Spring Tune-Up Wrap-Up...

If this were a normal Spring Tune-Up weekend, I wouldn't be doing the wrap-up until tomorrow evening. But since I'm not going to ride tomorrow, yesterday and today are it. Aren't you glad?

First of all, though, one of my cycling goals for this year is to improve upon the mileage for each month compared to the same month last year. I'm all about visual representation, so here's a graphic to illustrate my success so far:

As you can see, I've managed to ride more miles in every month so far this year compared to last year. And I've still got 9 more days in April. I'm a little concerned already about June and the prospects of riding more than the almost-600 miles I did last June.

Spring Tune-Up Friday

This weekend's ride was located in one of the prettiest parts of our state. Lots of beautiful farmland, many horses, very scenic. The weather, however, didn't cooperate. It was misting Friday morning when we left, and it never warmed up sufficiently for me to take my jacket off. It wasn't miserably cold, and the sun eventually came out toward the end of the day, but it wasn't the picture-perfect spring weather we typically have for this ride.

We rode 61 miles on Friday. The highlight (?) of the day came after several of us stopped on the side of the road to see a cow that may or may not have either just given birth or been about to give birth. Witnesses gave conflicting accounts of the situation. There was a mama cow with some ... stuff ... hanging out of her nether regions, and she was licking a tiny calf that was very unsteady on its feet. Someone said that calf was tagged, though, and she was about to give birth. I didn't stay to watch, for one reason I thought she deserved some dignity, and for another I didn't see why she would be licking a young calf if she was about to give birth herself. Wouldn't she have her mind on other things? I was convinced the birth had already happened.

At the next rest stop, the conversation (argument?) continued. Someone asked if we had seen the birth, and we said we saw her licking the calf, but that was all. One of the eye witnesses said, "No, not that one. The one that came out of the BACK end!" Our resident cop/cyclist piped up and said, "I think they ALL come out the back. Just so you know." If I had been drinking at the time, I can't say for sure I wouldn't have had some fruit punch PowerAde coming out of my nostrils.

This same town has been the location for the Spring Tune-Up ride for several years now. This year, though, they changed up the routes just enough to make it fresh and new. We went to some of the same towns, but the routes we took to get there were different. And just as cycling-friendly.

Spring Tune-Up Saturday

I remember saying on this very blog that if my beloved Gym Dogs didn't make the Super Six this afternoon, I was going to ride the century ride, because I wouldn't have any time constraints. I didn't mean to lie, I promise. Rozmo wasn't interested in riding the century, and while I have ridden a century mostly by myself before, I wasn't crazy about doing it today. My legs weren't interested in riding 100 miles either. So Rozmo and I stayed together, and when we got back our mileage was 68 miles. We can't have THAT. So we went on down the road past the end of the route for a mile and turned around and came back, giving us a total of 70 miles.

We stopped for a few minutes at a lovely garden beside the road. Actually it was more like several gardens, and a work of art. There was an old shed-type structure, and several flower gardens and herb gardens. They were meticulously kept and while I'm not typically a garden-type person (I would really like to be, but I'm afraid that gene skipped me), I was intrigued with the cleverness and the beauty of these gardens. I forgot my camera today, but I took several pictures with my phone. I'll try to post those (and any pictures from Friday that turn out decently) when I'm not quite so fatigued.

It looks like we did the same ride both days, but you might notice we went south and east on Friday, and today we went north and west.

I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't looked at the maps side-by-side. I'm observant and cognizant of my surroundings that way.

#38 - Ride my Bike 2500 Miles.....

When I put this item on my 50 Things to Do list, I was pretty sure I would get there. I had monthly goals that would add up to 2500, and most months I was ahead of my monthly goal.

I never dreamed, however, that I would reach my goal of riding my bike 2500 miles in a year with three months still to go.

Rozmo and I did a 56-mile ride today, and the weather was gorgeous. It would have been an absolutely PERFECT day except for a relentless, brutal wind for the last 7-10 miles. It wasn't ALWAYS a headwind, but I'm pretty sure it was NEVER a tailwind.

Here is proof about my cycling goal for the year. In addition to a yearly goal, I've had a goal for each month plus a cumulative goal. Yes, I realize I'm obsessive.

My new goal is going to be 3000 miles, which I should be able to reach if I meet each of the three remaining monthly goals.

I have this thing for chimneys. I tried to snap this one my FIRST time by, but I realized I was taking a video. (Does anyone else do that?) So I turned around and went back, but I still snapped the photo from my bike. I'm taking lessons from Rozmo, but she's a pro.

