Mallie's Meanderings

First Day

2008-09-08T05:32:00.002-04:00

Excited and nervous, but looking forward to it. New jobs always make for more changes than you expect, and I'm wondering what will come.

I'll still be up and about early in the AM, as I'll be running and doing hill repeats for exercise before a later (for me) 9-6 shift during orientation/training, then I'll be working an early shift 6-3 once things settle. Which is awesome, as I'll have afternoon hours available to ride/run some trails.

Give me a couple days to get with the program, and I'll fill anyone who cares in on the deets!

Have a great week!

Long time no bloggity...

2008-09-05T12:23:00.002-04:00

It isn't that I haven't been doing anything new and exciting. In fact I'm really excited about lots of things. Uh huh, yep, I am. I've just not had a lot of time to formulate a plan as to how I planned to tell the blogosphere all of my exciting news. So I'm just going to give you blurbs for now, if that's all right with all of you.

The new roof is almost done, THANK GOODNESS! The noise has not been all that nice, in fact it gave me a killer headache. And of course the estimate got obliterated when it was found that there were two layers of shingles to remove, SIGH. But we'll be good and groovy roofwise for many years to come.
I joined Facebook and it's been consuming me this morning in between other tasks. Why? Well, believe it or not I'm going to use it and other like features for work, but it's also a much cheaper and more fun way to keep up with old friends than Classmates.
For work? Yep, I got a new job. More details later, promise. I start Monday, and I'm anally prepping. I always go overboard prepping for meetings, presentations, whatever. First day on a new job, SAME thing!
I had a blast tackling DH at Snowshoe. Now, I only did the beginner run and only tried two small man-made drops, but I was bitten by a bug, and this wussy downhiller actually enjoyed the speed and the descents when made smooth(er) by 8.5" of travel, HYOOGE DH tires and a full face helmet.
I'm swamped doing stuff for the Estrogen Strong Endurance Triumvirate (Nam, Carey & Danielle)...but I'm loving every minute of it and I'll be posting some of what I've been doing, promise!
I'll be working much of the weekend, finishing up last projects for the old job and pro-bono stuff I've tackled, but I will somehow manage to ride my bike. Ran this morning, and it was nice.

That's all for now, I know I teased with some stuff, but I promise I'll give full details before too much longer!

Schtuff

2008-08-22T15:41:00.002-04:00

Morning all outta kilter here. Had to take Jeff to the doc, has some sort of infection involving boils (I know how freaking medieval can you get???) and after the visit I had to hit two pharmacies before I could find his antibiotics. Not the same antibiotic I took during the Booty debaucle, made sure he knew to ensure that one was not administered, as compared to him, I've got a stomach of steel.

Fay's doing her best to drop some bad weather on us, trying to wreck riding plans. Keeping an eagle eye on the radar, I see that most of the color is still south of us, and I hope it stays that way. Though, unless there's lightning, I'm going to borrow some of Renee's determination and get my ride in come what may, Fay! My knobbies are hitting some asphalt tomorrow, and possibly hopefully forest service roads on Sunday.

Despite the comings and goings of the day, I did manage to get Namrita's site up, and I have the OK for the Blogger community to go check it out. The home page has a random script, so the photos swap if you hit refresh. The inner pages still need some tweaking and additions (web sites are never 100% complete), so expect a repeat link when I get some more added to it. I'm waiting on Danielle to FINALLY get me some high resolution photos (hey, she even admits she's kept me waiting forever in her most recent post), then I have several projects to finish up for her before she heads off to Sin City and a little thing folks in the biz call Interbike.

I'm beat today...slept in spare room to let Jeff sleep without me accidentally rolling into him last night and, who'd of thunk it from this long time insomniac, I got little to no sleep. Tylenol PM shall make good on it's promise tonight so I'm ready to ride, rain or shine, probably rain, tomorrow.

Bohuggity Whumpus

2008-08-20T07:28:00.003-04:00

Yeah, I made that term up. But that's how my ride felt on Monday and the feeling stuck around for my run yesterday morning. Is it that time? Did "that" day decide to stretch into a two-day slump?

What day? "That" day. Pretty much every female mountain biker understands. It's that day when your hormones are so completely out of whack that you steer into trees, pick the worst possible line - even on trails you know like the back of your hand and completely forget how to lean into or out of a switchback.

I've been off the MTB except for one or two easy jaunts most of the summer. I hit the Pig Saturday and felt great, riding easy and having a blast. It's our easiest trail, but there were some reroutes I'd never done before, so figured I'd dab a time or two, but I felt great. So, decided to hit it again Monday. And that's when it happened. It was like I'd never been on a knobby-tired bike before. I was sketchy to the 10th degree. Dabbing, short stopping and ramming my saddle into my pardukey, slingshotting over roots. Basically I made every bad manuever possible. I gave up after 1.5 laps and headed for home.

So, I figured it was over, done, I'd be cool on Tuesday. I had a great long run on Sunday, and did the same route on Tuesday morning, before it got too hot and humid. And my body was again going haywire. I was drenched in sweat early on and my legs were absolutely not down with the route. What I'd run up easily, I had to walk, and sometimes I had to stop and recuperate mid hill. Now, I do live in a very hilly neighborhood, but these were long gradual climbs, not the short and steep and long and steep hills I sailed up Sunday.

So, two days this month? Just to spice up my life? We'll see if it stretches for three. I'm meeting Kim at Thomson this afternoon, ostensibly to work with her on a couple of her trouble spots. We'll see if it isn't me having trouble spots.

In other news I'm hard at work for Danielle and Namrita, and hopefully Carey (soon). I'll have some design work to show you all soon.

The "In Threes" Theory

2008-08-13T13:49:00.002-04:00

Jeff always scoffs at my "bad things happen in threes" theory. Tells me I'm pandering to old wives' tales, yadda yadda.

Well, isn't he getting his come-uppance! Turns out it hit us at home. Had to have electrical work done, AC guys is here now replacing the fan and installing a new thermostat (we believe the one currently mounted is older than me), and tomorrow I'm getting roof estimates, as the deluge last night started three separate drips in the living room.

We knew we'd eventually have to deal with all of these. But I think el Jefe caused a quickening with his refusal to believe in the "In Threes" theory.

So now, our bank account's taking a hit, "in threes"!

Highs & Lows

2008-08-12T19:36:00.001-04:00

The morning was fantastic. Namrita came down to pre-ride East Macon before the GASS Championship race, and to pick up the Fools Gold prizes I made. I have to say, overall I'm really pleased with how the prizes turned out. Especially those for the 100 milers. Riding was fun, and even though I've been off the bike, it wasn't that bad, except when I had to go anaerobic. Then you could tell I'd been away from the MTB. Overall stamina was pretty good, probably from all the road bike miles leading up to Booty.

Jeff blew a fuse on the dryer last night, so I bought some and replaced. But in the "which fuse is it" fun that comes from unmarked fuses, we appear to have some sparks/rapid fuse burnout on one fuse. Unfortunately, it's the fuse that powers the AC. Luckily it's going to be cool enough tonight to not require a service call until the AM.

I'll keep you posted!

Healed Up In the Heat

2008-08-05T08:16:00.003-04:00

It's gonna be another hot one. 99 with heat index of 110. Hard call as to whether to ride or not. I want to. as I've been off the bike for over a week. But those temps are brutal alone, then you add in the humidity heat index. YIKES. Plan is to go out for a slow paced 20-22 miler, just to get my butt back in the saddle and test it out (Kim's letting me test one she barely used).

The stomach finally evened out the end of last week. It helped to set me up on my August/September plan to lean out, as I couldn't handle much food. The goal over the next two months is to build lean muscle while dropping fat. This means deficit eating, but not starvation. I'm not planning to wreck my metabolism or anything else stupid. Rides will be shorter, except for one long version most Sundays, in order to facilitate deficit calorie loads. Weights, short runs/rides and HIIT sessions will make up the bulk of the workouts through late September.

By then the weather will be cooling off and base miles will be all the rage. Right?

I've not posted tunes in a while, so feel that I should or Brian might stop visiting! Sort of an eclectic mix today!

A Way To Your Heart - Salim Nourallah

Where Do You Run - Vivian Girls

Go Radio - The Radio

The Girl From Ipanema - Pizzicato Five

The Boomerang Generation - Voxpop

The Booty Curse

2008-07-29T08:40:00.003-04:00

Before I even get into what will be a long post here, let me just say I'm not depressed, upset or downtrodden. In fact I find the whole thing rather amusing. In fact, I'm grinning like an idiot while I start typing this. Seriously.

Woke up at 3:00 AM the morning of the event, though the alarm was set to go off at 4:45. I couldn't fall back to sleep, so I just lay there. My stomach felt a little off, and I attributed it to nervous tummy, which I get before events. Even though Booty isn't a race, I had goals. So I figured I was just a little worried and chalked it up to that.

Craig showed up right on time, we were loaded up within minutes and we set off at 6:10 AM. The drive was very easy and we made fantastic time. Craig got insanely excited when he saw a sign for a Bob Evans restaurant, so we stopped there for a quickie carb load (too late to do us any good, but very yummy) and showed up at Bootyville right on time to set up our area.

The tent went up easily, we got all our bins and bags set out on our card tables and we shot off for a little relaxation pre-race at Craig's friend Leslie's house. Leslie and Marnie were the most awesome hosts, and I had a great time meeting and hanging out with them, and David and Catherine, despite what you'll read ahead!

My stomach was just slightly off, but I didn't really think about it. I'd been eating properly throughout the day in order to not start our with a calorie deficit and I figured it would settle down when I actually started riding and having fun.

We left Leslie's place to get back to Bootyville for packet pick-up and to get ourselves together for the 7 PM start. Packets in hand, we had a little over an hour before we'd pedal off. As I was getting my gear on, I noticed that the period which I'd thought was starting earlier in the week, and which had consequently decided to hide, had now decided to start with a vengeance, one hour before the event start. Sigh. It's not fun to have your period while trying to do a long bike ride. And it's really not fun to have your period when your only bathroom facility options are porta-potties. But what can you do? It was there, I'd deal with it.

The event began and with way more than the 1200 riders the event site said they'd set for a cut off. The course was way too short and tight for this many folks to do a mass start. My average speed for the first several 2.97 mile laps was around 12 MPH. But folks were friendly, there were some great costumes to gawk at, three unicyclists to avoid at all cost (man did they weave and swerve) and lots of folks to chatter with as we stuttered along.

It was still packed after those first laps, but except in a few spots, there were no bottlenecks. I was able to increase to fun speed in most sections, well over 20 MPH for most of the lap. My average speed continued to climb, until it got just over 17, which was my high end goal for average speed during the beginning of the ride.

So, how about the saddle sore. I won't kid you. I was uncomfortable. It was giving me grief. And I could tell I was getting another sore, on the other side, meaning I was favoring the initial sore to the detriment of my soreless areas. But it wasn't unbearable, just uncomfortable with occasional grimace worthy moments.

I hit 50 miles feeling great, at right just under the three hour mark. I'd hopped back into Bootyville at the 2:30 mark to swap bottles and grab some more on the bike food, so I was set for at least another 90 minutes before I had to pit again. And that's when it happened. I felt the three lancing wounds open, in rapid succession (yep, I actually felt each one, FANTASTIC, huh?) and was immediately in some of the most unbearable pain I'd ever had the misfortune to experience. And I just knew it. I was done.

I'd known deep down that if the sore opened, my ride would be over. I was running on my usual high levels of optimism. Craig had even mentioned my high optimism a couple times earlier in the night when I kept professing that we weren't going to get rain, that the weather was going to be perfect, etc. I was sad, not hugely, but sad that I wasn't going to be able to try to keep up the good ride I'd had in the first 50 miles. But I knew there was really nothing I could do. You can't bandage that particular part of your anatomy. And pain pills would have meant I'd be unsafe on the bike, and would have to be taken regularly, if I'd even thought to bring them.

So, I rode very slowly, standing most of the way, back to Bootyville, changed my clothes, cleaned up the best I could under cover of darkness in a flap of our tent, and tried to find a semi-comfortable position for sitting in my camp chair. I grabbed my MP3 player and sat down to wait for Craig.

