Chivalry still lives

I can't say it exists everywhere. I witness it on occasion, but not often.

Last night I went on the Wednesday night club ride. It is similar to the TNWs. I've clocked it at 27 miles. Now this ride hasn't moved it's start as early as many of the other evening rides, though it's longer. It's been listed as lights required. I got to the ride start, had my light and was ready. It was fairly cool, 59F and very breezy at the 6:00 start, but the sun was still shining and felt warm on your face.

I was the only female to show! No big deal. There were probably 25 or so that showed up. This ride is great fun and challenging for me. My biggest drawback for now is I need some warmer gear to wear. Booties or toe warmers are on top of the list. Next would be a few long-sleeved thin, wicking t-shirts to wear as a base layer, next a wind breaker that is rain resistent. From here I could go a little nuts with my wish list. :-)

We started out and I stayed with the lead group until that darned little inclined on Blankenbaker. I lost ground, but could see them ahead. I made up some ground on the downhill - was going about 31MPH which was great fun but felt like I was in a beer cooler with a fan on. Unfortunately, they caught the light at River Rd and I didn't. Murph reached me and we started out River Rd together. There were others behind, but I never saw them. As Murphy pulled, we chatted about the house he and his wife are trying to purchase. We ride down to the baseball stadium and start back down River Rd. As we turn onto Mockingbird I tell him that I'm going to bail at Brownsboro and head back. It's dusk and darkening quickly and the temps are dropping. When we get to the top he says that he's going back with me. I protest, because this will cut his ride short. He would have nothing to do but go with me. It was dark and he said he couldn't live with himself if something would happen. How would he feel if I had a flat an my spare tube wouldn't inflate? Let alone something worse. There wasn't anything I could do or say except, "thanks, Murph".

Once we got back to the start, he took off to see if he could find any of the others and get some more miles in. It was pitch dark. I really was glad that he rode back with me. But I am a grown up with a cell phone and can handle myself.

I had 18.5 miles in 1:16 minutes. Not exactly Speedy Gonzales, but my legs were happy.

Hills, heat, haze, Ohio valley in summer

A couple of people have told me lately that I've been bitten by the cycling bug. They are correct. Two or three have said they are proud of me for sticking with it and confessed they didn't think I would have.

I took smoking cigarettes and replaced that activity with another. First was walking and then trying to run. Second was cycling. The walking/running slowly faded as my enjoyment with cycling increased.

I love to ride. It's hard stuff. I said in my last post that I need more rural rides with hills. I rode a club ride last night that was fantastic and a couple of hills were very hard. I arrived at the ride start about 45 minutes early. It was in Southern Indiana and I was unsure of the total time it would take me to get there from work at the end of the work day. The temps were in the low 90s and had an air quality alert. This was the first time I did this ride and began to worry about the heat and such. What I found out is that 85% of the ride was in the shade and the temps dropped by at least 10 degrees in the shade and more at the bottom of the valleys. I managed to bugger my other knee, not as badly as I was on the left one, but got some nice road rash.

Riding these hills are hard for me. But I don't want it to be easy. I want and need a challenge right now. I've set goals of averaging 100 miles a week on the bike. Now I'm thinking that needs to double next spring. But I have to figure out how to do that and still get my work done and not upset my husband even more by not being at home much.

Dixie rode with me last night. She's close to my age, single, and is from Illinois. She raced quite a lot until last summer. She has been coaching me, giving me tips and helping me on the hills. I mentioned to the ride captains last night that I suck at hills and Dixie said, "I'm gonna kick your butt! You are doing great, but need to be positive about yourself." I am working on the positive while trying to maintain my realism. I told her that I won't quit and I won't.

Rode Monday and Wednesday. Had long work day on Tuesday and I didn't get home until 11 pm. Temps were 95F today and not so good air quality. Thought I'd ride tonight, but this ride would not be shaded and cool like last night. I'm not sure my asthma would do well on a day like today. I'll do an easy ride tomorrow. Then 50 on Saturday morning. I think I'll limit my urban rides to 2 a week max. Too many traffic lights. One fellow cyclist said that those rides are when I need to do my sprint workouts - race to the next light when the current one turns green. Sounds like a plan!