I loved this shot of the cows feeding. What I didn't realize was that as I approached, some of them would abandon eating because I scared them. I can just imagine the locals as they drove by, noticing us with our cameras. "Citifolk. Humph."

What a wonderful way to start my Fall Break.

Milestone Slipped Up on Me......

I'm usually pretty obsessive about approaching milestones, particularly those associated with my cycling goals. I know you find it amazing that I could possibly be obsessive about anything. I've had a couple of them slip up on me lately, though.

I first missed my blogoversary on July 28. Three years I've been writing this thing, and I haven't run out of material yet. You are welcome to disagree with me, but be gentle.

Today I passed a cycling goal that was at first just a number, and then I realized it was more than that. I knew that the next time I rode more than 7 miles on my bike, I would pass 2000 miles for this year. I had Hubby take me and my bike to school this morning, not exactly sure what route I would take home from my new school. I knew in the back of my mind that it would be more than 7 miles, but I didn't PLAN it that way.

When I got home and uploaded my ride from the GPS into my computer (because I always do that immediately after a ride - obsessively), I realized that's farther than I have EVER ridden in a single year.

Ever.

I only have data back to 2006, when my goal for the year was 2000 miles and I reached 1997.7 miles. Really.

I'm certain, however, that prior to that year, I never rode that many miles in a year. And I have surpassed 2000 miles this year. In August.

You may wonder (or you may be yawning) why this wasn't one of my 50 Things to Do this year. I wanted to set a "stretch" goal, so I set my 2011 goal at 2500 miles. And I have almost 5 months left in which to ride the final 500 miles. I can do that with my eyes closed. Katydid prefers that I not do it with my eyes closed on the tandem, however.

Now you'll have to excuse me while I go put some ointment on my aching muscles. My ARM muscles. I think I strained something patting myself on the back.

I Can't Even Draw on Paper.....

Ever since Katydid and I did the Tour d'Oconee ride back in May, where the route map closely resembled the outline of a lion, I have had the (mostly? highly?) irrational hope that one day I would come home, upload a ride into the computer (which I do almost immediately most of the time), and discover that I have drawn a masterpiece by bicycle.

Who am I kidding? I can't even draw on paper.

I thought today's route came close. When I uploaded it, I thought to myself, "Oh! That's a........" But then the thought faded, and the route just looked like a bunch of squiggly lines.

Any of you artistic types see anything in today's route map?



Yeah, I was afraid of that. Me neither.

I wanted to do a short ride before I went to fetch Rozmo (and another paddler who wanted an early escape exit from the event). Trouble is, once I start riding, I don't know when to turn around and head home. I meant to ride between 23-25 miles, reaching my June goal of 500 miles with plenty of days to spare. I wound up riding 32 miles, but I still got home in time to shower before I had to leave. I'm sure my passengers appreciated that, since we ended up riding very squished together in the front of Hubby's little pickup truck.

It is okay to ride early in the morning, but after 10:00 it's much too hot. I'm thinking any really long rides are out of the question until it cools down around here. By that time, football season will have started.

Another Post about (Cycling) Motivation........

A while back I wrote a post about motivation, specifically as it relates to my cycling. I talked about the website(s) I use to track my cycling miles, the charts and graphs and calendars and how competitive I am. But only with myself. Because I've given up on EVER catching up to Rozmo's mileage.

Goals are one of my main motivators. Almost every year since I started using an online cycling log, I have set a yearly goal. I haven't made it yet. The closest I ever came was in 2006, when my goal was to ride 2000 miles in that year. On December 31st, I had 1998. I'm not kidding. Of course it was cold, dreary, foggy, rainy, and miserable that day, but I was going to go out and ride my bike the mile up to the middle school and back. Hubby convinced me I was crazy, so I didn't do it. When he mentioned how disappointed he would be if I got hit by a car and killed the day before his birthday, I relented and accepted the failure of not meeting my goal for that year.

Wait.... Shouldn't he have been disappointed on ANY DAY if I got hit by a car and killed?

I think my problem in the past has been that I set a goal for the year, but I never broke it down into manageable parts. Hence situations like last year, when I got really, really serious about meeting my cycling goal only after I bought a new bicycle. In October. And we had the coldest December since the Bubonic Plague. It wasn't even close; I missed it by 181.8 miles.

