I decided to have an adventure a day during my break from school, beginning yesterday. That means adventures until June 7. After that, school is adventure enough. So, I cast out to the universe to send me my first adventure and here is what I got:
Monday, April 19: Evading the Fuzz
8 am - Wake up, look around for the check I told MV I'd drop at the bank. No check. Call. He has the check and is working in the shop which is all of 4 miles from the house. Agree to go get the check. After further discussion, agree to get the check in the '72 Roadrunner and swap for the van, leaving it with him for a tune-up after work. He mentions that the gas gauge isn't working, so he should put some gas in after the tune up. (Are you guessing where this goes...?)
10 am - Leaving my road, tires squealing (not my fault - it's a stiff pedal), driving to the shop. Make a right turn. Car is not running. Not at all. Fortunately, coast to the center lane. Try to make the car go. Car is ignoring me. So I am in the center of the road, about 5 cars from the light in the left turn lane except backwards, there are two lanes of traffic on either side.
10:02 am - Me: You have to come right now. The car is dead and I am in the middle of the road. MV: Out of gas? Me: How would I know? I'm guessing but we can't tell until we put some in and see if it goes, huh? MV: But there are tools all outside and I am burning wood. (Note: There is a nice large garbage bin, but apparently extra wood must be burned. Have mentioned this to other guys and they see no reason why this would be odd. They also get a glint in their eyes and offer to help MV at work whenever he needs it.) Me: I am in your RR with expired registration and no insurance and did I mention that I am in the middle of the road. In your illegal vehicle. I apologize in advance for the freak out that I feel coming...but in like 2 seconds some really helpful person is going to call a cop to come rescue me and what do you think he will think about all of this? MV: OK, I am tossing in the tools...
10:15 am - On the phone with MV as he is driving. As I see him approaching, I also see a police car turning into the plaza across the street. Luckily MV gets there first and backs the van up to the car. We prop open the license plate to get to the thingy where you put the gas in - you know, and to hide the 2008 sticker since that makes us feel better. He grabs the gas can he brought and asks who should run across the street to get the gas. Quick decision, he runs and I stand by the cars looking cute and competently rescued. I see the cop car patrolling around the plaza, but it comes nowhere near. Whew...my "I need no help at all" vibe is working.
5 gallons later - MV is dumping gas into the car, the cop is gone and we are making fun of the people who are too dumb to realize that they should go on the other side of the backwards car (with two people standing behind it holding a bright red gas can in a dumping it into the back end fashion) in order to make their left turn. They are all driving crazy and near-missing each other until...screech-bang! From the other side of the van, there is a kind of a crash noise. Me: I heard an accident. MV: Do you really think so? Me (peaking around the edge of the van): Yep. I see a pregnant woman. MV: Oh no. Me: Yep, and she appears to have hit a car with an old lady. MV: Oh no! We have to get out of here!
But I check it out (still peaking around the van since no one can see me smack in the middle of the road if I just stay behind the van) and both get out of the cars and seem fine, so it is totally ok that we are only worried that we need to get the heck out of there before someone calls that cop on back. Plus, they are not only blocking the main forward lane, but between them and us, no one can get to the left turn lane either. It's, frankly, the recipe for a big old mess. Unless of course you are that person who drives around us all to the left in the oncoming traffic lane like that guy in the penis car did.
Fortunately, the accident couple decide to get out of the road to discuss, hop in their cars and turn right to get into the plaza. Neither of them using any turn indicators as they change lanes or make their turns. We feel assured of why they had a smash up - nothing to do with the adorable couple in the middle of the road, it was simply their lack of driving skills.
10:30 - I'm guessing - We need to get away fast. MV jumps in the RR and - yep, putting some gas in appears to have fixed the problem - zooms away. I jump into the nice van which does not have squealing tires and touchy pedals and something called a Detroit Locker which apparently is cool but I still don't know what it does and go meet Mark at the shop. Where we pick up the tools, burn some additional wood (um, turns out it is kind of fun - don't tell) and decide we need some burgers and Starbucks to recover from our adventure.
