The 53 Mile Ride

Let me just back up and start from the middle of last week. I got a call from the Rockstar in the middle of the week, he was calling to see if I was interested in going on a long ride St. Francisville this past weekend. I tenatively said yes, but said that I needed to see what my weekend was looking like first. By Friday afternoon, I knew that not much was going on and that a good long ride out in the country would be a nice change of pace. I called up the Rockstar and let him know that I was in. He told me there were a group of people who we would be riding with and that he had a course mapped out and everything. Great! I thought, no real work for me, just getting up and riding a bike. By Saturday afternoon I found out the group had dwindled from about 8 people to 6. Ok, no big deal. We would have a smaller group, still a good ride, the Rockstar was going to make maps for all of us with a 53 mile loop he had prviously scouted out, all systems were go. I headed home early Saturday night to ensure that oversleeping wouldn't be an excuse.

I arrived at the mothership at about 6:35 am. We were all supposed to convene there around 6:45 so I was a little early. People began pulling in and getting out of their cars to get themselves together. We all began loading up the Big Bird Van to take up to St. Francisville. I looked around to notice only 4 of us were out there, myself included. Ok, smaller group, however maybe this meant that I had less of a chance of being left behind:) Me, the Rockstar, Moo Cruz, and The Kid all loaded in. We got on the road at about 7:30 am, heading to St. Francisville in the Big Bird Van. We began talking about food and breakfast options. I, myself hadn't really planned on stopping for breakfast, I had a luna bar in my bag and believed that it would suffice for a morning snack. The Rockstar had other plans though, he was ready to stop at Waffle House, this is when things started taking a turn for the worse. We pulled over to the Waffle House off one of the first exits heading toward Baton Rouge. As we pulled in the parking lot we began to get strange looks from everyone inside, proabably the Van, no it had to be the Van. We all got out and headed in, I stopped by the front door to notice the handwritten sign that read "Before you come inside we want to let yall know that we are only using take out plates and plastic silverware from now on, thank you for understanding". I couldn't help but laugh and point at the sign. We all took a seat at the booth and began to look at the menus. Apparently The Kid was still asleep because he picked up the spanish menu and was attempting to decide what to order by looking at the pictures. When the waitress came over to take our order the Rockstar went on to order a large breakfast, half of which was denied to him because they were "out of it". Eventually we all ordered our food and were back on the road. When we reached the outlets, I made a plea for a Starbucks run, everyone pretty much agreed as a bathroom break was also needed at this point. We headed into starbucks where I was able to get a much needed iced coffee and a scone. We all piled back in the Van and continued the trek to St. Francisville.

10:00 am, we arrived in St. Francisville after several detours due to road closures. We finally got on the bikes around 10:30, after several stops to look for sunscreen for our fair skinned Rockstar. I also need to mention at this point the Rockstar made the now infamous claim "I'd be suprised if we saw 5 cars out on this course". (Never make these claims unless you are absolutely sure of them). We rode out and began the ride, with water bottles, gu, bars, tubes, and phones in tow. We started out the ride and I felt awful, my legs felt as though they were 500 lbs and I couldn't pull anymore. I needed to just ride easy for 5 miles or so. This wasn't the plan that everyone else had in mind though, full speed ahead was more the motto. The first 5 miles in I was being pushed, yes literally pushed up a hill. We decided a new plan was needed. Moo Cruz and I would ride together and The Kid and Rockstar would ride together. Off we all went, about 3 or so miles down the road we caught up to The Kid and Rockstar, apparently we had all missed the turn onto the next road and so we had to go back. At this point in time I started thinking about the added on mileage, and I already knew that I didn't have enough food or water. We headed back down the road and finally came across our turn. The plan now was to meet up in Jackson at a gas stop where we can all refuel and head back together. I was ok with whatever plan we had as long as I didn't have to kill myself riding, since I already felt dead. We headed down the road and my legs finally started to loosen up and the pace changed. I was able to hold on to a steadier pace and really ride. We were rolling along, up and down hills, and the scenery was beautiful. Pastures, farms, big houses, flat roads, trees, everything was falling into place and I was very glad that I decided to make the time to come up for the ride. Moo Cruz began "mooing" at the cows as we passed the pastures, at one point I thought he was a cow because his noises sounded so animal-like. Moo Cruz and I followed our maps dutifully, and more than once we ended up backtracking and asking for directions. At one point we were on Hwy 61, and let me tell you, you haven't really lived until you've had the front half of an 18 wheeler whiz past you at 75 miles/hr. I stopped counting after the first 20 cars that passed us, so much for only seeing 5 cars! About 3 hours into the ride I started to question the supposed mileage that we had been given. 53 miles? We had already gone 50 miles or so and still had not reached the gas stop. Once we reached our turn onto 966 we realized not only had we missed our stop in Jackson but we were almost back to St. Francisville. I called the other 2 to let them know and we were headed back in. As we headed down Joe Trail Dr we came to the end only to realize that once again the directions were a bit misleading. We still had to go down hwy 10 to get back to St. Francisville. At this point I just wanted to be done. "4 to 5 miles down hwy 10" a man told us as he was giving us directions back towards St. Francisville. I pulled together what bit of strength I had left and followed Moo Cruz. About 4 miles down we saw a traffic light in the distance, I yelled out and said, "We're back, we MADE it!". Moo Cruz put both arms in the air in excitement. After 5 hours and 75 miles of hills Moo Cruz and I headed to the Shell station for some much deserved beer. A beer has never tasted so good.