I want to do a century in September. I need to get more miles. I want to race in the spring, so I hope I'll have enough base and time in the saddle that I can be somewhat competitive (age group).

Wheeling into the night - Thursday night

Club ride from Hogan's fountain - 7:00 pm start - must have lights for the return. This ride normally goes Broadway, but Thursday was the Pegasus Parade and many road closures. Took Breckinridge to Third Street and out to Iroquois, came back to Broadway which was still closed to traffic, but they let us in.

First time I was the only female on the ride. Kept hearing that they go slow and won't drop anyone, typically 12 - 15 mph. Yeah, uh huh. Course I wanted to pull my weight and so worked to stay with front group. I was doing okay until 3 traffic signals from the park. They were staying between 18 and 20 at least all the way to the park and then back.

I think I burned too much trying to keep up. The hill at Iroquois was tough. I made it, though was huffing and puffing the whole way. Never did drop to my granny gear though. The way back down was so cool and breezy. We came out of the park and I was in front, booking. Damn computer stopped working so I couldn't keep up with mph, total mileage, nothing. Stayed up front until 3rd and Eastern Pkwy. They dropped me at the light. Tommy and I rode back together. Ran into the front group at Barret and stayed together until Shells where I had cold beer waiting. 25 miles on a warm, humid evening with the guys. It was a fun time. I was tuckered out. I slept so soundly, the cats didn't even wake me.

I have a long way to go, but felt good about my progress to date. Just want to get stronger and faster. I'd really like to fly down those roads and streets. A girl can dream :-)

Maybe a few days off the bike is what I needed

Well, I did the 2:00 Heine Brother's ride today. Last time out was Wednesday. I won't count yesterday's 5+ miles, too disappointing. The Grandview hill was easiest to date. And that's after I fell on River Road and buggered my left elbow and knee and turned my right hood inwards. Geez! how embarrassing. I was dumb, worried more about the car behind me and not paying attention to the bike in front. My front tire hit his rear. Rear always wins!

I won't go so far as to say that Grandview was easy. But so much better than all the times before. Hope I've moved my knee enough that it doesn't get stiff overnight. I want to do the recovery ride after work tomorrow.

What to say, no complaints here!

We've been so fortunate! Warm day, overcast and threatened rain, never did. Winds were gusting at least 25 mph. Since I didn't have my bike with me at work I couldn't ride in town.

I've decided that I need to find a little used route around my hours for weekend evenings. Can't do Routte Rd or Kingschurch. People are tired and not as alert. If you happend to have the sun low in the sky, that can be even worse.
So I wussed and took the trainer out to the patio and rode a fairly easy 60 minute spin. Found some tightness behind my knees as well an this right hip-flexor. I should've worked it harder, but guess we'll get to do a workout on the trainer tomorrow. What a way to spend Friday night!

It's getting colder and thunderstorms starting tomorrow. It's a shame since it's Thunder weekend.

Skirts did hill repeats last night. Oli said til they almost threw up. Sounds like fun! :-) I'm gonna try and be there next week.

Had a nice chat with my oldest daughter on the way home tonight. We talked about politics, hunger, culture, some deep stuff. I'm not sure we have ever had such a stimulating conversation. Another evolution in this adventure.

Skirt Ride #2

I'm not sure it if qualifies as a Skirt ride, technically. You tell me:

Life is an adventure, you just never know what's gonna happen, what might be right around the corner, etc. I took a vacation day on Monday. I really needed a mental health day. Hadn't had one in months. Mostly I vegged and looked forward to my Skirt ride with the ladies. I had a 20+mile drive to the ride. Planned on leaving an hour ahead of start time, but got out of the house about 10 minutes behind schedule. I'm driving down Interstate-64 and there's a wreck around Cannon's Lane. Traffic was slow, but moving so I got off at Cannon's. Mistake, this was bumper to bumper for at least a mile. I started worrying about getting to the ride start on time. I called my Bro who knows how to get most anywhere in the city and took some pointers from him.

Whew, I get to the ride start about 10 minutes til 6. Get my bike and gear in order and meet the ladies. We had a nice turn out. I didn't do an official count (should have), but think there were at least a dozen to fifteen. There were supposed to be 3 groups. One would stay in Seneca/Cherokee and do the loops there. The other two were going to Iroquois with the faster doing the hill and the slower group wouldn't.

