Numbers, numbers

Mr. Wonderful and I stayed home this year for Thanksgiving; at first I was sad. But I must admit not spending the $$ and plans to work on the house seemed like a good consolation prize. Unfortunately, he came down with some sickness, so the house progress has been zero. Of course that means PLAY TIME for me (until I get sick, anyway).

I'll summarize in numbers as they were buzzing through my head last night. And NO--I'm not sharing any HR, cadence, or watts numbers. I don't even know where my HR strap is and I don't care right now. Life is good.

• 7 of the last 8 - days I've exercised. Thanksgiving Day was the exception.
• 34 - eggs I used in making my famous homemade noodles and awesome molasses cookies.
• 6.7 - miles in my longest run of this year on Friday. I'm so proud since I've never thought of myself as a runner. I set out feeling awesome and that I could run all day. Thankfully, I had the good sense to turn around when I did!
• 9.33 - pace in km/hr of the jog above. I'm practicing for my Europe trip. (-; No, it's not a superb pace, but I'm more than pleased. Plus, I think the GPS lies; my treadmill paces are usually slower.
• 1.5 - molasses cookies I ate on Thanksgiving day (+1 piece of Chocolate Eclair Cake)
• 7 - # of brothers, sisters, half-brothers, step-brothers, & step-sisters that I have. I saw 3 of them this week.
• 104 - degrees of the water temp in my hot tub. Ahhhh.
• 83 - years old is my grandmother.
• 6.99 - dollars that it took to surprise my grandmother last week with a birthday cake. She was beside herself in having been surprised. Sharing the cake with her card playing buddies the next day, she actually made a long distance call to me to ask where I bought it b/c it was so good. It made my day.
• 2 - hours of trail work I did today after riding my mountain bike to Wapehani and back home.
• 17 - the number of large pizzas I wanted to eat after the trail work. I was worried about bonking on the way home since my lunch consisted of an apple, a banana, and 5 shot blocks. Those don't go very far with 30 miles and 2 hours of trail work.
• 3 - lbs I've lost in 3 weeks by trying not to eat molasses cookies, homemade noodles, and pizza.

And I'm looking forward to another road ride on Sunday providing we can beat the rain. Fingers are crossed!

Not a lot of news

Last weekend was superb for exercise, high 60s in November. Those days are special; perhaps not as special as warm, sunny days in December or January. Nevertheless, Saturday I headed out for a 5-mile jog.

Living on top of a ridge, my first 2.5 miles are down hill. Naturally, I had the misfortune of having to stop at "Creepy House" when one of the 3 barking German Shepherds came out to the road to greet me with snarling teeth. The lady who owns it yelled for it to return home after I had stopped and turned to face the mutt ready to put my foot down its throat. Amazingly, the dog abruptly halted on the pavement, slid a little looking very awkward, minded her command and fell back.

I continued in peace until I reached the 2-mile point. Does everyone mark their routes like I do? The 2-mile point is denoted by the 2nd pole past the old lady's house with the garden. (The 1-mile point is Creepy House.) Anyway, a cow in the pasture had his big head through the fence wire and proceeded to stare. I've never been stared at like that before! His big eyes and the way his head followed me down the road creeped me out almost as much as Creepy House. Yes, I was looking behind me while running. My mind pondered all the things I should say aloud to the cow while I reminded myself to avert my eyes. Don't want it charging, right? As if.

So, the return trip featured the same beast eating the greener grass on the other side of the fence. As I jogged by, it turned & engaged the creepy stare, stopped chewing, and followed my every move. The long grass was literally hanging out of its mouth looking like a green, misplaced mustache was there was so much of it sticking out. It was hilarious. At that point I was wishing I had my camera b/c I think Cheryl would have enjoyed the pic of a silly-looking cow.

After the uneasy human-animal episode, I came upon the house that had the flannel-jacket, thick mustache & caterpillar hat wearing dude who was working on his Chevy. The moment I passed, he started revving up the engine multiple times. Was it for me or for him? I'm not sure. Nevertheless, I wanted to tell him he wasn't hitting on all 8.

