Realignment needed... again

Back to being focused on the journey and letting the outcome happen. Strike that being focused, ENJOYING the journey. 

It is very easy to get wrapped up in the frustration of not being able to do what you want. Damned ego. 

Realignment tends to happen more than I'd like to admit. But right now I'm grateful for where I am. No, not able to ride/train the way I think I should, but got on a bike yesterday and today and just decided to ride. Being off the bike tends to take away the fitness quickly for me.

I poached a ride from a friend (with their permission) and rode gravel yesterday on my CX bike. Flatted early and decided to wrap it up early. Today I went back and rode that ride and made it 18 miles. Took my Scalpel instead. Something about tubeless tires with Stans made me more confident I wouldn't flat, though that possibility is always present especially when gravel is concerned. 

What a beautiful ride it was. I did an out and back. When I gain more fitness I'll do a longer loop. I walked the big climbs. Remembered my inhaler, which I didn't need. Yesterday I forgot it and had an attack about mile 2. Not sure why.

Quite a bit of this ride is shaded. A real plus on a hot day. 

This picture doesn't do the hill justice. It's 7% over 8/10 of a mile. The first (and last) climb of this ride was 9%  over 6/10 of mile. shew-wie. A few places on each are exposed and got quite warm due to the effort and the warm and humid day.

The Ohio river is just to your left on the way out and on your right on the return. It's full of mud and debris after all this rain we've had for weeks. It was moving very swiftly. I took a video but you can't tell so I'll not bore you with it.

There is a large bend in the river, called Horseshoe Bend. I thought I captured it, but I did not. 
This as I approached my starting point. Always nice to have a history lesson.

And no summer trip to parts west of New Albany, IN are as sweet without a stop at Polly's Freeze! Today was Mango Sherbet. YUMMY for my tummy and a few moments of brain freeze as well.

So, this 4th of July weekend has been so very nice. Slept in a couple of days, ran some errands, rode my bike, cooked some desserts for friends and got to see both of my daughters and Mom!

The journey has been good. The destination kept changing. And That Is Okay.

I surely hope everyone had a nice weekend as well. The sun shone today which was so good!

peace and respect

Moist weather

and unhappy girl parts have left me off the bike since Tuesday. Finally got my gear together and took off to ride today.  This is what it's looked like for weeks now, but with the added rain.

I stopped at LBS for tubes since I had none for the CX bike and was planning on gravel. Arrived at destination, started getting ready and realize my cue sheet was not in the car. No problem, I'll google the page and write it down again. No writing utensil. So frustrating!!!! Think I need a new tire. We've looked at it several times now. There must be a barb or thorn we've just not found.
I only got 6 miles and last 1.5 or so was on pavement returning to my van. From what I did ride, the scenery was beautiful and the ride was going to be difficult. I have little fitness so the first real climb was misery and I know it only gets more difficult as you ride in and out of the river bottom.
This is the view I was gifted on my detour following my flat tire.

I'm grateful to have friends that explore a wide variety of areas. So you could say I'm a ride poacher. for now.  Hope to start creating my own in the near future.

Lots of other things I've missed writing about over the last weeks, a trip to Land between the Lakes at Grand River, KY and Lock 4 in Gallatin, TN.  The amount of riding in between has been miniscule. Couldn't even hike/run. Have put on too much weight. Mostly too many inches for my clothes. I need to sweat and burn calories in the worst way.

USA Cycling's National XC Mountain bike Nationals is coming up. I'm not fit to race. The IRS still has my refund and fiscally I shouldn't take a week off without pay. BUT you only live once and while I may camp instead of hotelling it, I want to experience new trails. There are a few IMBA Epics in Pennsylvania so I hope to check out at least two while traveling that state.

So much life happening besides me and my bike riding/lack thereof which seems so insignificant.

Hope everyone is enjoying their 4th of July weekend. It's a special for one sure.

peace

there is so much I want to type, but can't

not enough time in the saddle

and I'm cranky, stiff, feeling old and getting out of shape too fast. Went for a hike tonight. IT.was.hot.  

maybe I can get squared away in July

Last week of Short Track Racing

in Louisville KY is about to happen. So I jumped in the Women's A/B race week before last. I was not compettive at all. So I took the SS to the shop and switched the rear cog to a 20 instead of 22 I've been riding. Went to Eva Bandman and rode around a bit, backwards and forewards. Its tough and I will be slow. Now I know I'll be lapped before the finish. But I will have fun and maybe provide some comic relief.  :)

peace

Double Nickel

At one point I never assumed I would reach this attainment of numbers that count my time here this time around. I am rich and I do not take for granted the fact I have so many people I count as friends in this life. I am grateful ad fortunate to know so many from childhood to college and married life, friends from my daughters and friends of my daughters. Family has this meaning that doesn't exclude to blood. 
Thank you to everyone that wished me a happy birthday whether verbally or mentally or textually (is that a word?)  It's not the day I had in mind. But that's ok. There are times you just have to slow to a speed that works for the moment. I was blessed to have lunch with my sister. All last minute kind of things which is always delightful. Then my entire evening was spent watching and cheering on friends that race the Short Track race tonight at Eva Bandman Park. What FUN we have. It is always a joy to watch the 2 and 3 year olds racing their striders. This is one of the special events you can find in Louisville on a week night.
55 and loving every day I wake up to. 
Next week is #5 and the last of this year's short track series. I hope to race. Maybe just jump on the SS and see. Gonna be last so might a well see what this bike and body can put together. hahahaha

I love you, each and everyone. 

peace

more bike riding - I love to play

Land Between the Lakes last weekend. It was the White Lightning XC race, that follows the Canal loop. An attempt at racing in pouring rain only to crash and bump my head about mile 3.5 or 4 continue to finish the lap and then DNF. Head just kept hurting worse an worse. All in all it was a great weekend. Unfortunately several of my friends also DNF.  But others did and anyone that can race 30+ miles in pouring rain are superstars in my book! 

