Wicked Witch of the West Ride...

Last night as the temperature soared to 102 degrees in the Salt Lake Valley, I was crazy enough to plan on doing the Emigration Bike Ride.  I figured it would be good preparation for the RAGBRAI that I’m going to do in a couple of weeks.  Unlike last week’s Emigration ride which was 100 degrees at the start.  There was at least a little breeze last night.  I was teasing one of the gals that did the ride with me last week that we were doing the Wicked Witch of the West reunion ride.  She laughed but some of the other people at the start looked at me warily when I said that.  Then, in a crackling voice with some hand motions I cried, “I’m MELT- ting! I’m melting!”  Then everyone was cracking up!

I had recently gotten a new replacement seat for my bike.  The old torn seat that had survived a totaled bike accident in 2007 was getting pretty cracked and worn.  It was time for a new one.  It was on the way towards the canyon that I discovered it wasn’t tightened down enough.  I swung by a local near by bike shop and they helped out really quickly.  But I got separated from the group for a bit.  I pushed it a bit and caught up finally about a mile in the canyon with the gal I rode with last week.  It was as I was coming up behind her that I cackled a laugh and said,” I’ll get you my pretty!”  It was just TOO funny.

After doing that, I slowed down and took it easy.  I waited up for another cycling bud to catch up and we managed our way to the top at a much slower pace.  No racing tonight with 100+ temps.  The name of the game was just getting there to the top.  Four people ended up turning around early because the heat got to them.  It was a night where I savored that coast down the canyon.  I didn’t pedal until I had to and just let myself go along for the easy ride down.  I deserved it!

Oh What a Night~! & Checking In…



Photo- My bike in the dark.

As the song goes--“…late December back in 63 …” Only last night wasn’t one of those special nights as sung by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.  But I will say it was an interesting night.

It all started when I tried starting my car outside my work.  It was right after work as I sprinting across the parking lot.  You know that little boost of freedom as you are leaving work for the day.   It’s kind of like a kid being released from school for the day. There I was all set in my cycling clothes and anticipating a bike ride with a friend.  With happy thoughts, I put the key in the ignition and zilch!  Nada! Argh!

Thinking it might be a dead battery and I can always call AAA after I go on a bike ride.  I text my friend and tell her I’ll be a few minutes late; and I’m riding my bike to the meeting spot.  I was maybe 7 minutes late total to meet my friend.  Now I’m warmed up for our ride, having ridden from the flat South Salt Lake up to the Sugarhouse neighborhood. 

We head out taking a left on to a street and shortly afterwards a guy in a beige car is honking at us.  There’s no bike lane though there’s a white area that’s painted but its surrounding an island area and ¾ of it is what I would consider a gutter.  We are riding single file and a few inches into the car lane side of the white line; perfectly, within our right. 

The guy is still honking and yelling (through closed windows).  We come to a stop light and stop.  The front passenger side of his car is almost touching my leg.  He doesn’t want to give any of the car lane up.  My friend yells that we can’t hear him and he rolls down a window and yells that we should be in the bike lane.  Christine says,” Sir this is not a bike lane here.”  I yell that we are allowed by law up to 3 feet of the car lane by law.  “No you are not!” He yells back.  “Yes, according to the law sir.  Perhaps, you need to be more aware of your car driving laws.” Christine says nicely. 

The light changes and he tromps on the gas going widely around us.  In his rush he almost hits car in on coming traffic.  We kind of shrug him off and continue on our way.  Shortly there after we come to a stop sign, where we did a “California” stop; which was not a complete stop but a slow down and look around.

Next thing we know we are being asked to pull over by a motorcycle cop.  “Do you know why I pulled you over?” he says.  We stated that it was because we didn’t stop like we should have at the stop sign.  He asked for our driver’s lisc. Which I think he was surprised that both of us had.  Then he mentioned about another driver that had complained about us.  We nicely stated our position on that and he even went as far as stating that we could have been two abreast along that same area.  He finally just warned us and wished us a safe ride.  The whole rest of the ride we made sure we were stopping for those stop signs. 

After the ride with Christine, I rode my bike back to my car sitting outside my work. I tried turning the key but nothing.  This time I did notice that it was like the ignition was loose.  I called AAA and told them that I thought it just needed a jump start.  I was told me 25 to 30 minutes.  About 25 minutes later a driver shows up but not in a tow truck.  He’s got jumper cables and after two minutes of playing with the key in the ignition.  He tells me that my ignition needs to be replaced.  He gives me the option of calling a lock smith or a tow truck.  But the lock smith is after hours and might not have the right parts.  I opt to have it towed.

So out goes the call for the tow truck.  30 minutes later this lanky talk your head off guy shows up in a tow truck.  He spends almost the next hour trying to get my car into reverse so that he can get it backed up to hook it up to his truck.  The whole time he was going on and on; and I guess I reminded him of one of his favorite sisters of which he had 5 of  all of whom were older  than him. 

