The past and present

I bought my bike almost four years ago in a sporting goods store at the local mall. I had pictured in my mind riding my bike to work and school everyday. I was so excited as I had never had a bike of my own before and I couldn’t wait to get out and use it.

The first ride I grabbed my bike and headed up the hill next to my apartment my plan was to bike as far as I could. I didn’t even make it around the block (it was a large block) and I went home, total sum of ride about half a mile I felt completely out of shape (it probably didn’t help that I didn’t have a clue as to how to shift my bike in order to climb the hill properly), the joy of my new bike was short lived and it spent the next year and half in the garage at my brother’s house.

I was thinking about that first ride as I did thirty miles on Saturday with AmyJo. Last year the most I rode at any one time was 28 miles, the rest of my summer I average between 5 and 10 miles for each ride, and I didn’t ride very consistently. Today the most I have done in a ride is 61.5 miles and if I go longer than two days without riding I almost have a panic attack (I just enjoy it so much). I am so thankful that I finally pulled my bike out of the garage and decided to give it another try.

Two years after pulling it back out of that dark garage my bike has taken me to places and introduced me to people that I would not have seen or met without it. I have spent hours in this most amazing world in scenery that makes me think of all the good things in life. I have been to parts of my town I would not have seen or noticed before.

I have met people; great people through cycling. I even have traditions around it now; like two years ago my roommates, and some friends of AmyJo’s and I got on our bikes on the morning of July 4th and headed to downtown Provo for a breakfast. We have done it every year since and will to it this year as well. We look forward to it and enjoy one another’s company as we ride. On Wednesday three people will be riding with me, two people I am just getting to know (from my church) and a close friend. And Thursday I am riding with a group of people I am not even really acquainted with at all (also from my church) but who are doing a small organized ride and I am going with them. I really enjoy meeting and getting to know new people.

I just want to convey how appreciative I am to have discovered something I really love to do that is both enjoyable and good for me, not just physically but emotionally as well.

Morning

My alarm clock went off this morning at 5:10am (20 minutes earlier than normal) why earlier? I wanted to go riding before my day started as I had a very busy day in front of me and I didn't want to miss out on a ride.

So off I went, I did wait to start my ride until 5:45 (I thought it would be lighter at 5:30 than it was) I went the same way I did on my last ride with the mile long hill. It was nice to be out when the air is cripse and clean and the world is quiet, society in general has not woken up yet and it is just the bike and the road. I great start to my day.

The bike ride was followed by work, much accomplished, so much more to do, never ending piles of stuff.

Then I got to hang out with my two favorite people. I am posting pictures. The picture on the top is my niece Madison and on the bottom is my nephew Cooper. I watched them while their mom did a little work this afternoon. I always have fun with them and look forward to getting to spend time with them.

As soon as Madison and Cooper's dad (my brother) got home from work I headed to American Fork for a concert (it was really good) and here I sit now, I should be in bed but I'm not. I am however really looking forward to my ride with AmyJo tomorrow. Until then....

Back in the Saddle

When I go biking, I repeat a mantra of the day's sensations: bright sun, blue sky, warm breeze, blue jay's call, ice melting and so on. This helps me transcend the traffic, ignore the clamorings of work, leave all the mind theaters behind and focus on nature instead. I still must abide by the rules of the road, of biking, of gravity. But I am mentally far away from civilization. The world is breaking someone else's heart. ~Diane Ackerman

It had been a week and one day since my last ride and I missed the open road, the feel of the air in my face and hair, and the thrill of the ride. I missed my bike.

I will admit that the vacation I just took was not refreshing and I struggled immensly with enjoying it. I was in a car too long (36 hours) I didn't get enough sleep. I was in a bad mood by the time I got back to Utah and admit that I was extremely happy to be home, but the bad funky mood was lingering and I fought to get back into my normal happy frame of mind.