I have decided that, when requesting an adventure, I need to be far more specific about the type of adventure I want. I would like a nice adventure with no police, no accidents, no standing in the middle of the road and maybe some shopping.
Lessons learned: Other people all drive like sh*t!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Done.
Done. Done, done, done.
That is what my first full semester back to school is. That is what my final projects are. That is what my side work all is.
That is not what my taxes are, but check back tomorrow and we'll see if something can't be done to fix that.
Except that I don't have to work tomorrow and I plan to play in my yard all day. Hmmmm...
That is what my first full semester back to school is. That is what my final projects are. That is what my side work all is.
That is not what my taxes are, but check back tomorrow and we'll see if something can't be done to fix that.
Except that I don't have to work tomorrow and I plan to play in my yard all day. Hmmmm...
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Volunteer Report
A view from the water table.
Do you know about race reports? Where people have been training and training and training and finally it was the big day. So they write a report to document for memory and to share with everyone exactly how their race went. Or at least how they think it went.
This morning, I volunteered at the Martian Marathon as the Captain of Aid Station #2. This is my third year as Captain of #2. I am getting pretty good at it if I do say so myself. At least I have to assume since they keep letting me do it. I wore my SuperGirl undies to make sure the day went well. They worked!
So, here is my race report from a volunteer perspective.
Night before - Confession: did not pack up and lay stuff out like I should have!
5:15 am - Alarm goes off. Snooze it - a few times. There was a cat depending on me for warmth.
5:45 am - Swap cat over to Mark. Get up, fastest shower in the world, start getting dressed. Mom is volunteering with me this year and she will be here very soon.
6 am - Hear something. Oops, mom at the glass sliding door and I am only half dressed, in the living room, trying to find my tank top to make good layers. Let mom in and get dressed. Look everywhere for box cutter, give up and grab scissors, out to car, stuff in snow shovel and rake for cleaning up cups, back in house for pitchers, scratch little hole in the frost in the windshield and we are off. Mom is following cuz she needs to leave before me.
6:30-ish - What, Hines doesn't connect to Middlebelt? Didn't it before? Head to Inkster.
6:50 am - Whew, made it! A few other volunteers pull up as we do, then talk another guy there by phone. Some of the aid stations are staffed by church groups or similar. I head mine up and they send me volunteers who signed up on the Web, so I have a bunch of strangers - but always super cool. Waiting by the side of the road is a pile of tables, supplies and about a million boxes containing gallons of water. We introduce ourselves and get down to business. (Not like that.) I forget everyone's names that they just told me. Yeah, I'm terrible.
7 am - Tables in the street, start filling cups. How it works: there are two separate table areas, one for water and the other for sports drink. We put the tables in the middle of Hines (which is closed for the event, but not usually in time for the set up - Rule #1: Do NOT get hit by a car!) The runners go out on one side, then come back on the other. We are at about mile 3/23 so we get all the traffic both ways. And we get hit hard with the majority of the runners at first when they are still all bunched up and running out. We have to have the cups ready to go. We cover the tables with a layer of cups, fill them half-full, make a layer of cardboard from the cut up boxes and start another layer. We need 5 layers of water and about 3 of sports drink ready and waiting by the time the runners come. The first year, I thought the volunteer organizer was calling for overkill with all these layers but did it since he said I should. He wins! This time I just told everyone, trust me, you will be glad you have them.
A note on sports drink: If you are picky, bring your own in those little bottles in a belt. We have a big drink cooler, bags of powder and jugs of water. We put in the powder, pour in a bit of water, try to stir it up like the recipe says before adding the rest of the water. Inevitably, there is a gloppy ooze that ends up clumped on the bottom of the cooler and no quality control on the strength of the drinks. I mixed them all myself this time and, well, some were yellow and some were clear as we ran low on powder and stretched it until we got more. But the clear still smelled like lemon-lime... (I can't say more as I would violate Rule #2: Never talk about the sports drink again.)
7:30 am - One of the course marshals drove by just after and said the race started on time so make sure we were ready. I do a quick demo on holding the cup, making a good hand-off and not getting in the way of the runners. I realize I have a total of 8 people including myself. I was supposed to have about 14. Hmmm...