He showed up about 45 minutes later having completed just under 50 miles, saying he was done for the night. We discussed going to back to Leslie's place, planning to come back in the morning when I'd act as his Sherpa, so to speak. But we decide we would disturb those already asleep if we returned at that late hour, so we decided to just remain at Bootyville and Craig would return to the bike in the morning. Craig managed to sleep in his camp chair, while I settled in with the MP3 player, waiting until light when I could read the book I'd smartly packed.

Now, I bet you're thinking, "That doesn't sound that bad. She's in good spirits. She's found a semi-comfortable position in her hair. She's got tunes and a book for later". Well, remember that nervous tummy? Yeah, that. It never went away. Once I realized I'd started my period, I then decided it must be my regular monthly hormone nausea. And tried to ignore it. But I started to feel worse, almost immediately after the wounds opened. Steadily worse. Quickly worse. My stomach was rolling and gurgling constantly. I began to wonder, could you get sick that fast from an infection from a saddle sore opening. Whatever it was, I was miserable. And it just continued to get worse.

I mentioned how it's just no fun to have your period when you're stuck with porta-potties as your only bathroom option. Well, yeah, that's bad. But even worse, porta-potties as your only options when your stomach is intent on emptying itself of any and all contents every 30 minutes or so. Luckily, though I thought I might a few times, I never had to throw up. But I did spend way too much time evacuating my stomach in the other fashion, and that's as graphic as I intend to get there.

Add to that that I was freezing to death, in Charlotte, NC in July. Which meant I was sick. Folks were still wandering around in sleeveless jerseys. But I was bundled in a long-sleeved t-shirt, and capri pants, with a blanket covering me from chin to soles of my shoes. Shivering.

So, while Craig managed to get in about 4 hours of sleep, I endured a heaving, rolling stomach, dizziness every time I had to stand and walk to the porta-potty area, and a headache that threatened to hit migraine levels of torture. I tried to nibble some food, and was thankful I had a Pepsi to sip on, but I felt worse and worse ans the night went on.

Craig woke and got back on his bike. Maybe this was stupid, but I didn't want to ruin his ride. So I told him I could stay so he wouldn't have to cut his ride short. He wanted to get 150 miles total. I kept smiling and laughing, even though I really didn't feel like it, until a little after 11 AM. Then I just couldn't do it any longer. Leslie had come to volunteer and when she saw me with my head between my knees, tears of frustration and pain running down my cheeks, she offered to take me to her house, but I couldn't leave Craig with the whole camp to clear on his own. Craig stayed out until about 12:30, and when he came back to Bootyville he wouldn't listen to my lies about being able to hang on any longer. Apparently my face looked as bad as I felt. He forbade me to pack any gear (I disobeyed), while he went to get the car so we could load.

I somehow managed to make it through packing, even managing to help with taking down the tent and taking the last load of gear to the car. A stop to the store on the way back to Leslie's for Pepto and some crackers, and then finally, a shower and some rest in a nicely air conditioned home. I continued to feel bad most of the weekend, but not nearly as bad as I had during those last daylight hours of Craig's ride.

Before I go on, let me just say that Craig was a superstar this entire weekend. He hadn't planned on having to take care of me except to possibly fill bottles. He went above and beyond the call of duty and deserves kudos, praise and thanks!

So, what was it? Stomach flu? Fast acting infection from the sore opening and draining? Nope. It was the damned antibiotics I'd kept taking throughout the entire weekend. I'd read the side effects list when I began taking them, but promptly forgot the side effects list, as I'd felt fine taking them on Wednesday & Thursday. When I did my follow-up visit with the doc yesterday, he sorted it out. Apparently the fatigue that comes with your period, the long hours without sleep, the stress of the wounds opening, all ganged up on my body and let the side effects nail me with the full whammy powers they possessed. The rest of the pills promptly went in the trash, I got one final injection of another antibiotic, and I'm almost back to normal, stomach-wise. Still a little off, and I've still got the headache. Should clear in a day or so.

As for the sore, when the three lance sites re-opened they drained most of the last fluid. A week off the bike and I should be able to slowly return, with the benefit of a new saddle.

So, Chris in texas wins the mileage contest, though my 52.8 gets nowhere near anyone's guess. And I did pull the names of the random drawing winners. Hillarie, Carey, and Chris Redemske. I'll be mailing off your prizes by the end of the week. So shoot me an e-mail with your mailing addresses.

I'm in good spirits. It's not like I let myself down by being mentally unprepared. I had gotten in the miles before the event, and I was very positive. Too positive, as it came to being able to ride with such a bad saddle sore. But there was nothing I could do. When your body attacks you with a three-pronged battle plan, you can only accept it. I'm smiling. I find it highly amusing.

Third time's a charm. Booty and I will duel again in 2009.

A Post Throughout The Day

2008-07-24T07:45:00.004-04:00

I'll be adding bits and pieces to this post throughout this final day before Booty. I'm packing, working, erranding, pill popping, hot soaking, cleaning out and packing the car, etc. throughout the day.

7:45 AM:The injection site (injected antibiotics) is still real sore. It won't play any part in cycling, thankfully. The site of the lancing isn't sore at all. Yippee. Of course, I haven't subjected it to a saddle yet. Short test run sometime today to check on positioning of the cushy MTB saddle I'm planning to use.

8 folks have posted a guess as to my total mileage. Ranging from 225-313 miles. Get your guess in so your name goes into the drawing. Also, if you want to get into the drawing for the goodie bags, you can still make a donation. I'm just past the halfway point on my goal. I don't think I'm going to make goal this year, but you bloggers have definitely been generous. No one's made a $15 or lower donation thus far, so right now I'll draw two winners from the $16-$40 range.

10:00 AM: About to head out on my last little errands. Final purchases. I generally spend the entire day prior to leaving in burst of activity getting ready. I don't know why. Just how I roll! Anybody need anything from Kroger, K-Mart or the LBS? :)

6:20 PM: Why is packing so exhausting? The ride this afternoon was a little tender, but the MTB saddle is cushy and I think I'm on my way to a good Booty ride! Last packing, then I can relax before the early morning drive!

Ouchy!

2008-07-23T12:51:00.002-04:00

The saddle sore, well, it had to be lanced. So, ouch #1.

Fastest acting antibiotics are injected. In the booty. Injection site is sore. Ouch #2.

Side effect of the injected antibiotic is sore joints. And lemme tell ya, it sets in fast. Ouch #3.

There was a long wait at the pharmacy. Oral antibiotics and pain pills, if necessary, to be picked up later this afternoon.

Now I'm going to hobble around and try to find a comfortable way to sit.

The good news...I should be ready to ride at Booty.

Pre-booty Problems

2008-07-22T19:11:00.003-04:00

The boys may want to avert their eyes on this post.

A certain something started this morning. Typical. But, it will be mostly "finished" by the time I start riding Friday evening.

Worse, I have a very nasty saddle sore that just isn't responding to the usual at home treatments. I have a doc appointment tomorrow morning and will hope that some strong antibiotics nip it in the bud. I swapped my saddle to my comfy MTB saddle and I've thrown out my oldest pairs of shorts. Cross your fingers on fast acting antibiotics.

Otherwise, I'm raring. I feel ready for the long hours, if I can just get my girl parts to cooperate.

That's enough on that. More "positive" post tomorrow. Promise!

Off Day(s)

2008-07-17T08:05:00.002-04:00

First, my totals for last week:

268 miles on the road bike
5-ish miles running
1 hour weights/core

Sure, lots of folks get in harder weeks, like this insane chica, but it was a good week for me. My legs felt great overall. I got in one good heat of day ride, in which I did NOT wimp out and let the heat and humidity allow me to stop early, and I found out that going sockless in my MTB shoes (no I don't own a pair of road shoes and probably never will) works really well for me.

So I was supposed to do a light spin to start the week off on Tuesday. But one part of me didn't fare as well as my legs and mind. My girl parts. Saddle sore. Very sore. Fugly. So Tuesday was spent resting, and so was yesterday. And eating...have I mentioned I seem to be eating my own weight in food each day. Sigh. Sooooooooooo hungry.

Saddle sores are almost gone, and I'll be continuing to medicate as I get back on the bike. I've got just a couple hard rides left before tapering off for the big ride. Starts next Friday, the 25th, at 7 PM. I'm excited. And hoping for better weather.

Don't forget, if you'd like to donate, you automatically go in for the drawing. Three goodie bags are available. And there's also a special prize, a surprise, for the blogger who places the closest guess as to my mileage. To enter for that prize, you only need to leave a comment.

Waiting on the gutter guys to arrive. They're currently 10 minutes late. Sigh.

Mallie

HYOOGE thanks to recent donors...

2008-07-12T11:47:00.002-04:00

Cheryl! Lindsay! Chris & Bryan! Brian! Craig! Kim! Thanks so much for your donation to a good cause.

Plans made and activities planned all changed. It's all good. I'm still on track for Booty, and basically the next two weeks will be spent making a push for donations. Since I'm currently only semi-employed, I feel my efforts in this area should be 100+ %.

So, add a little write-off for your '08 taxes. Donate. You know you wanna!

Don't forget, there's even some extra incentive. Goody bags and a little contest!

The only other news to report is that I had my first wasp in jersey moment yesterday. I felt it hit my chest (which hurt more than the sting I endured while trying to remove it). My riding partner Dendy had fun watching me frantically flapping around, I'm sure.

Texas Chris recently asked how house stuff was going. It's going. Have gutter guys and plumbers coming next week, and I'll be finishing some more DIY stuff.

How about a giveaway & a contest?

2008-07-09T09:05:00.002-04:00

With Booty coming up in a couple weeks, I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't do everything I could to get the blogging community into a donation making frenzy. OK, I really don't have that much pull amongst or power over bloggers, but writing that sentence did allow me to huff out a short, evil laugh. Muahahahahahaha!

Seriously though...bloggers made it possible for me to donate more than $1K to cancer research last year. And this year I'm working to donate even more. I made a goal of $5K, which is HYOOGE, and probably unattainable, but might as well aim high! Right?

So, to enhance the chances of some of my blogging compatriots making donations, I'm offering SCHTUFF. Yeah, free stuff. I'll be holding a three-tier drawing in which any blogger who makes a donation gets his/her name thrown into a hat and gets a chance for a fun goody bag.

Three levels to choose from:

1. $15 dollars or less gets you a chance to win the Level 1 Goody Bag
2. $16-40 dollars gets you a chance to win the Level 2 Goody Bag
3. $41 or more gets you a chance to win the Level 3 Goody Bag

What will be in the goody bags? Well, I do want them to be surprises, but there will be nutrition schtuff, apparel schtuff, fun schtuff, preventive schtuff, etc. All bloggers who have already made a donation will automatically have their names added to their respective hats.

There will also be a chance to win in Mallie's typical contest. Typical? Yep, whoever has the most accurate guess as to my total mileage will get an extra special surprise prize.

So, how do you enter and get a chance for a goody bag? Make a donation to my special 24 Hours of Booty page! Here's the link:

Mallie's Booty Page

Post a comment letting me know you made a donation, just in case I can't match your donation name to your blog identity!

As for the mileage contest? Simply post a comment before midnight, July 24, EDT. Your only helpful hints:

1. I hope to ride 21.5-22 of the 24 Hours.

2. I won't be hammering, I do want to complete the entire ride.

3. I have no control over the weather, but will be taking along the MTB just in case flooding occurs AGAIN, like it did last year. Knobby tires would, of course, slow me down.

On that note, I leave you to decide what you wanna do! Got in 47 miles last night, feeling amazingly good at the end because of the cloud cover and a surprisingly cool wind.

Oops, missed a day

2008-07-08T09:00:00.002-04:00

Meant to post last night after my ride, but after my shower and inhaling some food, I just couldn't do much more than flop into the bed with my book. Slept great until about 3 AM, then faded in and out of sleep until I got up around 5 to get some work done before going on a morning run.

Last night's ride was short, but pretty sweet, despite having my average speed decimated by having to walk up a short, sketchy section of railroad tracks because the dogs that protect a local business just weren't going to let me ride without a tussle. They're very on/off dogs. Sometimes they completely ignore you, but when they get into you, you're not going to get past 'em without some hollering over barks. They're not biters, but I worry that they'll get nailed by a car while I'm trying to evade them, so I just hiked up the tracks.