Ow...ow...ow

That is all I can keep saying is "Ow". I woke up this morning ready to go to the "Bootcamp" class I signed up for. I found myself looking forward to a getting on my bike over the bootcamp class this morning. I arrived at the class and was feeling pretty good. During the class I began to feel sore, especially in some of the positions we were holding. After an hour of the bootcamp only my calves was sore. However ever since I have been sitting down at my desk today, getting up from my chair has seemingly become a more difficult task each time. Now this may have something to do with the fact that I "overtrained" yesterday. Riding, lifting weights, and yoga, all in one day, may be a wee bit much:) I guess sometimes I don't know when to stop, yesterday was one of those days, and now my body is telling me stop! Everything from my abs, my back, my arms to my quads are on fire. Maybe I should give up being workout crazy for lent? Nah, that will never work!

Ow...ow...ow

Take Anything But The Bike!

I arrived at my house this morning, after spending the night out only to find the car door to the suburban in the driveway open. Hmmm, that's not normal, I thought. I wondered if maybe my mom had forgotten to close the door, still all the while thinking that it was a little out of character. I began walking past the door and noticed the entire car had been ransacked. I had my keys in my hand and was walking towards my apartment door and I bolted for the front door instead. If someone had ransacked the car, maybe I had spooked them and they were still around. I fumbled around for the hide-a-key to the house and got inside the upstairs. I immediately woke up everyone in the house alerting them of the possible theft. My heart was racing at this point and my hands wouldn't stop shaking. My mom and step-dad walked outside to check out the car, nothing had been stolen, just ransacked and gone through. I began to calm down and my mom began trying to talk me out of riding. I knew that I needed to ride and I wasn't going to let some two-bit thief stop me. I headed down to the basement to my apartment and noticed that my TT bike wasn't in its usual spot, hmmm, that's not normal, I thought. I summed it up to my mom moving it while cleaning and headed inside my apartment. I quickly changed and headed back into the basement and looked for the TT bike. I finally found it, sitting next to the back door of the basement. I headed out the back door and through the gate with the bike. As I was coming down the side of the house my mom was walking towards me. I asked her why she moved my bike to the back of the basement? She looked at me confused and said, "Well you had it outside next to the grill and that's not safe!". I replied with "No, I never move my bike from the basement unless I am riding it, and I certainly don't leave it outside". She continued on and said well then who did put it outside. Pieces started falling into place. She and I both looked at each other, "Someone was trying to rob us!". All I kept saying was, "Why my bike! Why my bike!". Maybe someone moved it outside, someone that had been in the house recently, I'm sure that's what happened, no one would really try and steal my bike. I headed out to the lakefront for the morning ride and tried to put it out of my mind. I had a training ride to focus on.

(The almost-stolen-but-the-bike-gods-were-on-my-side-bike!)

