Finished my ride...

Ahhh....what a great ride.

Weather Conditions - a bit hot and somewhat humid:

WRAL-TV Studios
Temperature 84°F
Dew Point 67°F
Relative Humidity 57%
Heat Index 87°F
Wind Northeast 2 mph
Pressure 30.03 Pressure Falling
Precip since midnight 0"
Recorded at 5:40 p.m., Jun 14, 2009

But for not having ridden anything over 4 miles in the past month, I'm thinking 10 miles in 68 minutes ain't half bad. :D

I did notice that carrying an extra 10 pounds of body weight makes a HUGE difference. Damn it. :(

Happy Kid

Hubs took the day off to put up the pool, and we were hoping to take him on his first trail ride at Harris...but it was closed due to wet conditions (as was Crabtree). So we decided to go ride the American Tobacco Trail again. He'd ridden it before, but not on the new bike. Since our older son was home (he's still tracked out from year round school), we took him too. He LOVES to ride.

Hubs and I figured it'd be a fairly short ride since M was coming with us, and we were right. We stopped probably 6 times for one thing or another, but all told, we rode 4 miles. I am SO PROUD of my kid for riding that far! He has never ridden more than a couple miles, so this is his personal best. He even rode almost all the way up the hill back to the parking lot (we parked at the closer trailhead...not usually where I park)! He got frustrated at the end because it was raining and he was tired and couldn't make it all the way up the hill, but I headed that tantrum off by telling him how awesome it was that he had ridden that far and what a proud mommy I was. Then...

...he told us about the frog he put in his pack. He was all excited about the baby frogs that were ALL OVER the place and picked some up during our various stops along the ride. Apparently he found a big frog and slipped it into the outside pocket of his hydration pack...once we found out about it, we made him let the frog go. It was a cool frog, though. :D Boys...

And on a more personal note, I rode up the damn hill...go me!

It was a good ride. Hubs got to wear his new biking shoes and clipped in for the whole ride. He liked it. Kid did a long ride. I got out and rode. All good things.

Check me out!

10.1 miles today! 62 minutes. 9.76mph

Aren't you proud of me? 33.8 miles in the past 6 days.

I would have gone further, but the sun was starting to set and I don't trust the Fuquay-Varinians to see me. Hell, I almost got hit by a fucking semi standing at the corner of Ennis and Main. And I was OFF MY BIKE to cross the road!

Mother's Day

It was a nice Mother's Day...I got to sleep in until 10:30 this morning. I've been sleeping A LOT since we got back from vacation. Guess my internal clock is all screwy or something.

Took a shower and the four of us went to TGI Friday's for lunch. I was STUFFED. They gave all moms a free half brownie/ice cream or cupcake. I had the brownie and it was GOOD. I think brownie/ice cream has to be one of my favorite desserts.

Then we went to the bike shop in Apex...The Bicycle Chain...so hubs could try out a Gary Fisher bike (and I scored some black spoke nipples!). We're debating whether to get him a mountain bike. Right now he has my Dad's 20 year old Diamondback...and for what he uses it for, it's fine. But the geometry is all wrong for him. He can ride my GT Avalanche, and likes it, so we went to Performance last week and tried out the 09 model. He likes it a lot - and the price is right...a little over $400. The components aren't top notch, obviously, but it's not like he's gonna be out there catching air, hitting rocks, etc. If he gets to that point, we can upgrade. But I told him that he HAD to try other bikes before he decided on the GT, because you never know if you don't try. So like I said, today he tried out the GF..can't remember what model..and said it didn't feel much different from the GT. Then we went to Cycling Spoken Here and had a great time talking to Lucas. Hubs tried out a Trek 4300 and a GF Wahoo. He liked both. I was surprised that he liked them because they ride way more upright than my GT...when I was trying bikes out, I specifically remember trying out the Trek and thinking it felt like a cruiser. I like the feeling of leaning over my bike and having it under me as opposed to having my arms extended so far and my back straighter. But as with everything, it's totally personal preference. I do remember the GF wasn't as tall feeling as the Trek.

The kids started getting squirrely, so we came home after that. I decided I was going to take a bike ride - a longer one than usual. Just felt like it. So I got out and did the first 3 miles that are always the hardest. After that I just kept pedaling wherever I felt like going...and ended up having the most wonderful ride on a gorgeous day - smelling the honeysuckle and feeling the sun on my face. I logged 13.1 miles in a about 87 minutes - that's an average of 9 mph - way faster than usual. So I'm willing to entertain the idea of leaving the increased pressure in my tires from when hubs rode my bike and didn't release all the pressure the other day.

It's been a pretty nice day.

Sometimes you have to prove things to yourself

and today was one of those days for me. I haven't ridden any length worth mentioning since April 7...today is April 26. Something is wrong with the air conditioning in the house and it's like 87+ degrees outside, thus hot in the house...and moods were flaring around here. So I took that as a sign to get my big ass out of the ass and on a ride. I was going to do my normal 8+ mile ride around Fuquay, but really really wanted to see if I could do 10. I knew if I challenged myself I could probably do it.