Now, before I go any further, and as I've stated numerous times in the past, I'm not fast on the bike. I've never said I was fast on the bike. I doubt I'll ever be what anyone could call "fast" on a bike. I was telling Jeff last night that I'll never be Speedy McPhee (for some reason using that name made him laugh out loud...he must have been tired). But, I'm getting faster and stronger. And I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's the singlespeeding on the MTB. But when I did my old downtown route that I haven't done since last year sometime, I'm about 2-2.5 MPH faster overall. Where I used to have to fight to keep a 15.5-16 MPH average, I'm now managing a 17.5-18 MPH average. Where soft pedaling used to net me about 13 MPH, I'm soft pedaling 16. I'm not going to complain. It's nice. I just don't think it really means anything in the long run.

Speaking of running, my run this morning was nice, but hot. Even at 6:15 AM. Humid. Guess that's what you have to expect in the Maconga. Going to hit the group ride again tonight, as I start Build Week 2 leading up to Booty. Last week was pretty unimpressive in overall mileage, but it was the first real week of building miles and hours on the road bike, so I'll take it. I put in 150 miles in on the skinny tires, 10 miles on the knobbies, 2.5 hours of running and about 1 hour of lifting.

Thanks to Brian for his recent Booty donation. In appreciation, here's some music from the Two Sheds label:

Sunday Driver by Sharks & Minnows

Cool Shoes by Ultrababyfat

Engine of A Lifetime by Silent Kids

Fire Sanctuary by Nillah

Cycle Pinsetter by Ashen

Go see Hancock!

2008-07-06T19:16:00.002-04:00

Got in 46 miles this AM, a nice conversational ride with good company.

Went to the movies with el Jefe and saw Hancock. A must-see. No spoilers from me. Just go see it. But don't take the little kids. It's not a little kid superhero kind of flick.

Small switch

2008-07-05T21:13:00.003-04:00

After getting virtually no sleep after poor Roscoe's fireworks scare, added to the jelly like feeling of my legs every time I went up the basement stairs, I decided to swap my Monday off day for today. Have a long, slow ride on tap for tomorrow morning before the heat and thunderstorms set in. Then I'll do my circles route on Monday.

Just a shortie...looking forward to a full night's sleep tonight!

#&@)%&(#))! Fireworks

2008-07-04T21:24:00.002-04:00

Roscoe is petrified. He got himself all hung up in the baby gate we use to block the stairs because he was trying to escape them, nad I had to rescue him. He was panting with fear and exhaustion and could hardly keep his legs under him. Puddin's a little freaked out, but not like Roscoe. I've got him in a short enclosed hallway right now, hoping he can ride it out. I hope these idiots stop at a relatively decent hour, as I don't feel I can go to sleep with Roscoe so frightened.

Had a hard 45 (hard because I was not feeling well, not the distance) on Thursday. Took it easy today with short MTB ride on the SS. Tomorrow, circles on the road bike, simulating the boredom that is a 2.7 mile route for 24 Hours.

Happy 4th.

Seriously...gonna be the bestest, Best, BEST

2008-07-03T11:55:00.002-04:00

In a short respite from all of the bootie/Booty talk, I announce to the world that I have a big non-biking goal, a HYOOGE non-biking goal. What is it?

Well it goes along with this little photo:

Sister's baby is fine and dandy!

So, what's the goal? I'm gonna best the Awesomest Auntie ever. Not only do I have prior experience, this will be the 6th time out for me. But I'm pumped, because Karen (sister) and I are really close, so this one's extra, EXTRA special.

I've already decided that the first X-mas gift will be:

Totally depends on the sex of the baby of course. We won't know that for ten more weeks or so. But I just wanted to throw down the gauntlet early, as I'm pretty sure Art's sister Ashley thinks she's gonna hold the AA title (Awesomest Auntie). But, I say, no FREAKING way. It's all mine baby!

Getting back to biking, I'll be heading out on the group ride again this afternoon, then I've got lots of bicycling planned for the long holiday weekend. Stay tuned.

Building Bootie

2008-07-02T18:57:00.002-04:00

OK. I promise that not every post leading up to Booty will talk about my bootie. But, as previously discussed, it's my backside that needs to make the biggest transition while moving from MTB to the skinny tires. And in that vein, I settled my bootie in for a little bit longer ride yesterday.

The group rides of late have been around 25-26 miles, so I went out a bit early to get in a few extra miles. I put in 15 by myself, did a little exploring and found a nice little subdivision with a few little rollers. Nice for a little change of scenery. Then got together with the group for a bit under 25 miles, bringing me to 40 for the day. Nice ride, nice folks to ride with and my bootie fared pretty well.

The only bad thing was I came home a little overstimulated and just could NOT fall asleep. So I'm a bit draggy today. My run was rough. I'm hoping to conk out tonight and get in a short run in early AM as Jeff's using the computer and getting ready for work, followed by another road ride in the PM.

Thanks to Kat and Hillarie for their donations. Thanks for getting the ball rolling, chicas!

Readying a Bootie for Booty

2008-07-01T10:50:00.003-04:00

So, the 24 Hours of Booty is at the end of July. And there's one thing I'm most worried about. Yep, my bootie. Because most of my longer riding tends to be on the MTB, I spend way more time out of the saddle than I would on the road bike. Especially since I ride the SS a lot of the time. So, the bulk of the month shall be spent building my girl-part callous and perfect butt relief manuevers, while at the same time just doing a nice bunch of build miles up to the final week, whence I shall taper.

And since Booty is a fundraiser, not a race, I am asking for donations. You can clicky here, to donate online. Anyone who wants to donate via paper check (YIKES, it is 2008) can download a PDF form at the same clicky spot. Don't fret, I've already been fundraising, it just hasn't shown up yet, because it's of the paper (check or cashola) variety. It's tax deductible folks, and for a good cause.

I've also made a mini-resolution to include all of you in my Bootie Building for Booty exercise. I'll be posting every day leading up to the event. And offering some incentive for you to read each day, so swing by, puh-leeze and help me bootie build for a good cause.

So now it's just about waiting...

2008-06-25T08:12:00.002-04:00

So folks...I don't have anything exciting to report on the job search front, except that I'm in that oh so irritating and frustrating waiting period. Since I'm wanting to move int to the not-for-profit sector, I have to understand that it's a slower pace on EVERYTHING. Even the hiring process. I'm waiting to hear on the ONE, the one I really want. But I've also found ANOTHER ONE, something that I've just applied to, that might be something altogether perfect for me. I'm not supplying any deets right now. Maybe I'm worried about jinxing myself. I don't know. But the waiting continues.

My second return to the skinnies ride was shortened by thunderstorm cells. So our conversational paced 50 mile ride turned into a wet and windy 20 mile ride. Had a blast, though, with Kim and Craig pulling me on the flats and false flats.

Sunday had me taking a beginner couple out at Dauset. I really enjoy those beginner rides. Sure I don't get as many miles as I might riding by myself or with my faster friends. But there's huge satisfaction in the thanks you receive when you get someone feeling more comfortable on the trails. I love seeing that light in the eyes when they get that new skill down and see how it enables them to really enjoy the trails. I'll be taking the same couple out again this Sunday, and I look forward to it.

Yesterday I hit the road on my feet in the AM and on my skinny tires in the PM. Did a long, slow run in the morning and a longer than planned, faster (at times) than planned road ride in the evening. The plan for the evening was to help my friend Craig lead the beginner/slower road ride that he's been working to build as part of the regular road rides. Figured the pace would be an up and down that would average out to 13-14 MPH - perfect as just a spin after a morning run. Well, it was an up and down pace, but a bit faster than I'd expected. It wasn't too fast, just faster than expected and Craig and I had to kind of lower the boom as no-drop ride leaders when a couple fellas decided it was a drop kind of ride. I'll never be a speed demon, skinny or fat tires, no matter, but it's nice to be able to turn around, go back and grab a rider that needs a pull, pull back to the group and overtake those who think it's cool to drop folks on a no-drop ride. Seriously, though, it was a good ride and it was nice to catch up with some of the night ride folks I hadn't seen in a long time.

I'll leave you with some tunes, as one or two of you might be jonesing after a week without!

A Magnet In You by the Lesser Birds of Paradise
Can't Ever Sleep by Saturday Looks Good To Me
Honey Do by The Avatars
A Smashed Piano by Rockets & Blue Lights

There's not a download link, but check out the song that starts up when you access this site. It's fast becoming a favorite. Breathing by Around Joshua

The Big 3-7

2008-06-19T11:59:00.003-04:00

I don't have the time or the creativity to publish a list of 37 things this year. But I'll try to post 3 bigger items and 7 tidbits.

The Big 3:

Roscoe is a full-fledged member of the family, is using the dog door and has turned into an AC prima donna. His skinny little behind doesn't spend much time outdoors unless a treat's involved.
I'm very hopeful about a potential job at a non-profit. But I'm still not in like Flynn quite yet. The waiting and wondering is hard.
I'm going to be an aunt for the sixth time, sometime in early 2009.

7 Tidbits:

I made my return to skinny tires last Friday. I'll be riding skinny and knobby tires this weekend.
My new kitchen floor is predominantly red.
Most of my gardening projects are surviving the heat. I'll post some photos soon.
I've been leading beginner women's mountain rides on Sundays for several weeks. I'm hoping to see an increase in participation the longer I hold them.
If a certain someone gets me some schtuff, you'll soon see what I think is a pretty cool new web site.
I am not looking forward to visiting the DMV today, though it should be routine.
I'm finally making progress on many of the home improvement projects, and hope that I continue to do so throughout the summer.

That's it. Sorry it wasn't more exciting.

For the Fathers

2008-06-15T08:19:00.002-04:00

Happy Father's Day!

I can't send you all a gift, well not really, so I honor you all today with some tunes:

Your Time Has Come - by Coral Sea

Out of Work Early - by Excuses for Skipping

Radio Silence by Boy Genius

Ghost In the Trees by the Oh Sees

Four Beds For Boat by BOAT

Modern Leper by Frightened Rabbit

Gobbledigook by Sigur Ros

Hope you all have a fantastic day. I'm off to see my own pops!

Persona Non "Posta"

2008-06-12T16:24:00.002-04:00

Yeah...pretty lame title, but you get the gist, right?

I didn't need a break from posting, I wasn't having a nervous breakdown, nor was I pin the pits of despair. I was just kinda busy. Pretty busy. Trying to get things moving. I think I made strides. I'll post more on that later.

I have a lot of catching up to do, reading and commenting, updating this blog, letting you know what's going on with the bikes, etc.

I promise I will, but here's just a snippet of what I've been up to recently:

putting new floor in the kitchen
re-painting the hallway
finishing the painting of the den
teaching Roscoe how to use the dog door
finding out Roscoe is a total prima-donna when it comes to AC
thinking about getting back on the skinny tires
lots of finish up work for a large print project
some new digital design work
leading women's beginner MTB clinics
re-claiming a trail long forsaken

There's more, but that's enough to get you the idea.

Brian, I promise music is forthcoming!

The last thing we need right now...

2008-05-15T11:46:00.000-04:00

We're OK in the Maconga

2008-05-14T16:26:00.003-04:00

In case anyone was wondering...we're alive and OK, despite the destruction of the tornadoes that passed through Middle GA early Sunday morning. We just got our power back on about 20 minutes ago - after losing it a little after 4 AM on Sunday.

More updates to come. Right now I'm going to use some electricity in order to bathe, wash dishes, and catch up on some laundry.

Video 2 For Tuesday

2008-05-06T15:18:00.003-04:00

DH videos featuring Mr. Mallie. He's the fella in front of the helmet cam rider. I doubt this kind of riding will ever get me going, but he sure loves it!

Shorter video...look at those freaking rocks! YIKES!

Roots & Rocks & Big Bikes, Oh My!

The most impressive terrain and jumps are toward the end of this one. Patience will be rewarded.

El Jefe In Front of the Helmet Cam

Just in case anyone wonders, his bike weighs around 40 lbs. and has almost 9" travel in the back. Nuts!

Where Do The Weekends Go...

2008-05-05T09:34:00.002-04:00

Seriously...they just never last long enough!

Swapped my rest days around as Sunday my legs were sore from the recent return to running and some SS time on Saturday. Short run on Friday, then mowing the lawn and doing some yard work constituted the rest of the exercise for the day. No riding mower, so at least I powered the job on my own. And out yard ain't tiny. Whatever...it was not a very hard day as per exercise, but I certainly wasn't slack.

