Free Air Tires

It was a chilly one today, but I set out on another bike adventure, not knowing where I would feel like going or how long I would feel like riding. I forgot to check my air pressure before leaving the house and did not get too far before I really started to feel like my back tire was low. Luckily, there's a Tienda de Llantas Usadas (used tire place) on every street corner in Graham and my Español  is decent enough to ask for air boost. This one place has a sign that Rick and I always make fun of because it says "Free Air Tires".  The tres amigos that worked at the place I stopped were more than happy assist me (maybe too happy?). Everything seemed fine after that.  Anywho, I ended up going a new way around the perimeter of our town (and crossed a bridge that goes over I40/85- trippy!). I rode by my mom's house but she was out. At Kohl's. Shocker. From her house to home was downhill at first, but turned into total torture when I got on Hwy54/Harden St and had to ride uphill forever. I pushed through it though, and was so happy when I saw the Greenway Park sign for my neighborhood. I almost collapsed in the driveway, and would have had no qualms about doing so, but the mailman was on our street and I did not want him to find me laying there and freak out. I laid on the porch with my dog instead. It was then that I finally decided to whip out the ole phone and see how I did. I was so freaking excited when I saw 9.63 miles (634 calories!) on my screen.

You do not even know.

Today's Ride

 Oh and guess what I found Old Navy?!

A BICYCLE SCARF! (which I wore on my ride)

-L-

sticks & stones

A day late and in a few words...

I went out for a  ride yesterday and realized it was much colder than I anticipated, so I decided to stay close to home. I did laps around the park behind our house yesterday afternoon, and on several of them I decided to take a detour into the woods and test my bike on the nature trail. There were a lot of ruts in the trail caused by water, some soft spots, several hills, a bunch of rocks and a few logs. I worried that it might have been a bad idea, but I found that with effective control over my brakes and gear shifter, I was able to  navigate well. I even did okay going around an older woman and her to loose dogs who were back there. I was satisfied with my ride after about 4.5 miles... it's not ALWAYS about the distance, sometimes it's about the workout itself, and I knew it had been a good one by the way my thighs were burning!

I have realized lately that one of my favorite pre-ride fuel foods is oatmeal with a little bit of honey or brown sugar and fresh fruit. I love it with blueberries and nectarines! I also love a couple of scrambled eggs afterward for the protein. I have realized that biking really makes me more conscious of what I put in my body.

Hello again! Went for another ride today. 6.6 Miles! WhoopWhoop!

One of my favorite things about living in a small town is riding by homes and businesses of people I know. It gives me a sense of security and a sense of belonging. Between members I know from the YMCA and people I attend church with at Pine Ridge, I swear I could stop to visit someone on every block. I really need to get some kind of bike bag (<--look how neat that is!) or basket. Sometimes I want to stop and by things from local shops on my way, just for fun and to feel like I am doing something. Maybe I can figure out how to sew one myself.

Here's a lovely house in the older part of town house that I passed on my ride yesterday and today:

Oh, and here was my lovely bike attire for today:

Rick update: leg is healing much faster now that he has been putting it up really high in the evenings and putting more ice on it. Swelling is definitely not so dramatic and the bruising has started to fade. Many plans to be back on the bike by Sunday!

Also, huge hugs for Caroline and Gregg over at togetherwehike! They are totally kicking ass up there in the mountains! They have some really awesome pics on their blog so far.


~L~

wow

Today it is AMAZING out.
Currently 68 degrees!!
I set off on my bike knowing that the neighborhood wasn't going to cut it today. I CAREFULLY made my way into downtown Graham and once there I rode mostly on the sidewalks. It was quite safe. Main street was a great straight ride, pretty flat. The sidewalk was a bit uneven at times and navigating the mini up-and-down ramps where the sidewalk intersected with side streets was new, but not really difficult. Everything was fine since I'm on a mountain bike instead of a road bike. The hardest part was making tight right angle turns on the corners of blocks. There really isn't enough room to ride the curve, so I had to stop and reposition my bike once or twice. Still worth it. I was having such a good time that I went a full five miles before I even bothered to check my tracker. I was still outside my neighborhood, so I knew I had a bit more to go yet. I took some extra streets to stretch out the ride further and was really proud to see that I had gone just shy of 6 miles when I pulled in the driveway!!

 I am definitely doing that route again soon.
 I can't wait for Rick to get better so he can come!

 MapMyRide Stats:

-L-

personal best

First let me say, I realize the past few posts have seemed more about me (Lena) than "us", but I feel like the reason I'm sticking with it despite Rick's injury IS for us. I have to keep going in order to keep the morale up... in order to stay inspired. Rick's leg is looking pretty ugly, but hopefully that means it's healing. He still can't stand to have anything touch it. Totally sucks. I am praying that he can get back on his bike in the coming week. At least the weather is improving slightly, which should make starting again more pleasant.

Today's victory was me going FIVE miles! and that was in addition to a 2 mile walk with the dogs earlier in the day. I am feeling really good and I am trying to continue eating healthier, too... and I've been taking vitamins!

amazing adventures

HUGE shout-out this morning to our friends Gregg and Caroline Oakley who are on their way to Georgia today to begin their five-month trek on the ENTIRE Appalachian Trail! What an amazing opportunity! They are going to try and keep their new blog updated as they go and can be followed on blogger as togetherwehike! Rick and I hope to meet up with them and maybe hike a bit when they get up to the NC area.