Then--THE HILL. This thing is steep! In my car, I have to shift down to 2nd gear to get up; I managed to NOT walk it and found 3 more dudes at the top wondering why anyone exercises, let alone on THAT hill.

Once more I had to go by Creepy House. This time, the man & woman were both outside with 2 of 3 dogs unchained. Luckily, by the time I got to the house, he had encased both dogs in the cab of his crusty pickup. Whew.

The last 3/4 of a mile produced a tailwind. Ahhhhhh.

Sunday's adventure was a long mtb ride. I had a fantastic day technically and physically. I messed up technically only when I tried to choose other-than-normal lines through the rocks. I was trying to mix it up and do new things, but floundered a couple of times. Oh well. It's good to see what works and what doesn't.

On a whim, I decided to purchase a ticket for New Moon tonight to watch w/ my neighbors. My buddy Jade is a huge fan. I liked the books, so now I'm succumbing to pre-teen hysteria and will stay up past my bedtime. Party on!

Slow Motion

It's November. I feel like everything is going in slow motion...the house, the building, my ride speed, etc. But if that's true, how did Autumn get here so fast? Why did the leaves fall so fast? It's like one day they were here looking beautiful painting the landscape, and the next, they were brown and on the ground.

Anyway, the house progress is extremely slow and is limited to 6-7 hours a week due to various other projects. Hubby and I worked Saturday putting siding up; I was relegated to cutting (yes, with a saw! Yay for tools.) and handing up correct measured pieces. I think I would have enjoyed hammering more, but I don't think I would have liked walking on the awning. So, the top is done--we still need to finish the bottom. Looks a little clunky still with our siding scraps, scaffolding, and ladder outside. Nevertheless, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all the windows!

The building has also had some down time. With the electrical finally finished, the drywall and insulation experts are on scene this week. We made a last minute decision to spend some extra $$ and have spray foam installed under the installation. This should better insulate and help seal the place. Angela's translation: I should expect to never see a spider or lady bug inside the building. LOL. As if. But I do dread the upcoming chore of painting which will fall on our shoulders. Any volunteers? We'll supply beer.

With temps in the high 60s, I wanted to ensure I pedaled my bicycle on such a glorious day. Again, I was reminded of slow motion. I am SO out of shape, but I'm OK with it right now. Running errands in town, I decided to hit the Wap instead of driving to Brown County. The trail was covered with leaves! At times it was difficult to spot which way I should go. In fact, on the first lap, I took a wrong turn and ended up back at the parking lot way too early. Oops. A group of guys had just finished a lap and headed out with me; they assured me the leaves were dry. Guess what! Dry leaves are slick too! I didn't go down but had a few close calls. Perhaps it wasn't from the leaves--it was more likely the roots hiding out underneath. A couple of people are doing mucho trail work out there; I think the new reroutes will certainly help take the 'ouch factor' out of some of the steep hills on the backside while hopefully adding some more miles.

Somewhere along the way, I ran through dog poo. Yuck. I took my bike to a car wash after the ride! It was on the way home and I had some quarters. I say it was $2 well spent.

One slow thing I'm grateful for is the onset of Winter. The Old Man can stay away for a little while longer. I want to play outside some more!

Random Photos

Just some random photos to share, some new--some old:

In a former life I raced sailboats. Here's a pic from 2004, though I'm not in this one. Lake Lemon, Sailboat class: 505

Words to remember.....

While buzzing on a gin and tonic last week, I thought this little smore looked more like a marshmallow buddha. It was hilarious at the time.

The view from my living room. Ahhhhh. October is beautiful.

The view from my front door. This was the day before Hilly Hundred.

With different lighting...

Jason carved a pumpking for my mom one year. Lights on:

Lights off:

My brother being interviewed after receiving a purple heart.

My neighbor, Jade. She's awesome.

A pic I took from the plane today. Unfortunately, I missed the good shot b/c electronic devices weren't supposed to be on at that particular time. I just wanted to jump out of the plane and play on the clouds!

