Good Bye January!

This was definitely, no doubt in my mind, one of the longest most drawn out months I have ever lived through! I will be so happy to see the month of January finally end tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow is the last day of January, hooray! The weather this month has been the worst! Cold and snow and rain, BOTH snow and rain, hail, and high winds! Needless to say I did not get many opportunities to ride my road bike outdoors this month. I did get a few mountain bike rides in but only one road ride. The road ride was on a sunny but cold day. Joe, Jackie, and I rode on the Orting Trail. We did have a good time on this ride. It felt wonderful to be outside in the fresh but chilly air. I must admit the start was difficult at first because of the 39 degree temperature that afternoon but the brightly shining sun made it feel a lot warmer than it actually was!

Because of the cold weather this January I went to a lot of spin classes at my gym. Don’t get me wrong, the gym and spin classes are better than nothing. The gym and the spin classes will help keep me in shape until I can finally go outside and ride! But still there’s nothing like the feel of the wind and the sun on you. There’s nothing like riding on your real bike on a road outside! It definitely beats indoor spin classes any day in my book. Plus the views you see on a real ride! Beautiful trees, streams, pastures, and mountains that just lift your spirits. Yes, I would have to say that the real thing is definitely by and far the best!

I need to also get serious regarding my training. This July 31st I will be riding in the 2008 RAMROD (Ride Around Mount Rainier In One Day). That is just six months away! I will need to build up my mileage until I will be able to ride 154 miles in one day. Not only ride 154 miles in one day but ride it plus climb! Total elevation for the RAMROD is over 10,000 feet! This spring and summer I also want to participate in many organized rides. And I want to start running again. Not a lot of miles, no more than 3 miles minimum to 5 miles maximum. I hope to run at least 5 days a week. I feel that running will help build my stamina and increase my metabolism. I also believe that a little bit of running will benefit my cycling. It will “round out” my training.

So I say good bye to January. Good Bye to snow, cold temperatures, high winds, hail, and icy rain. I want to say hello and welcome to spring. Hello to sunshine, warmer temperatures, tulips, robins, dogwoods blooming, spring bicycle events, and the beginning of a new riding season! :)

Sunday Bike Ride

Today the sun came out! Yes, the sun! But even so the temperature was only in the upper 30s. Even though it was very very cold, that sun was just too inviting. Plus it has been such a long time since I was on my road bike. So Joe, Jackie, and I decided to go for a ride on the Orting Trail. We left the house at 1:30, late enough in the day to give the sun time to warm things up. We dressed warmly; you know layers, warm riding gloves, booties, all those good warm things! We started our ride a little before 2:00 PM. At the start we were naturally very cold but once our legs started pumping we warmed up nicely. The sun felt wonderful. The ride was perfect. We had a great ride on a beautiful but cold day! We did not regret our decision to ride. After our ride we stopped at Starbucks and treated ourselves to some warm drinks. They were delicious!

First Ride In a New Year!

When I looked out the window this morning, as I was enjoying my very first cup of coffee, I noticed that the sky was grey and overcast. And the trees were telling me it was very windy! Definitely not a day for a road ride but a good day for a mountain bike ride. And so Joe and I decided to go for a mountain bike ride at Lake Sawyer. We have not been riding a lot the past couple of months and it showed on our ride this afternoon. Our endurance and stamina were gone but we still had a good time. We hit some of our favorite trails riding slow and steady. We were enjoying the day, the ride, the trails, and each other. After the ride we looked at each other and asked why we had let our riding get away from us. We had no good answer. We promised to ride again next weekend. Either road or mountain as long as we get on our bike and out the door on a road or trail!

Here is a picture of me at the start of the "toy trail". So named because of all the toys, bike stuff, and other offerings placed on an old tree stump by mountain bikers as homeage to the trail gods! It's one of my favorite trails at Lake Sawyer.