Catundra

After a very short day at work Friday, Jason and I had some extra time on our hands. We skipped out on Friday night Pizza Night w/ the grandparents and visited them in the morning before making our way towards home. With a filling lunch at Upland Brewery, I suggested we visit the animal shelter. He agreed!

Note to self: load him up on a couple of beers next time I want anything.

Our fence is not yet fixed, so we looked at the cats. Without expecting it, we were filling out an application for "Patches." And wouldn't you know it, we could take her home right then! So we did.

Patches is 4 years old and was given up by a family who was moving. She came with an upper respiratory infection and already hates me after shoving a couple of syringes full of antibiotics into her mouth. This is starting out great! Nevertheless, she's a cutie and is quite affectionate. Hopefully we'll complete the family with a dog, but in the interim, we're going to let Patches become acquainted with us and the house.

We're thinking of a name change, though, and I'm laughing at Jason's suggestion: Catundra. The cat is a little overweight reminding him of a children's book of the same name he had many moons ago. The main character of the book is an overweight cat who lives in the forest after being teased by the other critters. I'll have to find that one at the library.

Scarce O' Fat

It's just fun to say. "Scarce O' Fat" This is the name of a gravel road in Brown County. This road connects Hwys 45 & 46 through Yellowwood State Forest. With temps around 18 degrees in the morning, I opted to do a gravel road ride on Big Wheel.

This is a ride I've been itching to do for a while. It's not that the ride itself is that spectacular; I guess I've attached some sentimental value to it. Scarce O' Fat road has given me plenty of "Firsts." It's the first place I took Max on a hike; it's the first place I went cross country skiing; and it's the first ride I did on Big Wheel.

Angela's Mountain Biking History: In 2003, I went to visit friends in Arizona where we rented mountain bikes. Mine was something like a Specialized Enduro with buttloads of travel and suspension. I WAS HOOKED! I knew I would be a mountain biker during that ride.

Megan and I riding in Sedona--my first mtb ride!

Upon returning to Indiana I bought an entry-level Cannondale. I started riding with my current neighbor at Wapehani and a couple of other trails. THIS WAS AWEFUL! The trees, roots, and layouts were nothing like Sedona. I hated it. After only a handful of rides I retired the bike. Three years later, Mr. Wonderful decided he needed a new mountain bike. Out of spite, I joined in this "team" purchase of Gary Fisher Paragon 29ers. My childish reasoning, "if he can spend money, I can too."

These bikes were beautiful. The Pearl Yellow had gold flakes that glittered in the sun. Having never ridden it, I knew I would love it--because it was pretty.

So, Jason suggested a ride through the forest, and I happily agreed. We packed a lunch and embarked on a non-technical mountain bike ride--the one I did today. We ate lunch on the dam of Yellowwood lake then turned for home. I thought I was going to die; the hills at the end were excruciating! But the bike was awesome.

Having got in on "the deal" with the bikes, I was "required" to race at least 3 races for The Bicycle Station. I entered the local race, my first, and won the Beginner category. I've been hooked ever since.

Today I found myself doing the same ride only with snow and lots of sun. THANK GOODNESS for the sun. I've missed it lately.

Turning off hwy 45 onto Tulip Tree, I questioned my sanity. The road had been plowed--good. The now packed snow seemed to have a glassy look in places. Ice? Riding alone, would I fall, break a bone and be left to freeze until my husband figured out I should have been home 59 hours ago? Just do it. I kept riding without problems. That is, until I reached the gate. The gravel road ends at the forest where it becomes a fire road. Snow plows don't traverse fire roads. Within 10 feet I knew it would be difficult. Hikers & skiers made the crusty snow produce an odd path that bumped me every which way. When I wasn't getting bogged down in snow I was getting bucked. This would call for some skills practice! YAY! After more than a half hour (slow learner), I realized it was best to blaze my own trail on the fresh snow instead of trying to ride over partially frozen foot/ski prints.

The little chain ring was quite useful in providing easy, even cadence for the rollers. I still had to pay careful attention as my tires were sliding all over the place. Again, I was ecstatic to get in some practice while keeping my HR at a somewhat acceptable level. As I type, my arms don't hurt--tomorrow may be another story.

I had estimated the fire road to be 3 miles. I think I was way off, but I have no way to tell since I didn't bring the GPS. On the Google map above, I sketched the red line in where no road showed on the map.

The instructions given to me were, "the trails that go off to the left are hiking trails. The roads to the right do not take you where you need to go. Also, don't go on any of the logging roads to the left or right. At the Y, go" AHHH. Go which way???? I didn't remember. I got to the "Y" and couldn't remember which way to go. I stopped to look at some trail signs that were over 300 years old. Best I could tell, I should go right b/c left takes me to the lake.

After miles and miles of nothing, I finally came upon a sign for Scarce O Fat & Tecumseh. I knew I was where I needed to be.