Saturday found me at the Pig trail with Hillarie. We got there pretty early in hopes of beating the rain (the rain that really never materialized). Got in 90 minutes of good ride time and good conversation time. Saw a few folks walking dogs, but no other riders showed until we were packed up to leave. After the ride I hustled to Ace and the local garden center so I could get some potting soil and flowers to spruce up a spot in the yard where an old tree once stood. Grass won't grow there and I wanted to do something with it. I hustled to get the plants in before the rain, hoping to let them get a good soak. But, alas, no real rain to speak of!

I'll be ringing the dirt area with some sort of stones or other decorative border.
Except for the zinnias and hostas, these are all perennials that should return each year!

Sunday came and my legs were in need of a break. So I spent some more time on yard work. Did a lot of trimming of azaleas and camellias, as well as some overall yard tidying. Still have a bit more to go, and have some more spots for some much needed sprucing with color, AKA flowers, but overall it was a great Sunday. Got to spend some quality time with el Jefe before he starts two weeks of traveling (DH and work related), which is always nice.

On tap for today? An hour long run, followed by tomorrow's plan for an AM run and a PM ride with Hillarie at Thomson. Fun!

Day 10: Habits Coming Along

2008-05-01T10:21:00.002-04:00

Despite a lack of good sleep on Sunday and Tuesday nights, I haven't succumbed to junk food temptations. And though I had to swap a walk for a ride yesterday (muzzy heads don't make for good road rides), the walk was 1:40 and I made sure it involved lots of my neighborhood's longest and steepest hills.

Just got back from a short, but good, morning run. 30 minutes. I'll be finishing up any other runs this week on the road, but plan to start hitting the trails for future runs starting next week. Weights this afternoon, then, barring bad weather, a lot of bike time over the weekend.

I'm making another plea to the blogosphere. If you've got a couple bucks to spare, please donate to my Relay For Life fund. It's tax deductible, so you'll get some minute break on next year's taxes. Plus, it's for a good cause!

The Courtship of Eddie's Father by Ultrababyfat

80's Babies by Wake The Bear

Sunday Driver by Sharks & Minnows

Scars Like Stars by Henkensiefken

Two For Tuesday

2008-04-29T10:57:00.001-04:00

I'll post about schtuff, bikes, runs, etc., a little later. It's Tuesday, no better day for "Two for Tuesday" type posting.

Excuses For Skipping
Gravity
Out of Work Early

Imaginary Jack
Antithesis
Invincible Girl

Vervein
Walkie Talkie
Code Orange

Sarandon
Mike's Dollar
The Linguist

Teenagers In Tokyo
End It Tonight
Very Vampyr

Day 5 - Return to the Run

2008-04-26T09:32:00.004-04:00

Just a little update on the 30 Days plan. I've been doing well on the various and sundry "to-do's" I gave myself in the plan. Eating better = check. Skin care & overall paying of attention to appearance, a.k.a. being a girl, = check. Running again = check. What?

Yeah...I really enjoy trail running. But I'd stopped. Don't enjoy road running much, especially not in GA in the summer. But I ran yesterday and this morning, on the pavement, in order to get back on track. Both days involved run walks, I'm not going to dive in too quickly and burn out with an injury, I still have to watch the knee.

I have to say, even though it was on the road, it was fun. My overall fitness from Coach Musto's training seems to work on the run, too. Sure, I'm walking, but not as much as I guessed I might, and my breathing is quite even and steady, not gasping and panting as I guessed it would be. So, thanks Coach D.

BTW, Coach D is still on board. I'll have a plan from her each week, just as before. For the short term, as I phase out current job and start new job, I'll be doing shorter, more intense workouts, but she'll still be providing them. Once things settle down it will involve longer bike times. I'm looking forward to it.

So, Day 5 of 30. Not that far in, but long enough that a little headway is being made on some of those good habits!

And in Roscoe news!!! Up until this morning, the only way to pet him was to slowly approach him head on or have him approach you the same way, make eye contact, and start petting. This morning he came up behind me, as I was seated on a chair in the yard, and I reached back and he allowed several minutes of petting. Small step? Yes, but so satisfying. Every small step gained toward making this dog feel safe and loved is worth the wait.

For Roscoe:
Wait For You (live) by the Maybellines

Typical...

2008-04-24T16:15:00.002-04:00

After Roscoe's wander over the weekend, we decided to expand the fenced in backyard tout de suite (yeah I took French in HS and college). We TOLD the fence guys that they had to finish the expansion in one day, as the expansion would make use of the existing fence, leaving no place for the beasts to go, and we didn't want to leave them cooped up inside for more than a day.

Well, it's now past 4 o'clock and there's been no real progress made since their initial pouring of concrete and securing of posts which was complete at about 10:30 AM. I'm not giving up, but I'm very much hoping they kick it into high gear and get the two gates repositioned and string the fence on all the poles, cuz it's about time to take the boys out for another squirt. Mostly Roscoe can be controlled with cookies and Beggin' Strips. I'm just hoping that holds if this doesn't get completed.

My hands are still killing me, so again, no ride. But I did lift weights in fashions that didn't involve the butts of my palms and I got in a good workout, so I guess I really can't complain. I'm taking the SS out for some action tomorrow no matter what, though. Darn tootin'!

I leave you with a pic of the cuties! And some tunes!

Sidestep by Crown Aruba
While Walking by Blair Combest
Abandon by French Kicks
Skeleton Man by Evangelicals

30 Days

2008-04-23T13:16:00.002-04:00

First off...last night was pretty great. Got in a little over an hour at the East Macon trails, on the Mary. It was nice to climb the spots I'd had to push on the SS. After the ride, Will and I did another two + hours of trail work. Got all but the last section cleared out, discussed some possible re-routes and nabbed some ticks before they could settle in. (Note to self: get some serious bug spray for the work times).

My hands are sore. Mostly the butts of my palms. Probably from the axe work, and maybe the vibrations of the trimmer. Not sure. But no bike today, as I'm not sure I could grip the handlebars.

So, what's this about 30 Days? My friend Sarah had mentioned that she was starting a 30 Day plan, and I commented to her that I was contemplating the same thing. Some researchers say it takes 30 days to build a good habit, and the same span to break a bad habit. If you've the posts over the last month, you know that I've felt myself settling into a bad rut. I won't go into all the boring details, but my 30 days will be spent trying to get out of my bad eating rut and trying to build a few good habits that revolve around my overall appreciation for myself as a whole? What? I'm talking about wearing T-shirts and workout pants rather than getting dressed up from time to time. Going to sleep on wet hair and then wondering why it looks like a rats nest. Bemoaning my dry skin and laugh lines while not doing anything about it. Etc. Get it?

Mostly it's about liking myself more, finding it fun to ride my bike and gaining the level of fitness I had been achieving before the rut settled in.

I won't be boring you daily with my small changes that hopefully turn into healthy habits. But I will keep anyone who's interested in my progress. Yesterday was Day 1! Day 2 is off to a good start. We'll see what happens as the 30 days progress.

What a weekend!

2008-04-21T09:01:00.003-04:00

It started when I went outside Saturday morning and couldn't find Roscoe. Thus far, we'd been allowing him to remain un-fenced at night, as he didn't wander, only putting him indoors on garbage night - as he liked to partake of neighbor's goodies. Each morning I took Puddin' out for a morning squirt and I'd find Roscoe in our small shed, cuddled up in his blanket. He'd wiggle as soon as he saw us, and come out to greet us. Saturday morning, no Roscoe. I didn't immediately worry, as sometimes he takes a little walk, and I expected he'd be back quite soon, especially once he heard me pour his breakfast into his bowl.

But he didn't show up. Hours passed. We drove and walked the neighborhood calling his name. Nothing. Thankfully we'd put a tag with my phone number on his collar. However, he's so skittish that it'd be nearly impossible for anyone to get close enough to read the tag. Thankfully, his wanderings took him to a couple who love dogs and work to rescue animals. They painstakingly used their own dogs to lure him into their apartment, then called every number combination they could try based on brief views of the tag. Finally he was so tired and scared that they were able to get the number and call.

He was over five miles away. We have no idea what made him wander off. We think that another neighborhood dog that often wanders might have motivated Roscoe to wander a bit, getting him lost, so then he just kept going.

He was so happy to see us when we walked into the apartment. His tail thumped and he immediately let me rub him. But the ordeal was by no means over. He's scared to death of leashes and he's never been in our car. It took us over an hour to finally get a leash on him and gently coax him to the car. He was so exhausted that he had to be helped along. The one good thing that came of that fatigue, he let the wonderful couple pet him and rub him as we helped him walk to the car. He knew the car, the one from which he was peeking out in his first photo, and he seemed to get a burst of energy, hopped in, and immediately snuggled down on the bike tarp.

He's no longer allowed free reign. It's the fenced in yard or the basement from now on. We'd been holding out on the fencing, trying to get a good price, but we'll be getting someone out this week, and the doggie door will be installed this week as well.

We were devastated when we thought he was gone, and elated now that he's back. We'll be working with him slowly to get accustomed to the leash. We don't know if he'll ever wear it without fear, but hopefully it will become less evil and he'll at least tolerate it.

So...that was Saturday. Sunday involved 4 hours, 45 minutes of trail time. But not on the bike. It involved work boots and pants, an axe, saw, loppers, trimmer, rake and a chainsaw. I did not operate the chain saw. But I used everything else. Craig and I chopped down one fallen tree with the axe, then I sawed my way through two smaller ones with the saw. It was a long, hard day. My arms and legs both ache, but it was a hugely productive day. Thanks to Will and Craig for meeting me out there. We got a lot done.

Hope everyone's Monday is off to a good start, and that your week will involve lots of riding and good weather.

Bulleted List Post...

2008-04-16T08:50:00.002-04:00

If you're a list kind of person...then nothing makes you happier than a new list. So, I figured I'd make today's post a sort of bulleted list!

Today's my 9th wedding anniversary. No big plans for the evening, as we're hoping to get a nice long ride in on Saturday - barring rain. Ever since I started riding we've celebrated our anniversary by riding together.
Roscoe's doing great! He's still a little thin, but he gets lots of treats and eats twice a day. He's best buddies with Puddin' and they hang out all day, barking at squirrels, napping in the shade and rushing Jeff and I for rubs every chance they get.
East Macon is in very decent shape for a trail basically abandoned. Jeff and I went out yesterday, he on his DH bike, me in the SS. We had a nice time and I'm very hopeful that a few folks, beyond Hillarie and I, show up on Sunday to give it that little bit of TLC it needs to be in great shape. Mike & Monte were also out there and Monte was impressed with the overall shape of the trail, and Mike wondered why he'd waited so long to go out there.
Relay For Life is in just over a month. Guess I ought to spend some time on the road bike, huh? If any of you fantastic bloggers would like to make a donation, it'd be much appreciated. There's a link in my sidebar.
As far as donations, I'll be making a donation each month to a blogger's chosen charity. In March I donated to FE Lady. This month I'm going to donate to Danielle's Ride for Rwanda fund, above and beyond my own donations to Relay for Life. Anyone with charitable rides or races on their schedule, leave me a comment and I'll try to make your cause the recipient of one month's donation.

More ride news and some more meandering thoughts in the next few days. I'm trying to get back into the blogging zone again, and with all that's going on of late, I think I'll have something to say at least a couple times a week.

And for those who like to listen, even if they find the reading a little boring or late:

No Difference by Audrey Ryan

Scarlett Lot Lizard by Vehicle (parts of this remind me a lot of early Nada Surf)

Hello Hello Hi by From Bubble Gum to Sky

What's Going On...

2008-04-15T09:21:00.001-04:00

So, the changes that I mentioned previously...about time I set them out.

As you can see, my race schedule has been much shortened. Why? I'm in the process of changing jobs. I've not been super happy with my current position for a goodly bit of time, but I'd allowed myself to stay in it, putting myself into a rut. I'm hoping to find a position in the non-profit sector, using my design, marketing and administrative skills.

My notice at the current job is long, staying until June 30, as I'm the only one there who can do the graphics and marketing work, and there are a LOT of current projects that need to be completed before I jump ship. Also, because jobs in the non-profit sector are not often available, I'm going to have to do a very careful job of marketing myself to the various agencies in town. So two + months is much better than just a couple weeks.

During that time I also hope to cement some ongoing side jobs in the graphics and web design field, because I do enjoy it and want to continue to build my portfolio. With all that on my plate, and the overall malaise that I've been feeling up to making this decision, I've decided I can't really race. I don't want to and I can't put the time and effort into it. Right now riding my bike needs to be fun. So that's my focus on the bike going forward. I still plan to participate in Relay For Life as my charitable ride and large fund-raising initiative for 2008.

