year I put the road bike on the trainer and started riding indoors. It's not my favorite thing to do but I need to pedal every day or my knees get too sore. I still plan to commute to work but I'm waiting for the road conditions to get a little better. We received a little more rain this afternoon but the temperature is still above 30 so I'm hoping it doesn't freeze.
I've made some decisions about my riding this summer, I'm only doing the Breast Cancer ride. As much as I love the MS150, money and time dictate that I only do one ride. I've started a team and hope to get friends and family to join me.
I have my sights set on doing the Underground Railroad tour when I turn 50, that leaves me 3 years to figure out how to do a self contained tour on a bike. My focus this summer will be on equipment and taking weekend rides. Travel from my house, camp someplace overnight and ride back home. After a few trips I hope to figure out what I need then I'll take on some two and three day adventures with hopes of an end of summer tour.
I've started a new diet which I'll call my Pain Management diet, who knows maybe I can write a book and make a million dollars! I spent several days researching anti-inflammatory foods. It's going to be a slow process of removing certain foods/drinks from my diet and replacing them with better choices. I eat pretty healthy to begin with and being a vegetarian already limits my diet. My focus for this past week has been to cut out beer :( I haven't had one in nearly a week and reduce my intake of caffeine. I've also cut out potatoes, another difficult one as they are one of my favorite vegetables and not just the fried ones. Dairy is going to be hard, I'm willing to cut out milk, I don't drink it anyway and reduce cheese but I'm not giving up my yogurt, it's a staple in my diet. I'll start on the dairy products next week. I think beer, caffeine and potatoes are enough for one week. I have a long way to go on this diet but if I can get some relief and a good nights sleep it will be well worth it. And as a bonus I might lose some weight!