It was beautiful weather. Seventy degrees at 6 pm ride start with a few clouds in the sky overhead, but the sunshine was everywhere. We leave Cycler's and head to Seneca Park. The first group stays behind and we proceed to Eastern Parkway. We are in one big group, not two. Never really split off or discussed who would be in which one, at least not that I was aware. All is going well and we get to the intersection of Bardstown Rd. This is where I need work. I'm getting to the traffic signal and the rest of the group makes the light. I didn't make the light. So I'm at this fairly busy intersection watching the rest of the group get further and further away. The light changed, I clipped in and pedalled as hard as I could. I could see the group at the next intersection. This happened for three different intersections with traffic lights. After the third, I never saw them again. Period.

At some point I realise that I don't have my fast acting inhaler with me. I start thinking about that and realise I have at least 7 miles to go to get to Iroquois and then at least 10 to get back. I've lost my group. Hmm. The weather was good. My lungs felt clear. I had taken my Advair before leaving home along with a couple of puffs on the inhaler. (I always do that prior to real exertion). I had done my homework, studied the ride route on Google Maps, know my way around Jefferson County fairly well and decided to continue on. Why spend all that gas money to what, go home? I think not!

It was so good to spend time outside in warm temps and sunshine. So many people were out and about, pushing strollers, playing catch with the kids, running, jogging, cycling, washing cars. The route followed Eastern Parkway to Third Street which turns into Southern Parkway. Louisville has a beautiful park system. The parkways are 4 lane roads separated by a median with mature trees. At Southern Parkway, on either side of the road are smaller access roads that have (for the most part) been barriers in place preventing vehicle traffic, but allowing pedestrian and bicycle traffic. All along the way people smiled and acknowledged each other.

Iroquois has a lower road that loops the entire park, a 1.5 mile road that leads to the upper loop on Iroquois Hill. And the the upper loop road. By the time I got to the park I had already decided that if I was to do the hill, 1 - I wasn't going to see the others and 2 - I might run out of daylight before getting back as clouds were starting to float in from the west/northwest. I decide to ride around the lower loop and did about 1/3 of it before turning around and heading back.

The ride back seemed easier. At least the Southern Parkway to Eastern Parkway portion. Guess my legs had really warmed up. I was in my big ring most of the time and had a nice cadence of 95 RPM or more. I get to Eastern Parkway and I was going way too fast for the turn at the viaduct. Went a little wide, but all turned out okay. I'm working my way down Eastern Parkway, feeling really good. I've finally gotten a rhythm at the traffic signals. I'm unclipping my left foot and leaving my right one clipped. Still not terribly graceful getting the left clipped back in, but it was getting more and more smooth. I get to the Medical Arts Building intersection and hit a red light. This really hurt. I had to start climbing that hill from a dead stop. I made it, though slow. One of those moments I am so happy to have a "granny" ring. As I enter Cherokee Park I notice most cars have their headlights on and I start to get a little concerned, but I am closing in on Cycler's Cafe. Hoagland Hill was a little tough, but Dog Hill wasn't bad at all. Making my way down Cannon's Lane and then Lexington Road all I could do was think pedal faster. All cars had their headlights on now. The sky was almost full of clouds which were blocking what little daylight was left.

I pull in right about 7:50. There were 3 cyclists chatting from the ride. That was an interesting conversation. But I told the ride captain not to worry. I had been prepared. But next time we probably need to have a better system in place in case we have some inexperienced people that aren't quite so well prepared with knowing the route, etc.

I learned a few things. I need more work on my stop and starts, clipping in and out. I need to get some more miles behind me along with more hill work. I need to stay with the group and in the group, not at the back. Sometimes I just have to learn the hard way. Those seem to be the best lessons learned. I completed 25 miles so my ODO said, it took me close over and hour an da half to do it, probably closer to 1:45. That's okay. I spent plenty of time at red lights. One, I sat through 3 before getting a green.

