Ooo, Ooo, can't you hear my heart beat

Liz and I went on the Fitness Together bike ride this afternoon with Mark. Last time I rode with Mark, I really enjoyed it because trying to keep up with him and the other rider pushed me more than I normally am. But that was nothing compared to today. Mark discovered fairly early in the ride that Liz and I like to compete with each other. So Mark would encourage whoever was in the back to catch up and pass the person in the front. So Liz and I changed leads up and down hills for 16 miles. Wow, what a workout. It was as tough a workout as spinning class, but much more fun because of the competitive element. Liz has always been faster than me uphills and I have always been faster downhills, but we really pushed each other to go faster both places. Our fastest speed today was 41 miles an hour. That's clipping!

I needed that kind of workout today. I've been having trouble getting back into the groove since the weekend. After eating--and drinking--whatever we wanted to on the weekend, I've been having trouble going back to the healthy diet that I completely enjoyed prior to the weekend. I was also having trouble pushing myself to exercise--this morning, I really didn't want to go tonight. It is hard in that going for a long ride at 6 pm means coming home and cooking starting after 8. We finished dinner at 9:30, which is normally when we head to bed. It helps that I don't work on Friday, but I still need to get up to work out at Fitness Together at 7:30.

Tonight was fun. Alexandra is spending the night, so Liz, Dan, Alexandra, and I were having dinner together and hanging out. It was like a fantasy of having two kids at home--a fantasy in that there were none of the negative dynamics between us and a 14 and 21 year old, or between the two of them. It was just fun.


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The Day After

Well, today was the weigh-in after the big weekend. Up 3 pounds. Not too bad really, considering everything I ate and drank. When I was in weight watchers, they always said that new weight is easy to get off, so that's my goal. Eat well, exercise, and see how fast it goes.

A critical part of that equation is having healthy food in the house, so Dan and I went grocery shopping tonight and we have our share from the farm, so I'm set.


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Gee But It's Great to Be Back Home!

We just got back. We were making good time, but it took us an hour and a half extra between the New Jersey toll plaza and the George Washington Bridge. I don't know how people deal with that traffic on a regular basis.

The weekend was really fun. Yesterday we cycled 20 miles on the coastal highway. It has a nice wide bike lane. It's amazing how easy it is to go 20 miles when it's flat, nut it is a little boring. The terrain was pretty much the same the whole route--mainly very tall (8') grasses, interspersed among large condo developments. Once in a while we'd get a peak through to the ocean on one side or the bay on the other. Riding on our trikes in traffic is much scarier than being on a bike. Whenever we came up on a car stopped at a stop sign on a side street, I'd try to get the driver's attention by waving. The driver's sightline was over our heads looking for a break in the traffic, and if there was one when we were in front of their car--you get the picture. Most drivers were nice enough to wave back so I knew we were safe, but when they didn't, I didn't know if they didn't see us or were just being jerks.

We also went swimming and lay on the beach before and after our ride. It felt really great afterwards. The temperature was in the high 80s, although it didn't feel that hot when we were cycling. Nonetheless, the 70 degree water cooled us down immediately. Here is Liz on the boardwalk with a police officer who wanted to get in the picture, a picture of the beach, and one of me on the beach. Notice Liz and I wearing Dogfish t-shirts and me with a Dogfish hat.











While we did good on exercising over the weekend, eating was another matter. the rest areas on the New Jersey Turnpike are an object lesson in why the US has a problem with obesity. There really weren't any healthy choices. Burger King has a chart with the calories for everything they serve on it, so I got the lowest calorie food of what was available, but didn't really feel like I was eating good, nutritious food. And we had hamburgers and fries in Rehoboth Beach, along with ribs and other tasty food, not to mention all the beer I drank. Stepping on the scale tomorrow I'm sure will reflect the excesses of the weekend.

Now that my birthday celebrating is over, it's time to make a new pledge. No more alcohol until Christmas Eve. No more dessert until Thanksgiving.


