There was something terribly intriguing about Stephanie's essay titled, "I stole my first bike" that captured our attention. Although it was her description of her transformation from utilitarian riding to a true love affair with her bike that sealed the deal. Stephanie's story is familiar to many of us at Trek, from saving money for six months for a new set of wheels that cost more than her first car, to the Zen feeling she gets from truing a wheel. And only after two years of riding she says, "I know what cadence means, how many watts is a lot. I can fix a flat in my sleep and tell the difference between a pinch flat and goat head at 50 yards." Clearly she fell in love with cycling hard and fast. But her husband fully supports her cycling affair.
With her recent move from Idaho to Minnesota, she is expanding her horizons quickly to city riding and cruising the river bottom trails. Without a doubt you too will be intrigued by Stephanie's cycling journey from utilitarian riding in College to a true love affair on and off the road only two years later.
It is Bill's turn now! He has a race this weekend in Burley Id. He is participating in the VikingMan race which is a Half Ironman distance triathlon. That is a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and a 13 mile run. Wow! I thought I was athletic...Bill has got me beat. I don't know what time is is shooting for...this is his first one, so I think survival is the goal.
Good luck Bill! Race hard!
SPRINGTIME HAS HIT!
Minnesota has entered a twelve step process to recover from its crippling addiction to the cold. The steps it is on right now are “recognize you have a problem” and “make restitution to those you have hurt.”
Spring so far has been palpably delicious. Minny is forgiven – just don’t let it happen again.
Anyway, in commemoration of springtime Bill and I have an announcement to make. OUR FAMILY IS GETTING LARGER! Last week we went to a specialist and looked into the possibility of…
To keep those of you who are reading in a little suspense, I will finish this blog on Monday or Tuesday. Check back in for the exciting news!
Oh, and Happy Mother's Day mom! And to the rest of you moms out there!
The fight with Minnesota Winter continues... This last weekend we had a big snow storm that dumped 8 inches. And it looks like tomorrow we are in for a little more snow. The temperature still hangs in the 30s and 40s everyday.
Despite the weather, my training must go on. I decided that the winter really "can't stop these legs". I have found numerous ways to train and get in shape over the long winter. I have been running on the treadmill, and swimming in the pool. I have even been going to some spinning classes. My best training tools have been my CycleOps trainer and rollers. This picture is proof that the winter doesn't need to slow me, or anyone else down. Look at my legs...they are a blur...so fast.
Ride on.
I don't think that having a frozen door knob is a health hazard, but it should be.
This was a couple weeks ago when the temperature was down below zero. I woke up to leave the house and found a frozen solid door knob, frost included.
I decided to document the occasion just in case I needed hard evidence that I once lived in "The Frozen Tundra" (Minnesota).
Health hazard or not, you better bundle up, and think twice about riding outdoors on these days.
Spring couldn't come any faster!
There are not a lot of things that I have done 135 times. I have walked two hundred steps on a pair of stilts when I was 10 years old. I have bounced two thousand times on a pogo stick with out stopping. And now I have run a round a track one hundred thirty-five times. Before you freak out...135 laps on this track only equaled about 14 miles.
All the loops didn't drive me crazy. I actually felt like I accomplished something pretty cool.
My friend Robin Barden is the reason I ran it. She is training for the Boston Marathon, and she is a real tough runner. She had me beat after 5 miles. I still managed to stick with her through the fourteen miles...until the last lap. She had enough energy to sprint the last lap and leave me in the dust. I have to give you credit Robin, you are an awesome runner.
The next day I was pretty sore, but she didn't feel a thing. My right calf muscle suffered the most damage from all the left handed turns.
135 was a lot of fun...but I am still looking forward to those outdoor runs.
Hey! It is almost Christmas and I am starting to feel absolutely jovial. I went to a Christmas devotional for my church on Sunday night, where a lot of people sang songs and a few people talked. It was a ton of fun, especially the singing part. Some of those people could belt out Christmas songs in such a way that Santa, sitting in the North Pole, would not only hear them he would complain to the local authorities.
Anyway, in a special ode to cycling this winter (my first where the snow stays for MONTHS!) I have decided to come up with ten things that I love about frosty Minnesota.
1. I never overheat
2. Cars drive slowly in the snow
3. Frosted eyelashes. Seriously. I thought that this was something that only happened to folks who climbed Everest. Not true. It happened to me.
4. Fishtailing. It turns a boring ride to the store into a roller coaster ride of excitement.
5. Pretty white snow. At night, with our windows open it is almost as light as when it is day on account of the light reflected off the snow.
