Nails

I managed to squeeze a quick one hour ride in on Friday. I rode to my favorite bike shop in American Fork, Bike Peddler. Parrish set me up with a new tire to replace the one with a big slice in it. Probably sliced it dodging nails in downtown Provo. I was supposed to be riding endurance, but I was running late, like always, so I pushed it a bit harder than I should have. But, I was glad I got out for a ride. I feel much better because I did.

Today I headed out to meet a group for a two-hour ride. On my way there I ran over a big, fat nail. It went right through the sidewall of my brand new tire.



Since the tire was now junk and I wasn't carrying a spare, I called Sling and told him I needed my race tire. He pumped it up and brought it to me while I froze on the side of the road. For some reason, I broke down in what must have been the coldest part of town. When he got there, that tire had gone flat, too! I started to think something was telling me I shouldn't be riding today. I loaded my bike into the trunk and got in the car. We drove over to see if my group was still waiting for me. Luckily, they were still there and were willing to wait while I got the tubes and tires switched out so I could ride. It felt much warmer, and it was only a couple miles from where I had my flat. Go figure!

As we took off to go do the Telos Turkey Tri route, I mentioned that I wasn't quite sure of the route. I kind of figured that we would all stick together and take the first loop as a warm up. Phil had other ideas. He took off like a bullet with me chasing as hard as I could because I didn't know where I was going. We dropped the rest of the group before we'd gone two blocks. Pretty soon, I got tired of chasing him. I remembered that I wasn't supposed to be in zone 5, so it wasn't worth it. After the first loop, I knew my way around anyway.

After working the tri route over, I said goodbye to my group. They were all going to swim. I still had about an hour and a half to ride. So I headed out west to the lake, then out to American Fork. I was surprised to find that there was a brand new bike path out by the lake. Last time I was out there, probably less than two months ago, there wasn't one. I was tempted to go ride on it. It looked a lot smoother than the road I was on. But I didn't want to waste time hiking through the tundra to get to it. I was still quite cold and just wanted to get back home.

28ish miles (not sure...I messed my computer up pushing buttons)
1 hour 50 min
Interesting birds I spotted while riding: Red-tail hawk, chikadees, Northern Flicker
I usually see pelicans when I ride by the lake, but they weren't there today.

I finally made contact with the swimmer on my relay team for the tri. We've been leaving messages for each other for the last week. Now, if I could just get a hold of that runner. He disappeared about a month ago, and I don't know how to reach him. I may need to find a new runner. And the tri is only a week away! I think I like stress in my life.

Well, I'm off to Bike Peddler to see (beg) if they'll warranty my tire.

Driving Myself into the Ground

I'm exhausted!

I don't even know why I'm up right now. Strange need to blog before crashing into bed, I guess.

I've taught more than half of the Spinning classes at my gym this week. Coach Girl hasn't been teaching since her accident. Another instructor broke her toe and has a sick kid. And another instructor had issues come up with her other job so she couldn't teach her classes. So it's just been me and Ragla teaching all of the classes this week.

I got to teach two interval classes on Monday. I love intervals, so of course I worked it hard in each of the classes (sorry, Coach :-), I know I wasn't supposed to). Tuesday, I managed to let Ragla take all of the classes, so I had the day off from teaching. I lifted weights instead. Wednesday was Strength day. I decided to teach a power build. Huge gears and fast cadence with lots of out of saddle time. The first class was really hard, and I wondered how I would pull off another one a couple of hours later. The second class hurt a little at first, but once I got into the groove, I was able to pull it off. It's hard to fake it when you're the instructor. Today was another interval day. I can't let my people down, so we worked it hard again. They moan and groan, but love it and want more. So I give it to them.

I came home and crashed. Well, I couldn't exactly crash. I had stuff to do. But, I stumbled through my day in a crashing kind of way. I found that I didn't have the time, or the energy to go back to the gym and lift weights. I feel so guilty!

It's always when I feel so wiped out that all the crap starts hitting the fan. Everything seems to be coming down on me at once. Won't go into detail here, but I feel overwhelmed right now.

And I have to sub more classes tomorrow. I was supposed to ride my bike. I need to ride my bike. We'll see what happens.

Waking to a Winter Wonderland

Woke up to find this this morning:



I'm going to make a prediction here. It seems like in years past when it snows really early in the season, we get a rather dry winter. I think it's going to be another drought year.

Coach Girl Down

Coach Girl was hit by a car this afternoon. Luckily, she came away from the accident with only minor injuries: 5 stitches and some scratches and bruises.

She was out doing the Telos Tri route. As she was descending down the hill at UVSC (UVU, whatever), a car pulled out of a parking lot right in front of her. She locked up her brakes and skidded into the car. As she hit the car, she was flipped right over the hood. Upon landing on the other side of the car, her first thoughts were on her brand new bike (an Orbea, in case you're wondering). She said it was "mangled." She picked it up and moved it out of the road before realizing that she was hurt too.

Even though I wasn't there, I'm pretty shook up about it. My two closest cycling buddies have EACH wrecked twice this year. I haven't had any mishaps any more serious than tipping over when I was learning how to use clipless pedals (please don't let me jinx myself here!). Now I've gotten to wondering when is it going to be MY turn? My confidence is a little shaken right now. How long is my luck going to hold up?