Meanwhile, I’m thinking if I was his older sister I would have been locking him up in a closet to get a moment of silence. Eventually, the car was backed up with the help of a co-worker that showed up out of the blue to pick up something from the office.  I left shortly after that in the dark with my lights on my bicycle and rode home.  It was about 10PM when I finally managed to get my bicycle up to my 3^rd floor apartment, and I had yet to have dinner.  Oh What a Night! What an unusual night it was indeed.

Checking In…

Weight up 1 lb. and stats for the week are rather down…

Cycling—70 miles

Running—3.25 miles

Elliptical—14 minutes

And

One Pilates class

Like A Groundhog Finally Coming Out!

I will admit that I haven’t been blogging as much of late.   There have been a few reasons and I almost feel like I’m the ground hog coming up out my hole now.  To be truthful one of the foremost reason was that I had gained a bit of weight and I was rather embarrassed about the whole thing.  I was only up by about 4-5 lbs. at the most but I had just such high hopes for this year to finally reach my goal weight.  Well, I think I got the horse in front of the cart a bit and I’ve since looked at things to rectify the situation.  Mainly, I’ve started watching what I eat and trying to select lower calorie healthy choices.  Also, what I know has helped to take off few extra lbs., is that the warmer weather has hit here and I’m out biking more.

One of my favorite cartoon characters but I've felt like I've been in a bit of rut like them!

Other reasons that I have not been blogging as much, is that I was out with the flu for a few days and you know, sometimes I don’t have any real material to share.  Life sometimes is in a bit of a rut or a bit of a holding pattern.  Or, I could just say—“Life has been on auto-pilot for a bit and my brain took a bit of a retreat.”  I think that happens to all of us at sometimes.  So, here I am coming out of my hibernation; like a ground hog and WOW!  It’s Spring time!  It sounds silly I know.

It’s like I woke up and I discovered I CAN grow fingernails.  I’ve had the longest polished fingernails that I have ever had in my life!  Go figure it takes me almost 45 years to do this!  It’s like I finally learned not to bite my nails like my mom’s been telling me all those years.  Kind of funny when you think about it; I guess in some regards I AM a very slow learner.

I’ve lost those 4-5 lbs. and am now down to the point where I’m back to needing to lose those same darn 13 lbs. to get to my goal weight.  I think it’s possible for me to get there IF I focus on doing it.  The problem sometimes arises that life gets in the way but I’m going to try and to do that I want to start by getting on board here and doing a weekly check in’s.  I’ll do a weekly weigh in and report as to how I’m doing.  I find that it helps to keep me on track and focused too.  So, until I get down to my weight goal, I’ll be checking in weekly and it’s going to start tomorrow.  Every Friday, I’ll be checking in with a report to keep me accountable for what I’m doing.

So, I’ll stop my ramblings here and I’ll check in with you tomorrow! Ciao!

Arctic Brain Enemas & F- Bomb’s

Just when I think I’ve experienced my coldest moment on a bike, I get a new experience to top the list.  Yesterday, two friends and I decided to take a bike ride to the top of Little Mountain in Emigration Canyon.  Yes, I know its February but it was a beautiful sunny day with temps in the mid 40’s in the valley.  It was too gorgeous not to be out on a cycle.  So, I agreed to riding up Emigration Canyon with my friends, Diane and Lynda. 

I was covered with 3 layers almost everywhere on my body when I left to meet the gals at noon near a local bagel shop.  We slowly worked our way through some local neighborhoods on our way over to the mouth of Emigration Canyon chatting all of the way.  It was pleasurable and it seemed to be warming up.

Diane & Lynda as we near the Sun & Moon Cafe up Emigration Canyon.

 We started working our way up the canyon and stopped for a bit of a breather in front of Ruth’s Diner.  It had been awhile since any of us had done this much climbing and we weren’t in any rush.  It was wonderful out and we were just enjoying the day.  There were snow drifts on both sides of the road but it felt good to be out on the bike.  I was challenging myself by keeping in my middle chain gear as we were climbing.  We stopped again a little further up near the Sun & Moon Café.  Lynda said she was going to slow down and just take it at her own pace and see if she could manage to get to the top of Little Mountain.

Diane and I continued towards the top.  I shifted to my granny gears as went around the next curve after the Sun & Moon Café.  I stopped for a bit near the Pinecrest for a bit of another breather.  Wow!  Did I ever feeling like I was out of shape!  Diane, Miss Hardcore, continued on by me.  I eventually worked my way to catch up with her and rode with her for a bit.  Then, I started to play my usual game of not letting my speed drop below a certain amount as I was climbing.  I passed Diane and worked my way to the top.  It was a good workout.