7:50-ish (?) - First guy comes speeding by. Then two more. Then a big group of four or so. Volunteers are thinking, Hey, this is not so bad. Then about a million people appear on the horizon, trailing out in a line as far as the eye can see. Suddenly, 5 layers makes sense. This guy and three kids come strolling up the opposite side of Hines and linger behind the table. I say, joking, Hey, any chance you want to help hand out some water? Guy says, Oh yeah, we are supposed to be helping, we are just late. Stick them in place and we are in action. I never even had a chance to get/forget their names.
8:30 (?) - The stream of people has slowed a bit so a few people can start filling more cups, but it had by no means died off. And remember, we are getting them on their way back too. At some point, the first half marathon guy comes blazing back by, followed in a bit by a group of two, then a group of four, then - you got it - a big crowd of people again, just on the other side.
9:06 am, according to my phone - A girl comes up to me. She says she may need medical, that she is ok, but has done a full and a half before and just doesn't feel right. She is sure she cannot finish. Her face is really flushed and she says she is feeling kind of cold or something. I ask if she needs to sit, but she says not yet. We decide she should drink some sports drink and walk around to cool down since she thinks that sounds good and I'm inclined to agree. I call the volunteer coordinator and let him know that it is not an emergency, but she has requested medical and says she just doesn't feel right. I let her know that I called and she says not to worry and she will just sit in the grass and wait. We keep an eye on her, but she seems ok aside from coughing. Not immediately, but soon enough, we see flashing lights. She asks, embarrassed, Is all that for me? I say it's fine. A police car arrives followed by the Red Cross response vehicle that is working the event. The girl gets up and walks toward the vehicle and I join her. She says she is sorry to make a big deal and looks tired but not near death. The EMS guys take over with her. Now, I know there are good cops out there, we encountered one on Hines when a friend crashed her bike on a training ride, but this didn't seem to be one. He comes right up to me and tells me, pretty angrily, that we need to get our communication straight and that the Red Cross vehicle was flying down Ford Rd for no reason. I told him, calmly - go me, that she was extremely flushed and specifically requested medical, which is what I relayed to my contact, and that I am not messing around when someone tells me they have experience with marathons and knows they don't feel right. He left and one of the medical guys came over. I said I was sorry if it was not appropriate to call and told him what the cop said. He said we did exactly the right thing and did the cops really want a repeat of the Detroit Marathon. They spent a good 15-20 minutes with the girl and ended up putting her on this mobile stretcher on a golf cart vehicle that came and giving her some oxygen since she was wheezing. Poor thing - she was really embarrassed to have such a fuss made (but Rule #3: Better to be safe). While they were there, one of the volunteers brought up a young girl who was trying not to cry and said she was in pain all down the side of her leg but wanted to finish. Someone she knew ran up too - I think a coach. They iced her and she ended up deciding to keep going. Seriously, a trooper! I found out later she was only 15 years old. Would you have pushed through pain at 15? Before they left, the EMS guy left me two volunteers to hang out if we had more people needing assistance. And he thanked me for doing the right thing and said he was going to call the cop's boss and let him know how he acted. Unfortunately, I was more worried about the girl and didn't bother to look at the name or city of Mr. Meany-Pants so it will remain a mystery.
A bit after 10 - I remember that it had slowed to just a steady and manageable flow on the return side by this time, as Mom and two of the volunteers (super nice couple who were runners themselves and, last minute, had some plans canceled so they could come for the morning - so glad they did!) had to leave for other appointments. One of the volunteers (VERY helpful guy!) went out and swept up the cups all over the street (being mindful of Rule #4: Do not get in the way of the runners! Trust me, they would rather avoid a squashed cup than a guy and a broom.)
Maybe 11:30 - Did a bunch more cleaning up. Sent two more volunteers home. Extremely helpful couple, awesomely jumping in wherever needed. She was getting really tired. Found out she was pregnant and had to stop running for a bit so decided to volunteer. Told you they were fabulous.