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Dogfish Head Miracle

Yesterday was a fun day. The miracle is that I don't have a hangover. We started out by cycling on a bike path I found out about via the Internet, which described it as 6 miles long. That sounded perfect--we could do the whole thing and have a 12 mile ride.

We saw signs for a trail, but when we got to the parking lot, could only see a gravel trail. The man in the truck next to us had a bike in the back, so we asked him about it. He said that trail led to the trail we were looking for, so I expected that we'd find a a paved trail then. But no, when we got there, it was unpaved as well. I started out have attitude about it-- I'd read articles online about how great it was that they'd completed a trail from Rehoboth Beach to Lewes--to me, completing a trail means paving it.

The difficult part of an unpaved trail on our trikes is that we rest our heads on headrests, so our heads were being bounced like they are on the sections of our roads with tons of potholes. But after a few minutes of irritation, we got used to the head bouncing and were able to appreciate the trail. Almost all of it is shaded by the trees on both sides, so we were protected from the sun. There were a few spots where we went over bridges and could see salt water flats that lead to the ocean. A deer crossed the path in front of us at one point. Beautiful! Here's a picture of Liz on the trail:



By the time we had done the whole trail back and forth, we'd only gone 7 miles. What!?! Why had the media described it as a 6 mile long trail? Another one of life's mysteries.

We loaded our trikes in Liz's van and headed for Dogfish Head. Their parking lot (their very big parking lot) already had tons of cars in it at 11:30 in the morning. My favorite car had "To Rehoboth or Bust" sprayed on the back window. With Texas license plates. And people thought it was crazy to drive here from Massachusetts. Dogfish fans are loyal!

They had pieces of Liz-like art here and there on the grounds and in the brewery. This tree house--which you could climb up into via the spiral staircase--was my favorite:



We each got a souvenir glass for testing the beer, which came in handy, because I could get 2 kinds of beer at once. They had a bunch of different beers available--I started out with the goal of testing them all. A few sips into the first one made me realize that I'd better get some food in me if I was going to be able to test more than one. They had a vendor there who sold barbecued ribs, so we each got a serving. Wow--those were great ribs! They may have been the best ribs I'd ever eaten. I ate very slowly, getting more beers to drink with the ribs. It was good having the two glasses, because there were long lines to get beer. This was the first time they had done this festival and they didn't have the systems down to handle the crowd.

Liz finished her ribs and I settled down on a couch to continue eating and drinking. With my broken vertabrae, I can only sit with no back support on with on a hard backed chair for a limited time. Or stand for that matter. I had been worried about whether I'd have a place to sit at Dogfish Head, so was relieved to see leather chairs and couches in the reception area, with half beer barrels as coffee tables. I shared the clinch with a 6 month old baby named Gabriel and his mother, so I had entertainment while Liz checked out the exhibitors and the company store. She need up buying a piece of art by the guy who designs the Dogfish Head labels, some T-shirts, and a hat.

After trying about 8 types of beer, I had a pleasant buzz and was done. I hadn't tried the IPAs, but I don't like super hoppy beers, and while I like a buzz, I don't like being drunk. It was time to go. We drove out the coastal highway and found a nice beach with not many people on it. The Reboboth Beach beach was a city of umbrellas. Here's Liz on the beach:





We stepped into the water, but didn't go swimming. The eater temperature was good, but the waves were crashing right on the beach and there was a big drop off where they were crashing. I was worried about being tossed in the surf--that's happened to me many times, but never when I was worried about having my bones broken. So I layer in the sand while Liz hunted for shells. The great thing about electronic books is I can download them on my phone and iPad, and whichever one I'm using, it takes me to the furthest page I've gotten to on either device. I first thought I wouldn't like reading on my phone because of the small screen--now I don't notice the difference.

After hanging out on the beach, we explored the coastal highway. On the map, it looks like you're driving on this narrow spit of land with water on both sides of you. And while that is true, the unfortunate part is you can't see the water on either side--it's just far enough away so you can only see traces of it down side streets here and there. After driving for a few hours, it s time to return to Rehoboth Beach for dinner.

