Catching up!

I see my last post was waaay back in March so I'll do a super quick recap to get ya caught up. My riding streak ended at 401 Days of Riding. My last ride was the Iron Crotch ride on May 6, 2012 in Wisconsin; I think it was fitting that my last ride was called the Iron Crotch 'cause after 401 days of continuous riding...well you get the picture. Anyway, I'm still pedaling, just not every day. I run my errands, visit friends and continue to ride whenever possible. I participated in the Breast Cancer Ride in August; this still remains one of my favorite rides. It's always well organized and I know the money is going to a good cause. 

It's nearly the end of October and we caught our first glimpse of the white stuff falling from the sky yesterday. Actually, I thought I was going to wake up to the ground covered in white stuff this morning. I was happy to see the grass even if the water in my bird bath was frozen. 

I received some disheartening news a few months back. The Underground Railroad Ride I've been dreaming about is not going to happen. I was hoping to ride with the Womens Tour group as they had planned to do the ride next year. They have now decided not to do the Tour until 2015. I was quite disappointed but because I'm an optimist at heart I just surfed their site and found the Epic Tour Around Lake Superior. The more I read about it I decided that this was the perfect ride for me. It begins and ends in Duluth, MN which is just a couple hours North so it'll be easy to get to. I am now registered and sent in my first payment for the Tour. You can check it out here.

Now comes the tough part...training. I've done some long distance riding but nothing like this. The Tour is 26 days from start to finish; we'll average 54 miles a day. Right now I know I can ride 54 miles but to do it every day??? That's going to take some conditioning. We leave July 8, 2013 so I have about 8 months to get ready. I'll do my best to keep ya updated. 

Happy Trails!

335 Days

We finally received a fair amount of snow in the Twin Cities Tuesday night and I thought Wednesday was going to defeat me. I woke up to about 3 inches of snow in the backyard. I was very excited to get out and ride in it. I was finally able to get outside around 10 am. I almost crashed in the driveway as it wasn't the nice fluffy snow I had hoped for. It was the wet, sticky stuff I hate. Great for making snowmen but lousy for riding. About halfway down the block the snow packed under my front fender and brake and locked up the front wheel; I nearly hit my woohoo on the handlebars! Not fun! It continued to happen as I tried to make my way down the street, I finally turned around and went home feeling defeated.

On the upside it allowed me to try out the new tires on my car! They were a success. I took my mom to her doctors appointment, dropped Lashley at the groomers and went shopping at Costco. After bringing mom home and picking up Lash from the groomers I decided it was time to try again. 

I went out for a ride around 4 pm; TaDa! It took some work getting from my house to a main street that had been plowed but by this time the snow was more like slushy water than actual snow. Once I got on the Vento trail it was smooth sailing. I have to say it was probably the messiest ride I've had all winter, both me and the bike were pretty dirty by the time I got home. I don't have waterproof shoes for riding which is on the top of my purchase list so I went old school and put bread bags in my shoes before I went out. It doesn't keep your feet any warmer or win any fashion points but they do keep your feet dry. 

Yesterday was my 335th day of riding and it didn't start off very nice. I had an appointment at 0900 I left my house around 0830. I didn't make it very far as the roads were nothing but ice! Everything had frozen overnight and it was like riding on an ice rink. Normally I would have taken the risk of riding on it as I've ridden on ice all winter but I have to curl in Duluth this weekend and I didn't want to take a chance of getting hurt. Now I know I truly am getting old. I went home and drove to my appointment. I'm happy I waited because by 2 pm the temperature had warmed up and the plows had cleared the slush away; well most of it anyway. I was able to do the rest of my errands using my bike! 

March 31, 2012 will mark my 365th day of riding and I'm trying to figure out what to do to celebrate! I'm sure I'll come up with something :)

Happy trails!

Tobies Caramel Roll

My random thought for today was "how many calories are in a Tobies caramel roll?" I still don't know the answer. Tried to google it but came up empty handed. I'm guessing a lot! What? you ask does this have to do with riding my bike? Well...I had a Tobies caramel roll this afternoon and while I was out riding I started to wonder how many calories were in it and how many miles I'd have to ride to burn it off? I rode a little over 15 miles, not sure if that was enough but I also took the Puggle for a walk when I got home. In my book a Tobies caramel roll = a 15 mile bike ride and a Puggle walk. But the glass of wine I'm drinking while writing this is probably going straight to my belly fat :p

SNOW!!!

I enjoyed a fun ride in the snow today. The roads were pretty bad so I broke down and rode on the sidewalk until I got to a main street. The Bruce Vento trail is only about a mile from my house so I didn't have far to go before I got on the trail. Thank You Ramsey county for plowing the trail. There was still enough snow on the trail to make it fun but not so much that it became a chore. I pedaled just about 8 miles; which doesn't seem like a lot of miles but when you throw in the snow, ice and headwind it felt like 20 miles. Worked up a pretty good sweat too! 

I think I'll check out the Gateway trail tomorrow. It doesn't get plowed so depending on how much traffic it had today it could be a fun ride! 