I'm hoping this will allow for an overall happier meandering Mallie going forward.

Here's some tunes to reward you for reading the above mumbo-jumbo!

Sign Language & Ball of Twine by Le Fits
Don't Dusk Me Baby & Sutures by Snowblink
Fade to Gray by Ash Ave

Goings On...

2008-04-09T11:27:00.002-04:00

Lots of stuff going on with me. Lots of thinking. Lots of evaluation. Lots of changes coming up. Some stress coming up. So I'll more than unlikely be unloading some of that stress here.

You'll see some of the changes soon, in my sidebar. And I'll be detailing them here on the blog over the rest of the week. When I started this new blog, I called it my "meanderings". And now I'm going to meander a bit more than I have previously. Hope it won't drive too many of you away. Who am I kidding, it's not like I have a HYOOGE readership. My friends, yes, you folks that I've never even laid eyes on - except in photos on your blog, will probably stick around.

I've been neglecting Brian's need for new tunes for a while...so probably oughtta throw him a bone here. Especially since the weather hasn't been going his way much of late.

Sleep All Day by King of Spain

New Words by Bugs In the Dark

Windchimes by Hazey Jane

Just...tired

2008-03-26T08:59:00.003-04:00

Physically, mentally, emotionally...tired. Every thing's kinda "meh". Ever just wish you could hide from everyone and everything? Normally, at least I like to think, I'm pretty sunny natured. But while the sun's shining outside, the rays aren't making a dent here.

I hope I get a small window in all the "meh"...physical, mental and emotional, and get an hour or two on the bike. Maybe the sun on my face and arms will warm all the tired away.

Something Bit Me!

2008-03-24T08:54:00.002-04:00

I think...

What does that mean? You'll see in just a short while. After a spinny and sunny solo 5 hour SS road ride once the contractors all showed up on Friday, a trio (Jesse, Brenda & Mallie) left Macon early Saturday to do a little trail recon up in the SC area.

After a bit more drive time than we'd anticipated (directions were not so great), we parked at the big red barn at hickory Knob State Park. We took off on the 1.8 mile beginner loop, which managed to have more climbing than the 7 mile trail loop we'd do shortly, and I managed to do a 1/2 endo in a nasty little dip that turned out to not even be part of the trail. Sure looked like the trail at the time, but it wasn't. I say 1/2 endo, because I wasn't going that fast and managed to put my left hand down and stop myself from going over completely. Might also have had something to do with the dip being in a narrow spot between two trees. I have nice matching bruises on each hip bone from where I hip-checked on my bars. But I was fine, righted myself and we finished the beginner loop.

On the the 7-mile loop that will be used during my first race of the season, the 13 Hour Baker's Dozen. Wow! What a fun trail. The only climbing for at least the first 1/2 of the trail was made up of gentle rollers. The trail is very off-camber with gorgeous views of water throughout. There were dips, dips and more dips. In fact, the dips are probably the only potential troublemaker. There were several multi-dip sections which could be ride-ending dealbreakers if a person wasn't paying attention to speed. There was one rock ledge and one small rock-garden, along with the regular assortment of roots. Only two climbs to speak of, both under one minute in length, and both easily accomplished on the Monocog. I was happy with my ability to match my SS recon speed with the geared recon speed of my ride partners. A blast was had by all three who took the tour!

Brenda & Jesse after Hickory Know

Me, still feeling pretty good...

As we unloaded items back at the car, I noticed a tightness in my lower belly. It wasn't too bad, so I didn't say anything. We packed up and headed out to another nearby trail, Turkey Creek. It was a 7 mile out and back for a total of 14 miles.

The trail was not as well groomed as Baker's Dozen, but was just as nice. Lots of rollers, dips and small log crossings. We weren't really enamored of the number of bridges missing railings on the left hand side, especially when the bridges were over pretty deep creek ravines, but we made it through. As we continued riding out my stomach started tightening and gurgling and I had a hard time keeping up. My whole body started to hurt and I felt really sick. We came to a stop 5.5 miles in where the trail branched off and I told Jesse and Brenda we needed to head back. I told them to go on ahead and just wait for me at obvious spots. About 1/2 mile into the return trip I got to the top of a small grinding climb, did a quick dismount and heaved over some roots and rocks. I didn't feel better afterwards, and told Jesse and Brenda just to keep going on ahead of me when I got to where they were waiting on me. At the top of a second little grinder, I wobbled over a route, fell sideways and just kind of kneeled there for a couple minutes. At the next small grinder, I did another dismount and heave. Seeing a pattern? I was okay when I could just spin and slowly move forward, but any real exertion caused me to throw-up. So I began walking the short and steeps. But I wasn't done. There was a neat little bridge maze that we enjoyed on our way out. On the way back it wasn't as well engineered, requiring a good tug on the bars to get up from one level to the next. That tug managed to do me in for the third time and it was a repeat of the dismount and purge. I felt a bit better, if exhausted and sore, after that third "session" and made it back to the car. Where there was no sign of Jesse or Brenda.

I figured at first that they'd just gone a little further to the canoe entrance to spin their legs as they knew I'd be a few minutes behind. But five minutes passed, then ten, fifteen. And I knew what had happened. They'd missed the re-entry to the trail from a short gravel road about 1/2 mile from the car. I slowly got changed, loaded up my bike, and slowly walked up the trail hoping they'd have sorted it out so I wouldn't have to walk a total of a mile out and back. Luckily I saw them several hundred yards in. Despite feeling less than great I did, indeed, make fun of them, as even sick as I was I managed to see the trail sign with a bike marked prominently on it!

The ride home was uneventful, with Jesse kindly keeping up conversation during the entire three hours. After emptying my stomach on the trails I managed to get down 1/2 a pepsi and 1/2 a small bag of Cheez-its. As I showered off the dirt so I could crawl into bed and collapse, I saw three tiny, puffed welts on my right hand, where my glove would have been covering it. I hadn't scratched my hand at all on the ride, even on my 1/2 endo (remember, I caught myself with my left hand and hips). As it came on all of a sudden with no symptoms, I didn't think it was flu, and I hadn't eaten anything I hadn't been eating all through my training week, so I did not think it was food poisoning of any kind. So I'm guessing that something bit me and the nasty 5.5 mile ride/dismount/purge session was just my way of getting out the toxins. I felt much better, though exhausted and sore (that kind of sore you get after the heaves) on Sunday, and the welts were gone. So, that's my best guess.

I'd planned to do a 3 hour easy spin in Sunday and take today & Tuesday off. The adventure just pushed my off days forward a bit. No real harm done, I guess. Big thanks to Jesse and Brenda for making sure I got out of SC and home to the Maconga.

Rolling w/ the changes

2008-03-21T09:55:00.002-04:00

Let me tell you, working with contractual laborers is not always easy when you're trying to plan rides. Last I'd heard, the folks who were to take away our shed debris and cut down one final rogue pine tree weren't available until Saturday at the earliest, more than likely next week. So I thought I'd hit the trails in the AM. NOPE!

Get a call from el Jefe that they are coming around 9:15. The three laborers did indeed show up then. The man in charge, however, still hasn't arrived and it's almost 10:00. GRRRRR. Roscoe has to be shut in the basement, as they are planning to take down a tree and we certainly don't want anything falling on him. And I can't really leave with him shut down there, as he's never been down there alone. So I keep going downstairs to reassure him. Are all contractors this lackadaisical about their work and the plans of the people for whom they are doing the work? If my plans hadn't fallen through with Namrita and Danielle, they'd be SOL, because I'd have been on the road quite early.

So, my hope is to leave here at around 12, to do a 12:30-5:30 downtown ride. Maybe a good long SS spin and easy climb session will be a good idea before my multi-trail SC trail recon trip tomorrow. They may have to let Roscoe out themselves.

I leave you with a cute picture of Turkey Trot and el Jefe. I've mostly been talking about Roscoe of late, and Puddy. But we still have TT and she's still a squishy, stubborn handful. She likes to lay on us, even when we're not really giving her much room, as evidenced by these pics.

She's a big fat squishy thing that thinks she's a tiny little thing!

She also likes to lay on my much smaller shoulder and forearm when I'm laying on my side reading in bed. As I'm generally trying to wind down at this time, it's not always welcome to have a 10 pound weight squashing you, purring loudly, and breathing fishy, cat food breath at you!

Wind, then rain, an off day in the making...

2008-03-20T09:02:00.004-04:00

The bad weather couldn't have come on a better day. After 11+ hours of SS saddle time in three days (still nothing to compare to Nam's crazy hours), my backside (more than my legs) needed a break. So errands were run and some more house cleaning took place. Scrubbing of baseboards. Man, they get dirtier than you'd think. YIKES. And finally, I scrubbed Yoda's favorite windowsills. It was hard to walk in that room, I've been pretty much staying out of it, and wipe away one more sign that she'd lived with us for so long. As I did so I watched two fat squirrels frolic in the light rain. Yoda looked remarkably like a squirrel, so it brought a few sniffles, but good ones...fond sniffles.

I realize I haven't given a Roscoe update in a while. He's doing great! He's filled out well, his limp is still noticeable, but he puts on little bursts of speed chasing Puddy or running from me when we play the "I'm gonna get you" game (his favorite). He's taken to rawhides, finally. At first he just carted them off and buried them. Now he hunkers down and goes to town, which we wanted, as we want to keep his teeth and jaw healthy. He's now on the same eating schedule as Puddin', and he lets us pet him pretty much anytime we walk up to him, unless he's feeling like playing games.

My boys...cute, aren't they?

The last of the monster pine tree has finally be removed from the yard, and now we're just waiting for the debris from the shed to be removed. It's full of nails, so right now the beasties are stuck inside/shut out of the fenced in area. The heavy duty equipment is still decorating our sideyard, too.

Pretty yard decor, huh?

I'm going to get in some more SS time today...later in the afternoon. And I'm still hoping I get to ride with Namrita and Danielle tomorrow, but that's still up in the air, I think. (EDIT: Not going to happen). I'll get in some geared hours SOMEWHERE tomorrow, then Saturday we're doing recon for the Baker's Dozen 13 Hour event which takes place 4/5/08. I plan to do the race on the SS at present, so it seems smart to go check it out. If it's anything like the old venue, it will be SS friendly. Putting together the crew for that outing, right now.

Hope everyone else has a great end of the week and that weather is friendly across the US. I'll leave you today with a couple tracks from Merge bands. Superchunk has long been one of my favorite bands, though their sound has mellowed much over their long career!

Dancing Music by Ashley Stove

Million Dollar Man by Imperial Teen

Big Darkness by Crooked Fingers (another long time favorite, from the time of Archers of Loaf to now)

Leaves Do Fall by the Rosebuds

Freaks In Charge by Superchunk

Pedalin' and Polishing

2008-03-18T10:17:00.003-04:00

That's what this week is all about. Getting some ride time in, and I'm off to a pretty good start. And getting some house cleaning in. I'm also off to a pretty good start there. Different cleaning products are currently perfuming the house. Sometimes they clash, but each room has it's own fresh smell now. Not that the house normally smells of funk and filth, but with two cyclists, two dogs and a cat, well, sometimes the air can get a bit stale.

Yesterday was floors, mostly. Today has already involved a big grocery trip, a bathtub scrubbing, and some other surface cleaning. On tap? A 4-hour SS ride and some more scrubbing, including a shower, baseboards, and windowsills. And maybe some vacuuming. But with a still soggy yard and with more tree work today, meaning an indoor Puddy most of the afternoon, vacuuming might be futile. And my mopping will probably come to naught tomorrow, as it's expected to rain a good bit. Well, I'm doing what I set out to do, whether it stays sweet smelling or not, right?

I was going to drive up to Dauset this afternoon, but I had such a good ride at the Pig yesterday (haven't been there in ages). I hit the flatter areas over and over yesterday to let my legs spin out after the 5 hour road ride Sunday. The trail was in great shape, except for a few spots, so today I'll go out to hit some other parts of the trail to grind out some more SS mileage and work some more on keeping up speed through turns, etc.

I'm hoping to get to ride with Danielle when she returns to GA at the end of this week, but weather and logistics might put a damper on that. I'm keeping fingers crossed.

That's really all that's going on. Riding and cleaning. Cleaning and riding. So I'll leave you with a few tunes and get back to my riding and cleaning.

