Smelling the Cows

Finally at 3:30pm I hauled my butt out of the house to get on the bike. Knowing the winds were 21mph from the NNW with gusts of 27, I knew it was going to hurt.

It was a beautiful sunny day. (well you know MN, it's always overcast with "sun"). The temps were around 52F.

I wanted to ride a metric century but leaving the house so late and since I am riding so slow these days I knew I would end up in the dark and I was very doubtful I could finish a full 62.5 miles.

I have pretty much emptied Rochester Cycling and Fitness clothing inventory (RETAIL THERAPY with EXTENDED GUILT!) so I was anxious to try out the new gear. Maybe I would ride faster with a fuzzy new PI thermal base tank and a very sexy Cannondale Featherweight jersey.

I haven't ridden the Genoa, Zumbrota, Mazeppa loop in ages and I really wanted to visit those sites again. I started out on 19th Ave NW turning North onto Valley High Drive then onto the Douglas Trail head. The winds hit! UGH!!! One thing though, that tank seemed to be cutting it with warmth. :)

I didn't have any speed. It seemed to take forever to get to Douglas but I was hopeful my legs would eventually warm up. I haven't done Genoa much this summer and my riding confidence has pretty much gone to pot since mid August therefore I didn't think it would be a very pretty site riding up Genoa. (I guess it's a good thing nobody took a bite on the WOW ride offer for the weekend.) Unfortunately I get way too nervous about Genoa hill and psych myself out long before I am there.

I made it to Douglas and headed west. UGH the winds! I reached the bottom of Genoa telling myself all sorts of things like "Think of it as a hill repeat, it doesn't last long". "It's not really a hill, it's a disguised flat". "This is what the 200k brevet in CO will feel like so practice the mental skills". NONE of this seemed to help so I settled into the tune of "Whistle while you work" BTW, that's an annoying little diddy when you are climbing.

I once heard someone say about Genoa, "If you have the gears, gear it down and pedal slowly and take as long as you need to get up, it then isn't bad". Well, that's crap. I was in the low gears and I still hurt. My legs didn't hurt but my heart did. Even when I WAS in shape it still hurt although I probably went faster. So I continued my ride, whistling while I worked and staying in a nice state of ANEROBIA.

I reached the top and continued to head West until I hit cty5. Headed North, more winds and turned West again onto cty22 (think that's the one :) I like combining 75th street and 22. With the combination of Genoa and the rollers of the rest of the two roads it makes for a nice challenge especially when you are tired, cold and the winds are hitting you in the face.

At this point on the ride, very few miles into it, I noticed my avg speed sucked! I was getting colder and I had a long way to go. I am way too stubborn to turn and go back home. On went the arm warmers and popped a few shot blocks. I was obviously lacking something.

Few miles go by and I am feeling a bit better. Amazing what a simple 100cals will do to someone. Then chug chug.....those 100 cals gone.......well it's the season to enjoy right? So I watched the cows, looked at the trees and tried to ignore my lack of "speed".

I had to make the decision, turn left and continue on to get the most out of the day or head back to Pine Island. Seeing that daylight was about to end, the decision had to be Pine Island.

When you do stop and smell the roses, or cow manure, it's amazing what one might see. I never had noticed this beautiful rock formation on Cty11. When you swirl down that hill you come upon a quaint farm house with a cute little bridge in the middle of the yard. Minnesota can be quite beautiful when the wind isn't howling down your neck and the snow isn't up to your armpits.

At this point in my ride I was low on liquids, fuel and energy. I was also freezing. I didn't want to stop to layer up because I just wanted to be done with it. I was getting down on myself regarding my pace, my energy and my skill seeming to go to pot.

The only thing that matters is that I was riding. The snow wasn't up to my armpits, the sun was setting and it couldn't be more beautiful.

When you can, go for that ride even if your speed is down or your mind is telling you all sorts of nasty things.

Most importantly, don't forget to stop and smell the cows, it can be quite beautiful.

Spinning Circles

He's pissing me off again.....

Do I or don't I? Can I or can't I? Ride, eat, eat, ride, don't ride, don't eat, don't eat, don't ride. And you wonder why I get absolutely nothing accomplished during the day. The internal struggle is exhausting. I am tired and want to take a nap. I haven't even done anything to deserve a nap.

My head is tired.
My body is tired.
I am tired.

That Folgers Moment!

warning, X rated language ahead......

The dream of sitting, sipping my morning coffee, snuggling with my minnow, starring blankly out the window, having that "Folgers Moment". Peace around the house to start the day off with smiles..... that's all bullshit!

Through many years of guilt I finally decided to get up with the family today. If anyone knows me out there, please remind me to never do that again! It was chaos. One person screaming after another. The little minnow was "in a mood" today. Mr BBB was in his "usual disciplinary mode". The belt, oh the belt, where did the belt go. The boys in my family have a bad habit of losing things. Well maybe better yet said, putting things away in the same spot they are supposed to go. Yes I said supposed to so one could find it the next time one might look for it. Who do they come to? ME. As if I would know where they put things. GRRRRRR!