We drove down the main drag looking for parking, and there was none to be found. What choice did we have but to return to the Dogfish Head restaurant, which has it's own parking lot. I had learned the night before--too late to use the knowledge--that it was possible to get a flight of beers. Now I could put the knowledge to work. Here's what I got:



The two I liked best were Theobroma, which dates from a 1200 BC recipe, and Black and Red, which has mint in it! Are you surprised to hear that I'm having trouble remembering what I ate. Oh yeah, I had pizza.

Afterwards, we came back to the motel and crashed. And in a Sunday miracle, no hangover. I don't know why, but I'm grateful. And not interested in drinking beer today. We're heading off for a long bike ride on the coastal highway, which has a wide bike lane, and to find a beach we can swim in.


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Friday Night

Today was a very long day. Our 6.5 hour drive not including traffic turned into a 10 hour trip with traffic. We kept running into accidents, including a semi that tipped over on the highway. They imported a dumpster for the occasion, and were emptying the content into the dumpster before attempting to right it.

All the delays meant we were now moving with the Friday after-work traffic. There were many hours that we could have moved much faster on our trikes, but what would we have done with our car?

My exhaustion vanished as soon as we checked into our motel. Not because our motel was luxurious--we walked into the smell of chemical spray plus mold. That first impression was enhanced by our introduction to a roach struggling for life in the bathroom. If the roach can't survive, do we humans have any chance? I was going to take a picture of It for your edification, but it seems to have fully recovered and moved on from the bathroom. I don't want to think about where it is now.

The reason I was revived was because we were heading to the Dogfish Head restaurant for dinner. I had 2 great beers with my hamburger and fries. The first was Midas Touch--it is brewed using a recipe found in King Midas's tomb and based on the oldest known recipe for a fermented beverage. I tell you--King Midas knew what he was drinking. The other beer was Tah'Tea. It's a beer based on a 9th century Finnish recipe, so as I drank it, I thought about my ancient Finnish ancestors who drank a similar brew. All I was missing was the sauna. Here's the entrance to the restaurant:




We got into a conversation with the couple next to us. They were here for the event tomorrow too. They're staying at a B& B within walking distance of the brewery. We're going to see if we can move there tomorrow, for the air-quality if nothing else, although we'll miss the roach. But if we can move, I can drag myself home from the beer bash if Liz decides that the beach is more fun than the brewery.

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The Pilgrimage

I'm so excited about our pilgrimage to Dogfish Head tomorrow! It feels like we're going on vacation, even though it's just for 4 days and we'll spend most of 2 days traveling. I'm so excited, I had ice cream at Bennett's birthday party tonight. She's 4, which seems so unreal to me.

We're taking our trikes and I'm hoping we can find some great bike paths. I read that there's a new 6 mile long path in Rehoboth Beach, that I hope connects to another path. The idea of biking in flat country seems really appealing to me, although I love the challenge of uphills, the joy of flying downhill, and the beauty of western Massachusetts. I love the idea of cycling a really long distance because it's flat.

There's wireless in our hotel, so I'll be able to post during our adventure.


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I Get All the News I Need On the Weather Report

So why isn't the forecast accurate? I've never been someone who paid attention to weather predictions, but now that I'm trying to cycle nearly every day, The Weather Channel is a regularly used app.

I checked out the hour by hour forecast last night before I went to bed, and there was nothing but sunshine in the forecast for the morning. I woke up to cloudiness and checked the forecast again, and this time it was nothing but rain. It wasn't raining then, despite all the drops falling from my iPad, so I decided to chance it. I don't really mind the rain, but I wouldn't want a thunderstorm to start when I'm miles from home.

I got about a mile from home and it started sprinkling. I thought I was in for it, but that was it, not another drop. Living right!

I started out the ride with a goal of doing it in an hour. My fastest so far had been an hour and 2 minutes, and usually I was doing it in an hour 5 to 8 minutes. It really helped that a cyclist passed me going up a short hill, because as was able to keep pave with him going downhill, and kept him in my sights for a few miles. It's much easier to go fast when I'm chasing someone. Once I lost him (or he lost me) I was able to keep my pace up. I got back to our driveway, pulled out my iPhone, and I just missed it--1 hour and 37 seconds. I'll get it next time. I went 11.2 mph. I'd like to go up to 12 mph on a hilly route like that.