Last week was 8 months tobacco free. I was riding about 10 minutes at a time on the stationary bike in June of 2007. I have come a very, very long way. But I'm not satisfied. I want to get stronger, faster, and keep building lung capacity.
The Skirts are talking about entering a race before the month is over. I'd love to do that! I guess I could let it intimidate me and not do it. Nah, somebody has to come in last. I have no problem if it's me, the first few times anyway. Because I know at some point, I won't be last anymore.

Girls ride

A friend sent me an email late Sunday evening from a yahoogroup. Ok, first I thought it was odd because he sent this from PurpleRides, group about women cycling. I'm still not sure why he joined this group, but I have to say that I'm glad he did and that he shared the information with me.

A younger cyclist has put together a ride for Monday evenings for women. She's planning to group people based on ability and interest/goals. About a dozen women showed for the "Meet and greet". Not everyone brought their bikes with them and so we only had about 8 that rode. We did a couple of small loops around the soccer fields and tennis courts, then rode 2 loops around Seneca and Cherokee parks. It was a lot of fun getting to know some new women that enjoy riding. I need to learn to ride with groups. Having spent most of my riding by myself it is nice to have someone to talk and ride with. Niki complimented me on not being too shy to get close to other cyclists. She said that we should be comfortable enough to place our hand on another's shoulder, arms stretched. Yeah, I like my hands on the bars still, but have no problem nudging in behind or riding in two's.

I think the most difficult part for me was riding the hills while starting behind others. Maybe I've developed bad habits, or just have a different way and need to learn a new method. I prefer to get a nice cadence going in a good gear before hitting the hill. It's easier for me to maintain a good cadence in this way. If I start out slow, I just go that much slower the further up the hill I go, making it more and more difficult to get to the crest. A lot of this is stamina and maybe I need to do some weight training for my legs.

We finished the first lap around both parks and decided to continue on and do a second. The temps were in the low 40s and I started out worrying about the cool weather. But standing outside waiting for everyone meet and then chatting for a short while, I think this helped my lungs acclimate to the cooler temps. My lungs had no wheezing issues during the ride. This is not to say that I didn't have times where I was breathing fairly heavily. I was! especially on those hills. I pulled another DUH Sherri. We were coming up to a stop sign and I only unclipped one shoe. Lost my balance and went Kerplunk on my left side. Buggered my knee up very nicely. :-) Oh well, I'm sure this will be very small compared to other injuries I manage to have in the future.

Next week plans are to ride to Iroquois from Cycler's Cafe. Should be about 2 hours worth of riding, What better way to spend a Monday evening?

Is it from years of smoking or Murphy's law?

Or both? I went out to do a run yesterday. I did my 5 minute power walk to warm up and started the run. During the walk I noticed that the muscle to the outside of my left shin bone was tight and it kept tightening the entire time I was walking. Once I started running, my right achilles started hurting. In no time I was limping. I won't limp and run. so I stopped and walked home. I kept the walk as brisk as possible, but it was uphill most of the way and still painful.

I hadn't been inside anytime and began sneezing my head off. My nose dripped. This went on for 30 minutes or longer when I noticed that my chest was rattling with fluid. Damn! I had just mentioned that this was the first time I haven't had bronchitis in years. We watched the SuperBowl and my chest just kept getting worse. I found some OTC medicine for allergies at half time. I fell asleep not long after the game was over. Made my upstairs and slept until 4 at which time my brain turned on. I then tossed and turned off and on for hours. Slept til after 10 and my chest is still raspy. So, did I pick up a bug this past week meeting and socializing with so many people? Or is this due to the years of smoking and my ride on hills that caused it? Or is it just 'cause Murphy heard me say the bronchitis thing?

I've missed a day's worth of work. It was beautiful today and I would've loved to ride again or at least run, but you can't do that and miss work. Damn! Maybe i'll put some time on the trainer. :-(

Hills!

Maybe I shouldn't get too excited too soon as there are lots bigger hills in this world and my local vicinity than the little bumps I rode today. I'm definitely in need of a lot more work and need to focus on wattage (somehow). I think that means either increase resistance on my trainer or weight training. We'll start with the former before considering the latter. :-)

I took off on a very nice sunny Sunday afternoon that started about 50F and by the time I returned was it 55F, but starting to cloud up. I decided that I could ride Routte Road end to end for my first attempt to attack a few hills. I realised on my way up the first decent incline (my definition which most seasoned cyclists would smirk about I'm sure) that I should've spent at least 10 - 15 minutes of riding some flat just to get everything warmed up instead of the 5 it took to get there. Live and learn! I tried to make sure I was planning ahead for my gears, I tried to remember what I've read and been told about climbing. I worked to keep my cadence up, this is going to take plenty more hours of training to improve. The closer I would get to the top of a hill the slower and slower my cadence. This is so very frustrating! But reinforces that I just need to train harder.