Noon - It's really slow now and the kids are doing a lot of complaining about being cold, so the guy and kids trek off down Hines. There are three of us left, but that is just right for the occasional runner or group passing now.
12:30 - Truck comes by to take most of the stuff. We leave out a table with some cups of drink and water for the few people coming by and I'm out of there just before they open the road at 1pm.
I went home and took a nap.
In summary: Fabulous. From my perspective: a well-run event, super nice runners (following the Runners' Rule: Thank the volunteers!), great volunteers - one slightly grouchy kid, but as long as he grouched with a water cup in his hand... It is amazing to see all these runners and know they have been training in the cold - or worse, on a treadmill - for months to get to this point. Yeah runners!
If you have ever thought you might want to volunteer at an event, go for it. I would absolutely recommend the Running Fit events - they are organized so you don't stand around wondering why you bothered to volunteer if no one knew what to do with you (I've been there too). It is a great way to enjoy the excitement of race day, even if you are not a runner or a racer yourself.
Do you know about race reports? Where people have been training and training and training and finally it was the big day. So they write a report to document for memory and to share with everyone exactly how their race went. Or at least how they think it went.
This morning, I volunteered at the Martian Marathon as the Captain of Aid Station #2. This is my third year as Captain of #2. I am getting pretty good at it if I do say so myself. At least I have to assume since they keep letting me do it. I wore my SuperGirl undies to make sure the day went well. They worked!
So, here is my race report from a volunteer perspective.
Night before - Confession: did not pack up and lay stuff out like I should have!
5:15 am - Alarm goes off. Snooze it - a few times. There was a cat depending on me for warmth.
5:45 am - Swap cat over to Mark. Get up, fastest shower in the world, start getting dressed. Mom is volunteering with me this year and she will be here very soon.
6 am - Hear something. Oops, mom at the glass sliding door and I am only half dressed, in the living room, trying to find my tank top to make good layers. Let mom in and get dressed. Look everywhere for box cutter, give up and grab scissors, out to car, stuff in snow shovel and rake for cleaning up cups, back in house for pitchers, scratch little hole in the frost in the windshield and we are off. Mom is following cuz she needs to leave before me.
6:30-ish - What, Hines doesn't connect to Middlebelt? Didn't it before? Head to Inkster.
6:50 am - Whew, made it! A few other volunteers pull up as we do, then talk another guy there by phone. Some of the aid stations are staffed by church groups or similar. I head mine up and they send me volunteers who signed up on the Web, so I have a bunch of strangers - but always super cool. Waiting by the side of the road is a pile of tables, supplies and about a million boxes containing gallons of water. We introduce ourselves and get down to business. (Not like that.) I forget everyone's names that they just told me. Yeah, I'm terrible.
7 am - Tables in the street, start filling cups. How it works: there are two separate table areas, one for water and the other for sports drink. We put the tables in the middle of Hines (which is closed for the event, but not usually in time for the set up - Rule #1: Do NOT get hit by a car!) The runners go out on one side, then come back on the other. We are at about mile 3/23 so we get all the traffic both ways. And we get hit hard with the majority of the runners at first when they are still all bunched up and running out. We have to have the cups ready to go. We cover the tables with a layer of cups, fill them half-full, make a layer of cardboard from the cut up boxes and start another layer. We need 5 layers of water and about 3 of sports drink ready and waiting by the time the runners come. The first year, I thought the volunteer organizer was calling for overkill with all these layers but did it since he said I should. He wins! This time I just told everyone, trust me, you will be glad you have them.
A note on sports drink: If you are picky, bring your own in those little bottles in a belt. We have a big drink cooler, bags of powder and jugs of water. We put in the powder, pour in a bit of water, try to stir it up like the recipe says before adding the rest of the water. Inevitably, there is a gloppy ooze that ends up clumped on the bottom of the cooler and no quality control on the strength of the drinks. I mixed them all myself this time and, well, some were yellow and some were clear as we ran low on powder and stretched it until we got more. But the clear still smelled like lemon-lime... (I can't say more as I would violate Rule #2: Never talk about the sports drink again.)
