30 in 35

There are a great deal of things in this world that I do not understand and one of those things is the weather.  It was 72 degrees two days ago, but today it is only 35 degrees!  Fortunately, I check the weather this morning and added a few extra layers of clothes before I left for my ride. 

I went 30 miles today.  So far, that is the longest I have gone in one trip.  I thought it went pretty well.  In fact, I even started to feel a little cocky and thought things like, "this summer's going to be a piece of cake."  The only thing that scared me a little was riding by the high school and seeing cars in the parking lot.  I was afraid it wasn't actually Saturday and I had inadvertently skipped work.  But it really is Saturday and there is just some sort of band competition going on at the high school.

I just looked at our schedule for the summer and that cocky feeling I was having is now completely gone.  We will average 78 mile each day...I didn't even go half that far today.  My guess is the mileage wont be the only difference.  The thought of the mountains and wind that we will most definitely encounter is also making me tremble in my boots at this moment.  I'm sure this summer will be challenging, exciting, inspiring and I'm also quite certain that it will NOT be a "piece of cake."

The truth is, right now I'm having a difficult time convincing myself to get off the couch and go into school to get some work done.  Turns out my legs are a little tired after a meager 30 miles.

First 100 Miles

No, I didn’t bike 100 miles today, but the odometer on my bike computer did pass over the 100 mile mark today.  Since I got my new bike I have ridden it exactly 110 miles.  That's just my ‘forward progress’ mileage and doesn’t include the hours I spent spinning on my bike this winter.  I have learned many things in my first 100 miles.  For example, I’ve learned how to take the front wheel on and off, how to put the bike on a trainer, how to clip in and out of pedals and how to blow my nose while riding (sometimes those bike gloves just don’t cut it when it’s cold outside).  I’m starting to get a little braver about riding on the road and I’ve hit a new maximum speed of 26.4 miles per hour (don’t get too impressed, it was downhill and I went that speed for all of 18 seconds).  I have also seen quite a few hilarious things while riding.  Today, in fact, I saw two things that made me laugh. 

1.       I like dogs, but some people and their dogs are just too extreme for me.  Today there was a lady riding a bike with her dog.  Now you are probably picturing a gal on a bike with her dog blissfully running next to her.  No.  The dog was actually on the bike with the lady.  The dog wasn’t even in a basket like in the Wizard of Oz; this dog was strapped to the lady’s chest in a pink baby sling.  When I have a dog again that dog will be running, not getting a free ride.

2.       At first I thought this next guy was ridiculous, but the more that I think about him I think he might actually be onto something.  He was walking on the trail with a long rope and at the end of his rope was his son on a tricycle being towed along.  It was kind-of like the boy was water skiing…only the dad’s walking was much slower than a boat and it would probably hurt a lot more to fall on the cement rather than the water.  I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that there will be more than one occasion this summer when I wish someone would tow me on my bike.

Chick-Fil-A

Mark your calendar!  Eat at Chick-Fil-A in Plainfield on Monday March 21, 2011 from 5:00-8:00.  Based on the evening’s sales, Chick-Fill-A will make a donation to the Ride:Well Tour.  So if you live in Plainfield, or anywhere remotely close to Plainfield, please come and eat at Chick-Fil-A on Monday.  There is a flyer below that you are supposed to bring in with you, but don’t worry if you forget the flyer.  While you are ordering, just mention that you are there for the fundraiser and they will take care of the rest.

Here is the address and some menu suggestions so you have no excuses.  I’ll see you there.

2687 E. Main Street; Plainfield, IN 46168                map

I would suggest the chicken Caesar wrap, waffle fries (with extra ketchup) and a lemon-aid.  Of course you can’t forget the ice-cream and the best option there is the cookies-n-cream milkshakes.  Then again, you could get the spicy-chicken sandwich, or chicken salad sandwich, or chicken nuggets, or even one of the many salads.  There are tons of other options too and if you can’t make up your mind you can just get them all!

Now, aren’t you getting hungry?  You want to go to Chick-Fil-A on Monday March 21^st don’t you? 

Eat more chicken!

BRING IN THIS FLYER 

Support the Ride WELL Tour!

