I interrupt my Rocky Mountain travelogue because...
WE DID IT!
Even in the face of adversity, NLBG overcame.
The Set-up:
Ricky: A bike crash several weeks ago. Injured right arm severely curtailed his time in the saddle for a couple of weeks.
Moi: A fairly significant work-induced si joint flare-up just two weeks ago. Managed to keep spinning every other day at home, but kept having alignment issues and pain on the left side. Cause for concern, obviously. Took a short 30 minute spin on Thursday and did not feel well. Enjoyed a good workout on Friday with Sam who once again had to put me back in place!
Sooo...here comes the Challenge:
5am: Up and at it! Loaded the gear and the bikes and headed out, southwest to Dripping Springs, just after 5.30am. Thankfully, we left not a minute too soon because we spent a bit of time in traffic crawling our way to the parking area. Light, easy 1-2 mile warm-up spin from the parking to the start line. Just a twinge of si joint discomfort. Bonded with another si joint sufferer in line for the Port-A-Potty.
Start corral: Stretches. Lovely singer for the national anthem. Lance kick-off speech. Excitement seeing so many bikes, so much yellow. 90 milers led the way...when we 45 milers rolled out, I exhibited good restraint, spinning lightly and slowly, to pace myself. So many get so excited, they seem to burn themselves out fairly quickly, while others simply crash (saw aftermath of a few such crashes).
Mile 5: First serious stabbing pain in my si joint. Not a particularly good sign with another 40+ miles to go!
Mile 12 (rest stop): Considerable pain intensification as I neared the stop. PT exercises, prone on the asphalt drive of a ranch across from the rest stop. Fueled up on PB&J sandwich squares and more Accelerade, and the time came to pedal on.
Mile 15: Discouragement. My muscles were OK (apart from that right psoas, but that's the left si joint's doing!)...not a question of strength or endurance...it's that si joint and the havoc it wreaks.
So, time to remind myself of the following: that this pain must not compare to the pain of those suffering from cancer, that I cannot quit, that I must plug on, no matter how long or slow the going, that I would do it, that I could find a rhythm, squeeze my abs and my glutes and keep my legs spinning in spite of my lower back, and that it's a tremendous experience, and a gorgeous ride and good.
Mile 25 (rest stop): Sheriff's escort..here comes Lance with others, two columns of them, riding by so easily, no need to stop, of course! Noted was the fact that they had covered more than twice the distance we had by that point!
Miles 25-40: Just lovely. Pedaled alongside a survivor, who has recently finished chemo, this his first Challenge, as he was too weak last year to try even the 10 mile ride. Stopped to take a photo of the scenery. Started to feel as if I were beating my si joint into submission. Good spinning.
Mile 40 (rest stop): Ready to get it done. Recalled a right turn and a hill just past the rest stop. Turns out, it wasn't as steep or long as I had thought. Stronger spinning down Hwy 290 for the final 2 miles.
Finish: Being cheered on feels so wonderful. All smiles. All yellow. All done.
Ready for the 62 mile ride next year!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Glacier National Park
Troisieme etape: Many Glacier Valley
Another day in the car. It's amazing where it can lead you. Little-traveled two-lane highways through national forests, through reservations and open range, glimpses of the peaks of your destination on the horizon for hours, it seems, teasing you to dare to get closer. The effort is ultimately rewarded with, literally, 12 miles of bad road, a glacial valley, and our first-ever view of, not one, but two grizzlies foraging on the slope above the road.
Lakeside room with a balcony. The interminable howling August wind stirs me to imagine it in mid-winter, in a blizzard. It must be quite frightening. Of course, it must be frightening anyway, even without so much as a gentle breeze, since this lodge is reputed to have been the inspiration for The Shining. Kinda creepy, n'est-ce pas?