7:30 am - One of the course marshals drove by just after and said the race started on time so make sure we were ready. I do a quick demo on holding the cup, making a good hand-off and not getting in the way of the runners. I realize I have a total of 8 people including myself. I was supposed to have about 14. Hmmm...
7:50-ish (?) - First guy comes speeding by. Then two more. Then a big group of four or so. Volunteers are thinking, Hey, this is not so bad. Then about a million people appear on the horizon, trailing out in a line as far as the eye can see. Suddenly, 5 layers makes sense. This guy and three kids come strolling up the opposite side of Hines and linger behind the table. I say, joking, Hey, any chance you want to help hand out some water? Guy says, Oh yeah, we are supposed to be helping, we are just late. Stick them in place and we are in action. I never even had a chance to get/forget their names.
8:30 (?) - The stream of people has slowed a bit so a few people can start filling more cups, but it had by no means died off. And remember, we are getting them on their way back too. At some point, the first half marathon guy comes blazing back by, followed in a bit by a group of two, then a group of four, then - you got it - a big crowd of people again, just on the other side.
9:06 am, according to my phone - A girl comes up to me. She says she may need medical, that she is ok, but has done a full and a half before and just doesn't feel right. She is sure she cannot finish. Her face is really flushed and she says she is feeling kind of cold or something. I ask if she needs to sit, but she says not yet. We decide she should drink some sports drink and walk around to cool down since she thinks that sounds good and I'm inclined to agree. I call the volunteer coordinator and let him know that it is not an emergency, but she has requested medical and says she just doesn't feel right. I let her know that I called and she says not to worry and she will just sit in the grass and wait. We keep an eye on her, but she seems ok aside from coughing. Not immediately, but soon enough, we see flashing lights. She asks, embarrassed, Is all that for me? I say it's fine. A police car arrives followed by the Red Cross response vehicle that is working the event. The girl gets up and walks toward the vehicle and I join her. She says she is sorry to make a big deal and looks tired but not near death. The EMS guys take over with her. Now, I know there are good cops out there, we encountered one on Hines when a friend crashed her bike on a training ride, but this didn't seem to be one. He comes right up to me and tells me, pretty angrily, that we need to get our communication straight and that the Red Cross vehicle was flying down Ford Rd for no reason. I told him, calmly - go me, that she was extremely flushed and specifically requested medical, which is what I relayed to my contact, and that I am not messing around when someone tells me they have experience with marathons and knows they don't feel right. He left and one of the medical guys came over. I said I was sorry if it was not appropriate to call and told him what the cop said. He said we did exactly the right thing and did the cops really want a repeat of the Detroit Marathon. They spent a good 15-20 minutes with the girl and ended up putting her on this mobile stretcher on a golf cart vehicle that came and giving her some oxygen since she was wheezing. Poor thing - she was really embarrassed to have such a fuss made (but Rule #3: Better to be safe). While they were there, one of the volunteers brought up a young girl who was trying not to cry and said she was in pain all down the side of her leg but wanted to finish. Someone she knew ran up too - I think a coach. They iced her and she ended up deciding to keep going. Seriously, a trooper! I found out later she was only 15 years old. Would you have pushed through pain at 15? Before they left, the EMS guy left me two volunteers to hang out if we had more people needing assistance. And he thanked me for doing the right thing and said he was going to call the cop's boss and let him know how he acted. Unfortunately, I was more worried about the girl and didn't bother to look at the name or city of Mr. Meany-Pants so it will remain a mystery.
A bit after 10 - I remember that it had slowed to just a steady and manageable flow on the return side by this time, as Mom and two of the volunteers (super nice couple who were runners themselves and, last minute, had some plans canceled so they could come for the morning - so glad they did!) had to leave for other appointments. One of the volunteers (VERY helpful guy!) went out and swept up the cups all over the street (being mindful of Rule #4: Do not get in the way of the runners! Trust me, they would rather avoid a squashed cup than a guy and a broom.)
Maybe 11:30 - Did a bunch more cleaning up. Sent two more volunteers home. Extremely helpful couple, awesomely jumping in wherever needed. She was getting really tired. Found out she was pregnant and had to stop running for a bit so decided to volunteer. Told you they were fabulous.