DID YOU KNOW BEN & JERRY'S MADE TINY VERSIONS OF THE PINT-SIZED PORTIONS????? Aren't they so cute? I was a good girl and didn't buy one.

My ever-smiling niece, Addison. She's a doll.

Hilly, Hilly, Hilly

Nothing like a hilly, organized touring ride to jump start my legs. AHHHHHHH. This weekend was wonderful. It was Hilly Hundred time--two days, 50 miles each day. The title doesn't lie; this is a hilly ride.

It wasn't easy to lift the images from the organizer's site, so here is a less-than-perfect version.

Day 1 made me want to cry. It was SO cold in the morning--high 30s? The cloud cover didn't help the cold seeping into our bones. Thankfully, my fingers were warm from Randi's recommended Manzella gloves. With wet leaves crushed onto the road, the first hill was slippery. We would have to pay extra attention as the morning's rain wasn't drying out. Sadly, our group saw the Emergency Rescue and ambulance headed toward a location behind us as we arrived at the first rest stop. We learned later the crash victim was an acquaintance that rode several miles with members of our group in the past few years. Rumors are indicating she has a head injury along with multiple other injuries. Yes, safety would be paramount.

The first rest stop had doughnuts. mmmmmmm. I enjoyed one along with a banana. No, 13 miles in to a 50 mile ride did not warrant the sugary treat. But the Hilly Hundred demanded it. You must eat while on this ride. I did.

Expecting cold, fried chicken at the lunch stop, I was not disappointed. We all ate the poultry, chicken, veggies, cookies, and Schwann's Ice Cream. Well, I didn't have any ice cream. I know many of you are confused. I was holding out for Ritter's that awaited at day's end. Also unexpectedly, the sun came out! Nothing had made me happier up to that point than to have the sun shining down. It wasn't enough to make me want to shed a layer, but it certainly helped my disposition.

I also want to note that two of our clan rode fixed gears on this day. To sum it up for the non-riders. This is HARD. One gear. Choose it wisely; it must be easy enough to go up hills and hard enough to go down the hills. Because when you go downhill, your pedals move--there is no coasting. Your cadence at times can be 50 rpms or 150 rpms. Both decided to make little foot pegs on the frame to unclip and rest their feet while bombing down a hill. It was silly to see; I wonder what people thought.....

The last rest stop. Mr. Wonderful finds is happy to be resting.

It was way too cold for shorts on this day....

Coach Battin and JL find us. Matt impressed us with his off-road skills to ride the ditch.


Just a shot of all the bikes.
The camera phone doesn't take great pics, but this one is a beauty. There's a tractor in the shed--classic Indiana.

Day 2 would prove to be sunny with warmer temps. While we started in the 40s, we ended at 65 degrees. Mer joined us today, and we had quite a group at the start.

We didn't all finish at the same time, but rolling out together was a treat. I knew the boys would throw the hammer down on Anderson road, so I was itching to take the bait. I rode 3rd wheel until the guys started getting twitchy at which point I fell into the pace line in 9th wheel. It was heaven. The engine started pulling, and I was going fast again. My heart rate hasn't been elevated like that in a couple of months, but I was still able to talk. AND I didn't even get shelled on the first rise! Nor was I the first or second to get dropped. Granted they weren't going ALL out or I would have been shelled at the beginning, but mid 20s was fine with me. I finally dropped off just before the turn into the forest. After a minute's rest, another group came past with Mr. Wonderful on the back. He gave me some advance notice to get up to speed. This group pulled us to the others who had dropped off the pace in anticipation of the Bean Blossom climb. I had been taking the hills easy and was happy to do so again.

Just like Day 1, cold, fried chicken awaited us at the lunch stop. The leaves, temps, sun, and atmosphere was glorious.

After the final rest stop, we found ourselves on another flat section. Scott started the train again, and we all jumped on. Into the headwind, Art passed us on his fixed gear. What an animal! We were already going 20+. I stayed on until I knew no one else would drop then backed off to rejoin Mr. Wonderful and Mer. I would ride the rest of the 8 miles or so with them.