What did I enjoy? The downhill run. Oh My Goodness what a thrill! I crammed my sunglasses against my face, crouched down with hands on drops and my butt slightly off the saddle tilted facing anything following me. I have no idea how fast I was going, but if I had hit any gravel and wiped out I would be limping by now. So now, my inspiration is to work very hard to climb taller hills just so I can scream down the other side. Yeehaww!

The route is right at 7 miles from my house to the end of Routte Rd at Taylorsville Lake Rd. (http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=7446). I had some disappointment on the way back. There's a nice one that I could not keep going all the way to the top. I got off and pushed the last 100 yards. I was so PO'd at myself. But it is what it is and each time I 'hit a wall' it's that much harder that I'll work for the next time. If I stop and think about this past week and how light the training regimen was, I guess that contributed to my less than stellar performance. (is that rationalising?) I decided to stop at the Pantry and get a banana and power bar. I needed to take 5 (more like 10 - 15) and catch my breath after 14 miles. I was feeling great, the sun was still shining, so I took off down King's Church. Then I got totally psyched! I was averaging 100 rpm the whole way, which is 4.3 miles. My total ride time was an hour and 15 minutes. Total time out was about and hour and 45 I guess.

Well, now to get out and run in a little while. I've not done enough of that either and the 5K is going to be here in no time. My bff has been training on her new treadmill and did the full 3 miles early this past week. I am so proud of her! I'll get back in time to clean up and get ready to pull for the NE Patriots. I love Tom Brady!

Tomorrow and Tuesday are supposed to be 65F with rain. I wish I could work from home. I'll have to check and see what I can work out. It does look like the next 10 days of weather will be at least in the high 40s except for Wednesday. Yoga is Tuesday! I am definitely hitting the trainer tour on Thursday this week. This is the last month to take advantage.

Oh yeah, I found this triathlon/duathlon event the weekend before my birthday in June. The duathlon is a 5k, 40k, 10k. I've got until March to sign up and I'm thinking this could be a fun thing to do. A nice accomplishment before hitting that half century mark.

Full week with not enough training

Lot's of people were in from out of town for retreat. Tonight is the holiday party. I missed riding Wednesday, Friday and Saturday this week. This is too much miss for me. Two days were only 30 minutes each.

Funny thing having a holiday party on Feb 2. But it should be fun no matter what we call it.

I plan on being good tonight with much less drinking than last night and definitely more food intake. It was a beautiful day and I blew it big time for fitness training.

Tomorrow should be better. I hope I can ride outdoors and get in a run, too.

I'm sure I'll post all about it before bedtime tomorrow night.

Never get too comfortable - it's all gonna change again

That's the fun of it! This is the adventure of life.

Found out this week I get to move to a new place in the office, but no one can tell me exactly where, yet. I was asked my preferences, which was good. For this I am grateful. I requested a window and cubicle with tall walls. I could be put on any of 3.5 floors that our group occupies. As long as I have a place to call home in the tower I will be happy. I like the flexibility of working remotely, but wouldn't be good if it was 100% of the time.

The weather! It has been cold, it's winter time and it should be cold. But it is detrimental to my work-out agenda. I'm losing time to get my training for the 5K. Today's high got to 18F I think, wind-chill was bitter.

I'm still learning and increasing my vocabulary. Balaclava is something that keeps coming up when I read about cold weather fitness. It's on my list of items to purchase.

It's been a good weekend. I rode 50 minutes Saturday. Oldest daughter came by and spent some time visiting and doing laundry. Hubby fixed a big pot of cabbage, potatoes and kielbasa. YUM! We watched my Cardinals lose. :-(

Today, I simmered a pot of white chili (http://www.courier-journal.com/features/food/requests/recipes/timothys_white_chili.html). I've used this recipe for years, always with modifications. Remember to soak your dried beans overnight, this helps reduce gas and cook time. I get a little more generous with garlic. If you like it with more heat, increase the cayenne or better yet, have a jar of jalapenos handy.