By the way, I've developed my complete rating system for cyclists, based on how people dress:

1. Top level: rides in a peloton, everyone wearing the same team uniform with sponsors
2. Second level: rides in a peloton, everyone wears bike clothes, not matching, not sponsors
3. Third level: rides alone wearing bike clothes
4. Fourth level: rides alone or with others wearing athletic clothes (T-shirts, shorts)--this is the level Liz and I are on
5. Bottom level: rides alone or with others wearing street clothes, sometimes without a helmet

I give myself no credit for passing people at level 5, but if I can keep pace with someone in levels 1-3, I'm psyched. The guy today was in level 3. It made me very happy to keep pace with him for a while.

But what brings me true joy is flying down a hill. I do love speed! It's well worth climbing hills to get the downhills.




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Sunday Blues

I'm having a tough day today. We don't have anything planned today, because we hung out with Bennett on Friday this week. It's a beautiful day and there are tons of things I want to get done. Our backyard looks like we live in Appalachia (that sounds like some kind of bad ism-- probably classism or red-stateism). Liz has been redoing our basement gym, which looks fabulous--here's how it looks so far:


















But a lot of stuff migrated to the backyard during the process. I hate taking people back to look at the chicken coop because they have to walk through our backyard dump to get there. Here's how the back yard looks:








Also, we haven't planted any annuals in our garden yet, so the front yard has a collection of planters with healthy crops of weeds. Here's a prototypical example:









Actually, the weeds in the planter don't look too bad in that picture! Of course, they're nicely framed by Liz's garden spider.

I thought I'd start with the deck. We'd left a large ceramic vase out there for the winter, and shockingly, it broke. I wonder if we can get out money back. Ever since the snow melted, it's been out there looking like an eyesore--fragments of vase everywhere along with dirt and, lately, a huge weed that had taken up residence. I tosses the vase in the garbage, the weed and big dirt clump out into the forest, and swept the deck. That's where I went wrong. I can bike for 40 miles and my back is fine, thanks to my recumbent seat, but sweeping and raking kill my back. I know that if someone--say god if you believe in one--came up to me and said, "I'm giving you a choice-- you can either cycle or rake and sweep. Which is it?" Easy choice. So I got the right end of that stick.

But really, who wants to give up anything. I started feeling really bad about not contributing my share to the household upkeep. I look around and all I see are things that need to be done. What are my choices? I can do them and hurt my back. So far, that just causes pain that goes away when I sit in my favorite chair, which is where I am now. My fear is breaking another vertabrae or causing long-lasting pain. I can ask Liz to do it--but she has a long list of things that need doing. Or I can accept that everything is not going to be the way I want it. I'm trying for that latter, but vary in my success at it, and generally just end up feeling depressed that I can't do what I want to do.

I decided this morning to look for things that are Liz's job that I can do, so she has time to do other things. I started with the dishes. The way we split up kitchen stuff is that I plan the meals, do most of the grocery shopping, and cook, and Liz does the dishes and puts them away. I've done dishes maybe a half-dozen times in the 27 years we've been together. So I emptied the dishwasher, rinsed the dishes, loaded the dishwasher, and started it. Not a hard task, but not good on my back. That standing, leaning slightly forward stance puts pressure on my spine right in the place that hurts. I keep forgetting that. When I think about why I don't cook the way I used to, I think that it's because I'm lazy or not into cooking the way I used to be, and then I remember, oh yeah, it's because it hurts my back. It's that same standing, bending slightly forward thing.

Actually, writing in my blog is really helping me to feel less bummed about the whole thing. I'm doing small tasks, like watering the plants and cleaning the litter box, and then taking a break. Then, just to keep things interesting, I tried strategy 2 above and nagged Liz about the crap in the backyard, with predictable results. What, she doesn't like it when I'm nagging? I'm back to bummed. Bummed on a beautiful day. I wish it was raining--much better to be bummed when it's raining and to be sitting inside knowing I can't do any gardening than sitting here looking at a beautiful day.