The rest of the ride was snowy gravel roads. Even the hills weren't as bad as I remembered. After reaching Lanham Ridge, I was even short on time. So, I turned at the next gravel road--County Line Road taking it to Southshore. By this time, something had frozen and seized on the bike leaving me with only my middle chain ring in the front. I was happy to have gears in the rear but worried about Richardson road as it's kind of steep and was covered in snow.

It was no problem. Well, no problem when I'm supposed to keep my HR down; I could just slow down with a reasonably good excuse!

The ride was awesome today. I downloaded my HR data just to see how many calories I had burned. My own theory is HR monitors severely miscalculate calories, so I knew the number I was looking at was at least 13000 too few. So, I enjoyed my new favorite ice cream: Edy's slow churned peanut butter cup. MMMMMMMMMm.

Happy Saturday and Happy Sunshine! I'm ready for Summer. Have I mentioned that yet?

Super Bowl Scrooge

It's true. I'm a Super Bowl Scrooge--EVEN when the home team is playing. I don't care who wins or loses. Football is a sport I don't understand much like mountain biking is foreign to many other people. Why would anyone want to pedal a bicycle through the woods? It's hard. It's tiring. Everybody wears spandex shorts--even those who shouldn't.

My view of football is similar. Why would anyone voluntarily put themselves in front of a 300-lb person who is trying to tackle them to the ground? Isn't is rough out there? Aren't the chances of getting injured high? Don't they wear spandex pants--even those who shouldn't?

Despite these sentiments, Hubby and I were invited to 4 Super Bowl parties! Those who know me, know my 9:00 rule. No phone calls after 9:00 b/c I'm likely in bed trying to sleep. This game starts at something like 7:30 on a Sunday night! As if I'm going to get geared up for a game I don't care about or understand. But there is always food. Always. And therein lies the temptation. I'm sure we'll go somewhere for a short period of time and hear about the results on the radio tomorrow morning.

This time of year has me annoyed. I AM READY FOR SUMMER. I AM. I TRULY AM. Friday produced lots of rain and snow heavy, wet snow. Heavy snow is not good XC ski snow. And I really wanted to get on the bike and ride outside. Granted, I've ridden in colder temps this year, but a snow ride taxes the legs quite a bit. A road ride was out of the question. A trail ride would be killer. So, I had my heart set on gravel road. Alas, I'm too chicken to go alone when it's freezing outside. So, I was stuck inside.

While I was entertaining these thoughts, Matt & Mer called.

"Do you want to go for a hike? We're taking the puppy for her first hike."

"NO!" It's cold. I have a date with the trainer. It's cold. I would have to put on some real clothes. It's cold.

In 30 seconds, we went from an adamant "NO" to "Sure, sounds like fun. See you in 30 minutes."

I'm so glad we went. What fun!

This is the vicious cycle of emotions I go through every time. I dread getting out in the cold weather only to be coaxed into it and enjoying every bit of it.

While Cheryl provided a helpful list of reasons to train in the Winter, I was most humbled by Jill who gives a preview to snow riding in her blog. I think this is something I can get in to! If you don't want to read about it, at least check out her pics. This is one awesome chic!

Below are some pics from the hike. Photos are from Matt.

Their dog. Doesn't this just make your heart melt? I want another pet NOW!

Another pic worthy of being on a calendar.

The girls.


The classic Sycamore tree in the valley on my road. Every winter this one stand out among the rest of the trees. It's cool.

Jason continuing his quest to achieve perfect balance.

There's a beaver in the midst.

This can mean only 1 thing....

I am now bald. Well, not quite; but my hair is shorter than it's ever been! I am now ready for Summer!

I wish February would get here already

Wow! Where to start. Last year was "Year of the Building." (some pics here.) This year is "Scramble like mad to get all house renovation projects done before the appraiser comes to our house!"

We bought our abode in 2001; since that time, we've been making major improvements. Strike that. We've been destroying our house bit by bit in order to make major improvements. The act of destruction is more fun and a lot quicker than rebuilding and finishing.

The building project kicked our behinds in gear to finish said improvements in order to complete our construction loan. Ahhhhh, the joy of pressure.

I'll keep it short. I have NOT had a good attitude throughout this engagement. I've verbally expressed my disdain at having to do manual labor, especially when I would rather be lazy and read some great blogs: CherylSBR, Fat Cyclist, Liz Waterstraat, Stan's motorcycle trips, and many, many more! Admittedly, I also peruse, People of Walmart and Awkward Family Photos. This is only the tip of the iceberg of my internet addiction. Also, I've been able to ride my bike when I want, which was especially nice with recent weekend weather above 35 degrees. Very nice.