I got out to the lakefront to see the usual crowd of tri-geeks. We all headed out for a nice breezy ride. About halfway down Haynes, the Giro began passing us, I waved to Accident Andrews and the others and watched them speed ahead. About a mile further up the road the Giro slowed down for some people who had flats. The tri-geeks surged ahead and we headed down Chef. Right before the turnaround the Giro caught up with us again, Accident Andrews passed me and then turned around to jump in with us. He said he was spent and was going to ride home with us. We pace-lined back home and made it back all in one piece. Accident Andrews and I headed to breakfast with Elvis (another Giro rider). Accident Andrews brought me home instead of riding home and I headed back inside with my bike. I walked upstairs to talk with my step-dad about what had happened this morning. He said that someone had tried to take my bike, they found broken glass from the wall outside, (we have broken glass on top of the wall to keep people out), apparently whoever was trying to get out with my bike got spooked when they tried to leave through the gate and when they couldn't get out with the bike in tow they jumped over the back wall and most likely hurt themselves on the broken glass. I hope they hurt themselves real bad! I looked at my step-dad and said "Why didn't they take the TV? Why didn't they take jewelry? Why didn't they take anything else?" He laughed and said, "Well, I guess they wanted your bike more". I shook my head and walked out of the room saying "Take anything but the bike!".

Yoga Bike?

After a long Mardi Gras weekend of revelry and gluttony I decided detoxing my body of "Mardi Gras Excess" would be a good idea. On Wednesday night I headed over to the yoga studio that Elizabash frequents, (especially since she has given up on riding, and yes this is me calling her out!). I have taken Bikram Yoga before, about a year ago to be exact. I walked into the yoga class, thinking that I could easily do this, how hard could it be? Those were the famous last words, hahaha. I think I turned and looked at Elizabash twice and said "This is hell". I don't ever recall saying that on a training ride. As I tried my best to get into different positions, sweat was trickling down my forehead into my eyes, blinding me and then my hands would slip out of position because I was sweating so much. Sweat was all over the mat and I almost slipped on my own sweat which caused me to do a half split, it was not a pretty sight. At the end of the class the teacher encourages you to lie down and reflect and take time to relax yourself. Relax!? I could barely move! I laid on the ground out of sheer fear that I may not be able to get up. The only thing I could focus on was how I will never go to Mardi Gras again, not if it meant feeling like this afterwards. I continued to lay there until Elizabash got up and I managed to pull myself up mustering all the strength I had. I felt as though I had a 400 lb weight on me. I grabbed my mat and towels and got out of there. Later on that night I decided that the Bikrham Yoga class was the best thing I had done for myself in a long time. Despite all the pain and the sweating and awkwardness I loved it. I went back for more detox/torture last night. I am hooked! Thanks Elizabash!

The Big Chainring

I awoke this morning to find out that it was not as cold as the forecast had predicted. The wind temperature was at 46, this was of course exciting news as I thought it was going to be in the 30's. Accident Andrews and I headed out to the levee to meet the usual group of thursday riders. There was a decent showing for an after Mardi Gras ride. Accident Andrews and I rode past the group and headed to the bench to "stretch". I looked back to see the group was heading towards us, so I hopped on my bike and headed out. I need about a mile or so to warm up before I start riding with the fast kids. As the group came up behind me I fell into line. We were going a decent pace of about 22 to 23 mph. I dropped to the back so that I could have some more time before I would have to take a pull. As we were riding along, people were rolling back and giving others a chance to take a pull, as I was one person away from taking a pull on the front I was behind someone who had decided they were going to play Mario Andretti today and pull the group up to about 27 mph. This was it for me, I knew it, the people behind me knew it. I pulled out of the group and started heading towards the back. All the while, everyone was yelling "Big Chainring, Big Chainring, Get Into Your Big Chainring", it was too late. They were ahead of me and I was now cruising along at 22 mph alone. All alone. I was feeling a little amateur-ish as well. I should have known better.