Your road. Your ride.

How come it took all summer long to build up my beautiful biker's tan, and it seems to be gone in one month of not riding? It was such a conversation starter: "That's an interesting tan you have. Why are there tan lines on your wrists?" "Well, you see, I ride my bike excessively. To the exclusion of most everything else, in fact." And then I'd watch their eyes glaze over as I described the mileage I'd put in every week. It was quite entertaining. And now it's gone.



Stolen from the latest Spinning catalog:
"Your friends may not get it, but they probably wish their legs looked like yours. (RR adds: My legs? Yeah, right. Whatever.) You crave intervals like other people crave chocolate (ok, but I still love chocolate more). And the rhythm of your own smooth, uninterrupted pedal strokes puts you into a Zen-like state." Any of this sound familiar?

I was so Zen-like on my ride yesterday that I almost forgot I was riding. Totally checked out mentally a couple of times. It was my first ride in a month. And it felt really good to be back on the bike...when I remembered that I was riding, that is. That's how smooth and uninterrupted my ride was.

There were a few places that I was more aware of my ride. Take Provo High for instance. I usually don't like to ride in downtown Provo. It's pretty crazy. But, and let this be a warning for those of you who do ride in Provo, there is a load of nails in the road right in front of Provo High. Almost seems like they were put there on purpose. I became very aware of my bike while I dodged nails in the road. Luckily, I avoided a flat in downtown Provo. Especially lucky because I had forgotten to bring my phone. Not that I would have needed my phone had I gotten a flat. I am perfectly capable of changing a flat myself. I was just remembering that I had forgotten my phone. It would have been nice to have it had I forgotten anything else -- like my CO2 pump.

Unfortunately, I wasn't lucky enough to avoid a flat altogether. I flatted about a block away from home. I considered, for a second, riding the rest of the way (since I had my junk wheels on and all), but changed my mind when my bike started to fishtail a bit. So I ended up walking home. I felt pretty silly about it since it was right in front of the jr. high and all the kids were out to lunch at the time. But that's ok. They probably wished they had legs like mine, right?

Saturday is a Special Day

Today was the day I was supposed to get back on my bike. I really wanted to ride. But, alas, it wasn't to be.

I'm still too sick.

So instead I went down to UVSC to watch the Crit. If I had been feeling well, I would have raced it myself. Because of the rain and the small numbers of racers, everybody raced together. All the beginners against the seasoned racers. And, I would have been the only woman racing. Maybe that would have been cool.

It was cool to watch, too. Turbo looked great out there, lapping most everyone.

I wish I had brought my camera.

Vicious Cycle of Sickness & A Story

Can you believe I'm sick AGAIN!! What's up with that? This time is the worst yet. Maybe I'm jinxing myself by posting "this time is the worst yet" every time I get sick. Then my body has to show me how much worse it can be. Or, it could be that my body will do anything to get out of lifting weights.

The other day I went out to lunch with my friends. We were celebrating my belated birthday, so of course they had to tell our waiter about it. As we were all sitting around chatting, the subject of guys who shave their legs came up. I, very loudly, announced, "I think guys who shave their legs are HOT!" As I looked around the table at my friends, I noticed that strangely, they were not looking at me, but above my head. "They're standing right behind me, aren't they?" I hesitantly asked. Sure enough, I turned around and found five waiters, holding a treat and waiting to sing to me, standing there. I was too embarrassed to check to see if any of them shaved their legs.

Later, I told the above story in the company of a six-year-old boy, who now tells his mother that he wants to shave his legs so he can be hot when he grows up. Too funny!

Questions to be Answered

Feeling much better today. Thank you for asking.

I went to the gym today and worked out with the city fire department. All of them. I love it when they're there staring at you and whispering. I'm sure it's got to be something about how little weight I'm lifting. Some old guy tried to pick up on me by telling me that it looked like I "work hard in the gym regularly". Ewww! Creepy. I think I'll start wearing a muumuu when I work out.

Talked to my best friend from childhood today. She made the comment about how she couldn't understand why anybody would want to ride their bike uphill. I told her that for me it's that sense of accomplishment you feel when you get to the top and look down at where you came from. Sure, it hurts to climb monster hills, but feels really good when you're done and can come back down at 40+ mph.

So what is it for you? Why do you enjoy climbing, sprinting, racing, or any of the other methods of cycling fun? If you're reading this, and you ride a bike, you are qualified to post a comment. Go ahead -- it won't hurt. Promise.

Sick Again

Why do I keep getting sick? Why, Why, WHY? This is the third time I've been sick in the last couple of weeks. Nothing really serious. But this time I feel the worst yet.

Here are my thoughts:

1) The dishwasher has been broken for about 6 weeks. I've been washing dishes by hand. I'm convinced this makes a breeding ground for germies.

2) It's that time of year where the weather turns colder and everyone comes indoors with their germs.

And most importantly:

3) I'm not riding my bike! (Only one more week to go!) Walking the dog just isn't cutting it with immune-boosting.

Maybe this is Mother Nature's way of keeping me from racing cross. Keep me feeling crappy and I won't want to race.