I rode in the rain to the soccer field today...

and it sucked. I need the rain to stop spoiling my plans.

A bike for Vinny

Friday was a fun day - I took my BFF Vinny (aka Heather) up to Woodstock to pick up a bike she found on Craigslist. Turns out - it was a good fit! Heather, er..Vinny, was excited!



Later that day, we headed out to AMS for a ride except it started to rain as soon as we climbed on the bike. We decided to play in the sprinkles...which became downpour. By the end, each of my socks weighed 3lbs each I swear! All in all, it was a good ride. 15.53 miles. A leisurely stroll but Vinny did great considering it was her first time on a road bike (for further than up the street and back), she was wearing tennis shoes on SPD pedals and the weather was crap. We picked up new pedals for her yesterday so given a week or two, she'll be kickin' my rear up and down hills at panola!

Nothing new on the riding front...I've spent a considerable amount of time at the gym over the last week - trying to focus on legs and general fat loss. We'll see how that goes...

Epic Bikes is starting a really awesome contest tomorrow - the grand prize is a kick-a$$ trainer...perhaps my desire to win will put me back on the bike for a while.

Powertap

Yesterday, I came out of hiding and got on a bike (so to speak..). I let TSD talk me into a trip on the powertap bike at the shop. here's an account of my thought process:

Warm up: Hey, this kind of sucks...it seems too hard - will it get harder? (up walks Tim, looks at my heart rate, adjusts the tension on the bike) Thank God, I didn't want to admit I was about to die 30 seconds into my warm-up...

10 minutes into the warm up: Boring....

20 minutes into the warm up: I wonder what mom will cook for Thansksgiving tomorrow...maybe I'll start cooking tonight instead of tomorrow...Oh Crap..here comes a customer...Did I turn off the computer before I left the house? I wonder if the kids are driving Clint crazy...

"Tim, I'm bored...when do we start?"

Minute 1: Not an issue. I can do this.

Minute 2: Not so bad (cranks up the tension)

Minute 3: Shouldn't have cranked up the tension so much...oh well...

Minute 4: Damn I'm hot...oh look, my heart rate is 170..huh.

Minute 5: oh crap...don't tell me Mike is coming over here, now I'll have to pedal harder...he's going to laugh when he sees my wattage...

Minutes 6: Mike's driving me crazy but I can do this...he'll walk away soon...

Minute 7: Oh geeze...here comes that other guy hanging out at the shop...oh god, and Tim. Do they have to stare? I'm panting like a dog...maybe I hang in there like this...

Minute 8: I'm feeling claustrophobic but I can do this....this saddle sucks and I keep sliding forward...

Minute 9: What? Turn up the tension? Mike's lost his mind.... I'm going to die...I can't breathe...I'm sweating..I never sweat...

halfway through minute 9: Thanks Mike, yes, I can see that my heart rate is 190...it feels like 290...I guess he really is going to stand here until I finish...he is kind of motivating though...in a slave-driver sort of way...

Minute 10: OMG, the room is spinning...where's something to hold on to? Oh no...it's over...I don't think I want the results...

Turns out, I didn't do awful. I'm not thrilled with my performance either. Despite my thought process, I wish Mike would have stood there the whole time because with him by my side, I was motivated to work . I've noticed the same thing with group riding...if left alone, I'll mosey along but in the presence of others, I'm terrified of being left behind or looking like a wimp so I work harder. The experience was good and I'm glad I did it - I know I'll do better next time.

Oh - and my output was 2.95 watts.

For Vincent Schumaker

I rode my bike last Monday at Stone Mountain for about 15 miles. There are more hills than I can shake a stick at and when I'm done, I'm much more tired than I am after completing 30 miles of riding nearby my 'hood.

I haven't posted much since I haven't been on a bike much...and supposedly...this is a cycling blog.

I have plans to attempt to ride on Mondays and Wednesdays from here on out. Well, after this week...this week is a little crazy... We'll see how it goes...I'm trying to stay motivated despite the wind and dropping temperatures.

If I don't get on a bike soon, I'll turn into a hippo/house/blob/really fat person. And that would suck. I earned a lot of fat while making my babies and while I love 'em (the babies), I can do without the fat.

Good night weekend from hell....

...I'm off to bed. I'm happy to report that you threw many rocks along the tarmac but I swerved and pedaled like hell. Here at the end...I'm still standing.

Sweet Dreams - tomorrow is a new day!

A Beautiful Ride

Today I took my first ride around Stone Mountain Park. It was absolutely beautiful - so much that I found myself very "still" and calm. There is one part of the loop that is very wooded, fairly flat and curvy; the lake is just a few hundred yards to the right. As I traveled along this section of road, yellow leaves were floating in a slight diagonal and dropping quietly to the ground. That image continues to flash in my mind even now, almost eight hours later.

I also recall a beautiful red maple tree with leaves the color of apple cider. I had the most amazing urge to drop my bike and just stare at the tree...maybe pull off a leave to admire it's beauty even closer. I passed the tree without stopping but it's brilliance will be forever remembered.

Some may be surprised by my silence on the bike - I am aware that I am quite the loquacious individual and I'm not ignorant to the jokes that are made about it. When I ride my bike, the beauty of the things around me become more apparent as I'm able to mentally slow down, focus and think clearly.

I enjoy the beauty of the outdoors and I thoroughly enjoyed the beauty I was able to witness today.

Claxton is toast...or fruitcake, rather...

So my ride in Claxton has fallen through. Yesterday, I sat to compose a post about this but I just couldn't do it amongst the election, the chaos of two kids and my frustration over the whole situation. While I admit that I'm very disappointed (I've never seen Savannah which is where we were planning to stay and more than anything...it was to be my first full century!), I'm also very happy for a few reasons:

1) First and foremost - a friend of mine has been struggling with things beyond his control. He's a very patient and calm guy and I admire his ability to hang in there and weather the situation. A big part of the reason I'm not going is because we had planned this together and he has had to cancel. The good news is that his cloudy skies are starting to look brighter and I'm very happy and confident that his decision not to go will be a good one. Friend, if you're reading this - I'm glad things are looking up and you owe me a ride...big time! :)
2) I can train even more so that when I do my first century, people will turn their heads and say..."wow...who is the nicely sculpted, very hot chick on the pistachio and pearl bike that just passed me like I'm standing still???"
3) I can be at home to go to art class with my daughter on Saturday - she is taking a children's multimedia art class at Chastain Arts Center on Saturday mornings and I've yet to be able to go with her. This weekend I'll get to find out what all the excitement is about!
4) I can attend the ironman party for my friends who kick ass and finished an ironman race over the past couple of weekends...

Life is good.

Did anyone know that Claxton is the fruitcake capital of the world?