Seeking Peer Support & Motivation!

[goddess1222]

miss liz, your inspiration is phenomenal.

[missliz]

Uh, no, my ability to kick but at Trivial Pursuit is phenominal. This is all trivia, mostly learned from a really first class bike shop staff and reading cycling magazines. (Or, bike porn as it's called ) But thank you anyway sweetie . I appreciate a compliment.
So how is your back? Did all the stretching make you a happier rider/person? I've been a total PT slug, had a sinus thing lately and I'm trying to hit the floor every morning again. A hundred crunchies with coffee isn't really that hard but makes me feel so accomplished. It's hard to keep up though, and that's the difference between us and the Olympic team. Compulsive crunchies and back stretches every morning.

Merry Christmas

missliz

[Since]

Hello all! I'm riding the WomanTours Cross Country (lower tier, San Diego - St. Augustine) ride. It'll be a trip of about 59 days, and I'm psyched! I have done a lot of things for the wrong reason, but I think this is for the right one - I just want to do it. Two years ago I was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Life as I knew it seemed to stop so abruptly, and the boring part of serving the illness set in. I had 9 surgeries within a 12 month period, some huge, some small, but I do think that the body paid a price each time. Chemo for 6 months, which I had a particularly hard time with, was the worst of the experience. When I finally felt like moving my body through space again, either walking or on a bike, I was a rank beginner, with dreadful balance and almost no stamina. I'm getting better each day, and I do see real gains as I work on my "new" body. I plan to have a small "2-year anniversary" party somewhere in Texas! For so many reasons, this trip is like the mountain; it's there, and I need to do the ride. I know that there will not be a better time to do it, and it is giving me a purpose to stretch for. I just learned to ride a bike about 14 years ago, and found that despite the falls, it was the most fun I'd had since I was 8 years old! I appreciate all the tips, and I can hear the guidance better from you sisters. (When my sons wanted to take charge of my training, they got very analytical and laid out a logical training program. I promptly got very resistant and turned off. They are alarmed, thinking I plan to just go out and "wing" it). So I want you to know that I'm writing down all your tips in a brightly covered journal, and I'll be putting tick marks beside them. And yes, I plan to enjoy the hell out of this ride. I've made a number of changes in my life these last 2 years. Along with letting go most of the small stuff, I 'm having more fun. I'm saying "No" to a lot of things, and "Yes, yes" to a few others. And I sure do appreciate all the other women who make a difference in my life!

[Since]

Hello again! I may not have mentioned that I'm riding this ride as an awareness and fundraiser for breast cancer research through the National Breast Cancer Coalition Research Fund. There is a great ad that runs on TV every so often, showing a little girl, with the tag line, "Breast cancer is one thing she won't have to worry about. It will be conquered in her lifetime." I feel pretty motivated to be part of the solution to the problem, which affects us all, with the numbers really working against us as we get older.

[missliz]

I was sick for 4 years, and saw my death coming. Then I saw Leigh Donovan on a MT bike at Moab on TV and she was having more fun than me so I fired those doctors and got a bike. Then I got well. Medication dependent but well.
My new docs are all jocks, we all get along better.
Are we whaling on you with too much info too soon? Feel free to ask for clarification. There's a book at Amazon on training for long distance and endurance touring that might be better organized and usefull. I'll have to go fetch the name and post later, it's in my wishlist. I totally understand about guys and having them tell you what to do, but you don't need a super rigid program, you just need to understand basic conditioning principles and know you need to work out most days, then later almost every day. Anybody can ride 60 miles; it's riding 60 miles day after day that demands hard training. Recovery. You can train your self to make faster better recovery. And after what you've been through pushing the body may be the best thing. Be as alive as possible. Look at Lance, his fitness is what pulled him through his illness.
Covert Bailey wrote a series of books called "Fit or Fat", and he did TV shows for PBS. His explanations of metabolism and training adaptation are excellent and reletively easy to understand. He actually did the research too, he's a PhD in biochemistry who wondered one day why he suddenly had a roll around his middle and went into the lab to find out. Your public library may have the shows on tape, look for the latest editions of the books. He kept revising as the research roared ahead. Easy read, super usefull info. for any training program.