It felt good to get to the top and I started to put on an extra wind vest I had brought along and pull down my barclava to cover my face as I waited for Diane to arrive.  As Diane and I were chatting at the top, Lynda arrived.  We all started about the same time down except that Diane and I both go down a bit slower.

We had seen some icy areas on the way up and we were taking it easy.  It was on the first curve on the way down that my teeth were already chattering.  OMG!  It was COLD!  Diane was complaining about the top of her head freezing.  She said it was like an Arctic brain enema!  I laughed; loving the imagery of that phrase.  I teased her about not wanting any ice cream for awhile after this one and offered her an extra skull cap I had with me.  She said no; she would be okay.

Then while I’m still freezing and struggling to keep my speed low, I hear the F word being bombarding from Diane.  She’s trying to John Denver’s song- “Sunshine on My Shoulder’s” as we are going along.  Only about every third or fourth word is the F word!  I tell you this is very unlike Diane and we are both just freezing!  My teeth are literally chattering and I’m cracking up about her singing.  Meanwhile, I’m having issues where I loosing feeling in my fingers.  Man, its COLD!  I’m just coasting along as slow as I can because I’m not sure if I could squeeze the brakes enough to stop. 

Diane asks how I am doing and I tell her my fingers are cold.  She knows that I’m not a complainer and to have me mention this.  Well, she knows my fingers are probably really freezing!  We stop at the fire station about half way down and I pull my hands into fists in my gloves and rub my fists together.  Diane teases me about going in and hooking up with a fireman to warm me up.  “Tell him you need to get naked with him under one of those emergency blankets.  It’s part of survival course 101!”  I laugh and blow on my hands.   I’m getting some feeling back and I’m having a fantasy about a long hot shower.  I just wanted to get home and down this canyon.


We continue on and it seems a “little” warmer as we get closer to the bottom of the canyon.  At the bottom, we finally meet up with Lynda who went quite a bit more quickly than we did down the canyon.  I put my hands into fists and tuck them under my arm pits to try to warm them up again.  We rode to a Starbucks near by and I tell you, I never had a Mocha Latte that EVER tasted THAT good before!    

Ever Have One of Those Mornings...

Part of my brain and body says…
“Hit the snooze!  They won’t notice if you are a few minutes late.”

The artistic part of my brain says…

“Come on get up and let’s get another layer of a poured watercolor done. They won’t notice if you are a few minutes late.”

The vanity part of my brain says…

“Come on get up!  You need to fix that shitty nail polishing job you did quickly yesterday morning and Ye GADS! Please shave your legs!  OMG!  This is not a fur factory! Besides, they won’t notice if you are a few minutes late.”

The athletic part of my brain says…

“See I told you!  You should have gone to the gym last night.  You would’ve slept better and now you are going to be a few minutes late.  Thank the Lord they won’t notice.”
…

Naw! Me neither!  Though, I did get the legs shaved!

Belated Happy Fat Tuesday & Somber Ash Wednesday?

Yesterday was the Happy Fat Tuesday; or as it’s probably better know as Mardi Gras.  In the US, Mardi Gras brings up images of wild parties in New Orleans, masks, beads, and women baring their breasts. It’s the day before Ash Wednesday when you do a last bit of splurging before giving up something for Lent.  Then it’s forty days of going without or limiting or whatever deal you’ve made with yourself and God.  Quite often in years pass I’ve given up coffee, chocolate, and caffeine or I’ve limited my sweets, or tried to be nicer to other people.  Sometimes, I’m successful at these things and at others I’m a total failure.  The total failures I knock up to “pie in the sky” ideals when my feet are firmly planted in the clay of the earth. 

Today is Ash Wednesday.  It’s that time of year when us silly Catholics get ashes put on our foreheads.  More than almost anytime of year, the church will be filled to almost overflowing and all of these Catholics even the “cafeteria” Catholics like me want ashes on their forehead.  There’s just something with the symbolism of smeared ashes on your face.  It certainly makes you stand out in the crowd when you go to the grocery store afterwards; especially in Utah.

I remember in years past purposely going to the grocery store after the evening Ash Wednesday Mass.  I wanted to stand out and try to be different from most of the LDS culture.  It was like I was trying to be a thorn in the side.  I would go down the aisles and just wait for someone to say that I had dirt on my forehead.  But nope!  No one said anything.  If anything at times it seemed that everyone was avoiding me.  Talk about clearing out an aisle at the grocery store!  There was no eye contact with from the girl at check out.  It seemed as though I was ignored or worse avoided like I was demon spawn.  It took all the fun out of it.  So after a few years, I stopped running errands afterwards.  I would go straight home and wash off the ashes just before bedtime.