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Hauling Our Ashes to Ashfield

Liz and I decided to take our route through Ashfield and Conway again this morning. Wow--the ride to Ashfield is challenging! When we take our normal 11 mile ride toward Conway and back, it takes us a little over an hour, and has plenty of hills. The 17 mile ride to Ashfield took us 2 1/2 hours.

I've never spent any time in Ashfield--it's really a nice town. It's the kind of town where people are really friendly and start conversations with strangers. We went to Elmer's for breakfast. The waitress sat down to talk to us for a few minutes, and we got into a long conversation with the woman at the next table, who Liz recognized from the dog park. We had conversations with a few other people as well. And on top of the friendliness, Elmer's had gluten-free pancakes-- Liz was in heaven. I tried a bit and they were delicious. They're starting to get the gluten-free thing down.

After breakfast, I was thinking about how the way home from Ashfield had been too easy last time. Seven miles downhill into Conway, then a few uphills, but mainly downhill from there. So I pulled out the map and saw a route we could take that would add some miles to our trip. Liz was up for it. It accomplished our goal in that the trip to Conway was rolling instead of all downhill. Also, we added some distance--we cycled 40 miles! That feels like an accomplishment.

We enjoyed the whole thing so much, we decided that we should bike to Elmer's for breakfast every weekend. Now we are collapsed on chairs, resting our aching knees, hoping that the other one will regain enough strength to go make us smoothies.


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Lunch Cycle

I set the alarm for 6 am to get up for an early cycle, but that was living in some alternate reality in which I could actually sleep after everything I ate and drank. Unfortunately I was actually living in a reality in which I felt like I was wide awake all night. Liz claimed I slept, but if I did, it wasn't deeply and I woke up a lot. My poor stomach was very unhappy. So when the alarm went off at 6, I promptly reset it for 7:30.

So Liz put our trikes in her RV and brought them to the office at lunch time. We went for a nice 8 mile ride on the bike path. We went on a new section that goes through downtown and eventually connects with bike path in Easthampton that I used to blade on all the time. The path is great--beautiful surface, nice and quiet, nice scenery. They actually put in a bridge over Route 10, which is great for both the cyclers and the drivers. The really nice thing about cycling in Northampton is that drivers are really great about stopping to let cyclers cross roads.

Liz and I were feeling very impressed with ourselves for exercising during lunch time. It's something we've never done in our 27 years together.

I didn't reach my goal of being at a normal weight by the time of my birthday--I was 3 pounds over. But given how crappy I feel today, I am having no trouble going back to eating healthily.



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They Say It's My Birthday

I had a really fun birthday. I hoped to start it by cycling, but shockingly, it was raining out. I sure hope it's not raining tomorrow, because I have a lot of calories to burn off.

We went to a great Mexican restaurant in Greenfield called Mesa Verde. I had nachos with salsa in guacamole, a burrito in a bowl, and two margaritas. If that wasn't enough, we went to Herrell's for ice cream for dessert. I feel very full and very sleepy.

As much as I enjoyed it, I feel very clear that I want an evening like this to be a rare exception. Feeling fit is more important to me.



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Who'll Stop the Rain

It rained most of the day Friday, Saturday, and this morning. I really need to find alternative exercise for rainy days. I can tell I'm not quite as gung-ho as I was a month ago, because I didn't go out in the cold drizzle this morning. Although I think it's harder to go out when it's 50 degrees after the weather has been in the 90s. I think the thing I've learned this weekend is to eat differently when I am not exercising. I've gotten into a good pattern of eating so I'm not tracking my calories anymore, but that's based on working out 6 times a week. So I need to be conscious of cutting down my calories when I'm not working out.

I'm also really aware of the impact of other people in my life on my eating habits. I've read studies that if you hang out with people who are overweight, you're likely to be overweight, too. And for the week before Dan arrived, I started thinking about how hard it would be if Dan ate (and drank) like most 21 year old college students--particularly men. It's really great that we all have the same goals in terms of fitness and nutrition.