So I didn't want to go biking today, I wasn't feeling up to it, but as I was leaving the office Dr. Carr told me to go for a ride that it is good for me. That was the push I needed. I got home changed and headed out. I rode 5 miles nothing serious though I did climb a mile long hill. The picture below is the top of the hill, it curves down and around the mountain it was a great hill to climb.

I found my disposition get better with every push of the pedal and each mile I went. How lucky I am to have found such a great way to get away from everything. I wish everyone the same; to find something they can do that allows them to forget their stresses and disappointments.

Hiatus

Last Saturday as in May 9, 2009 I rode my first ever 61.5 miles. The trail, or route, that we (Yoda and I) took was beautiful, it ran right next to Utah Lake and then into farm/ranch/orchard country. Along the way I saw fishermen, a beautiful clear glass lake, a lot of fruit trees, a ton of ugly carp hanging out on the shoore line of the lake (I have pictures will post soon) and a ton of other bikers. It must be a very popular route of cyclist because they were everywhere!

Picture of the fish on the shore, it was weird.

I felt great the whole ride, I will state that I am not breaking any speed records. I rode at 10 miles and hour up to 15. I went from feeling like 10 was all I could do to feeling like I could keep up the 15 for the rest of the trip back to the steady 12 and then back to 10. When you are on a bike for 5 and a half hours you are bound to go through some ups and downs. The important thing is I finished and it felt great.

I will whole heartadly admit that I was wiped out the rest of the day and that my muscles were protesting the abuse I had done to them.

I rode again on Tuesday a light 6 miles and then I was off on vacation, the plan was I would strap my bike onto my parents car and away we would go to visit family in Oregon.

Long story short, no bike was taken I won't go into details, so here I sit at 6:30am in my Grandparents house wishing strongly that I had my bike. The rest of the family won't wake for a few more hours and then the day will be filled with all kinds of "coming together" family activities but now if I had my bike I could have some more fulfilling "me" time.

Without my bike I have tried to stay active. I helped shovel bark to be put in plastic bags and taken to my aunts, so I also helped my Dad load the 10 bags of bark into my Aunts truck (very heavy actually). I then helped unload it into my Aunts little John Deer trailer and then helped her spread the bark over and around her newly planted flowers/bushes (whatever they were). It was nice to feel busy.

Vacations where I am not busy or I am waiting for others to tell me how busy or not I am going to be throughout the day is not very relaxing to me. But family is family and family vacations for me that involve my extending family are just like that.

I will at least post a picture of where I am at and some members of my family. Let me go search my Grandpa's computer for the right ones to post. I'll post a picture if I can find a good one.

Pedal-a lever operated by the foot that powers a mechanism such as a bicycle, sewing machine, or the foot controls of a car.

Petal-one of the showy colored parts of a flower in bloom. The ring of petals forms the corolla of a plant.

Peddle-to sell goods, especially while traveling from place to place

For those who have been reading my blog and were wondering if I was ever going to figure out the proper spelling of the word pedal as in pedaling my bike, the above is a demonstration that I have got it now and the spelling will be correct from here on out.

I know I have mentioned on more than one occasion that I don’t like hills. But the other day I was thinking about the hills that I would inevitably face in my future riding I thought that hills like other adversity in life are best faced with an optimistic attitude and determination. I know this is a total cliché but you have to face your challenges head on. Hills used to bug me and I would get apprehensive about them and would steer clear of them at all cost.

I have found myself over the last three weeks enjoying the challenge of each hill, there is something so deeply satisfying about reaching the top knowing that I didn’t give up even if sometimes I want to. I have decided as long as I don’t get discouraged about how slow I am going (I will get faster as I get more practice) I can complete any hill.

I am grateful my attitude and abilities have changed.

This and That

I never realized when I started training for this 100 mile ride how time consuming the preparation would be. I am not complaining as much as just trying to figure out how to fit everything into my schedule and still keep up the biking.