In Our Talons by the Bowerbirds

In Your Dust by Ross Beach

Sincerely by Portico

Battleship by the Maybellines

We skipped the race...

2008-03-16T10:44:00.003-04:00

along with these three fast ladies and this fella, and a bunch of other folks, too.

Turns out the weather wasn't that bad at the race. But the cells looked scary, and after seeing the devastation to the GA Dome and the CNN center, we didn't particularly care to take the chance on the drive or the ride.

We're not too fussed over it. My bike was acting strangely anyway, and it turns out there was a hidden kink in my cable that we wouldn't have found ourselves.

Instead, I got some much needed laundry issues sorted out, those being lots of missing socks!

I'm off for 5 hours on the SS on the road today. Luckily I'll have some company for the last three hours or so. I'll be tune-tapping for the first two hours.

I'm taking this next week off from work to do some house stuff and to get in some long rides. I won't be able to compete with Nam's crazy hours, but I'd like to put in a really hard week, then taper to Baker's Dozen.

Gritty Eyes & A Muzzy Head

2008-03-13T15:19:00.002-04:00

I got almost NO SLEEP last night. I don't know what the deal was. I rode 2:45 at Thomson, and got home before eight. Had a shower, had my last meal and settled in to wind down with a couple episodes of the Family Guy. Same as the night before. But no go...I'm normally asleep by 9:30 at the latest. 9:30, 10:30, 11:30 all passed my by with a brain churning, despite my yawns. I didn't want to thrash around and keep Jeff awake, so I went out to the computer, thinking some work might settle me down and get me sleepy. 2:00 AM came and I was still not sleepy, despite my yawns. Though I did crawl back into bed, to at least let my limbs relax, I didn't fall asleep until after 5. And the alarm went off at 6:45 (normally it goes off a lot earlier, but I'd set it ahead due to the circumstances).

My eyes feel like they are full of sand. And my head feels both heavy and spacey at the same time. Not the way I'd prefer to sleep two nights before a race. But, such is life. I'm not fit to ride my bike, so my 45 minute spin isn't going to happen...and to be honest, right now I couldn't finagle my bike onto the trainer if I wanted to. Which I don't. So I'll probably go for a walk this evening, stretch with some yoga, and pop two Tylenol PM tablets, hoping for oblivion.

I have no appetite either. But am trying to get the food down, as I know I need it to recover from the workouts I did earlier this week. But I'm definitely just getting it down...not tasting it.

I can link music, so I will, as it doesn't require much physical exertion, nor much cognitive dexterity, as I've got them all saved in a favorites folder.

No Good Honey by Neonbelle

Roisin Dubh by Laurel Brauns

Hard to Find by American Analog Set (I think I've linked this song on every blog I've ever had)

Blueberry Titfuck by Touchdown Eagle

Gonna be tired come Monday(s)

2008-03-12T11:25:00.006-04:00

Well my ride stretched into a 3 hour pedalfest last night - trying to keep up with the ever speedy and spinneriffic BMac during the last 1:15 of it, so I'm skipping my 20 minute run this morning, as I've got a 2.5 hour endurance pace MTB ride to get in this afternoon. The sun is out and shining, and temps are supposed to get up into the 70's. Yippee.

Jeff and I are doing the 6 Hour Dirty Spokes race at Heritage on Saturday. It's just a training opportunity for me, as I don't feel skilled enough to tackle that trail at speed for a duo, or at endurance pace for the full six hours. I've oft repeated here that I'm not a very good technical rider. I've made some strides in the last three months, but I've got a good long ways to go before I'd be anywhere near "comfortable" at Heritage. It's not the roots...it's the loose rocks, the downhills and the loose rocks making up the downhills. It's something to work on. I did endo during my pre-ride, so let's all think good thoughts for an endo free race for Ms. Mallie.

As you can see, I'm riding and lifting right up to and past the race (got a 4-5 hour endurance MTB ride on Sunday per Coach Musto). Monday's an off day, then, since I'm taking the week off work to get some much needed home reno/cleaning work done, I also plan to get some long hours in on the SS before Baker's Dozen. So by this Monday, and again the following Monday, I'm expecting to be toast in the legs department.

I'm trying to post most days, again...and in the same vein, I'm hoping to post tunes most days, too. Today I'm in the mood to share some Matador Record artists...

The Greatest by Cat Power

Myriad Harbour by the New Pornographers

I'm Gone by Dead Meadow

Watching the Weather, Again

2008-03-11T14:02:00.003-04:00

Supposed to meet el Jefe and Hillarie out at Arrowhead tonight. But the weather and the concern that it isn't draining well might put the big nix on those plans. I need to get in at least 90 minutes, so I'm hoping for:

1. The rain to miss us completely
2. The rain to be minimal so we can hit Thomson instead
3. The rain to be done by 6 PM so I can ride boring downtown with the NOT boring BMac

Got in 4:30 on the mountain bike on the trails at Thomson on Sunday. Though the forecast called for sun and temps in the 60's, the wind kept it from ever really getting warm, so I spent the ride in arm and leg warmers. But, once into the trees, the wind wasn't bad and it was a really enjoyable ride. Hillarie kept me company for the middle part of it, and I won't share here why she had to bow out early. Alicia and Bailey kept me company for the remainder of the time, while the MP3 player kept me smooth sailing for the first hour, plus.

Sub Pop bands got me through the ice and winds on Saturday, so I thought I'd share some of the tunes that helped me grind it out...

Pillar of Salt & How We Know by the Thermals

The Funeral & Is There A Ghost by Band of Horses

Keep Your Eyes Ahead by the Helio Sequence

Tane Mahuta by the Ruby Suns

I Am John by Loney, Dear

Sigh. Arrowhead and Thomson aren't looking like a go. So I'll be meeting Ms. Mac. It's not that I don't want to ride with Beth. I haven't seen her in far too long. It's just that I wanted to ride trails. Such is life. Weather looks good the rest of the week, fingers crossed for race on Saturday, so I can't really complain.

Talk to you some more tomorrow, or the next day!

Resistance 210

2008-03-09T08:24:00.000-04:00

Sounds like a grueling race, huh? But it's not. In fact it was just my Saturday ride. 210 minutes (3:30) on the road on the knobbies...and the resistance was the weather.

I started my ride at 9:15 and finished up at 12:45. That 14 MPH wind you see posted at 9 AM, must have lasted all of 5 minutes, because it was definitely more gusty. As you can see, the wind was pretty pronounced. Granted, a lot of you northerners deal with this a lot, but this was a colossal weather day for me. It snowed in little flurries, which was pretty and kind of fun. The freezing rain, not as fun with the gusts of 30+ MPH winds slapping it against my face. At times I could barely pedal into the headwinds, and twice my bike almost came out from under me when I got hit with a crosswind gust. The worst spot was up on the levy, in the open spaces by the ball fields. The wind had me pedaling my hardest and probably only moving forward at 4 mph (computer not registering speed or MPH, just clock and temp!!!).

I was actually pretty comfortable in my layers of clothing, except for my feet. They were like blocks of ice, even with neoprene socks and my shoe covers.

I wasn't the only one braving the elements, which was a surprise. And it wasn't runners or other cyclists, I actually had the River Walk to myself. No, it was the softball teams who were out braving the weather along with me. I think they were actually worse off, as they weren't moving constantly, if slowly, like me. They gave me lots of funny looks when I'd pass by.

I wanted to go 4 hours, but as I neared the 3:30 mark my knees were begging me to quit battling the wind. Both were stiff and sore, and my butt was beginning to feel like a big bootie popsicle. I could barely feel my feet and my nose had been running non-stop for 210 minutes. I decided to bow out gracefully and add on a half hour to another ride later in the week.

I have a funny tan line from where my skull cap was resting low on my forehead beneath my helmet. Hoping that the sunny weather today, coupled with my 5 hour ride will make that go away! Meeting Hillarie and Alicia at different times today, so my ride shouldn't be too lonely.

Hope everyone else got in good workouts no matter the weather...

Weird One Day Sickie?

2008-03-07T09:01:00.001-05:00

Renee's been posting about her snot issues, so I guess I can post about my weird one day sickie. Wednesday night I noticed my stomach feeling tight and jittery. Told Jeff I wasn't feeling well and went to bed early. Woke up yesterday morning still feeling kinda weird. Seems right since my tea/organic cereal combo came back up on me before lunchtime. Yuck. Also had the weird headache that tends to come with stomach issues. So, instead of my 1:30 ride with intervals, I cuddled up under the covers with Turkey and tried to keep warm.

This morning, except for a tiny bit of tummy tightness and some ear ringing (which longtime readers know is something I get whenever I feel poorly or my iron levels get low), I feel OK. Not really tired. I have an appetite and I feel like I can get in a workout. It's pouring down rain, so I'll be on the trainer, which is probably a good thing, just in case I start to feel poorly.

I'm really hoping it was a weird one day glitch - a short bug or something I ate not agreeing with me, as I've got to get in my long rides this weekend. At least 4 and 5 hours respectively. I'm pretty lucky as Renee, el Jefe and others are about to embark upon allergy season, and I'm not allergic to anything...so maybe this is my small penance? Who knows.

Apparently my music postings did not appease the weather gods, so I'm going to try again. Maybe I just didn't get the right combination of tunes?

Rain by Bishop Allen
Perhaps I should be celebrating the wet stuff, rather than bemoaning it?

Will Try by Amy Annelle

Winter Song by Organ Donor
Again, maybe the nature gods are telling me to embrace the cold rather than hating on it?

Where to Place Your Trust by Boyracer
I should place it in the nature gods, of course!

Weather Woes a Coming?

2008-03-05T08:22:00.000-05:00

It looks like the weekend might be iffy for us Middle Georgians. Although it's only Wednesday, so I can't worry overmuch, yet. The forecast tends to swing 180's around here, and can do so from one day to the next. I just hope it's dry enough to ride actual trails. Although a long ride at the Piedmont wouldn't be remiss. Of course, need to find someone to haul me around as I've only been there once - ages ago.

To appease the weather gods/Mother Nature, I'll post tunes first, talk other stuff later...

This one's probably been linked before, but it's fun and screams for good weather!
Pile of Gold by the Blow

I like the singer's sunny vocals...
Take Me to The Ballroom by the Moonbabies

This one's kinda retro-90's, and again great female vocals...
From A Tower by Love Like Fire

And because I like quirky tunes...
I'm On Sale by the Doers

In Roscoe news, we've got a collar on him and he actually butts his head against our hands requesting rubs once you get him close. He loves to follow Puddin' when he goes tearing after squirrels, but knows to keep out of the way when the Puds starts his crazed hot laps, as he often bodychecks Roscoe mid-sprint. He's quit yelping when Puddy rushes him and now generally tries to evade the craziness. We're still getting price quotes to add to our fenced in area, but Roscoe's staying warm in our tool shed, which we emptied of tools and comfied up with a couple old quilts. He doesn't get freaked out when we approach him as he's getting a nap, and sits calmly while we hunker down to give him some rubs. He's filthy, and he's now allowing rub downs with doggie wipes...not sure when a real bath will be doable. He's iffy on brushing...sometimes it's OK, sometimes it's not.

Roscoe in his nest...such a sweetie!

I've got a double today...a short run this AM, then a 2.5-3 hour road ride on the knobbies this evening. My back's a bit stiff...I noticed it a bit Monday, but really noticed it yesterday working my core on the stability ball. I'm hoping it won't get worse hunched over the bars this afternoon. I know, I know, get a massage! Ain't happening. Maybe I can get Jeff to roll me out with the stick tonight.

I leave you with one final tune. I love traditional Irish music, and modern takes on the same. This has the sound of an old ballad, a lament, and it's quite sad...much like most traditional Irish folk ballads...

Gathering Flowers by Dyad

Productive Weekend

2008-03-04T05:55:00.000-05:00

...of exercise at least!

First of all, gotta post this. Jeff ran his second 5K on Saturday and finished with a pretty impressive 26:38. Not bad for a power sprinter kind of cyclist who ran, at most, once a week for a couple months. The race was at GEICO, his workplace, so he couldn't resist posing a bit for the work crew at the finish line. He might have finished under 26:30 without the flexing and posturing!