Then I changed to going to a noon Ash Wednesday Mass at the Salt Lake City Cathedral.  I would take a longer lunch to go.  It would piss off a fellow co-worker who I am convinced has never liked me since she found out I was Catholic.  Talk about being the demon spawn in this case I might as well have been.  I would come back from my long lunch hour with the smudged ashes on my forehead and she would glare at me every time she went by desk during the afternoon.  Talk about how to lose friends and alienate people, I was on that path!  Well, after a few years even attempting to piss off a co-worker got a bit old, and I felt it just wasn’t at all in the spirit of the Lent season.

So this year, I’ve kind of opted out of the whole Ash Wednesday.  I’m not sure if I’m going to be giving up or doing anything for Lent.  It just seems like after years of trying to be a thorn in the side; I need a year of backing off and getting some space.  I guess that’s one of the benefits of being a “cafeteria” Catholic.

An Update & Rambo Part 5...

No change in the weight situation this week. I’ve been struggling with motivation this last week. Of course, it’s hard with the schedule I’ve been doing. Catching an early morning bike ride, going to work, catch an evening bike ride or workout at gym, then head home to work on a porch painting, and end the day with an hour of winding down time on the Nook ( I’ve got to turn the energy and brain down somehow.) I blame this all on my type A personality mother. (Just joking Mom!) If I was a true type A personality I would be studying for my Masters in some remote degree, learning at least two foreign languages, and have an immaculately kept apartment. Please never come to my apartment without proper warning because I have the hazmat team on standby at all time.

I’ve often been running through the fast food in between here and there. AND we all know that fast food is the anti-Christ of dieting! Especially when one is not fond of salads; but I’ve been trying to get the sandwich wrap things on the menus that are somewhat marginally lower in calories. Though, I tend to wonder about these wraps when you find a big glob of mayonnaise stuck in the middle of it.

My stitches are healing well. My whole calf area was looking pretty “knarley” (as a former college mate would say). There were all shades of purples, blues and greens that made it look like my calf had been used as a punching bag. The bruising was really showing up and it looked worse than the actual injury seemed to me. But as of today there’s just the lovely sickly yellow-greenish glow left. I’ve all ready been back on the bike, which will come as no surprise to any of you that know me as “Biker”. I rode Emigration and didn’t “pop” a stitch.

I was telling most of my fellow cyclists about the event. Tales of the doctor’s office where I refused to take the shot for the local pain deadening. The nurse hovered with the shot ready at a moment’s notice meanwhile the doctor is taking a brush to the wounded area to get the bike chain grease out and then he does the stitches. The whole time we are chatting along about cycling and a recent vacation trip he took to northern New York State where he cycled. It was as the doctor was washing his hands after the procedure that he looked over his shoulder and called me, “…one tough cookie.”

My fellow cyclists’ reactions upon hearing the story were “owing and ouching” and then comparing me to Rambo. In fact, one teased me that I was Rambo Part 5. Another teased me that my pain center of my brain went dead from a bike accident I had back in 2007. In that accident I face planted it while doing 20mph and was knocked unconscious for about 3 min.

Last night, I braved the same ride that I got these stitches from. I was ever so careful when I went by the intersection where I went down.  The scene of the crime still had a great deal of gravel but I managed this time to get to the “Brew” part of the “Bike & Brew” ride that’s put on by a member of my bike club (BCC). My good friend Doug who puts on the ride did however announce at the beginning of the ride that I was a safety hazard and I should be avoided. Talk about adding insult to injury! I, of course, took it all in stride.

The Good & the UGLY...

The Good…
** I survived the opera and lived to tell of the event. It actually was an amazing opera. The classic tale of Hansel & Gretel was wrapped up together with wonderful costumes, sets, a bit of fog, and cute children filling in various extra parts. Did I mention I was in amazing seats? I was in the 4th row of the balcony. I didn’t need to use opera glasses to see their faces on stage. I was amidst all those people that had jewels, furs, and tuxes; but I wasn’t as out of place as the guy that showed up in a t-shirt and holey blue jeans.

** I finally got a battery for the “Health-O-Meter” scale.  After weeks of forgetting to pick up the batteries, I finally remembered!  Though, I tend to wonder how much of the forgetting was subconscious.



The Ugly…
** This occurred after I put the new battery in the “Health-O-Meter”. (Who thinks up these names for scales?) I took off every stitch of clothing (hoping that this would help) and stepped on. OMG! When the digital red numbers stopped looping around, it was pretty UGLY! So UGLY, I wanted to take the new battery out and drop the scale from my third floor balcony. But I didn’t!  It's obvious, the "Health-O-Meter" was working properly but was not being agreeable to my vanity.

** The REAL Ugly… that I’m 15 lbs. heavier than what I had expected! So now I’ve got 32 lbs. to lose before I get to my goal weight. OUCH!

The Good…
** I want to end this on a positive note. I got on the scale this morning and I’m down 5 lbs.!  5 lbs. in 3 days!  I’m heading in the right direction. Only 27 more to go!