This year I have approached the goal-setting a little differently. I have a goal of riding 2500 miles this year (since I failed at riding 2010 miles last year, naturally I UPPED the ante), and I have broken the goal down into monthly goals. That's another one of my motivators: I wanted to ride more each month than the same month last year. As you can see from the graph below, I have managed that so far. My goal for March is 150 miles, so I still have a ways to go, but the green bar is already above the one for last year.

 

My goal for both January and February was 100 miles. I try to be realistic in setting wintertime goals. I rode 116 miles in January and 148 in February (and that was in only 3 rides, strangely enough). 

June and October are going to be pretty hard to beat compared to last year. I have BRAG in June, but I am also doing Paddle Georgia that month, which will take out a whole week of riding. I'm guessing it's hard to paddle a kayak and ride a bike at the same time. It's probably been done before, but I'll not be trying it. 

November may be a challenge too, if I don't do the North Florida tour again. And I won't do the North Florida tour again if temperatures are in the 40's like they were last year. 

I'm perplexed by May and August of last year. Those are prime cycling months, and I did almost no riding. I guess August can be explained because A) it's hot as Hades; and B) school started back. But May? That's right before BRAG, and I should have been training. I guess that was one of those years I decided training was not required. 

As you can tell by looking at the chart, 2009 was an off year for me as far as cycling went. I just wasn't feeling it. I rode ZERO miles in either April, May, or September, and I didn't ride after November. What's up with THAT?

Having these little monthly goals has helped me stay focused. I realize the cycling police will NOT come get me if I don't meet my goal(s), but I also realize that every minute I'm on the bike is contributing to my overall better health. And I'd like to live long enough to enjoy Spring Break, let alone retirement.

I have penciled in my calendar (the paper one, remember?) the potential riding days for this month. March has been a little tougher than usual because for some reason I don't have any organized rides scheduled this month. So I put a notation on each of the days I thought I would have Hubby take me and my bike to school. I almost didn't take the bike today, but then I told myself we are coming to the end of the month, and if I start skipping days, I'll wind up trying to ride 75 miles next Thursday night in the dark. Not really - I only have 42 more to go.

If only I could make myself approach housework so methodically. Hmmmmmm.

Motivators......

Perhaps I should have written my dissertation on the concept of motivation. There is so much I don't know about it, and I would like to learn more. Not enough to consider writing a SECOND dissertation, but still....

I don't even understand my OWN motivation. What makes me tick? I thought about this as I rode my bike today.

Today was one of Hubby's golf days, and I had no definite plans. I contemplated driving to Rozmo's house to do her regular Tuesday bicycle ride with a group, but I didn't want to have to leave my house at 7:00 this morning and fight the traffic. Since I didn't get UP until 7:00, that turned out to be a good non-plan.

I said to myself (and even mentioned to Hubby) that I would probably ride sometime today, but I wanted to wait until it warmed up. I figured saying it out loud would at least shame me into following through. I thought I would leave sometime around 11:00.

I was playing a video game at 11:00. Just one more game. 11:30. Just one more. 12:00. I'm a grown-up, I don't HAVE to ride if I don't want to. I have earned the right to sit in this recliner for the entire day if I want to. It is, after all, a furlough day, and I should punish someone by refusing to do anything productive for the entire day. Except for achieving a high score on my video game, and that's nothing to sneeze at either. Shut up.

Then I started thinking about my cycling goals for the year. I've mentioned a couple of times (probably more than you want to hear, if I'm to be completely honest) that I set a yearly goal of 2010 miles, but I wasn't very serious about it. Sometime around July I decided I couldn't reach my yearly goal, so my new goal would be to ride more miles each month than I did in the corresponding month last year.

Some months weren't a challenge at all.

This is from an awesome website I use to record my cycling miles. It's cleverly called My Cycling Log. Dot com. People all over the world use it to record their rides, and it's FREE! The blue bars represent 2008, the red ones 2009, and the green ones represent each month this year. Can it really be true that I rode ZERO miles in both April and May of last year? Are you KIDDING me? And what about September? What was WRONG with me?

As you can plainly see (but I'm going to point out anyway, just like an irritating blogger), I have managed to surpass my mileage from last year every month since June. June even surpassed 2008, and that's only because on BRAG this year Katydid and I actually rode on the layover day instead of spending it lounging by a pool somewhere. October is when I got my new bike, so naturally that bar towers over the other two. And look at November - what is up with that? It didn't take much to surpass last year's measly November miles.