I was riding along and began to wonder if Accident Andrews would ever come back for me. I made the decision to continue riding towards the end and maybe the group would pass me on the way back and I could catch back on. However, around Rivertown, Accident Andrews came through and was riding back towards me. We rode ahead past the water towers and turned around. I had been feeling really sluggish on the ride, so when we were on the way back and Accident Andrews wanted to do intervals, I booed that idea. We then decided to just try and keep the pace up. On the way back I started getting lectured by Accident Andrews, he threatened that he was going to tape up my chainring if I didn't start using it, because really what use was it, if I didn't shift. Grrrr...I hate shifting. I am an awkward shifter. He is right though, I need to focus on that, especially when I am pedaling like a hamster on a wheel and I still can't keep up. (Yes I said he was right, that may be the only time I say that on the blog). So I practiced shifting on the way back. We managed to keep a decent pace until we hit the country club and the head wind got the best of us. We made it back in one piece, no crashes, no falls, a good day! Phrase of the day: Big Chainring.

If I don't work I don't get paid

Ya know, I thought that the freedom of owning your own biz would be sweet!!! Freedom...what freedom????? I keep getting harassed by my fellow stunt team members, ride your bike, blog, go to yoga, Blog, Blog, Blog, come out and party, Blog, Lunch, Dinner, Jiggers until 2:30 am hanging out with Brooks Bran Muffin, the list goes on. Wait, does that mean my fellow stunt team members pay.... WRONG !!!!! When you own your own small biz if you are not working you are not getting paid!!!!!!

When I was working for someone else, I would have blogged all day.... just kidding, but really, when I took a Friday afternoon to go down to the quarter and the boss frowned...I now understand why. Enlightened!!!! Sorry, Bubby:):):)

Anyway, I guess I am still recovering from my marathon weekend of drinking...it was worth it though.

So it all come down to priorities, Work , Work, Work, Piper, Yoga, Bike, Friends.

I don't know why but I think today looks like a bluebird day, I am not sure what a Bluebird Day is. Oh well have a blue bird day anyway!!!!
May the Bluebird whisper softly in your ear to encourage you to grow and enjoy life!
Acaiiiiiiiii

The Breakfast Bribe

The one thing that really gets me out of bed in the morning is the thought of breakfast. I love breakfast, it really is the best, all of it, cereal, eggs, toast, bacon, grits, pancakes, waffles, yum! I got up this morning and as usual texted Accident Andrews to see if we were still riding. He replied with a "Yes, and we will go to breakfast after". Breakfast is a normal topic of conversation during a ride, however it is usually not mentioned until halfway through a ride, when we need something to focus on to get us back home. So I was quite suprised to see that I was already being bribed with promises of breakfast after the ride. My internet isn't working at home, so I had to get the forecast from Weatherman Andrews (an alter ego of Accident Andrews). He said 43 and windy, I bundled up, neckwarmer included! We got up on the levee to see that no one was out as early as us, and we proceeded to the first stop, so Accident Andrews could stretch. As we were riding along my sunglasses were a tad uncomfortable so I decided to pull them off and place them over all the head garb I had on. A medium headwind fought us on the way out, when we reached Rivertown I thought we were turning around, only to my dismay did Accident Andrews inform me that we were going past the water towers. I went along with the plan because I knew a tail wind would be following us home. I expected to see others out on the levee, but we saw no one. I looked for the 6:40 group and nothing. We did see 1 guy, we actually saw him twice. We continued the ride past the water towers and made the turnaround and headed home. By the time we hit Rivertown again we had picked up speed significantly and I was enjoying the breeze. I decided to pull out my phone and take some pictures around this point, I had to pull of my 2 layers of gloves. I was holding the gloves in my hand that was steading the bike and using the other hand to try and take pictures of things I couldn't really see because it was too sunny. As I was riding along trying to take a picture and keep myself in control of the bike I lost a glove. Damn! Accident Andrews offered to go back and get the glove. I continued taking pictures. This maneuveur reminds me of trying to drive and text, not something that should really be done. I got my glove back and put the phone up. We were on our way back past the country club and I got a text at about this time from the Moviestar, calling me out for not riding. I didn't think anyone else was out there, and apparently I was wrong. I immediatley called him to let him know he was mistaken and that the Stunt Team was doing a long ride today. He still didn't believe me, I practically had to put Accident Andrews on the phone for him. Again I thought to myself, probably not a good idea to be talking on the phone while I am riding. I hung up the phone and put it away. It's a miracle I didn't crash today, with all my phone antics. We headed down off the levee and back home. The breakfast promise was upheld and it was well worth it as usual!