Noon - It's really slow now and the kids are doing a lot of complaining about being cold, so the guy and kids trek off down Hines. There are three of us left, but that is just right for the occasional runner or group passing now.
12:30 - Truck comes by to take most of the stuff. We leave out a table with some cups of drink and water for the few people coming by and I'm out of there just before they open the road at 1pm.
I went home and took a nap.
In summary: Fabulous. From my perspective: a well-run event, super nice runners (following the Runners' Rule: Thank the volunteers!), great volunteers - one slightly grouchy kid, but as long as he grouched with a water cup in his hand... It is amazing to see all these runners and know they have been training in the cold - or worse, on a treadmill - for months to get to this point. Yeah runners!
If you have ever thought you might want to volunteer at an event, go for it. I would absolutely recommend the Running Fit events - they are organized so you don't stand around wondering why you bothered to volunteer if no one knew what to do with you (I've been there too). It is a great way to enjoy the excitement of race day, even if you are not a runner or a racer yourself.
Monday, April 05, 2010
Crabby
In case you were tempted to think that I am happy all the time, you are wrong. Right now, I am crabby. Here is why:
1. Poison ivy on my ankles
2. Poison ivy on my arm
3. No more little cupboard with itch medicine in cute little packets
4. Could have my own little cupboard, but M won't hang it up because it is not repainted
5. Tired of school until 10 pm three days a week
6. Assuming in May, it will be four days a week so am extra tired in anticipation
7. But no one from CCS has returned my many emails telling me when the next semester starts, so cannot make any plans because I don't know when school starts again
8. Should be sleeping because have to work tomorrow
9. Can't sleep because awake from school and itchy
10. Everyone else is going on fabulous vacations and I have no money to travel
11. Cuz it is all going to pay for school until 10 pm all the time
12. And I couldn't even make travel plans since I don't know when school starts anyway
13. Not that I could afford it
14. And have no idea if, after all this school, I can get a job anyway
15. Cuz I'm old
16. And found a white hair the other day
17. Along with wrinkles
18. And fat
19. Which I assume has multiplied quite nicely today due to eating all those cream eggs
20. There are no cream eggs left to eat
21. And the chance of ever having time to work off the fat is slim to none
22. Which is a big problem since I am supposed to ride 200 miles in two days in July
23. On the back of a tandem so won't M be surprised when I collapse halfway from lack of training
24. Probably not - he has already noticed my lack of training
25. And commented - though may not be doing that again
26. And I have to wear a long-sleeved short to work tomorrow due to scratches on my arms from the tree removal this weekend - which compliment the poison ivy well
27. And I am pretty sure most of those damn trees are going to grow back in and give me trouble for years - because that is what they do according to the magical Internet
28. Plus, if I do get rid of them, deer will probably eat the new plants
29. Which I can't get anyway, due to no money and no time
30. So why bother?
See, I am an absolute joy to be around right now. At 11:35 pm when I should be asleep. M just rolled over and commented that the typing woke him - excuse me while I go be a crab in person.
oh and
31. Also, my toenails are not painted
1. Poison ivy on my ankles
2. Poison ivy on my arm
3. No more little cupboard with itch medicine in cute little packets
4. Could have my own little cupboard, but M won't hang it up because it is not repainted
5. Tired of school until 10 pm three days a week
6. Assuming in May, it will be four days a week so am extra tired in anticipation
7. But no one from CCS has returned my many emails telling me when the next semester starts, so cannot make any plans because I don't know when school starts again
8. Should be sleeping because have to work tomorrow
9. Can't sleep because awake from school and itchy
10. Everyone else is going on fabulous vacations and I have no money to travel
11. Cuz it is all going to pay for school until 10 pm all the time
12. And I couldn't even make travel plans since I don't know when school starts anyway
13. Not that I could afford it
14. And have no idea if, after all this school, I can get a job anyway
15. Cuz I'm old
16. And found a white hair the other day
17. Along with wrinkles
18. And fat
19. Which I assume has multiplied quite nicely today due to eating all those cream eggs
20. There are no cream eggs left to eat
21. And the chance of ever having time to work off the fat is slim to none
22. Which is a big problem since I am supposed to ride 200 miles in two days in July
23. On the back of a tandem so won't M be surprised when I collapse halfway from lack of training
24. Probably not - he has already noticed my lack of training
25. And commented - though may not be doing that again
26. And I have to wear a long-sleeved short to work tomorrow due to scratches on my arms from the tree removal this weekend - which compliment the poison ivy well
27. And I am pretty sure most of those damn trees are going to grow back in and give me trouble for years - because that is what they do according to the magical Internet