Dawn arrived with one of the most amazing displays of sunrise color I have ever seen, viewed directly from the room's balcony. The opposing mountain faces were set on fire by the first rays of sun. This event marked one of the rare occasions where I was thankful to have awakened with the day. 6.10am, 40 degrees. (A noter: This holiday has already set me on a streak for the most consecutive days for me to function before 6.30am. Oddly enough, this behavior cannot be replicated during the work week when I still and always struggle to get up before 7am, quite laughable since I have to leave for work by 7.10 or 7.15am. On holiday, however, every second is precious and must be savored!).
At the boat dock, we're placed on the wait list for the 8.30am ranger-led "Glacier Express" boat ride to the Grinnell Glacier trail. No luck; everyone shows. We get tickets for the next day. I quickly make another day hike plan -- to the lower Grinnell Lake, a fairly flat, mostly lakeside trail past Swiftcurrent and Josephine lakes. As we near the trailhead, Ricky approaches a couple walking away to invite them to hike with us. They too had been on the Glacier Express wait list. Dan and Sara joined us in all of our bear safety silliness. Ricky with the spray; we walked along, clapping and singing and chatting a little louder than usual. We spied fairly fresh bear markings on a trailside tree. We caught the ranger-led, Grinnell Lake nature hike. We were amazed by the beauty of the lakes and creeks and falls and trees and flowers and valley.
It was all amazing and then even more so when we spotted a moose in Lake Josephine, grazing on aquatic plants, immersing her entire head and neck in the water. We named her Josephine, but Sara noted that those who know her best call her simply "Josie." Following a delightful late lunch with Dan and Sara, we retreat to our room for a much-needed siesta.
Another day in the car. It's amazing where it can lead you. Little-traveled two-lane highways through national forests, through reservations and open range, glimpses of the peaks of your destination on the horizon for hours, it seems, teasing you to dare to get closer. The effort is ultimately rewarded with, literally, 12 miles of bad road, a glacial valley, and our first-ever view of, not one, but two grizzlies foraging on the slope above the road.
Lakeside room with a balcony. The interminable howling August wind stirs me to imagine it in mid-winter, in a blizzard. It must be quite frightening. Of course, it must be frightening anyway, even without so much as a gentle breeze, since this lodge is reputed to have been the inspiration for The Shining. Kinda creepy, n'est-ce pas?
Dawn arrived with one of the most amazing displays of sunrise color I have ever seen, viewed directly from the room's balcony. The opposing mountain faces were set on fire by the first rays of sun. This event marked one of the rare occasions where I was thankful to have awakened with the day. 6.10am, 40 degrees. (A noter: This holiday has already set me on a streak for the most consecutive days for me to function before 6.30am. Oddly enough, this behavior cannot be replicated during the work week when I still and always struggle to get up before 7am, quite laughable since I have to leave for work by 7.10 or 7.15am. On holiday, however, every second is precious and must be savored!).
At the boat dock, we're placed on the wait list for the 8.30am ranger-led "Glacier Express" boat ride to the Grinnell Glacier trail. No luck; everyone shows. We get tickets for the next day. I quickly make another day hike plan -- to the lower Grinnell Lake, a fairly flat, mostly lakeside trail past Swiftcurrent and Josephine lakes. As we near the trailhead, Ricky approaches a couple walking away to invite them to hike with us. They too had been on the Glacier Express wait list. Dan and Sara joined us in all of our bear safety silliness. Ricky with the spray; we walked along, clapping and singing and chatting a little louder than usual. We spied fairly fresh bear markings on a trailside tree. We caught the ranger-led, Grinnell Lake nature hike. We were amazed by the beauty of the lakes and creeks and falls and trees and flowers and valley.
It was all amazing and then even more so when we spotted a moose in Lake Josephine, grazing on aquatic plants, immersing her entire head and neck in the water. We named her Josephine, but Sara noted that those who know her best call her simply "Josie." Following a delightful late lunch with Dan and Sara, we retreat to our room for a much-needed siesta.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Buffalo, WY
Deuxieme etape: Buffalo, WY
With our departure from Colorado, and hours of Wyoming sage ahead of us, we soon lost count of (and, eventually, interest in) pronghorns, singing bad 80s songs and marvelling at the substantial snow fences towering alongside the highway.