I bought a single speed MTB. I have several friends that ride single speeds all the time so I asked why. top answers consistently are that it will make you smoother and increase your power/strength. I shopped and priced and on limited budget purchased the Cannondale SLR3. it came with a rigid fork named FATTY. I ordered a Reba shock for the front but headset was delayed in arriving. So I took it to Cherokee the evening I got it and rode the loop. So much fun! however, my hands and arms were beat up and hurt all night long riding with no front suspension. This is the first hard tail I've ever ridden. it is definitely a different ride than my scalpel. I found a pair of flat pedals that have a thin profile but large platform at 100x100 cm. Now I need the shoes to come in. I've been wearing my old running shoes because they have the fewest lugs and are fairly smooth and worn in the bottom. but they are worn out and I should have shoes with stiff soles. 

I had this thought I might go to Ben Hawes after the LBL race on the way home but with the rain and muddy bike and me I came home and cleaned everything straightaway. Trashed the BB again! so annoying but inevitable. 

There was a DINO race this weekend at French Lick. Wasn't into the idea of racing so instead I packed up the car and went to Brown County State Park in Indiana. I took both bikes with the intention of riding SS on Saturday up top and then the Scalpel on Sunday for all of the climbing. I rode Limekiln and Walnut from the camp site. Got a late start, but didn't really have a timeframe in mind. By the time I got back to Limekiln I realized I had the front shock locked out! Hah, that was not smart. But riding Limekiln back to the campground was fast and flowy and so much fun. I even caught the slightest bit of air at one point. :)  I need to get used to the flat pedals though. A couple of times my feet flew off of them and that made me a tad nervous. Once I got back to the campground I grabbed a snack and a beer. Thought about what I'd just ridden. Then took off to ride again, but explore Schooner Trace. This is the Expert trail at Brown County. LOTS of rock garden areas, some man made and some natural. There's one section that is so off-camber I couldn't tell much difference from the trail to the hillside. I walked that. It was a long way down. I walked a lot of this trail, but rode as much as I could. I got to the road crossing and didn't see the trailhead on the other side. I should've looked harder. Took a detour down the road and then had to climb back up. :-)  By the time I got back to the campsite it was 8:30. I had a nice fire, meal, shower and beverage. Slept in until 8:30 this morning! By the time I ate and got everything together it started to rain. Missed the opportunity to ride Green Valley. My legs talked to me off an on all night. They were very tired this morning. But first I explored some of Brown County I hadn't seen before. Ogle lake is pretty and made me wish I had a kayak or canoe.I walked up to North Tower and caught the view. 

Driving south on I-65 on a whim I jumped off at the North Vernon Exit. Started checking the weather maps and thought I saw a dry spot. So I drove to Versailles. It has a little elevation, but nothing terribly steep. I thought about it and decided to ride the SS again. I have it for training, no time like the present to stay focused. I was slow, but not as slow as I thought I'd be. Actually a couple of Strava segments I was only a minute or two slower than my fastest time there. When I got back to the car and started loading the bike it started to sprinkle rain. Once I got changed and behind the steering wheel it started to pour. Seems everything works out for the best most times. I don't like driving in the heavy rainfall, but just relaxed and took my time. Got home and eveyrthing was dry, but dark clouds were fast approaching from the west. Again, I got everything unloaded and into the house before the storm hit. 

I am tired and my legs are sore. I have a smile on my face though and very grateful I can do things like this still. The saddle issue seems like it will be chronic for the foreseeable future. I think I'll just ride as much as I can an try to ignore it until I can't stand it. 

I thought a lot about my Dad this weekend as I rode. I miss him. I hope all the Dad's out there had a wonderful holiday today and hopefully got to go play.

peace

Me getting ready to drive home after weekend of riding SS MTB. not flattering picture but honest and real. getting old

Good day

work was good, took a power nap when I got home, knocked down the grass in the front yard and left to ride trails. Not many people on foot tonight. Maybe because I started later. Plenty of MTBers though. 

At one point during my ride, coming down KYMBA downhill I heard someone behind me but I kept pedaling hard. Finally at one point the trail opened and I said to come around. He was like, that's ok you're riding well and I'm enjoying watching you. You are taking good lines. Well that made my day, especially when I saw who it was. Yes, I pulled to the side and let him around. Tried to hang on his wheel, but I am not fast enough for that. This guy does the longer races. 

Have plenty of work to do. Still way too slow and need to learn how to do the twisty turny stuff with more speed. Mostly I need to get issues under control so I can ride more. Hope I can race short track tomorrow. We will see when it comes. No matter what the Short Track series is a blast whether you race or spectate. MTBers are fun people to be around

peace

oh yeah. my max HR is now going into 210 and higher on regular basis. that's NUTZ