28. Plus, if I do get rid of them, deer will probably eat the new plants
29. Which I can't get anyway, due to no money and no time
30. So why bother?
See, I am an absolute joy to be around right now. At 11:35 pm when I should be asleep. M just rolled over and commented that the typing woke him - excuse me while I go be a crab in person.
oh and
31. Also, my toenails are not painted
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Best. Bike. Ride. Ever.
Some may have noticed that there has not been a huge amount of training discussion here lately. Those who noticed, of course, did so because they are rude and should go be judge-y elsewhere. But that does not detract from the fact that there has actually not been a lot of training discussion here lately. And now, the reason why:
There has not been a lot of training at all lately.
Did you guess the reason? Are you shocked?
What there has been is a lot of work and school and, well, maybe a (tiny?) bit of time on Facebook. Training has pretty much been limited to an hour long TNT training plus maybe one other ride over the weekend.
Except for today. Today was the BBRE (best bike ride ever). Which really did not start all that promising. Yesterday was the battle of the buckthorn, a contest that pretty much came out even. I took them out, but I also ended up with scratched arms, a bruise on the top of my head and an allergy attack. And also made me VERY TIRED. So at 8:30 am when M jumped in the bed, rudely interrupting my dream, and announced it was time to go for a bike ride, I really didn't expect much. I managed to get him to pet the cats for like 15 minutes, but then stalling failed and I had to get up.
Further, new stalling involved deciding on an outfit and searching around for the chococonut bars (genuis and not made anymore - I am sure the new version, simply called dark chocolate chip, is going to disappoint me so I am hoarding the originals!) then I ran out of ideas and went outside. The plan was to ride from the house to Northville to check on the bike Mark won that is supposed to be delivered to Town and Country any day now. The route ended up being west on 12 Mile to Meadowbrook, to 8 Mile, by the cider mill, through the neighborhood and pop out in downtown Northville. But as we passed by the cider mill, we (M) noticed that we were passing a hardware store that carried the fasteners we needed for the decking in the gazebo - because the magical Internet gave us all the names yesterday. So we stopped in to Northville Lumber, which was super awesome because we got pricing for the deck stuff, wheels (in stock! not just a blank look like we got at the big orange store) to fix the sliding patio door, extremely friendly and helpful service and a nice break off the bike. With the I-can't-even-tell-you-how fabulous-because-there-will-be-a-breeze-in-the-house wheels stuck in M's pocket, we headed out again. For like a mile. And got to the bike store where they let us know they expected the shipment in later that week and got our name so they could call us directly. When we were safely outside, we jumped up and down in excitement.
Then we popped next store to Tuscan Cafe where they just happened to have some Zingerman's Flourless Cake available. And called our gorgeous friends Mark and Rachel who live right nearby and were finishing breakfast so walked on over to say hi. How cool are they that whenever we happen to end up in Northville, they just come right over to see us? I am sure they have lives and are not sitting at home waiting for us to call. Or do they...?
Finally, it was time to get back on the bike and ride. We were thinking we would just take Center to 9 Mile, turn right to get to Meadowbrook to trace the route back, but when we got 9 Mile, suddenly we were going left instead. To Taft, to 11 Mile, to Beck, over the freeway and out to Pontiac Trail. What a gorgeous day it was, all cars were driving politely and we were just having fun. We took P Trail toward Walled Lake and that was when the wind hit. That was some wind, but it had no power to mess with the joy that is riding on a spring day. We had a little question as to where to turn (seriously, it didn't look like that when I lived there) and ended up going through downtown Walled Lake and all around back to 13 Mile. There are some scary big houses all smushed up together around that lake, but still was nice to see everyone getting out their docks and welcoming spring. Then it was just 13 Mile all the way back home. with a sort of head/side wind trying to take us down. We won! Maybe because I kept poking M and asking it he agreed that it was the Best Bike Ride Ever. Because, like all other best bike rides before it, it really was.