Sunday turned out to be gorgeous and totally made up for Saturday's dismal weather. I was all smiles for 50 miles. The leaves were breathtaking, though the pics can never show the depths of the colors and enormity of the scenery. Below are a couple of Phyllis that are awesome. Congrats to her for completing 50 miles. Way too cool.

Brown County Breakdown

I waited all year for this event. This is the Hilly Hundred on the trail. For Indiana mountain biking, the Brown County Breakdown is the mecca. I registered early for the 60-mile option that took riders from Brown County State Park to the Hoosier National Forest on 95% single-track. Who wouldn't love this ride? Also, it's the biggest fundraiser for HMBA and all the sweet trails they build and maintain. Shameless plug: Support them! They are the folks that work with state legislators, DNR, and other representatives to permit mountain bike trail building. Then they go out and build the trails, maintain them, and organize super cool rides like this one.

Last year, I rode 60 miles and felt great. This year was different. Too many late nights at work resulted in my fitness level plummeting. I think I have been on my bicycle 10 times in two months! And it showed. Aside from dusty handlebars, it was a balmy 34 degrees at the start line. I don't like the cold temperatures when I'm used to it; let alone when I'm still missing summer. I loathe it when my body hasn't acclimated at all to the nippy air and breeze. But this day was different. This was the big event!

Our group started with 10 or so riders, mostly from the Bicycle Station. Mike P also came up for another year of fun! Quickly 3 fast riders separated as we opted to take the STEEP hill instead of the easy, Pine Loop. We all theorized the hill would warm us up; it did for a short time. Coldness rapidly seeped into my fingers and bones making shifting frustrating. I kept telling myself I would warm up.

With severe rains in the preceding days the trails were OK, but the roots and rocks were especially slippery. I witnessed 3 crashes before one of our own went down. Melissa, on her new fly Cannondale Scalpel, slipped on a rock and ended up with a pretty good nose bleed. Below is a stock photo of her new ride. Matt B. complemented the pink accents with some pink grips, saddle, and water bottle cage. Being the weight weenie that he is, her bike is sub 20 lbs! I'm only a tad jealous (because I'm not that enamored with pink).

We all made it to the top of Hesitation Point, which is a super cool vista within the park. The pic on this site does a good job of showing off this highlight. It was cold. While the sun emerged for a short time, the slight breeze reminded us that winter is approaching. Some turned around, some continued on, and 4 of us stayed a little longer to thoroughly lock our joints into place. Finally we started pedaling again. I was ecstatic to be moving again but still lacking some enthusiasm.

Matt L had gone ahead; when we caught up to him, he was patiently waiting for the crowd to clear so he could turn his bike around and head home. With gloved fingers, he explained he had just crashed and broke a finger. After several gasps and questions,

"Are you all right?" Everyone.

"No. I broke my finger." Matt

"Do you need anything?" Everyone.

"No. I just need to get through." Matt.

Turns out two fingers are broken. Did I mention the rocks and roots were really slippery?

Now we were down to 2--me and Mike P. I was indecisive in how far I wanted to ride, and the news report said the horse trails were a mess. Our plan was to ride to the horse trail and check it out. The first trail was an absolute BLAST! There were quite a few down hills that I just bombed down with a smile on my face the whole time. The 29er really rolls over that stuff so smoothly. My only concern was having to climb them on the way back out. I knew I had to enjoy it while I could.

Arriving at the second horse trail, the mud was a thin peanut butter-like substance that sucked the energy out of our legs. Because Mike had just cleaned his bike, or was it because I was still whining at this point, we decided to call it a day and head back. After climbing aforementioned hills, we stopped to eat the PB&J's we had packed. MMMMM.

We took the trail back this year and chowed on the pulled pork, beans, potatoes, and fried biscuits. And to top it off, Mike bought his girlfriend a bike! So, despite my bad attitude, the day could have been a whole lot worse.

Best wishes to the ones who didn't finish; heal quickly.

Below are some pics lifted from HMBA posters.

The Endo Side Drop explained

Finally! As Ryan Leech says, "The Endo Side Drop comes in very handy when you need to exit off the side of a sketchy or uneven obstacle."