I'm Back!

After a year off my bike I am back.  I started riding again in February and my hope is to be back in shape by the time summer arrives!  I even signed up to become a ride leader.  I figure if I lead rides I will ride more often!  

My sister wants to start cycling too.  When I visit her in Aspen this summer I'm going to help her look for a bike.  I believe this will be a good year.  Another good thing is my daughter is on her way to health.  She has been very sick this past year (one of the reasons besides my back that I was off my bike).  She is scheduled for surgery in June and will be coming off all the nasty medicines she has been on this past year.  So good things are coming!  I believe this in my heart!

Off the Bike

I hurt my back last year and it has progressively gotten worse instead of better. I am finally at the point where I can no longer ride my bike or even do simple daily chores. I am going in to see a specialist this Thursday, March 22nd to see what is going on. I hope he will be able to help me because I want my old life back. This stinks!

Good Weekend

I went for a long hard walk yesterday with my daughter and my husband. We did a 3 mile loop with a steep hill (12% grade) included. Today I went for my first bike ride of 2012. It was sunny but very cold. The starting temperature on today's ride was 34 degrees but by the time I finished it was 47 degrees and with the sun shining down it felt a lot warmer. I only rode 16.43 miles but it felt like I rode a century. I guess that's to be expected when one has not been on ones bike since November 6th! :-P But it sure felt good to be outside today in the fresh air and sunshine. I guess it's time to start riding again! Spring is around the corner and some great seasonal rides are coming up in the months ahead! It begins! :)

Slacking Off Again

The weather is miserable and as I normally do every winter about this time I've stopped riding. I guess I'm just not a winter rider. When the rain, fog, ice, and snow appear I look out the window and shudder. Oh well I will try and get a few short rides in during my winter break. I will be off from Wednesday, December 21st through January 4th a good time to get back on the saddle.

Fall Riding

I've been riding a lot this fall. Both September and October had some pretty nice days. I completed my third P12 this month and in fact I've been doing a lot of metrics these past two months. Four in September and so far two metrics for the month of October. I usually ride any where between 30 and 70 miles on my rides. My hope is to ride through the winter months to maintain my fitness and mileage and then really picking it up in the spring.

Riding along the Carbon River in September I pass many fishermen fishing for salmon.

My daughter and I joined CBC on a beautiful fall Sunday to Alki Beach in West Seattle.

Beautiful day riding through Enumclaw farmland.

Getting ready for October fun!

Riding with CBC from Renton to Black Diamond.

Riding with the Seattle Randonneurs on the inaugural ride of the Pie Run 100k metric in October completing my third P12. Great picture of Don and Mimi.

Beautiful autumn afternoon in October. The trees are beginning to put on their fall foliage.

The Old Fishing Hole in Kent farmland.

Farmer's stand in Kent.

P3

September 6, 2011

I have been getting a lot of great rides in since my last post. I have begun my P12 series again to earn the P12 Award. You can read all about the P12 Award and how to earn it here. I did my first P12 on August 20th choosing the Snoqualmie River Run route. I completed my second P12 on September 4th by doing the Pacific Rose route. Both were great rides with great people and wonderful weather. I uploaded both rides from my garmin and you can take a look at how I did here:





The Snoqualmie River Run I did with one other person and we did really well. We both rode very strong on a very hilly course as you can see. The Pacific Rose ride had 17 people show up for it. It was a ride to show how much we love and support one great cyclists who is battling cancer. When you look at him, and talk with him, and ride with him you couldn't tell that he is fighting the disease. He is all about life, living, family, friends and riding his bike!

Right now our weather is very beautiful. It's the summer we never had. Warm and sunny days and chilly nights. I guess fall has arrived. It's what you would definitely call an Indian summer. I love it. And there are some great fall rides coming up. On September 18th my daughter and I will be doing the 4th annual Cycle the WAVE. I have done every single WAVE ride and this will be my daughter's first. We are both looking forward to the ride and riding it together. On September 25th is the annual Kitsap Color Classic. A gorgeous ride through some of the most beautiful scenic parts of Kitsap county. And of course I will do many of my two bike clubs' weekend rides. One of my favorite weekend bike rides being the Tukwila to Alki Coffee Run. That's just one of many rides I love. So stay tuned for some great fall ride reports.

Summer of 2011

I have been trying to get a lot of bike rides in this summer. My winter and spring were horrible with my back injury and trying to get back in shape but finally by May/June I was beginning to feel like my good old self again. It was a long slow process but I made it. The hardest part was getting my back to heal. I won't even go into that long story because I really don't want to talk about it. It's over and I'm back and I won't ever let it happen again! To prove I am back here are a few of my favorite pictures from some of my favorite rides this summer. Of course I didn't take pictures of all my rides but the ones I did take pictures of I will share here.

What are the odds? Last year when I rode in the Flying Wheels Summer Century my bib number was 1521. This year when I rode in the event it was 1522! I can't wait to see what my number will be in next year's Flying Wheels Summer Century?

Beautiful local ride in the Enumclaw area. A cool early June ride.

Joe and went to Montana and Wyoming. A two week wonderful vacation. Here I am just outside the west entrance to Glacier National Park. We had the best time riding our bikes in the park.

A local bike ride with the TWBC. We left Sumner library and biked up to Alki Beach. Out and back was 71 miles. It was a gorgeous Sunday as you can see. We stopped and had lunch in Alki before heading back that day.

On the ride back to Sumner from Alki we passed through South Park and saw a huge fire. An apartment complex was burning down. It was on the news that night and we biked right by it.

Last year I rode in the STP and RAMROD. This year I did not. But I did do volunteer work for the RAMROD. I worked from 3:00 - 7:00 AM the day of the ride at packet pick up. It was a gorgeous day for the ride.

Besides these rides I did many many others. These are just the ones I took pictures of. My summer is not over and I plan on riding a lot more. And I also plan to keep riding this year and not slack off like I normally do when November arrives. This is the year I ride all year long!