Summary: 34.5 miles on the tandem, around 2 hours riding time, plus stops. Two screen door wheels, cake, donuts, coffee and lemonade/iced tea.
There has not been a lot of training at all lately.
Did you guess the reason? Are you shocked?
What there has been is a lot of work and school and, well, maybe a (tiny?) bit of time on Facebook. Training has pretty much been limited to an hour long TNT training plus maybe one other ride over the weekend.
Except for today. Today was the BBRE (best bike ride ever). Which really did not start all that promising. Yesterday was the battle of the buckthorn, a contest that pretty much came out even. I took them out, but I also ended up with scratched arms, a bruise on the top of my head and an allergy attack. And also made me VERY TIRED. So at 8:30 am when M jumped in the bed, rudely interrupting my dream, and announced it was time to go for a bike ride, I really didn't expect much. I managed to get him to pet the cats for like 15 minutes, but then stalling failed and I had to get up.
Further, new stalling involved deciding on an outfit and searching around for the chococonut bars (genuis and not made anymore - I am sure the new version, simply called dark chocolate chip, is going to disappoint me so I am hoarding the originals!) then I ran out of ideas and went outside. The plan was to ride from the house to Northville to check on the bike Mark won that is supposed to be delivered to Town and Country any day now. The route ended up being west on 12 Mile to Meadowbrook, to 8 Mile, by the cider mill, through the neighborhood and pop out in downtown Northville. But as we passed by the cider mill, we (M) noticed that we were passing a hardware store that carried the fasteners we needed for the decking in the gazebo - because the magical Internet gave us all the names yesterday. So we stopped in to Northville Lumber, which was super awesome because we got pricing for the deck stuff, wheels (in stock! not just a blank look like we got at the big orange store) to fix the sliding patio door, extremely friendly and helpful service and a nice break off the bike. With the I-can't-even-tell-you-how fabulous-because-there-will-be-a-breeze-in-the-house wheels stuck in M's pocket, we headed out again. For like a mile. And got to the bike store where they let us know they expected the shipment in later that week and got our name so they could call us directly. When we were safely outside, we jumped up and down in excitement.
Then we popped next store to Tuscan Cafe where they just happened to have some Zingerman's Flourless Cake available. And called our gorgeous friends Mark and Rachel who live right nearby and were finishing breakfast so walked on over to say hi. How cool are they that whenever we happen to end up in Northville, they just come right over to see us? I am sure they have lives and are not sitting at home waiting for us to call. Or do they...?
Finally, it was time to get back on the bike and ride. We were thinking we would just take Center to 9 Mile, turn right to get to Meadowbrook to trace the route back, but when we got 9 Mile, suddenly we were going left instead. To Taft, to 11 Mile, to Beck, over the freeway and out to Pontiac Trail. What a gorgeous day it was, all cars were driving politely and we were just having fun. We took P Trail toward Walled Lake and that was when the wind hit. That was some wind, but it had no power to mess with the joy that is riding on a spring day. We had a little question as to where to turn (seriously, it didn't look like that when I lived there) and ended up going through downtown Walled Lake and all around back to 13 Mile. There are some scary big houses all smushed up together around that lake, but still was nice to see everyone getting out their docks and welcoming spring. Then it was just 13 Mile all the way back home. with a sort of head/side wind trying to take us down. We won! Maybe because I kept poking M and asking it he agreed that it was the Best Bike Ride Ever. Because, like all other best bike rides before it, it really was.
Summary: 34.5 miles on the tandem, around 2 hours riding time, plus stops. Two screen door wheels, cake, donuts, coffee and lemonade/iced tea.
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