As for me, I got in 8.5 hours on the bike between Friday-Sunday. I hit Arrowhead for two hours on Friday, which was grueling, as I haven't done a full lap put there in over a year (I tried to ride the trail with Hillarie the day of the Yoda accident - and thus left rather early). I did one full lap, did several sections twice and a couple sections three times (my prior trouble spots), which I managed to complete. I don't know if it's the time at Heritage and Camp Thunder, but right now nothing local scares me much. Well, Huff 'n Puff still scares me!

Saturday was 2.5 hours on the road on the knobbies. I went down to the roadie haunts of Howard Middle School and the surrounding area and hit most of the usual roads, Estes, Colaparchee, Whittle, but I also did some exploring (can't remember the street names now) and found some nice long rolling climbs. Climbs that are nothing on the skinny tires are a different story when you're grinding them out in your middle ring on knobbies. Not harder, really, they just seem to last sooooooooo much longer.

Sunday I went to Thomson. I got there at 9:45 and left a little after 2:15. Ride time was 4 hours, as I met Kim there and we worked on a lot of her trouble spots. I'd say 15-30 minutes were spent off bike helping her, so I'm stating my ride time as 4 hours. By this time my legs were toast, so there was some much appreciated use of my granny ring, but I kept pedaling and stayed on the trails for 3:15 of the four hours. My legs were so tight that I did have to go spin them out on the road for about 45 minutes, in 15 minute increments throughout the ride.

So, yesterday was a much needed and much appreciated off day with just some stretching and a long, hot shower. Today's a short run (only running 20-30 minutes twice a week, just as cross training, I won't be doing any 5K events)to warm up my muscles, then my weights and core workout. Back on the bike tomorrow-Sunday and hoping my legs get me through this weekend which involves 8-9 hours of trail riding over two days.

And what would a new week of training be without music?

100 Thieves - The Slow Signal Fade

Accordions & Cigarettes - Reilly

The Things We Say - bellaparker

Out of the loop...

2008-02-29T07:15:00.001-05:00

I'm pretty much as far out of the loop as you can get. Mix together the Roscoe/Yoda debacle, a weird patch of frenzy/lull with work and just an overall case of late-winter blahs, and you end up out of the loop. I don't know if my friends even think I'm alive anymore. So it's time to boost lots of things.

Things to boost:

1. Time on bike
2. Communications with friends
3. Time on bike with friends
4. Healthy eating (cuz you know the first thing to go when you're out of the loop is your diet)
5. Regular blog posts
6. Time on the bike, with and without friends

See a pattern there? If you don't, I'll give you a hint, bike, time and bike time. I've made a start. And I'm hoping to build my "blogger" base again, as I've let that lapse too.

Onward and forward. On tap today, an MTB ride. Need to climb, need to remember roots, need to maximize my pitifully minimal downhill skills and my pitifully minimal intestinal fortitude as it pertains to downhills. And I need to send some e-mails, apologizing for being a poor pal.

I'll start making restitution to my blogging buddies by posting some tunes. Maybe Brian still hearts me!

Drip, Drip, Drop by Canoe
Cuz it's been raining a bit here in the Maconga

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Troublemaker by All Girl Summer Fun Band
Cuz who couldn't use some summer fun?

Cold Cold Water by Mirah
Cuz I need to shake the cold, cold water that's been rising over my head, and because Mirah's just awesome!

Wallowing Just A Bit Longer

2008-02-22T07:47:00.000-05:00

That'd be me doing the wallowing, Mallie. I haven't felt much like meandering lately. The weather today suits my overall mood, damp, soggy and grey. Don't get me wrong, there has been laughter and remembered stories of the sassy, snippy, snotty flying squirrel we called Yoda. And Roscoe has wormed his way even deeper into our hearts. But I'm just not quite ready to snap back into it yet.

So I'm not going to go to Bleckley. I think Jeff is - he's 50-50. He wants to get out and see people. I'm not ready for that yet. I'd like to wallow a bit more with just the two of us, but I realize he needs to get out. I'm going to go another weekend, then it's time to snap out of it. It's too yucky to ride the trails, anyway. I bought two wooden plaques and I think a part of Saturday will be spent making markers for Yoda and Bad News.

I did sign up for Lumberjack. And Baker's Dozen isn't that far away. But if I don't get my butt back on my bike after this weekend of wallowing, things are really gonna hurt in April. Sigh.

I'll leave you with some pics of the fellas:

Roscoe, looking sad, but he really enjoys his time w/Puddin'

The boys at play, look at Puddy high-steppin...

This is Jackson, though he lives next door, he's basically
our third dog. Every time we go by he throws himself against
the fence for rubs. We give him cookies, too. He's a tank!

Big progress with Roscoe, for any who care. He's loving coming into the basement and hanging out with Puddin'. The weekend will be spent making most of it a bit of doggie heaven. They'll be getting a couch we'd thought we'd be taking to the dump (can't donate it because Goodwill, etc. won't take furniture w/rips). We let Puddy on the furniture, so we figure they'll enjoy a couch to curl up on. The biggest and bestest news. Roscoe's getting to really trust us. He let Jeff dose him with flea/tick application. Up next, brush and minimal bath with a spray coat conditioner/cleanser combo.

Heartbreak & Hearts Touched

2008-02-18T20:48:00.000-05:00

Jeff asked me if he could guest blog on the following post, and of course, I let him

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
When bad things happen to good people (trying to do good things)...

My mom typed this phrase in a condolence e-mail she sent today that sums up this entire post.

This past Sunday morning, I made a sincere but enormous mistake that will haunt our household for many years to come. We'd slowly gained Roscoe's trust over the two weeks since we decided to take him in. He was getting along great with Puddin', trusted us to rub his head occasionally and even twice crossed paths with Turkey without incident when she escaped out the front door. So I naively figured I'd take the next step and introduce him to Yoda. Long story short, without warning he grabbed her in his mouth and shook her, breaking her neck and killing her. In a matter of seconds, our little princess was gone.

And what a princess she was. Actually, the oxymoron "tomboy princess" best described Yoda. She did some of things princesses do - walked around on her tippy toes, drank daintily from her water bowl, made a fuss if her dry food was more than a day old and only used a litter box once or twice before declaring it unfit for her regal bottom. But she was also a down and dirty tomboy. She routinely plopped herself down spread eagle in the middle of the dinner table and proceeded to clean her princess parts, piddled on the floor adjacent to the litter box after deciding it was too dirty for her and she couldn't clean herself to save her life - she'd lick herself but all she'd accomplish was getting her coat greasy so it would in turn attract more dirt. Parenting Yoda was a labor of love. In fact, when she was born, we'd hoped to give her away along with her twin brother but quickly realized nobody would want a kitten that didn't like to be touched and expressed her entire range of emotions through a mix of dirty looks and ear popping screams. So we kept her, and we loved her. And she loved us...well, me. Sometimes. Kind of.

We never really figured out what made Yoda tick. She never learned to play with other animals - her interaction with her four legged family consisted largely of getting chased (playfully) by Seamus and Puddy and ambushed and pounced upon by first her uncle Bad News, and more recently sister Turkey. She did love to get brushed and enjoyed chasing the laser pointer from time to time - enough so that we decided to bury the laser pointer with her (although in hindsight, she was better friends with the brush and I wish we laid it to rest with her as well). But she rarely did the things cats do - snuggle in your lap, chase bugs, bat at dangling strings or any other the playful activities that define a happy cat's life. One of her few pleasures in times past was hanging out atop a seven foot high shelf we had and staring down at her subjects (us) condescendingly. Our former brother-in-law took a perfectly timed photo of her in mid-flight down from the shelf in a picture we have on our kitchen wall we nostalgically refer to as the "Flying Squirrel". But more recently, her days were primarily spent on the basement window sill, watching what little world went by in our backyard. We figured she was so ornery that she'd live to at least 20 by virtue of keeping the Grim Reaper at bay by screaming at him when he got too close. But at only nine years old and despite looking like a kitten on the outside, she was an old soul that seemed to get little enjoyment out of life.

Yoda sharing some food with Puddy

Although nobody wanted Yoda to pass on the way she did, I'd like to think that on some spiritual level she decided she'd enjoyed nine years of a good life with us nobody else would've given her and it was time to share some of that good fortune with her new brother. Our first reaction to what happened was that we had to turn Roscoe in to animal control just to prevent the possibility of him hurting Turkey or one of the neighborhood cats. But as two wrongs don't make a right, a second animal dying needlessly wouldn't bring Yoda back and would've only been a greater tragedy. Roscoe has been nothing but passive and loving around us and other dogs so we can only guess as to why he hurt Yoda - perhaps he'd just never been around cats before and thought he was playing, maybe he confused her for a squirrel, etc...who knows. So we decided to keep him and just take extra precautions to make sure he can't come near any of the neighborhood kitties. We plan to expand the fenced in area of our backyard and install a doggie door in the basement so that he and Puddin' can spend time together both indoors and out. I let Roscoe wander around in the basement as I began cleaning it today and he was so happy; even downright playful. The sight of him grinning and wagging his tail affirmed our belief that he has a good heart and that we we're doing the right thing in moving past what happened and trying to let him enjoy a life of happiness, safety and dignity he didn't have in his previous home.

My childhood dog died when I was 11 and after a few days of grieving, my parents made me get out of the house and accept that life goes on. So picture a scrawny 11 year old kid bawling his eyes out as he pushed a mower around the backyard in the Florida heat. Fast forward 22 years and the kid is fully grown and the mower has been replaced by a mop, but the kid's still crying in the wake of one of his kid's deaths as he attempts to get on with things. This afternoon, I'd have done just about anything to let Yoda come back from the grave just to piss on the basement floor one last time. Anything but go back in time a few weeks and decide not to leave a plate of food out for the starving abused dog that had been wandering our neighborhood aimlessly for weeks.

Although Yoda will live on by way of us re-affirming our decision to save Roscoe, her last minutes on this Earth were spent in the sunbeam purring and kneading her claws happily as I brushed her on the living room window sill, and that's how I'd like to remember her. Rest in peace princess, Mommy and Daddy will always love their little flying squirrel.

Yoda Dein
9/20/98 - 2/17/08

His name is Roscoe!

2008-02-05T13:04:00.000-05:00

Yep, I put all the options into a hat and I pulled out Bryan's option.

Thanks to all who posted a comment with a name, a note about how cute he is, or anything else. He's doing well, taking treats out of our hands, but not out of open palms (weird) and we manage a couple rubs from time to time. I got him his first bone today and he promptly settled down in the sun and "held it down" with his paw, so he's quite happy.

On the not so good front...the laptop is about dead. So a new computer is waiting to be set up. But not until after my 90 minute ride!

I got in my rides this weekend and had a great time at Heritage. More on that trail and the ride after the new computer's all set up. I'll leave you with this teaser. I did endo, once, and someone was behind me to appreciate it and told me it was "pretty".

New Family Member...Kinda Long Post and A Contest

2008-02-02T09:37:00.000-05:00

No, el Jefe and I are not pregnant. So let's nip that in the bud ASAP. Some of you already know we're animal lovers and tend to be animal rescuers. We got the previous new family member, Turkey Trot, when we found her abandoned at one of our favorite mountain bike trails, hence her name. Turkey Trot is my favorite section of the Dauset Trail system.

This poor guy has been wandering the neighborhood for a couple weeks. He just ran constantly. He always looked exhausted. Well, finally, after lots of coaxing and plenty of meals (the poor thing is way too skinny), he's started to call our house "home". He sleeps in our yard and, though he still wanders a bit, he seems to stick closer to our place, probably waiting for his next feeding. Right now he gets fed 3 times a day and gets lots of treats. He's THAT thin. He's allowed me to pet him once, and he's walked up to both Jeff and I to delicately take a cookie from our hand, and has, on several occasions, given us a few finger licks.

We thought he was old, because he's got a limp and because he had a light muzzle. Upon closer inspection, he still has a limp, but he;s just got a blond muzzle. His whiskers are all jet black, where they'd be grizzled if he were truly old. We have not yet been able to really check out what's wrong with his legs, we'll get the housecall vet to come by as soon as we have him trusting us a bit more.

Here he is:

I love the pic of him peeking around the car at us. He's still pretty shy, and we have to coax him to let us real close. But we're making progress, and we know we're going to do everything we can to help him.