It seemed to start off well when i was awakened by a cute little shining face looking at me in the bed. He had taken Mr BBB's spot. I was all confused and didn't understand what was going on. I don't remember sleeping. You see, the previous night was a flashback to insomnia so last night I dreaded going to sleep. It was good to wake up and feel as though 6 hours didn't even exist. Even though I am a nine hour girl I'll take a good 6 any day.

After a weekend of PMS eating, GUILT GUILT GUILT, it looks as though my post weekend foraging ride won't take place. It's raining outside. WAAAA! Yeah go ahead, cry for me. I deserve it.

My last two rides KICKED MY ASS! You see I have a little goal of 100 miles a week. I came close last week but needed that ride yesterday, which I didn't take. But anyway, I only got in 3 rides last week but they were killers. I was ignorant about the winds and wow did they hit me in the face. HARD! Struggling to go 10-13mph is really humbling after a very hard summer of training.

I had hoped to do about 60ish miles on Sat but knew that afternoon when I woke up it wasn't going to happen. Yes I DID say afternoon. The Mr said he would go with me. This would be his 2nd time out on his road bike all year. Sure glad he spent a fortune on those road shoes. They are great dust collectors!

I started to prep my bike. Pump the tires, (yes I am a anal retentive tire pumper). 120 in the back and 115 in the front. This is done every time I ride. Bite me if you have a problem with that! The night before, through the lack of sleep I had this premonition that I needed to check my rear wheel for cracks. I just knew that I would find some. Sure enough, cracks ALL around the wheel. UGH!!!!!!! I wasn't aware of any warranty so I was pretty freaked that I would be shelling over some money just for a wheel that couldn't withstand the weight of my large ass. Thoughts of needing a special heavy weight person wheels crossed my mind. (NO I AM NOT feeling very good about myself these days!)

Even though we had a great ride planned out even into the winds I had to make a quick stop at the shop to be told that if I rode my bike the wheel wouldn't explode. The words of wisdom via "Skinny ass racer boy" told me I could ride without fear. It was a nice moment though as I was able to say hi to his beautiful bride who had been helping him all weekend with the garage sale. Moving on...........

We headed out to do the airport loop. I realized I was fucked. One bowl of oatmeal wasn't going to cut it when it was 3:30 in the afternoon and we were going for about 40 miles. Luckily my beloved shop lets me grab a bar and say "charge it" knowing full well I will pay in the future. I guess I should have grabbed 10. I was right, not many miles into the ride I knew there was trouble ahead. Not only were the winds nasty, my legs were not there and my head was fuzzy. I could feel a bonk in the near future. Mr B was having a blast. You see the last ride I took him on I put the hurt on him pretty bad. :) Yes I am evil! This time he knew he would be able to keep up. Another humbling moment on my behalf.

Onto Cty road 1, the winds screamed into our faces. 25mph headwinds with 35 mph gusts. No legs, fuzzy head, no strength, nada. I was screwed. I struggled to get to Simpson with the hopes I could find a Coke. OH how I was craving a Coke. The bar I got didn't help, the gel I was carrying wasn't helping and the Gatorade did absolutely nothing. (Yeah yeah, I don't need to hear it Zen, I know I need to go to the pharmacy and get those glucose tabs.) Sure enough I see a pop machine but only to find out it was abandoned. I wanted to cry. I knew that the airport business district wasn't far but it was far enough that I was frightened about making it there. On top of that the crosswinds kicked my ass.

We made a quick stop at "The Hanger" so I could fill up with some Coke and a half sandwich. Pickle spears, yeah baby, must remember those in the future! I had already gone into the shakes so a good bonk was happening. With some hesitation and much debate I decided against filling my Gatorade bottle with Coke. We finally took off again. The legs were back. just enough to catch a sweet tailwind down Cty 8. Not enough legs though to drop Mr B's ass. That pissed me off! So what should I do? If he could hang with me the entire ride, then make the ride longer :D Somehow I could put the hurt on! Back into the headwinds we went and finally we headed home.

On the last leg of getting home some asshole was pissed that I was riding on the road. He yelled at me "YOU PAY TAXES?!!?? GET OFF THE ROAD YOU STUPID FUCK!" Funny thing, how come only the fat old men yell ignorant things like that? Not that I AM JUDGING! With my mood being as it was, I had hoped since he was paying so much attention to this non-tax paying cyclist, he just might run into the car ahead. Now THAT would have made my day. Nope I am not vindictive at all!

We got home, found the minnow in a pile of leaves. Thankful that the neighbors watched him and let us go on the ride from hell. The day ended eating like shit and starring blankly at the TV.

Back to my cup of Folgers...........

As gun man would say.... "Get your ass back to work!"

Dancing with Ed

Ed and I have been dancing a lot lately. He is my dancing partner.

Sometimes we dance the waltz, a dance that is very smooth and floats across the floor. Other times we are dancing the tango where we move harshly together, forcefully across the floor with very determined motions.

What I need is a new partner. Ed is the lead right now. As a matter of fact I don't need a new partner, I need to dance alone!

Modern dance, that's it!

I can dance towards the refrigerator, to the gym or even to the sofa to sit and enjoy the movie, free of guilt and pressure.

No matter what, my dance can be alone and it's a dance without that weight of Ed pushing me around and dragging me to where he thinks I need to go.

This dance is free of form and Ed. It's my dance.

It's time to go dancing.