It’s here….

The signup for the charity bike ride I did last year has started. The place where I now work is a huge sponsor of the event, and I’m officially joining the team (last year’s team had over 60 members!) I’m so nervous right now, because instead of doing the 23-mile ride, I want to train for the 47-mile ride. AUGH!

I’m trying to calm myself with the fact that last year’s ride, I showed up with no training and was able to go for 23-miles. This year I have roughly 2 months to build up. Plus the new gym I’m at has Indoor Cycling at 6:45p.m. every other day. I know I can do it, but gee…that’s daunting.

Medical Results Are In: I do have a fatty liver, my liver was slightly enlarged, but not enough to warrant a biopsy. Gastroenterologist wants me to follow a low-fat diet and try to lose 10-15 lbs. in the next 6 months, then come back to more blood tests. He truly feels this can be reversed with diet & exercise. So that made me feel so much better about myself.

I did it! I did it!

My first official charity ride!! Tour de Pink at Prairie View A&M. I originally signed up for the 12 mile, but after training, I was confident that I could do the 23. When I showed up Sunday morning, I was decided to get in the 23 mile group. I got my registration and route map, saw that I had 2 pit stops and went to get in line.

It was a staggered start, so I didn’t get to the start line until 8 am. There was a large group of us and it was a mass start, so I was grateful that I didn’t crash into anyone, though I did have to go around a lady who was starting to tip. They led us off of campus onto the road and it was on!!

About 3 miles out, I saw the first bike breakdown. I’m still trying to figure out what happened, because the front of the bike was literally in pieces, yet there were no obvious potholes or anything like that. SAG was already with her.

At the pit stop #4, I was proud (yet saddened) to realize I was basically halfway finished. I grabbed an apple, some extra water, and some Powergel (for future rides ) and was going back to my bike, when I see a white pickup truck slowly pass by. IT WAS MY DAD!!! He had decided to drive up to see me at the finish line, noticed cyclists and police blocking the road and decided to head down the road to see if he could find me. I threw my camera at him and said I’d meet him at the finish line. Hopped on the bike and away I went.

This was the hardest stretch. Hills galore. A few hills I seriously thought about hopping off my bike to walk, but was perfectly in the middle of a large group in front of me and a large group behind me, so my pride just wouldn’t let me stop

Made it to Pit Stop #8, by far my favorite as they were handing out ice cold bandanas. Wrapped that around my neck, put some powerade in my water bottle, noted I was 8 miles from finish and took off. The guy that left with me noted we probably shouldn’t have stopped there as we only had 8 miles, he was right because for the first 2 miles, I felt like I was running out of steam.

But then I saw the 5 MILES TO FINISH and I had a resurgence of energy. Pedaled on seeing a mass of horse farms and some lovely dairy cows (don’t generally see here). I had been talking to a storm cloud that was rolling in, “Mr Cloud cover the sun up, it’s getting a little hot”. It respectfully followed directions, but with 2 miles to go, it started to sprinkle. “Um, Mr. Cloud, could you hold off on that for 10 minutes?? Just let me get back in??” This time, he wasn’t so respectful; with about half a mile to go it started to seriously rain, I just kept pedaling, rounded my way to the finish.

I was very proud and can honestly say I’m addicted to that kind of ride. I’m planning on doing a 33 mile ride in November

Started Riding Again

Alright-tighty, I started riding my bikes again.

I own both a blue Giant Boulder SE mountain bike, named Irene (yes,I name them) and a red Giant OCR 3 road bike, named Oscar. Irene was an impulse buy and after doing one real mountain bike trail ride, I discovered that mountain biking is not my thing. So, I’m in the process of making her a commuter bike so that I can ride her around town. She is good for sidewalk riding and such.

I took her out on Tuesday for a test ride. This was to gauge how good the roads are around my new place and how many bike lanes I have/what kind of drivers are in the area/ and state or roads. Only managed about 4 miles on her, as she is SOOO much slower and takes serious effort to move. But I was able to find good paths.

This meant I was able to ride Oscar, my true love, last night. He is sleek and can go soooo fast and cover distance well. I found a route online and covered 8 miles, only returning home due to lightening. This weekend I’m hoping to cover the whole 14 mile “short” route.

It feels so good to be on the bikes again. It also has inspired my lust for cycling equipment, which is expensive, therefore dangerous