Our two nights in Buffalo went something like this: Gorgeous scenery, fabulous hospitality, killer gin & tonics, loads of laughs, and a very sweet dog.
Marked also by lovely excursions to Crazy Woman Canyon -- Ricky quickly numbed his lower legs in the creek, while Tate and Patri seemed to have found it refreshing! -- and Tie Hack Reservoir
and a creek-side BBQ chez la tante in Story, with a little fly-fishing time thrown in for Ricky and Tate.
It's all so alien to me and Ricky, these snow fences, highway tire-chaining areas, being snowed in for days, steep grades, etc. A winter warrior must one be.
With our departure from Colorado, and hours of Wyoming sage ahead of us, we soon lost count of (and, eventually, interest in) pronghorns, singing bad 80s songs and marvelling at the substantial snow fences towering alongside the highway.
Our two nights in Buffalo went something like this: Gorgeous scenery, fabulous hospitality, killer gin & tonics, loads of laughs, and a very sweet dog.
Marked also by lovely excursions to Crazy Woman Canyon -- Ricky quickly numbed his lower legs in the creek, while Tate and Patri seemed to have found it refreshing! -- and Tie Hack Reservoir
and a creek-side BBQ chez la tante in Story, with a little fly-fishing time thrown in for Ricky and Tate.
It's all so alien to me and Ricky, these snow fences, highway tire-chaining areas, being snowed in for days, steep grades, etc. A winter warrior must one be.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
New Belgium At Last!
'Tis the season; alors, another road trip. thousands of miles, and hours - no, days - in the making.
So much, too much, to say, so this will require a bit of time and several postings.
Premiere etape: New Belgium At Last!
Such tasty samples, such a cool brewery.
Who wouldn't be ready to move to Fort Collins and work for New Belgium???
Of course, that's such an effortless utterance when it's sunny and 80, and everything's green. Perhaps planning a return in January would be in order before packing up the U-Haul. Perhaps it would be wise to feel what being buried in several feet of snow entails before calling it home!
Sadly came the time to depart with our freshly-filled jug of Trippel chilling in the ice chest. Our journey had just begun, and this stop had sufficiently whetted our appetites for more adventures (and brews!). Honestly, there couldn't have been a better way to launch our Rocky Mountain Road Trip 2008!
Premiere etape: New Belgium At Last!
Such tasty samples, such a cool brewery.
Who wouldn't be ready to move to Fort Collins and work for New Belgium???
Of course, that's such an effortless utterance when it's sunny and 80, and everything's green. Perhaps planning a return in January would be in order before packing up the U-Haul. Perhaps it would be wise to feel what being buried in several feet of snow entails before calling it home!
Sadly came the time to depart with our freshly-filled jug of Trippel chilling in the ice chest. Our journey had just begun, and this stop had sufficiently whetted our appetites for more adventures (and brews!). Honestly, there couldn't have been a better way to launch our Rocky Mountain Road Trip 2008!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Cookie Monster
I can't stop it; I can't help it, and quite frankly, I don't care. I'm totally addicted to all varieties of MI-DEL cookies. A different bag every week. As if that's not enough, on the weekends, I now typically require half a vegan cashew butter cookie and half a vegan chocolate chip cookie from Wheatsville Food Co-op. Ricky eats the other halves.
Whereas I've recently been transforming into some sort of cookie monster, Ricky has acquired an addiction to Upper Crust Bakery's insanely tasty cinnamon rolls. This happened quite by accident early one Saturday morning as Ricky stumbled his way down to Epoch to get us some coffee. At that exact moment, a tray of still warm cinnaomon rolls from Upper Crust was being delivered:
I needn't say more.