So...what's the contest? We decided to let the blogging world decide his name. It is definitely a "HE". So...reply with a name idea in the comments, and on Tuesday at noon, I'll put all the names "in a hat" and choose the winner. I'll probably do it digitally with a random selection script, but pulling it out of a hat sounds more fun. Please be creative. Yes, we know he's a lucky dog to have stumbled into our yard, but there are 8,000,000,000,000 rescued animals named Lucky. To assist you, I'll give you the names of the other family members, so if you want to go with a certain "theme" you can.

This is Puddin...

He go this name as a puppy, Why? Because he was a little fatty who bowled over his brothers and sisters to eat and then slept like the fat little thing he was. Who'd of thunk he'd grow up to be the muscular, active beastie that he is. The name still fits him, as he's got the sweetest nature, but isn't all that bright.

Already told you how Turkey Trot got her name, but here she is...

And finally, Yoda. She's our old lady, almost ten years old. She's tiny, 4,5-5 lbs, full grown. She looks fluffy and quite cute, but she's psychotic. she got her name, because she looked just like Yoda, wrinkly and homely, as a tiny kitten born in our first apartment together. This photo taken by my pops-in-law.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

In other news, I got out Thursday morning for a nice, but chilly ride on the SS. 90 minutes, starting a bit after 8 AM. It was a little over 30 degrees when I started, and there was a wind chill, but except for my feet getting a little cold at the end, I dressed properly. The first downhill was rather bracing, but I was glad to be out, as I had meetings all through the afternoon.

I skipped a ride yesterday in favor of sitting in the yard for some 3 hours, coaxing the new puppy ever closer. When he finally lay down a couple feet from me, listening to me sing silly songs and tell him he was safe, I had no doubts that the missed ride was worth it.

Today I'm going to take the SS downtown for some spinning and some climbing around Mercer - 3 hours at least. Tomorrow we hit Heritage. I've never been there, and I'm rather cautious on new trails, so we'll see what happens there. I hope to get in a total of 2.5-3 hours of riding, definitely on the geared bike!

Can't wait to see what kind of names you come up with.

P.I.S.

2008-01-29T08:59:00.000-05:00

That translates into "Pardukey In Saddle".

Though I didn't feel sore walking around or doing normal business yesterday, my legs had no get up and go when I got up and went on my ride yesterday. Coach gave me a schedule, knowing I was going to swap days around based on my plans to ride with the girls and el Jefe. So instead of yoga and a hot/cold shower, yesterday was a ride. 2:20 on the knobbies on the road and on the dead grass covered levee. Temp hit a high of 61, but there was enough wind to require tights and my nice new, and oh so appreciated, Sheila Moon bolero. Thanks Mom & Dad Dein!

My legs were in revolt the entire time. Apparently those short grinds to get up some of the short and steeps at Thomson after losing too much speed in the turns just put more hurt on the muscles than I thought. I wanted to quit after 30 minutes. But my new 'tude for training called for me to man up, so I did.

Sure it would have been easier on the legs if I'd been on the road bike, but since I promised Deano that I'd do the Bleckley Metric Century with him on the knobbies, I figured I'd better practice what I preached I would manage, eh? I don't know how many miles I got in, cuz I still don't have a computer on the Haro, but figure I did between 25-27, based on my normal rides of this type. Pushing through the short, but dry and resistant, grass on the levy kept it from being a total pleasure cruise.

Let's see...on a craft front, I've got two scarves just about ready to be sent to their recipients. Both are made from super fun, non-purist, acrylic mixtures. But they'll be warm and/or snuggly, and the colors and yarn styles are pretty cool. Photos tomorrow before I ship them out. I've also got a color-blok felted bag in progress for Renee. She knows something's coming as her belated B-Day gift, but it's not what she was shown (came out way too small and I re-assessed my self-designed pattern). I'm hoping to finish it up before I see her on Sunday to pre-ride Heritage, course location of my first event this year.

I've also got some more ideas for using up the gigantic horde of cogs I have left over after the bike parts extravaganza for Thomson Day. Think clocks, some jewelry, wall art and a few other options. Here's one more pic of prizes, courtesy of Dean.

These were the prizes for the Thomson Toss (all about strength,
tossing a heavy Thomson part as far as you can) and the Derby
Bullfight (better, and more commonly known as foot down).

And, before I leave, to keep a few folks happy, here's a couple tunes. We'll call it Two Tunes For Tuesday.

No Good Honey by Pien Fieth

and

Reflections by Vijaya

On tap for today, 90 minutes of aerobics of my choice and light weights/high reps.

Singlespeed, Gunshots and Single Crochet

2008-01-27T15:30:00.000-05:00

Took the Monocog out for a couple of hours of singlespeed fun at Thomson today. I had never tackled these trails with only one gear and knew I'd have some "failures". I knew I wouldn't make it up Dan's Bastard, with that sharp turn dragging away all speed right before the climb. I did make the climb in the back three times, though, with a dab or push-off from time to time when I got tired. I skipped the creek crossing section and only did the advanced section once, as I forgot my knee brace and didn't want to push it on the short and steeps back there.

The only bad part of the ride was hearing gunshots way too close for comfort out on the trail. I called the cops, but as I never saw the gun-toting idiot, and know the cops won't get out on the trails themselves, I don't know that anything beneficial will come from the call. I definitely plan to e-mail Dave about it tomorrow and see if anyone else has reported the same situation.

Today was really just about riding the SS and getting in some solid bike time. I definitely need to work on keeping speed in turns, as there were several shorties that I had to grind out when I didn't keep up momentum in the preceding turns. I was more worried about the rigid aspect of the bike than the one gear thing. But the roots didn't bug me much (I'll give you a soreness update tomorrow). I got in two good hours, 16 miles, no speed to speak of, but I enjoyed it.

Some pics of the trail...just for those who care:

These are the dirt jumps el Jefe and crew work so hard on.
I only ride the smaller sets on the left and the set you
probably can't see going into the woods.

Funnily enough, when I first started riding, this little
bridge freaked me out as much as anything else!

On either side of the trees you can go! A little decision maker.

Hard to tell via photograph, but this is a fun little rutty downhill
with more fun ruts and mini-drops into some sand at the bottom.

First of two nice dips...used to be one BIG one.

You can see them both from this angle. The second
requires at least one crank, two if speed isn't high.

On the craft front, I'm tackling some felting, which means plain old single crochet. When you;re going to shrink the fibers, there's really no need get fancy, and a really loose or tall stitch wouldn't felt properly. Here's some potholder projects. I'm also working on two bags, photos of works in progress should be posted either tomorrow or Tuesday.

The one on the left still needs the loose ends tucked in and
to be felted. The one on the right is felted and ready to go!
I did these with a double strand, so they're nice and thick.

This is one of two, with same colors but different patterns, which
will be going out as a birthday gift. Obviously it's unfelted, as
you can see from all the loose ends. I hope the stripes look cool when felted!

Not much else to say right now. Got to get back to some room clearing out. Right now, el Jefe and I are clearing out junk and getting ready for trips to the Macon Rescue Mission. Much clothing and some dishware shall soon be donated to the needy.

Short and sweet...

2008-01-24T14:21:00.000-05:00

That's what yesterday's ride was, even with the post-real weights workout soreness. Just a shade over an hour of hilly road riding on the knobbies. The temps were about 15 degrees warmer yesterday than today, so it was a darned good time.

Today's an unscheduled off day (fellas may want to skip to the next paragraph) as my never know exactly when it's happening monthly friend came along and my insides feel like they're on a roller coaster as they try to find their way out. Not so sweet, but short, so the fellas can begin reading again.

The weekend should be full with plenty of riding, some early prep for upcoming house renovation projects, and some crafting. But before I get into any posting about crafting, I promised a certain someone that I'd post some tunes. He's been pretty patient, so I dare not make him wait any longer! So, without further ado, some MP3-age (some newer and some oldies but goodies):

Atlantis Nights by Hudson Bell
Greetings, Salutations, Goodbye by Piney Gir
Twenty-Two by Bronwyn (I have to admit this one of my all time favorite songs...slight off-key vocals and all)
Letters Fail by The Morals
Neutral Milk Hotel by The Gifted Children

I've got some crafting stuff going on and planned, but will save that for tomorrow's post. Happy, Brian?

Sure to be sore tomorrow...

2008-01-22T16:12:00.000-05:00

Why? Because today's the first day since I got sick before Christmas where I did a real weight workout. Yep. Sure to be sore tomorrow, and probably worse on Thursday.

But no matter how sore I feel tomorrow, well, I need to get back out on the bike. Whether or not it's cold. Whether or not it's damp, windy, raining. Renee has a post on much the same idea today. I hope she can find what gets her revved to get the workouts in despite her hectic schedule. And I know I need to find the mojo to get out in the cold.

I love riding my bike, I even love riding for 4-5 hours. But I'm not insane. I don't enjoy riding when I can't feel my fingers or toes. I don't enjoy riding when I can't see more than a few inches in front of me. I don't enjoy riding the trails when I have that sixth sense that tells me that a fall caused by a slippery root is imminent. And I certainly don't enjoy riding on the road in the cold, especially when the cold's exacerbated by damp.

But I do "want to", so I need to find that mojo-jojo to get-it-done. We'll see what that is tomorrow. Today it was knowing I'd be "happy" sort of, to feel the soreness that stems from a good weight workout.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

On the "enjoying" life front. I've got numerous craft projects going on. I'm just about done with two projects for two of the Biker Chicas. I'm also finishing up second portion of a belated B-Day gift for the same Renee linked above (don't worry, she did get one of two birthday gifts in a timely fashion). I'm tackling some felting projects and I'm also in the "thinking stage" on two recycling craft projects. Photos on some of that tomorrow.

And, YES, Brian...some music posts will be happening before end of week.

Winter Weather For A Winter Festival

2008-01-21T08:09:00.001-05:00

The Annual Thomson Day Festival, which was also a memorial for the very recently departed Ronnie Thomson, fell on an incredibly cold, wet and miserable day. But the folks who didn't puss out and came to the event had a great time. Props to all who came and paid respect to Ronnie and expressed their condolences to his family.

I know you don't want a lot of rambling about this, you want pictures...so I'm happy to oblige!

First off I'll post some of the photos others took of my prizes. That's right, I didn't take any of my own. I was tired of the whole process by the time the festival came around, but I'm now glad that others took them. I did receive lots of compliments and even had two different folks ask me to make prizes for their races/festivals. We'll see if it pans out. I don't think the bulk of folks understand how long it takes to make these things. It's not a one afternoon, or even a one week, thing.

Robin Allen from SORBA took these photos:

The prize table

4:20 Race - 3rd Place

4:20 Race - 2nd Place

4:20 Race - 1st Place

Tire Change Competition - Don't know if this event
even took place, but I like the photo!

Scott Hodge won the men's 4:20 race!

Here I am presenting Namrita her 3rd place
prize. She also won the Fast Lap award.

More photos to come...

Balance

2008-01-18T10:24:00.001-05:00

Thanks, first, to all who wondered where I'd been. Brief recap, got really sick a couple weeks before Christmas, the kind of sick that keeps you in the bed or sacked out on the couch. Add in the hustle and bustle of getting ready for the holidays (I'm a HYOOGE Christmas freak) and I barely got any time in on the bike, and definitely needed a hiatus from blogging.

So now I'm back and I've got to get back on track. With illness and holiday goodies I packed on some weight that I really need to get motivated to take off. Flubby definitely describes how I feel about my appearance any my overall fitness level.

So why didn't I just dive right back in after Christmas? Well, I have been busy getting ready for our big winter bike festival, Thomson Day, which takes place this Saturday and Sunday. I make all of the prizes out of old bike parts and I've been quite busy painting, afficing, stapling, etc. Pics to come later.

But I also haven't made a big DIVE, because I think I've been doing to much of the dive then flounder. I need to get back into it at the proper speed and build. So Coach Musto's been involved. And we'll hear more about what she has me doing as I "wade" back in. Needless to say, Sebring just isn't going to happen. It would be a dive that would have me floundering for weeks afterward. So I'll be wading back in with a 6 Hour event in March instead.

AND, as much as I enjoy riding my bike, and as much as I want to give it a real go this endurance season, I DO enjoy lots of other things. I want to have time for my crafts. And I want to have time to explore my love of indie music.

Finally, our house as long been at the bottom of our priorities list. It's time to move it up equal with bikes and crafts. So look for some posts about the renovation and beautification of Casa Dein.

Balance is going to be my goal. Balance.

New blog for new focus...

2008-01-06T09:50:00.000-05:00

more coming soon...