Being somewhat productive, I also have a tentative race schedule for 2010 and hope to incorporate a couple of 6-hour races. Heather opened my eyes to these events in KY, and I really enjoyed going to Kentucky Lake last year and riding a new trail. Riding new trail was more fun than the race itself. And due to the chaotic business above, I didn't venture to my normal Grand Canyon destination last fall. It's time to TRAVEL! And why not travel with my mountain bike!

Even though I've been crabby and sore from little-used muscles, lack of sleep, and lost free time, I'm amazed at how awesome our house looks when compared to before. Hubby gets some gold stars for his vision and accomplishment. While I don't have many before shots, you may be able to see some of the enhancements. And soon, *fingers crossed* the pressure will be diminished. I know our projects won't be completely done--but done enough for the appraiser.

Old pic - this doesn't show the old, metal crappy spiral staircase. The door in the pic is now moved to the basement, shown in this pic. Also note the adorable blue carpet and hand-made railing for the new stairs.

The stairs have been these planks for the past 6 years!

Ahhh, the hickory hard wood floors we installed 3 years ago and our "plank" stairs.

The basement as of yesterday. Remember when we were chewing up tile? We have some marble that we'll put down after everything else is finished.



New wood doors for every room in the house, complete with our new trim scheme as well. Note trim in pic above. This is a slow, tedious process.



Alas! The hickory stairs are in the process of being installed. This is a shot from this evening's work.

Oak risers match the trim!

And here's a close-up of them together. I love how they look.

Of course there's painting and outside stuff going on too. But no pics. Hopefully this will be out of crisis mode soon, and we'll be able to enjoy the cold, January rain. (-;

A little obsessed lately

OK--Everyone knows I've been obsessing lately about my late dog, Max, and how much he loved the snow. Here are even MORE pics from earlier years to go with the post below.

He's already up ahead on the trail. You can barely see him in the center left.

Fun in the Snow!

Last week I was trying to make a list of all the good things about riding indoors on the trainer:

-Instant access to food after a ride.
-Instant access to a shower after a ride.
-Don't have to wear a jersey.
-Can go the pace I want to go.
-Television! (It's about the only time I watch TV. I haven't been recording anything either. Oops)
-The television necessitates a remote caddy that I haven't quite developed yet.
-Group trainer sessions where I can still ride my own pace!
-Reasonable temperatures.
-????

I'm sure if I were to Google it, I could find more happy reasons to be on a trainer. I'd rather not think about the sad ones.

Despite the 8 or so items in my list above, I found myself outside in the first real snow of the year! The girls and I had discussed how as children we were impervious to cold temperatures; at least I was. It seemed I could play all day long making forts and snow angels. But now, I scowl every time I have to go outside when the temperature is below 60--I mean 30.

Saturday's high was 12, I think. At least that's what it was when I started XC skiing. I suckered Randi (or was she really that eager?) into meeting me at the golf course. Over a couple of hours, I saw more than 2 dozen people playing, sledding, or skiing. I also saw a few dogs, which made me sad as Max loved to go skiing with us. Nevertheless, there was evidence that this was a popular sport this weekend. Knowing I would be too cold to take pics, I didn't even bring the nice camera. However, once I got out there, I was warm the entire time! So, I snapped some pics with the iPhone.

Sunday's plan was a mtb ride at BCSP with Cheryl. Even 40 minutes before I was to meet her I checked my e-mail hoping for a bailout message saying, "It's too cold. Let's not meet."

It didn't come. So off I went in all my cold weather gear. Borrowing Jason's neoprene socks, I thought I would try this as an option for warm feet. He said, "If you like them, you can't have them. You'll have to get your own."

I just laughed as he frowned. I think we both know the truth. Note to self: Buy neoprene socks.

We set out on the trail. It was SO hard trying to stay upright. The snow wasn't so wet or deep that it was difficult to pedal---it was slick! It was hard to keep the wheels going in the right direction. The back one wanted to slide all over the place and the front one had a mind of its own. And what was with my balance? Why did I keep hanging over the left side of my bike?!?!?! I started laughing at what we must have looked like wondering if the bikes of the tracks ahead of us were struggling as much as me.

The key is to relax; relax everything...the arms, hands, fingers, legs, shoulders, etc. Knowing that didn't stop me from having my death grip on the bars. I would tell myself to drop my shoulders only to find them tight again a few minutes later.

After 30 minutes we bailed to the road and tried a different trail. This one hadn't been visited by other bikers; rather, an XC skier groomed the trail for us. Not realizing the impact, we set out on this one and learned that the skis left 2 grooves for riding with a couple inches of snow in between. Again, my bike did not want to track in either of these grooves. I wondered if it would have been better to have been the first. This venture took 45 minutes.

Again, we bailed to the road and finished on the road. It was colder but easier. I must admit that I had a lot of fun on the snow trail. It was a ride and skills session in one. If there were hidden cameras, someone is getting a good laugh!

So much for fun on the trainer. As long as I get gumption, I can ride outside.