I rode the trainer for an hour and a half today. I didn't use a workout. I decided to spin and just have some added Time In The Saddle. I ran through 3 gears with a warm-up and cool-down around 85RPM, cruised the rest of the time between 95 and 105. Watched New England win again during my ride! I love Tom Brady. Hubby rode yesterday and today during the times I was riding. He's said that he's sticking to 25 minutes easy minutes. My reward was a great big bowl of chili, with jack cheese, sour cream, salsa and tortilla chips. I treated myself to a Mountain Dew! (first one in a quite some time). After finishing off the last drops, I ran a tub full of hot water and sat with the jets on for 30 minutes. Guess I'm gonna spend the next little while watching Green Bay and New York.

Have you noticed the longer days? I know it's not much, but it is enough to be encouraging!

Tomorrow we'll see 42F, that's a heatwave! Plan on doing a run, gotta get one in! We have more cold days ahead. But change is always a day or two ahead. Keeps me on my toes!

I haven't taken any Chantix since Wednesday

I was taking half a pill Sunday thru Wednesday and missed Tuesday completely. Maggie mentions that you can buy a pill cutter, I didn't and probably should've. But I got frustrated and very tired of taking the Chantix anyway.

So Thursday was the best day I had experienced to date. Met with my boss over lunch and discussed mid-year (I know we're way past mid-year). All in all it was a good conversation. I had located a client facing opportunity in Europe and he agreed! Several people providing feedback on my strengths and opportunities stated I needed exposure to clients outside of the US. I was on cloud nine! (Prior to lunch I had convinced myself that there would be one reason or another why there was somthing else that would be more appopriate.)

I had dinner with my boss and a former boss Thursday evening. She is my favorite person I have ever reported to. She's a wonderful mentor. We chatted, told stories, ate sushi. It was a great time!

I got home and had a blast online with a few friends. My quit buddy tells a terribly funny story on herself about falling during her run/walk. (Sometimes I have a hard time believing her stories). She wound up peeing her pants after her dog trips her and she takes a hard fall on hands and knees.

Two other friends are in Dallas for a client meeting. I get this email with a picture attached. K took a pic of J following a dinner theatre. An actress is hugging and kissing all over J. What a hoot!

Then, outta the blue I hear about mid-year promotions that came out. I reacted badly, very badly. Didn't sleep all night and dwelled on it way too long on Friday. I puton my workout clothes, packed my work clothes and left for the office at 5:20 am. I plugged in and took off about 6 am for a run/walk to the riverfront. Wish I had run longer and walked less, but I didn't stop even at stop signals. Plan on doing this at least twice this week coming up.

I wanted a cigarette more on Friday than I had for the last 2 weeks. My quit buddy was in meetings most of the day. I walked the block around our building 3 times, by myself. It worked. I didn't want that cigarette because of the physical addiction. I wanted it, because that what I've always done in stressful situations; I've smoked like a freight train.

I wish I hadn't done that. I wish I hadn't found out about the promos. But you know, could shoulda woulda is always the easy rationalisation.

I was wrong, very wrong. I am a hard worker, and I know I have areas for improvement. We all do. I want to be promoted, but wierding out and getting pissed doesn't do anything but make it worse. I hate it when I act like a child. ARGHHHHH!

Stressful times are unpredictable and come in varying degrees of stress. I can get through them without a cigarette. I can, I have, I will not smoke tobacco again. This is my promise to myself. Hell, if I'm lucky, no matter if I ever get another promotion, I live longer. I'll be able to breath, walk, run, ride my bike and enjoy myself.

I got out on my real bike today. I am so freakin' outta shape! I need to learn patience. I went around the neighborhood circle including 2 cul de sacs. I made it with no stops, but my heart was pounding and I was breathing so hard! The front tire is low and I couldn't get the seat adjusted to the right height. Gonna get out on it again tomorrow and try again. About an hour later, I rode my stationary for 15 minutes. I made a conscious effort to work harder than ever.