I still love it, every minute of it actually. The other morning I had a blonde moment. I was getting ready and thinking to myself that I needed to exercise more...I enjoy biking so much that for a split second I forgot that it is exercise. What a great experience, a great moment.

I didn't get in my 50 miles on Saturday, I was in a bad mood before I started the ride and then it rained, it was really windy and my heart just wasn't in it. I made it about 6 miles from my house before I turned around and headed home. Though I am disappointed that I didn't complete my goal I reserve the right to change my plans every once in awhile.

Monday I biked 16 miles with AmyJo we hit some longer hills and just enjoyed each others company, we talked about the gospel, our favorite show, memories from the past, family, friends, future plans etc. It is always so nice to bike with her. She is doing the 60 mile ride with her Dad for the Tour de Cure.

Last night AmyJo and I went riding with Yoda. We met at Yoda's house and headed out. Yoda has a lot of friends who are really active and one of them stated that our weekday rides should consist of 75% hills. 75%!!!! So that is what we did we rode a lot of long hills. It was a great ride we ended with 16.3 miles logged.

I can't wait to do 60miles on Saturday. I'll keep you posted.

40 miles

Forty miles when training for 100 doesn’t sound like a whole lot in comparison but actually riding forty miles is an accomplishment. My first 40 was done yesterday with Yoda. I wish I could write and say I was on top of the world the whole ride and that I had all the energy needed to keep up a very fast pace the entire time. I can’t write that though, because though the ride was completed I probably had 3 “second” winds. Let me explain.

The first 10 miles of the ride where terrible, I felt like my body was fighting me, I couldn’t seem to get into the rhythm of a steady smooth pace. My body felt weary and uncooperative. At about the 10 mile mark Yoda and I stopped at the top of a hill, we refueled our bodies with some food and water and walked around a bit. When I got back on my bike I felt a lot better. The first 10 miles took about 53 minutes.

The second 10 where fantastic, my body finally felt like it was on my side. It probably helped that we were on a stretch of road that seemed to have a lot of downhill stretches. We easily reached speeds of 16 and 17 mph. We ended up stopping around mile 19 in a small town called Genola. We again ate, stretched, walked around, and took a pit stop, and then we were off again.

All that downhill in the second 10 miles meant a lot of up hill in the 20 to 30 mile section of the ride. One hill was a steady climb of about 2 miles with only about .1 mile or .2 mile of flat before there was another hill. I never did the walk of shame; I kept it up the whole time, when we finally got onto flat road I just could not get up to any kind of a decent speed. I was in the easiest gears on my bike and they felt like the hardest. Yoda seemed a bit uncomfortable as well; her seat was bugging her throughout the ride. A few miles later around mile 26 or 27 we stopped at a gas station and again stretched, ate, drank, walked around and then headed back out.

The rest of the ride my legs felt better, I got back up to my normal pace and even climbed all the hills that came my way without any problems. Going down one hill in particular I got up to 25 miles an hour it was scary and amazing all at the same time (as I have mentioned in previous blogs) I am beginning to think that I shoud stop looking at my spedometer when I am speeding down hills, I never get freaked out until I see the actual numbers. About 4 or 5 miles from the house it started to rain, it was almost like sleet and was really cold. I climbed the last hill by the house and that was it, Yoda and I made it.

I will admit the ride didn’t go as smoothly as I had hoped but we finished it and never gave up, which is all one can ask.

As always Yoda’s best friend was at the house with a smorgasbord of food waiting for us to refuel with. She also made sure I got into a dry shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, and socks. By the end of lunch the top of me was toasty warm.

I am so glad I can now say that I have ridden 40 miles, next week 50, I hope I can do it without the motivation of Yoda as she will be out of town but I will set my goal and do my best.

I have a disclaimer for the pictures I am posting I am not a movie star (I know what a shock) and I do not wear makeup when I ride, I do not care what my hair looks like, or if my style is up to par. I am only concerned with comfort. So with that being said, I don’t have to look good in these pictures, I am working out not going on a date.