My well-wishes for them:

~ L ~

teenage drivers= fail

Yesterday evening I went out for a 2.5 mile ride in the neighborhood instead of the golf course. I did some investigating as well as sending Rick to scout out the location and we determined that we can't really ride there when they're open :( We're going to try and sneak in rides early in the morning once things warm up a bit... or maybe we'll invest in some bright headlights and go for night rides :)

Interesting event during my ride: 

I'm riding along our street, just having started, when I hear "Screeeeeeech...BAM!" coming from the next street over. I knew someone had just crashed their car. I rode as fast as I could to where the sound came from, expecting blood. I arrived on the scene to find three or four young African American females getting out of a Dodge Charger. They had smashed into a stop sign (flattened and disconnected the whole thing!) and ended up in someone's front lawn when carelessly trying to take a corner. They quickly inspected the car, which already had a donut on the back, then jumped back in to escape the scene. Their front wheels were all mis-aligned as they scooted away. I was so appalled, as was the homeowner and another witness. I did a quick memorization of their plate and called it in to the Graham police. I got home and told  Rick about it and he said he had spotted the same car driving recklessly about 30 minutes earlier when he was checking out the golf course :( I really hope the cops found those stupid girls and arrested the driver for leaving the scene of an accident and destruction of a traffic sign. 

Here's where it happened:

uphill both ways

I've been slacking on my posts. Today I will totally redeem myself.

Decided to go for another ride Sunday because the weather was totally perfect. Did not do as long a distance as Friday, but I took all the hard hills in the neighborhood. I was totally winded by the time I rolled back into the driveway (which is also a hill. ugh). I need to get a water bottle holder for my bike because I felt like I needed to drink a gallon of water when I got home. There are way too many choices though!  I had no place to put my phone for this ride and really want to bring it. I found my Vera Bradley wallet with the phone holder pocket to be a perfect replacement for the "other thing" so I could track my mileage.

In other news, Rick did not go with me again :( The reason is that he and a piece of rebar had a fight in a parking lot last week, resulting in a severely injured left shin. He was trying really hard to suck it up all last week and through the weekend but even the slightest touch is terrible. He went to the ARMC urgent care in Mebane first thing in morning  and got great service. He was happy to find it was nothing more than a bad bruise. I found him some pain relief/swelling reduction ointment at Walgreens yesterday, which he seems to like. I also bought him some Old Spice Wolfhorn cologne, because it smells amazing and I love him.

I was mapping out some routes in my neighborhood this morning to see what streets I needed to take to get up to 5 miles. I clicked the "bike" icon in google maps to see the bike time for my route and something magic happened. Google maps showed me all these great places to ride bikes in my town, including...*drumroll*...
Challenge Golf Club!! I am ALL OVER THAT. Today. Get excited.

Whew!

I just did a 3 mile solo ride and I feel like I got the best workout yet. I was really sweating it and I had a good heart rate going. I decided to be adventurous and go out on a main road *gasp* ... but it was only for like two minutes until I got into the adjoining neighborhood. I decided to go drop off a surprise at the home of one of my favorite YMCA members, Angela Conklin, of Conklin Propane during my round because she's been really nice and supportive of my and Rick's bike adventure. It may not be the last one, either :) I did a screen cap from google maps of my trip. Why? because this P.O.S. bike phone holder  that I mentioned a few posts back decided to fall off the mount on the handlebars with the phone still attached and go crashing onto the pavement as I rode along (thus my app could not function). Thankfully I was still on my own street. Thankfully my phone still works after I re-assembled it. I actually secretly wished that it would have been killed so I could get one of these :)

~ L ~

on the road again

This week has been terrible weather-wise (and kinda crummy life-wise, to be honest). Rain and cold and wind and ick. I went out in said weather though, in search of some bargains at the GAP outlet  for my nephew on the way and I ended up getting a really nice athletic/sporty jacket for bike riding. The baby section left something to be desired :(  So, I am pretty excited about the prospect of decent weather today and I hope to be out on the bikes as soon as Rick gets home from work!

This jacket reminds me sooo much of the Nike Sphere cartoon ad, which I love, so I decided to share it :)

Happy Friday!



~ L ~

woohoo!

We did FOUR MILES today! Go us! Yesterday turned out to be a bust, mainly because we had to juggle two different cars getting repaired and two different people coming to the house for landscaping consultations and it was much colder than the weather said it was going to be.  Today was perfect for a ride and I started out telling Rick that we had to do 3 miles to exceed the last ride, so I was pleasantly surprised when I checked my tracker app and it said 4.3 miles! I want to keep working toward beating our goals by at least 0.5 each time. I am sure we can do more though :)

I got to wear my new neon yellow bike clothes today and it made me happy :)
I also got my fruit-fearing husband to consume 3+ servings of fruit post-bike ride thanks to some delicious Bolthouse Farms smoothies I bought at Aldi this morning!

These things are so delicious! Rick wants me to get about six of them next time!

Super comfy. Never thought I would like wearing Highlighter yellow!

-L-

the road is calling.

Everyone said it was going to snow today, but it is awfully sunny out already and the forecast looks like it will be the perfect day for a bike ride!

I am also excited because my mom got me some new threads from Kohl's just for bike riding and the YMCA just got some new bright colored t-shirts in for summer. I snagged the neon pink one ;) I am thinking of going to Kohl's online and ordering a couple bright shirts for Rick too, because his wardrobe consists of grey, charcoal and black.

                                        (I had to get purple too because, well, it's purple!)