Here's a picture of Dan being a goofball. As you can see, he's buff. And cute.



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Hip Hip

I had a scare today. I had a great workout at Fitness Together and went to have a Spanish lesson with my friend Julie. When I got up off her couch at the end of the lesson, I had a terrible pain in my left hip. I couldn't walk, I couldn't put any weight on it. I remembered that I still had crutches in my trunk and Julie's husband Jeff went to get them.

When I started trying to walk with the crutches, I realized I couldn't lift my left leg because of the pain. I had to drag it forward on the floor. I wasn't sure what to do, but was afraid something was really wrong. I thought about going to the emergency room, but decided to to home and see what it was like after a couple of hours. I tried calling Liz, but she didn't answer the phone. Julie rode back to my house with me in my car and Jeff followed in theirs. Then when we got to my house, the pain was completely gone.

Weird, huh? At first I was very cautious about moving around, but then I tried going up and down stairs--no problem. I don't know what it was, but I'm really glad it wasn't something that took me out for awhile. I really want to enjoy this summer.

By the way, Liz finished the chicken house today and the chickens are out there now. Here are some pictures. Liz built them a palace!










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So Tired

This is going to be a short blog, because I'm so tired, I want to go to bed and it's only 7:30. I cut down to 4 days a week about a year ago, and it's really a challenge because I didn't change my job--I'm just stuffing 5 days a week into 4. Thursdays are the real challenge, because everything I committed to having done during the week has got to be done on Thursday. Thinking about everything I did today makes me even more tired.

Liz and I had hoped to go on a long bike ride with Mark tonight, but we got a huge thunderstorm instead. The sky got dark and everyone from work went outside to look at the sky. The clouds were swirling in circles--we were expecting a funnel to descend at any time. It's so weird to be afraid of tornadoes. I grew up in tornado country where we had tornadoes all the time and I wasn't afraid of them. The tornadoes in Springfield last week really caused a lot of damage, though, so I think everyone around here is a bit fearful.

Liz's nephew Daniel is coming to live with us for the summer and intern at Market Street Research. We love having nieces and nephews live with us (although Daniel is the first nephew), so we're very excited. I've been thinking about what impact Daniel will have on our fitness goals, and it sounds like it will be all good. The first good thing--he is lactose intolerant, so we won't be tempted to take him out for ice cream every day. When I asked him what food and beverages he wanted us to stock up on, he said he tries to eat really healthily, and drinks water and orange juice, and doesn't want any snack foods. Excellent--he will be a force for good, not evil.


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Muscle Failure

I have nice, sore muscles today, because of the great workout I had with Mark yesterday. I did 3 sets of chest presses laying on a Swiss ball. I started with 25 pound dumbbells, and was complaining to Mark about the fact that Liz has only been working out at Fitness Together for about 5 months and she is benching with 35 pound weights. That complaining meant that Mark moved me up to 30 pound weights for the second set. I felt like my left pec was going to tear on the last couple of reps. Mark was "helping" me--he provides the minimal amount of help to prevent complete collapse. The third set I went back down to 25 pounds for 12 reps, and then 12 more reps immediately with 12 pounds. That clearly worked those muscles to failure.

I also did 3 sets of 1 armed rows with one hand on the weight bench, one leg forward, lifting a dumbbell with the other arm. I don't remember the weights, but they were heavy. I then did dead lifts with dumbbells, standing straight with a dumbbell in each hand, bending forward to bring the dumbbells below my knees, and standing up again.

I also did some lunges, and some balance work involving standing on a Bosu with my feet close together, and throwing a weighted basketball-sized ball to Mark who as standing to the side, keeping my eyes on the ball the whole time.

I'm forgetting what else I did, but am pretty much sore all over. The thing I love about working with Mark is that he does work my muscles to failure. I'm realizing that I'm not working as hard with Savanah, so I need to talk to her about that.