People like you make our community a better place

But what about the cows?  Tell you what—stop by and present this form at Plainfield Chick-fil-A. Based on the evening sales, Chick-fil-A will make a donation to the Ride Well Tour.

Not only do the cows win, but you will too!

WHERE:       CHICK-FIL-A @ PLAINFIELD                                      

2687 E. Main St

.

WHEN:          5:00PM – 8:00PM

                        Monday March 21, 2011

            Amount Spent: $________________

 

Wind

Wind is great!  Yesterday the wind was coming from the west at 26 miles per hour.  With the wind at my back I was riding at an average speed of 19 miles per hour without much effort at all…then I turned around.

Wind is horrible!  Even though I was working pretty hard my average speed into the wind was about 11 miles an hour.  Though the headwind was bad it was not the worst part.  The crosswind is what, quite literally, blew me away.  The crosswind was hitting me on a back country road that I had never ridden on before.  I was leaning into the wind and everything was going fine until I rode out of the protective trees.  That must have been just about simultaneous with one of the wind gusts of 31 miles per hour.  The wind pushed me right off the road, through the rocky shoulder and into some grass.  Fortunately, I was able to pull my feet out of the pedals and stop before I toppled over into the ditch.  I think I covered for myself pretty well by acting like I was all the sudden very thirsty and had chosen that exact moment to stop and get a drinkJ.   Even though the wind had won that round I was undeterred and I started out again.  I made it a whole half mile before the wind tried to push me off again and that’s when I decided to duck into the nearby park and just explore park trails and random neighborhoods for the rest of the ride.

Apparently I am not a very good explorer because I must have missed some secret passageway.  See, I went around the park loop, then through a subdivision and then around the park loop again.  Naturally, I passed many people a second time on my final pass through the park, but there was this one guy who I saw not once, not twice, not even three times, but four times as I rode.  I saw him in the park, then twice in the neighborhood, and then again in the park.  He was only running so I’m pretty sure he did not lap me.  I’ve decided that he has either mastered time travel, has a twin brother who was also wearing a green baseball cap, or maybe there is another path between the park and the neighborhood that I completely missed.  I hope he does not think I was so sort of bike stalker.

Remember that bell I have on my bike.  I really wanted to use it yesterday, but the opportunity just did not present itself.  So far all I have used the bell for is to give the occasional angel their wings.  Maybe I’ll get a chance to use it on the next ride.

Pennies

The coin wars at school have started.  We collected pennies this week, next week we will collect nickels, then dimes and so on. 

Now go ahead and take a guess, how many pennies do you think we collected???

THIRTEEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED SIXTY SIX

That is a lot of pennies.  And for those of you who don't want to that difficult math that's $135.66.

Sunshine, Head Nods, Girls and Tails

The sunshine today was beautiful, but it was also a bit deceptive.  As I was popping my bike off the trainer so that I could ride outside the sun was steaming through the windows.  That made me think that the leggings and ear warmers would be a bit overkill.  I was wrong.  By the end of the ride my legs were chilly, my ears were frigid and my fingers were just down right cold.  Turns out those spiffy bike gloves are great for wiping snot, but not so great for keeping your fingertips warm.

After today’s ride I have given myself two new goals:

1) Clipping in and out of my pedals more effectively at intersections.

2) My head nod.  The head nod is a very important gesture when riding on a trail.  Every time I pass someone I have to give them the nod.  If the nod is too quick I’ll get labeled as a head nob snob, but if the nod is too long/big I’ll get pegged as the awkward nodding biker.

In other news, it was confirmed on the ride today that I am, in fact, a girl.  Apparently the mother and her 5 year old daughter were debating this issue as I approached them.  As I rode by the girl proudly announced, “It is a girl!”  My pigtails must have given me away.  Speaking of pigtails…Anybody out there have any suggestions on what to do with my hair while I’m riding?  Keep in mind it has to fit under my helmet which eliminates my go to ponytail. 

Okay this is a random question, but here goes.  Who came up with the names pigtail and ponytail?  It’s not like pigs have two tails and horses only have one.  Just wondering…

I made it 14.2 miles today and now I’m watching the sunset as I type this.  That’s a pretty great way to end the day.