Whereas I've recently been transforming into some sort of cookie monster, Ricky has acquired an addiction to Upper Crust Bakery's insanely tasty cinnamon rolls. This happened quite by accident early one Saturday morning as Ricky stumbled his way down to Epoch to get us some coffee. At that exact moment, a tray of still warm cinnaomon rolls from Upper Crust was being delivered:
I needn't say more.Wednesday, July 30, 2008
So, I'm sort of a bike commuter
Somehow, it occurred to me, many months ago, that I could fairly easily ride my bike to work. Even with that realization, I, for some reason, required several more days of mental preparation before actually attempting to implement my bike commute plan. Here I am, months later, pedaling to-and-fro a few times a week on my beloved monster.
Observations thus far:
1. Bike commuting does accord a peculiar sense of liberation (additional pensees on this later).
2. It takes the same amount of time to pedal to work as it does for me to drive, park, and walk to my office.
3. Seeing other cyclists and their bikes imparts a certain notion of camaraderie, although not always, as when one cyclist ran a stop sign to pull out right in front of me and proceeded to pedal at half the speed I was going...of course, I had to dust her!
FAQs
1. How far is it?
Well, I've read the stories of commuting warriors who pedal 10-15 miles each way, climbing hills and traversing highways and such, and...
I'm not one of them.
My commute consists of approximately 6 miles there and back. I consider myself pretty fortunate to live just a few miles from work, and even more fortunate to have a lower-traffic route to get there and back.
2. Is it hard?
Well, that depends: on the weather, on my fatigue, on my hunger, on my legs.
Mornings tend to be rather enjoyable. It's not quite hot; there's usually a breeze; few people out and about; the sun's just rising...fairly peaceful pedaling.
(Summer) afternoons entail triple digit temps (it was 102 yesterday), more people, and a generally uphill pedal all the way home (albeit in a false flat kind of way; I can still feel that incline though, even if it's not especially obvious on much of the route!). The worst afternoon stretches are that "hill" around 30th St. and the shadeless broil that is the Guadalupe Street bike lane alongside the Intramural Fields.
3. Do you have paniers?
No. Just me and my backpack, the contents of which typically include my so-called "professional attire", my lunch, my keys, and my cell phone.
4. Do you get all hot and sweaty?
Not so much, but a little on the ride home in the heat of the afternoon.
Observations thus far:
1. Bike commuting does accord a peculiar sense of liberation (additional pensees on this later).
2. It takes the same amount of time to pedal to work as it does for me to drive, park, and walk to my office.
3. Seeing other cyclists and their bikes imparts a certain notion of camaraderie, although not always, as when one cyclist ran a stop sign to pull out right in front of me and proceeded to pedal at half the speed I was going...of course, I had to dust her!
FAQs
1. How far is it?
Well, I've read the stories of commuting warriors who pedal 10-15 miles each way, climbing hills and traversing highways and such, and...
I'm not one of them.
My commute consists of approximately 6 miles there and back. I consider myself pretty fortunate to live just a few miles from work, and even more fortunate to have a lower-traffic route to get there and back.
2. Is it hard?
Well, that depends: on the weather, on my fatigue, on my hunger, on my legs.
Mornings tend to be rather enjoyable. It's not quite hot; there's usually a breeze; few people out and about; the sun's just rising...fairly peaceful pedaling.
(Summer) afternoons entail triple digit temps (it was 102 yesterday), more people, and a generally uphill pedal all the way home (albeit in a false flat kind of way; I can still feel that incline though, even if it's not especially obvious on much of the route!). The worst afternoon stretches are that "hill" around 30th St. and the shadeless broil that is the Guadalupe Street bike lane alongside the Intramural Fields.
3. Do you have paniers?
No. Just me and my backpack, the contents of which typically include my so-called "professional attire", my lunch, my keys, and my cell phone.
4. Do you get all hot and sweaty?
Not so much, but a little on the ride home in the heat of the afternoon.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
A mid-summer's pause
A glimpse at July...
sassitude
simple pleasures
cycling thrills
random games
general silliness
cycling thrills
random games
general silliness
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