I biked to work today and Liz biked down to meet me after work. We took the long way home through Williamsburg. We realized that the bike path used to feel like an uphill ride on the way home, but it now feels flat. And the 10 mile ride home felt like a nice, short jaunt.

Tomorrow will be an eating challenge. I am eating out for all 3 meals tomorrow. It's a good thing I'm good for a long ride on Thursday.


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Beer!

I have been spending a lot of time contemplating what kind of alcohol and dessert I want for my birthday. Such hard decisions. I really wanted to go to Delaware to visit my favorite brewery--Dogfish Head. But I couldn't get Liz to agree to go. I get her point. She doesn't drink and couldn't drink beer if she wanted to because of her gluten allergy. But really, doesn't that make her the perfect designated driver.

I tried many strategies--the best I thought was the guilt-trip. Remember my 60th birthday? I had to spend it in a wheelchair. I couldn't do anything. Don't you think you should help me to have the birthday I want this year? Besides, I've never been to Delaware, and I'm pretty sure it'll put me ahead of Sara on the state list. She was way behind me until the summer she lived with us and then we took her to a bunch of states she hadn't been to and she moved ahead. Ungrateful kid.

None of my arguments with Liz were persuasive.

Then today, I was whining about this to Gina after our bike ride, and Gina said that she checked online and the brewery is near Rehoboth Beach, which is a fabulous vacation spot. Liz's ears perked up. Then I went to the Dogfish Head website and saw that they're having a festival the weekend of 6/25, with music, artists, great beer, etc., and that it's only a 6 and 1/2 hour drive from here (assuming minimal NYC traffic, so maybe 8 hours). We're going! I bought the tickets and reserved a hotel room. I'm quite excited. The beer tasting is from 11-5. Liz may spend some or most of that time on the beach, but I'm going to be tasting some fabulous beers.

Today, Gina, Liz, and I did the 30 mile route Gina and I did 2 weeks ago. It's amazing how quickly 30 miles has become a fairly easy ride. For the first time, when we got home from a long ride, Liz and I both had a lot of energy, except when it came to climbing up or down stairs.

I'm still debating 50 vs. 100 miles in the fall. My brother says 50, my trainer says 100. They both have good arguments. My trainer said I could do 50 right now, which is true. It wouldn't feel like much of an accomplishment. My brother said that I shouldn't push it so much we're not enjoying it, and he's the third or fourth person to say that you really die after 75 miles. So it wouldn't hurt to have another year of riding under our belts before we go for the 100. I don't think we have to decide until shortly before the weekend, so we'll see how the summer goes.


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Cycling With the Bikers

Mark at Fitness Together is taking groups on bike rides on Thursday evenings. Tonight there were only 3 of us, Mark, a woman named Teddi, and me. Liz was feeling under the weather and didn't come, and the sky looked really threatening, which Mark thought might have kept others away, especially after yesterday's tornadoes.

It was my first time cycling with bikers where I really had to work to keep up. I knew they were real cyclers, cause they were wearing the official clothes. Gina is a real cycler and wears the real clothes, but she bikes behind me.

Mark is the trainer who always works me the hardest, and cycling is his sport, so you know he wasn't going to make it a stroll in the park. We went north on route 5 and 10, which is relatively flat, and he really pushed me. I was going 20 miles on hour on the flats. My heart rate was really up there.

When we got into the hills, I would fall way behind going up the hills and then I would go way ahead on the downhills. My trike really does book going downhill. I'm a speed demon so I love that. We went 16 miles, well I went 16 miles--that was the point we were going past my house. I could have done the last 5 miles downhill and turned around and come home, but there my nice house was calling to me, so down the driveway I went.

I was worried that they might not have enjoyed riding with me because they had to stop a couple of times to let me catch up, but Teddi said she'd ride with me anytime. I hope Liz comes next week, because it was really fun and a different challenge.

Less than 2 weeks till my birthday. I don't think I'm going to make my weight goal, but I am spending a lot of time contemplating what beer I'm going to drink and what dessert I'm going to eat. Hard, hard decisions!




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