The weather here in the pacific northwest this Labor Day weekend was absolutely beautiful. It was perfect for riding AND painting. Yes, painting! After months of putting it off, hubby, our kids, and me finally got the exterior of our house painted on Saturday. It was a family affair. We started early, around 8:00 AM and finished at 5:00 PM. We taped and covered all the windows first then Joe spray painted the entire house. We allowed it to dry over night. The next morning Joe and our son painted the trim while Jackie and I went for a road ride. Jackie and I had to ride because next weekend is our MS 150 event. We had to get some last minute training rides in. So with the house finished, except for the trim, we went for it. Joe did not mind and said to just pick up lunch on our way home.
We left early, around 8:00 AM and cycled throughout Enumclaw. My legs felt tired for some reason but they managed to finish. We were back home by 12:30 with lunch. We stopped at Wendy’s on our drive home. Joe and Aaron were finished with the trim and were cleaning up as we pulled into the drive. Our house looks fabulous. A warm “latte/creamy light brown” color with a cream colored trim. I would describe the trim as lightly burnt marshmallow. I also went to Home Depot with Joe and picked out some new outdoor light fixtures. Joe placed two on each side of the garage door and one by the front door. It was a lot of hard work but in the end it was worth it. But the next time we have to paint our house we are hiring someone. We are getting too old for this manual labor stuff. And by the time it needs to be painted again we will be even older. So yea, we are definitely hiring a painting crew the next time around.
This morning as Jackie and I were drinking our coffee we decide to do another ride. The weather was still beautiful and so another ride was in order. We left around the same time as yesterday and practically retraced yesterday’s route. Our ride was so peaceful and enjoyable with very little traffic that it was like being in cycling heaven. Today my legs felt like their good old selves again. Full of energy and strong. We cruised on the flats at 21-22 mph and ascended the hills pretty quick too. One very steep and long hill did slow us down a tad bit but our average speed was almost 15 mph at the end of the ride. To be exact it was 14.97 mph. And this with all the steep and roller coaster hills! Jackie and I were solid!
Well tomorrow I return to work. It’s the first day of school for my school district. Oh I can picture all the students’ happy faces as they walk through the school doors. My face will have a smile on it too but inside I know where I truly would rather be, outside on my bike with the air, wind, and sun on my face! I guess its back to the gym on the weekdays. But I will certainly be looking forward to my weekends.
1 comment:
Sue:
Hello! I’m glad you made the MS 150 OK. That is a beautiful area up there. When I was growing up in Everett, that area used to be like my back yard. Did a lot of fun runs and races up there.
Clarify for me. What did you mean by the statement “My hubby (Jackie’s dad) and my son Aaron (Jackie’s brother)” ? You can e-mail me if that’s a personal issue.
I did not do the Headwaters. I didn’t train properly for it. I rode a Foothills loop on Sat, and my legs were like stone blocks on Sunday. But I rode a easy 20 mi. from the house to make myself keep moving. I hopefully will be riding after work tonight.
I’ve decided I’m not riding to work any more this fall. Kersey Way has been closed six weeks for installation of sewer lines. And so now all the morning traffic that went down Kersey, is going down Lake Tapps Blvd. It’s a real mess, with people weaving in and out trying to get one more car ahead as they drive down the hill. Nope. Not for me. I may not be real bright. But I don’t have a death wish.
Have a good day1
Pedal On!
Gary
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