Here's what's up with that: I realized sometime in October that, mathematically at least, my goal for 2010 was still attainable. I set a goal for 285 miles in October and November, and 286 miles in December. That would enable me to reach my overall goal for the year.

I knew 285 (or 286) miles might not be feasible after the weather turns cold and nasty, so I cranked out a bunch of extra miles in October. Instead of 285 miles, I rode 453. Point 91.

I'm sure you will be relieved to learn that all this DOES have a point. When I was debating about whether or not to ride today at all, I started thinking about my November goal. I was 25 miles short of it, which would be about two rides home from school with an extra loop, half a ride with Rozmo, or one decent ride by myself. I thought about the fact that we are going to Sweet Girl's for Thanksgiving tomorrow, and as of right this moment I'm not taking my bike. (That could change, however.) We will be back Friday, but I will be tired from driving and from being away from my own bed for two nights, so jumping on the bike Friday afternoon is not likely to happen. Besides, there's college football. Then Saturday the weather is supposed to take a turn for the worse, with cold temperatures and/or rain. And there's college football. Sunday is supposed to remain cool, and Monday I have to go back to school. That would leave only Monday and Tuesday afternoons to get my remaining 25 miles, and I didn't want to take the chance that it might not happen.

So I got on the bike. Just because of some little red, blue, and green bars on a chart. And the fact that if I didn't make my November goal, it would forever say something less than "Progress: 100%."

Because I met my November goal and exceeded my October goal by such a large margin, my overall 2010 goal is well within reach: 211.99 miles. I'll probably ride 212 just to be sure. Ha ha ha ha ha. That is very doable, as long as we have some decent weekends in December. Perhaps I will rent a bike while Hubby and I are in Jamaica the week before Christmas and log those miles. Up and down the beach, back and forth, back and forth. It's possible.

Anyone who knows me knows how competitive I am, and that's where another motivating factor comes in. On the cycling log website, we created a group called "Team Chi-Chis," and it compiles statistics for everyone in the group. "JennyF" is actually my friend VT, and don't ask why her log name is JennyF. It's not appropriate for a family blog such as this. 

Naturally Rozmo is in the lead, but she has an unfair advantage in that she's the only freakin' member of the group who doesn't have a J-O-B. (Oh, to be retired.....) Her original goal was 3000 miles for the year, which I thought was a lofty one, and she reached that back in early October. Butthead.

I know it appears that Katydid has not been on the bike at all this year, but I can assure you she has. Every single tandem mile I have logged is a Katydid mile too. We just can't convince her of the coolness of this website.

Rozmo sent me an email yesterday saying, "Did you realize you are only _____ miles behind VT? Yowza!" VT is typically a much more dedicated cyclist than I am, as evidenced by the fact that she rides near her home and her place of employment, and I don't even like DRIVING in either of those two places. She can also ride circles around me because she is so strong, and she has nerves of steel that even I don't have. (Remind me to tell you two VT cycling stories.)

All these computer-aided graphics combined to convince me to get on the bike today. And it was a fantastic ride. I made it up as I went, traveling roads I am familiar with but haven't strung together as a definite cycling route before. I ended up at the golf course just as Hubby finished, and I find that little miracle of timing incredible in and of itself. I don't know why I can ride and ride and ride, but not having to ride back home, whether it's 10 miles or 3, feels like a triumph to me.

After today's ride I felt positively euphoric. Not just good - EUPHORIC. Everything was right with the world, I could take on any challenge, I was woman hear me roar. Cycling often makes me feel that way. I know it's going to make me feel that way.

Now here's the question I pondered as I rode today, and what prompted this tome of a blog post:

Why can't that knowledge motivate me to get on the bike? Why do I have to have all these NUMBER things to do it?

I don't know either.

Why I Love Living in the South.....

Having a day like today is one of the reasons I love, love, love living in the South. I don't complain when it's 95 degrees with 90 percent humidity, because the trade-off is having temperatures near 70 degrees in late November. However, I officially hereby reserve the right to whine, complain, grouse, bitch AND moan, and suck my thumb when the temperature drops below 30. Or 40. Possibly even 50. I'm just sayin.

Katydid, Rozmo, and I did a 50-mile bike ride today. Rozmo and I had ridden this particular route twice before, but Katydid had never done it. I created the route on the computer, and I did an excellent job if I do say so myself. **That is the sound of my arm breaking because I'm trying to pat myself on the back. ** It is very rural and scenic, there is very little traffic, it has at least 4 store (and bathroom) stops, and there are no killer hills. My cycling goal for 2010 (2010 miles) is very reachable, particularly if we have several more of these beautiful days between now and December 31st. That's pretty remarkable, considering I didn't get serious about reaching the goal until about October. You know, when I got a new bike and all.