Happy trails...

Tough Ride

I'll take the extreme hot, the extreme cold, wind, snow, ice, rain, thunder, lightening whatever but I do not like this cold drizzly crap. When the weather is extreme cold or hot you prepare yourself for it and it's a challenge. Wind, rain, snow, ice they are all an adventure and challenge your skills. This drizzly cold stuff just makes my bones hurt :p

I had to give myself a pep-talk before riding today. The temperature was hovering around 20 degrees, the roads were slushy, icy in places and wet. There was a mist in the air when I started out and it slowly because drizzly then I don't know what. Not quite snow but not rain either; something in between. 

The Vento trail was actually nice, nothing but the sound of my tires rolling across the trail. The trail hasn't been plowed so it's a little slick at the intersections. I worked up a nice sweat while riding which gave me an excuse to have a second helping of Channa Masala at dinner tonight :) mmmm I love me some Indian food. 

Calendar

On the first of the year started using a calendar dedicated to my riding. This gives me an overview of where I ride and how many miles. It also let's me pencil in all the rides I want to do this year :) 

My mileage is a bit of guess work because the MTN bike I'm riding doesn't have a computer thingy on it. I use MapMyRide.com to figure out my miles. I could put a computer thingy on it but it's not my bike and they don't always work well when the weather gets cold. The one on my road bike has indicated that on one of my rides my maximum MPH was 99; I"m thinking that might not be accurate :)

Minnesota has finally decided to turn down the heat and bring on some snow. Yesterdays ride was my first below zero ride. Both the temperature and windchill were below zero; how far below I don't know. I'm not big on checking the weather. When it gets cold everyone talks about it so I have an idea. 

I stayed plenty warm on my ride but would like to change a couple things. I need to find a face mask that doesn't get wet and cold from breathing and doesn't fog my glasses. Yesterday I used my goggles which worked much better. I'd also like to get better riding shoes. I'm thinking maybe hiking boots; something I can put thicker socks into and is wind/rain proof. 

It looks like I'll be riding in the snow today. Not the big fluffy stuff that is fun but the icy pellet snow; ick! This will also make the roads slippery so I'll head to the bike trails. I'm really fortunate that I have both the Gateway trail and the Bruce Vento trails within 1 mile from my house. 

Where's my notes?

I was trying to jot down a couple things to post but now I've misplaced my notes! Oh well...


I've been riding the Gateway Trail and the Bruce Vento trail a lot this winter. The Bruce Vento gets plowed the Gateway does not. This gives me a fun ride through the snow on the Gateway and an easy cruise on the Bruce Vento. Last week while riding the Vento trail in Maplewood I spotted a beautiful hawk perched in a tree, numerous deer tracks frozen in the ice and watched one of the best sunsets so far this winter. 


The Vento trail is a great ride in the winter not only because it gets plowed but also because it's fairly flat and allows me to get to the book store, coffee shop and hair supply store with ease. 


The Gateway trail is fun because they don't plow it and I get a great workout. I can also get to the Credit Union, bike shop and movie theater using the trail. 


If you want to ride in the winter and not deal with cars I highly recommend both of these trails. Just remember to use the fat tires on the Gateway! 


Happy Trails! :)

Hit by a Mini Van!

I'm going to attempt to get back to posting on this blog and with the New Year just beginning there's no better time than the present. 


The New Year started with a bang!


Yesterday, January 1, 2012 I was hit by a mini-van while riding my bike. Both the bike and myself are fine. I was crossing at an intersection, a woman in a mini-van was stopped at the stop sign. I had the right-of-way. As I was passing in front of her she stepped on the gas and hit my back wheel with the drivers side bumper. It knocked the back of the bike one direction and the front another. I managed to stay on the bike and get out of the intersection. I put the bike down, turned around and shouted to the woman. It looked as though she was about to take off! A man in a car pulled up behind her; he had seen her hit me. The woman got out of the van and asked if I was alright. I shouted at her about talking on a cell phone, not paying attention and hitting me. She never once apologized! Can you believe that? I called the police to make a report. They arrived quickly and gave the woman a citation for inattentive driving and now she will have to go to court for it. I'm thanking my mountain bike skills for pulling me through this. If I hadn't ever ridden a mountain bike I believe I would have hit the asphalt. 


The woman acted as though it was such an inconvenience to her. If she had acted as though she gave a damn I don't think I would have even called the police. I was so pissed off all I really wanted to do was hit the woman. I hope the judge makes her pay a big fat fine. 


After work today I checked out the bike and made a couple adjustments; the handle bars were skewed and the seat was a little off. Other than that it seemed fine. I went for about a 5 mile ride tonight and everything worked great! Even though the temperature was below 20 degrees I worked up a sweat riding on the ice and snow. Riding in the snow is fun, riding on the ice is not. 


With Minnesota finally starting to feel like winter I'm ramping up my search for a face mask. I have a couple but they don't seem to work. I can't find one that fits my face, I think most of them are made for man faces. In any case I think that's about all I need for my winter riding gear.

HAPPY NEW YEAR pedal, pedal, pedal