missliz

[goddess1222]

hello missliz. hello ladies. the PT is going good. i had my second appt. last thursday and have another this friday. it is a little better. each appt. she is giving me more homework to do. now, every hour i have to do a sort of back bend in addition to my regular back stretches 3 times a day. she does a little deep tissue massage first to get the joints and muscles flooded so they respond to the "pretzel bending". my right butt was soooo tight i couldn't believe it. she had to get her elbow into it to get deeper. it almost brought tears to my eyes. but it felt great. and i told her so. i haven't had the acute pain since i have been doing the "every hour" stretches. i am amazed at how tight i get and how fast it happens. i just wish i could learn how to do the "pretzel" thing at home so i could feel that deep stretch every day. she is one strong lady. and a jock like the rest of us. she has a real affinity for athletes all shapes and sizes.

all is good. but i am sad because i haven't been out on the bike in two weeks. but spin class is a great alternative. i always believe, even if the weather is bad, staying in shape is most important.

my birthday is sunday the 22nd. i WILL be on the bike that day for sure. the "princess" gets to do whatever i want that day. well, it's always that way every other day too. heee, heeee

[missliz]

Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you!
All prance around and worship the Goddess with the sore butt-
Happy birthday to you!

Hope you get impressive jewelry !

missliz

[goddess1222]

thank you fellow goddess!

[MM_QFC!]

early Happy Birthday greetings from sunny Seattle too, Goddess!

[goddess1222]

thank you MM QFC. i trust you have had a reprieve from the rain as we have had down here in portland.

[MM_QFC!]

you bet, goddess and, while it's a chillier ride, it's nice and dry...enjoy!

[missliz]

Total couch slug lately- Xmas food and drink, and feet ache from high heels. I can wear real shoes again! and of course totally overindulged in the evening sandal strut. Must ride. Must drag self to gym. Must purge self of red and green M&M toxins.
Bleah.

Happy New Year, Ladies. Mardi Gras is coming...

missliz

[NW_Meg]

Just wanted to touch base with you all and say that I'm riding more than ever! Despite a few failed attempts at riding with others (I'm working on it!), I have been riding pretty consistently and am feeling better than ever. I'm keeping up with pilates, and it's having an amazing impact. Two months on a bike now totally injury-free!!!!! My goal w/ pilates was to strengthen my core, and a really nice side effect seems to be a firmer figure there in the middle. Wihoo!
And I am learning (the hard way) all the ins and outs of wet weather riding....
I hope you are all finding winter biking opportunities... I'd love to hear about your adventures in the wind, water, snow and cold! And if you have a recommendation for really waterproof gloves that fit small hands (I usually have to wear kid's gloves), please toss it my way.

Happy New Year!!!

[Hill Nelly]

HI ladies. I am sitting here tonight while my little boy catches up on homework, making the most of my time reading your posts filled with humor, support, and inspiration. I love it. This is where I want to be.

I started a thread today (very first one) about "your first commute". Don't know how it will go over, but it's of interest to me to know who does try to get to work this way.

I started cycling for fun with my son about 2 yrs ago when he was 8. His routine was to ask me if I wanted to go for a ride - to which I would grudgingly agree. By the end of summer though, I was hooked. Jeezle Peets, I didn't get how or when to even shift gears properly that first summer. My first goal was to get up Laker Hill - probably the shortest but steepest little hill in my area. Took me another year, but I did it! Then I set my sights on getting to work under my own power. My first flight I was soooo scared I almost talked myself out of it. But my husband and son pushed me out the door and that was it. I can't recall right now the woman on this thread who rode to work and was just so exhilerated - I just thought "that's me, too!"

Thanks ladies for being such great support to one another. I know I am the only fish in the pond where I live-anybody who knows I ride thinks I'm more than a bit crazy to be out on a bike on the road. It's good to be in your company.

Night all.
Hillnelly

[missliz]

I'm laughing my tail off- Hillnelly may be the best bike screen name I've seen in a long time. I totally understand the hillnelly state of being too, I'm there as well. It gets better, you'll attain full hill warrior princess status quicker than you think.
It's Mardi Gras here in New Orleans, where I was raised on "Dum vivamus vivamus" (Knights of Momus, God of night and satire. Or over the hill drunken frat boys, depending on how your husband is behaving). Is the -os ending a gender thing? I always wanted to take Latin. If that's the female gender spelling I need to fix it on Miss Bike.
If you need technique help, like struggling up those little hills, just ask, we're here for you. Cycling is one of the nice little enclaves where girls can get ancient and still look normal in day-glo spandex. Treasure it.

missliz