6. Dirty nasty slushy snow. (for fishtailing in)
7. People are generally pretty upbeat. This is a very positive thing. I think it is because if you were prone to negativism you would have either moved to Florida or killed yourself after the first winter. Darwin says that only positive thinkers survive Minnesota.
8. People leave their Christmas lights on all year (it is pretty much appropriate here).
9. Blankets. Many, many blankets that are toasty warm and plug into the wall.
10. Minnesotans. These people are great. The other day, as I was pulling in to work, and mentioned to my coworker that –13 was rather nippy he just laughed, and said that he did not even put on a jacket until at least –20. –40, according to the average Minnesotan is cold. Anything warmer than that is positively balmy.
Ahh, the cold! What a pleasure! It occasionally hurts my fingers and toes and freezes the tender hairs in my nose, but on the whole it is lovely. It makes blankets possible – and blankets are lovely things.
Have fun out there girls!
Tuesday it was three degrees outside. If those degrees had been driving, they would have barely been able to ride in the carpool lane. A cop probably would have pulled them over just to make sure that they were legal. Whew! Anyway, I rode to work on Tuesday and met each one of those degrees personally.
I bundled up pretty well, I had long tights and shoe covers on the lower half of me, and spandex, a jacket and a heavier ski jacket upper half of me. I had big fatty lobster gloves for my hands and an old school aviator’s hat – ear flaps included – for my head. When I went outside I thought that I would be all right. (insert ominous music here)
The cold seeped in through the seams of everything. Two blocks down the street my elbows and knees started getting chilly, then my fingers and toes started to tingle, then my face froze off. The ear flaps of my old school aviator’s hat kept flapping up letting frigid drafts in, and the pit-zips on my ski jacket turned traitorous. Luckily my nose was running pretty steadily so my upper lip and chin kept toasty warm.
Fortunately there are some minor hills on the way to my work, so getting up those hills warmed me up – except for my poor toes. My toes started tingling, then outright hurting, then they hurt so bad I thought that I would lose my toenails. When I took off my socks once I got to work I was scared that my toenails would go with them. Wow, what can I say, it is COLD outside.
When I got to work though, I felt like a champ. My boss called me “hard core” which felt good because I do not feel particularly hard core, but I would like to be. What is the limit though? Where do you cross the line, or is it a line that can only be crossed after a long time – for example someone who rides their bike when it is 3 degrees outside is unlucky, or does not plan well or is foolish, but then if someone rides their bike all year and many of those days are really cold, then that person is hard core?
I walked out side this morning and it was below 30 degrees and snowing. I can't believe that I live in a place that is this cold! It has been getting cold pretty fast here in Minnesota. Lucky for me, I did not ride my bike to work all week because I have been traveling to multiple clubs a day.
Today I got into work and mentioned the snow outside and how cold it was getting. A fellow trainer laughed and said "last year we already had three inches on the ground...and you think this is cold?" I just smiled casually and said "I guess I'm in for a very interesting winter". Inside I was thinking, "Oh My! How am I even going to get through November!"
I'll just take it one day at a time. Monday I will be back to riding my bike to work. Wish me warmth, not luck.
By the way- I love snow. I think it is beautiful when it snows, and it makes the cold seem a little more bearable...to a point.
This is the nail that popped my tire on the way home yesterday! I have placed it on the map of the USA so that you can get an idea of the size of it. As you can see, bigger than Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri put together. You may ask, "How is it that you could miss a nail that size?"
It was dark.
Talk to you later.
I am riding fast to catch the yellow light, cars breathing exhaust down my leg, left hand turn - drivers staring at me. City riding can be scary at times, and at times it can be as exhilarating as the trail. I learned how to ride on the city streets, and have had a few close shaves with cars – a couple of my friends have had bad accidents. In order to be a pro at city riding there are a few things that you should do.
1. Act like a car. Try to be as predictable as possible. Make left turns in the left hand turn lane, signal even for stopping and don’t do anything too sudden.
2. Wear bright clothing. A yellow vest goes a long way when you are competing for attention with a Porsche. At night always have lights – a rider is a black hole without lights.
3. Keep your eyes open. It sounds funny, but sometimes when you ride you get in this zone where you are focusing on how hard you are working and not so much on what is going on around you. Stuff happens fast when cars are involved, so be aware at all times
Finally, have fun! All those drivers out there are just wishing that they are in your shoes.