This is a house we see on this route. We are probably showing our country bumpkinness by stopping to take a picture of it. It's not in an area where you would expect to see a house of this size.

 Even their front gate is impressive. I wanted to try random entry codes, but my companions advised against it.

 

This is one of our favorite store stops. It's just a little country store in a town that isn't even officially incorporated, but they are very friendly, especially to cyclists. Apparently there are several groups of them who include this stop on their regular routes. 

In this picture, Rozmo was clowning around, posing for the camera. She didn't see the guy sitting on the "Liar's Bench" behind her until he got up and offered to take a picture of all three of us.

Being a man, he has no idea that he should only photograph women from the waist down. And oh yeah, we wanted the store name IN the picture. But he was still very nice to offer.

This is one of Rozmo's favorite signs. It is at a house where a guy will crack pecans for you. He used to have a very amateurish sign, but apparently he got a lot of attention with it, because this one is much more professional. I took the picture below while we were still riding. I'm practicing my Rozmo skills. Sorry, Katydid.

I didn't realize Rozmo was going to stop, allowing me to take a picture from the OTHER side, where the light was admittedly much better.

This is at a miniature horse farm just a few miles from my house. Rozmo and I saw the babies three weeks ago when we last did this ride, and I have meant to post those pictures. On that day I was afraid the baby was going to run away before I could get his picture, but I have one with his little nose pressed right up against the fence. He lost interest pretty quickly, however, when he realized we didn't have any apples or anything. I think I heard him curse us as he walked away.

They aren't quite as cute as they were three weeks ago. After I had put the camera away and we were getting back on the bike, THEN they turned and walked toward the fence. Buttheads.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!

End of the Year Review....

I shamelessly stole this blog format from a blogger called Cynical Dad who I'm pretty sure has no clue of my existence. If you are a regular reader of my blog (thank you!), you don't have to read them again. They're not necessarily my best writing, the most profound, the most touching, or the most humorous. They're just ones I liked. My blog, my rules.

It was a toss-up between recapping my favorite blog topic for each month and posting my favorite photographs of 2009. Then I discovered that I didn't take many photos in 2009.

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, but I am resolving to take more photographs in 2010. If I take many, many photographs, some of them are bound to be decent.

I also resolve to ride my bicycle more miles than the 619 I rode in 2009. I had a goal of riding 2009 miles in 2009, and I missed it by a BUNCH. I rode 1063 in 2008, 1813 in 2007, and 2006 was the year I had set a goal to ride 2000 miles that year and ended up with 1998..... Two stinkin' miles short! It was cold, rainy, and drizzly on New Year's Eve that year, and I was going to ride my bike up to the middle school and back (2 miles round trip), but Hubby pointed out the low visibility and talked me out of it. I decided having him plan my funeral on his birthday would be sort of a downer, so I accepted the fact that I ALMOST reached my goal.

I'm going to have to draft Katydid, Rozmo, and VT to help me reach my goal of 2010 miles in 2010. Come on, y'all!

Here are my favorite posts from 2009.

January:

A very strange coincidence that fascinated me.

February:

The dangers of creating cycling routes using computer software.

March:

A picture of me and all my cousins on the front porch of our grandparents' house. Since this blog post was written, the mystery of whether or not my brother was flipping the bird has been solved.

April:

A post about one of my most precious former students. She still gets in touch with me every now and then, and I still love her.

May:

A heartwarming story about another former student. This time it wasn't really about her, but about the kindness of strangers.

June:

An unsolved mystery letter I found in my mom's things along with pictures and other memorabilia. I wish I had the energy to solve this particular mystery.

July:

A hilarious story about my former sister-in-law. I go back and read it every now and then when I need a good laugh.

August:

This one about my clean desk. I repeat it here because we are halfway through the school year, and my desk has remained clean ALL YEAR.

September:

The letter I wrote to members of the 6:30 spinning class at the "Y" letting them know how I feel about their staring in the door toward the end of our line dancing class.

October:

Signs of the apocalypse from the casino.

November:

A post full of joy after a wonderful bike ride with two out of three of my favorite cycling buddies. VT wasn't able to come that day.

December:

A proud post about an award that my Sweet Girl got.



Happy New Year to everyone who reads my blog, and to every single person you love. Mwah!