I got around Fuquay and back to my neighborhood with no problem - in fact, I purposely passed my street entrance and went to the neighborhood behind mine because I wanted those extra miles. I got to 8.6 and thought I was gonna fall off my bike. So I stopped, drank some water (I drank close to 100oz of water on my ride today - it was HOT and I was sweating like the cow I am), and rested for a couple minutes, then went on my way. 8/10 of a mile later, I was telling myself that "I can't do this...I really can't do this"...then it was "shut up and ride bitch! You can do this!" So I rode up the hill toward my house...another 1/10 of a mile and really really considered giving up. But I didn't. Instead, I rode around at a nice pace for the last 7/10 of a mile and was thrilled to see TEN MILES pop up on my cyclometer.

I rode for over an hour...it may not sound like much to some, but for me, it's a marker in my riding showing that I CAN ride 10 miles - and it wasn't all flat.

I'm proud of myself. And fucking sweating my ass off!

On a side note, I've got a good farmer's tan going and some really cool tan lines from my Keens on my feet. Pictures coming soon. :P

My Big Fat Fun Ride

I met a girl a couple weeks ago by the name of Katherine. I had stopped at REI to exchange a broken air pump and the people in the back sent me to the bike shop to have them check out the pump. Camye and Hormis were talking to her, I believe, and me and my big mouth joked about something with them. I got my stuff, and as I was walking out the door, Katherine was coming back after a test drive on an awesome pink Marin. She and I started talking, ended up exchanging info and saying that we'd get together sometime soon for a ride, once she got her bike and gear.

Fast forward to earlier this week and an email from Katherine asking me to ride. Hell yes I want to ride! We decided to go to the Tobacco Trail so she could get acquainted with her bike. So we met this morning there...and rode and talked for 1 1/2 hours...a little over 11 miles. This was my longest ride to date and it was wonderful!

And it is such a small world - the place she works was recently merged with a company I used to work for (about 8 years ago) and she knows a couple people that I know! Weird, huh?

Anyway, I'm amazed that I was able to ride that far. I feel great! The last mile was hard, but I refused to stop pedaling.

It was a good ride. Thanks Katherine! :)

Gustav before the ride:

What a great ride

I just got back from a 5.1 mile ride around Fuquay. I didn't know where I was going to go when I left the house, just knew I needed to get out and away from everyone before I started yelling about stupid shit. So I went right from my house and when I got to the stop sign (which is always a difficult ride for me since it's on a long incline), I stopped for a couple minutes, trying to decide which way to go. I kind of wanted to turn left and ride out by some farm land, but I didn't know if I could go that far. I said screw it and went for it. Turns out it was the best ride I've had in a while.

It's so beautiful out today - in the mid 50s, sunny with a nice breeze (though that headwind is a bitch, I must say) - and I got to enjoy it in ways you just can't when you're in a car. The air smelled fresh and it's crisp and cool against my heated skin...feeling the breeze on my face made me smile and forget about whatever was ailing me before I left the house.

And I got to wear my new biking skort. And I'll be damned if it doesn't fit me perfectly. I need to cut the skirt part off, but I was ready to leave and didn't feel like screwing with it, so I dealt with it on my ride. It was all good. :)

Heat Wave!

I don't know about the rest of the country...ok, I do know, I'm just sayin'....but we had a heat wave here in Fuquay Varina. It was in the high 60s/low 70s today! Nice and breezy...perfect day to ride. So I did. And dayum folks! I needed it.

I only rode a couple - few miles (remember I AM fat AND out of shape :P) into downtown Varina, but it felt great, especially the ride home. There was a horrid headwind on my way into town and I didn't think I was going to make it up a couple of the inclined areas, but I DID IT because I told myself I was going to do it and tough shit otherwise.

I took a couple breaks because I had the camera with me...and here are a few of the pics. A couple are actually from yesterday when I drove the truck up to grab some pics of the beautiful graffiti on the boxcars, but otherwise they are from my ride today.

Boxcar Graffiti from yesterday:


This one cracked me up:


Open door graffiti:


From today:
3 Country Buildings


3 Country Buildings from a different angle


Power Pole

My Ride Today

So I believe I have finally gone up to level 2 in my riding. Today I did so many things I've never done before and even had a witness!

Ok...there's STILL one place at the beginner trail at Harris that I simply can't do - it's mental and I know it is and it f*&%ing pisses me off that I stop every damn time. However...there was a part at the end of the beginner trail that I have NEVER been able to do and I DID IT today! +1 for me.

Y'all know I swore on a case o'Sunset Wheat that I'd never do the Intermediate trail at Harris...remember? Well guess what brothers and sisters? Today, not only did I do the first loop (and I don't think I even got off the bike at all on that one), but I did the second loop as well! I got off the bike a couple times on that loop...but for having never been on it other than walking, I'd say that's a pretty good day for me. +2 for me.

There were plenty of times Maggie would look back and say "I can't believe you did that...I thought you'd get off the bike and walk it." To which I would reply "so did I...but I told a friend earlier today that I was ready for some harder stuff...and here it is." So now I can go back and report to him that I did, in fact, do what I said I wanted to do.

It was fun...riding with the intent to ride and not walk. It was scary too...but not as scary as it once was.

So I can say with certainty now that I adore this sport (already knew that), I like the way I'm riding and I'm gonna beat those damn uphills that I either can't power through yet or that I do and have to stop afterward to rest. But at least I'm out there doing it. +3 for me.

Oh...and I've lost 12 pounds and god only knows how many inches. What a nice bonus. ;)