Meandering Musings - Some bike related, some not...

[Veronica]

Yesterday was a nearly perfect day. We got some much needed cleaning done, finished a home security project. I made cookies.

We got in a good ride. Thom has been on his bike like 3 times this year. But they are nearly done with the SAP project. Towards the end of yesterday's ride, we caught a guy at a light. Thom didn't seemed inclined to draft him, so I passed Thom to catch the guy's draft. As I passed him, Thom said, "You may chase the rabbit."

Well this guy was doing between 22 and 23 miles an hour! That's some rabbit! I stayed with him to the first light. My HR was pretty high - 180. Why is it I climb a mountain with it that high and feel fine, but if I'm on the flat, I feel like I'm dying? I figured if we caught the light, I'd let him go. Sure enough as we rolled up the light changed. But the car that was in the lane to go straight, decided to go right and cut the cyclist off. He glanced back, saw me, looked surprised and then grinned. Just that little bit of relief dropped my HR to 164 and I stayed with him through two more lights, with my HR back around 180 - a total of 1.2 miles. I was pretty pleased with that. I know a year ago I could not have gone that fast for that long. I've gained a few pounds and I don't have the endurance that I had a year ago. But I know I can get rid of the first and bring back the second. I'm thrilled that I seem to still have the speed that I gained last summer.

The really cool thing though was watching the guy reach back to his water bottles behind the seat, grab one, take a drink and put it back. All the while riding along at more than 20 miles an hour. It looked so graceful. I didn't get a chance to thank him, as he went right at the third light and I was going straight.

It made me wonder what sorts of things - if any - do I do on the bike with that kind of ease and precision. I know when we were riding the tandem regularly, folks would comment on easily we could stand together. Someone once asked if we were telepathic because neither of us would say anything, we'd just stand. I'll be glad when the new tandem is done. If you go to the hand-built bike show you may see one almost like ours.

After our ride we did some errands on the motorcycle. Thom is taking the summer off and we're going to do some bike trips. We're also planning an extended motorcycle tour. And since we don't want to lose our fitness, we've decided we need to take up running. It's a lot easier to bring running shoes on the motorcycle than bikes. I told Thom we had to start before we went on the trip. We'll see.

I've been in a bit of a funk the last two months - since the burglary. Mostly I think because the jerk is still out and about. I even see him occasionally. I suppose it's naive, but I always thought the bad guys got what was coming to them. Real life isn't like a novel or a movie though. Sometimes the jerks keep getting to play. There's been at least one more burglary that he probably had a hand in. It's hard, but I need to stop letting him continue to rob the joy from life. It's getting better. I've never been good at letting go of things that bother me.

Today's ride was good. It's very green out right now. I narrowly missed a squirrel with suicidal tendencies. It should be very glad that I have such great brakes. It seems obvious, but sheep make different kinds of baas. I got a flat on the way back - rear. As I was putting away my tools, I saw this critter cross the road. It was kind of small and slow. I walked across the street to get a better look at it. It just kind of sat up and looked at me for a minute. I've decided it was probably an opossum. It had a hairless tail that I could see being prehensile. It made the flat worth the trouble.

Today's words of wisdom - let it be. A good song to have going through your head as you ride.

V.

[Trekhawk]

Sounds like a wonderful day even the flat had an upside. I want to swap, yesterday it was still pouring up here in the hills and then today Im living in the house of sick. All three boys have some nasty flu thing and I would kill for some fresh air. Oh well maybe later in the week.

[Veronica]

Hope the kiddos get better soon. I've had students out for 3 or 4 days with whatever is going around down here.

V.

[maillotpois]

Sounds like a good ride! I'll bet a lot of that being able to hang with the fast guy has to do with better wheel-sucking / bike handling skills from pushing yourself a little harder last year. Sure, your fitness is better. But almost more important - you know you could stay with someone like that for a bit when you were riding a lot, so why can't you hang with him now? Not to downplay the fitness, but I am convinced that so much of this is mental - especially an effort like that, hard and relatively short. We can do what we think we can do, and if we've done it before then we're only more convinced.

Running stinks.... But I get the portability aspect. I really like super fast hiking. Trail running, sort of. More like super fast walking. You should take your trip somewhere where you have good trails. It's just so much better than pavement.

[Veronica]

The motorcycle trip will include Yellowstone, Glacier and a bunch of places in the Dakatoas and lots of hiking. The running is just a back up plan. Thom still hasn't recovered from six years in the Marines.

V.

[mimitabby]

Great story. Thanks for letting me draft vicariously for a few moments.

Yes, the reality of life is that it is not fair. People who have committed heinous crimes go free, stupid old ladies end up in prison for life for showing off. (half brother's mother; google Helen Loheac)
Creeps get all of their parents' money, while good children get nothing.
I could go on and on.
Guys who burgle as a way of supporting themselves really don't live a long happy life. He might not get caught burglarizing someone's house, but he might die of an overdose, or end up in jail in another state because he didn't renew his license plate tabs.


Try not to think about it. That's what I have had to do to get over the crap that has happened in my life... or I'd be in jail for murder myself, trying to right a wrong.