Lemons into Lemonade

The weather has me down, but not out. First the rain, then the wind storms, then more rain, and the list goes on. I'm beginning to believe in El Nino/La Nina with all the craziness that is the weather in New Orleans right now. I woke up today ready to ride! I popped (sort of) out of bed, only to find out the radar wasn't looking good. I decided that we should forge ahead, Accident Andrews was ready to do so as well. Clothes on, sunglasses on head, helmet in hand, walking out the door and I get a text and a phone call. Rain they both claimed, I saw no such thing at my door, then WOOOOSHHHHHH, a tiny downpour in Mid-City. I walk back inside and sat down, feeling as though someone let the air out of my tires (no pun intended). After a small debate with myself about whether or not to wait out the rain or not, I decided to change and go eat breakfast and start the day out early. Getting to work before 9am, I figured my boss would have a heart attack! He wasn't in the office, so he missed the unusual early arrival, damn(he will never believe me).

Today was an example of one of those days when you are supposed to take a bad day and do something great with it. I have found that there are some situations in which there is no saving them and that nothing will make them better. Sometimes you just need to get out. Turning lemons into lemonade isn't always a possibility, there are just some bad lemons out there. Then there are days that present themselves as being horrible, (i.e. falling out of bed, missing the alarm, running out of gas on the interstate, spilling coffee on your shirt, completely forgetting an appointment) and suddenly things turn around. You are standing there with coffee on your shirt at a gas station where three men have helped you drag your car to and you are on the phone with the person who you have forgotten you had an appointment with and WHAM, the best news ever just falls into your lap. You just landed the impossible sponsor, and everything is better. Bad turned to good, things gone completely awry turned to a joyous celebration. Maybe we should just celebrate in anticipation of this great unexpected news that is on its way. We don't know its on the way, but we celebrate the coffee spill and the missed appointment because we know somewhere in our day the celebration will be deserved. Or do we sit and stew in our failings? I'm turning those lemons into lemonade, in honor of the rain I'm going for a swim. Hopefully I won't be swimming home:)

Thanks Fred!!!

Hey Crashley, I am honored that my favorite quote inspired you. Fred has had a lot of influence in my decision making over the years. I broke up with my boyfriend of a 1.5 years the day after I heard "How do you tell someone you don't love them?" It was the right choice!!! Thanks Fred, I have never looked back.

Crashley, I am officially guilty about my lack of riding. No real excuses, I am just not back in the swing of things since my Christmas frenzy.

Kick Rocks, Pound Sand, A Dirty quote:):) ahh cha cha cha

See ya in the am!!! Lakefront.

Choices

We are all making choices everyday, we choose to get up and ride, we choose to sleep in, we create each and every moment by the choices we are making. Sometimes we regret these choices, and other times we are glad we made them. Choices are interesting if you really think about them, creating our lives by simple yes and no decisions. Choices are defining who we are, the good, bad and just plain crazy. "Choose before your choices fade away" -Fred LeBlanc, an interesting quote that Elizabash introduced me to. I didn't get to thinking about this quote until today and realized how true it is. We are presented with choices as children and as we get older we are given the opportunity to make more and more choices on our own. However, if we wait too long, these choices aren't available to us, there are no longer choices for us to choose from instead we are forced into situations, no longer directing our own path but going down the only path that is left for us to take. Who knew choices were so critical.
I made the choice to get up to ride today and promptly texted Accident Andrews to make sure we were riding. I'm always glad when I get up and ride, there has never been a time when I made the choice to ride and I regretted it, even on days of my many crashes. We arrived on the levee to a large group of cyclists lined up at the pump. Accident Andrews and I rode ahead so that he could stretch and I could watch, (because I am too stubborn to stretch) and continued riding until the group caught up with us. I usually need to pick up some speed before I start riding with that group of speed demon cyclists. I tagged along and jumped right in and before I knew it I was up front, pulling for a bit and not really understanding the double pace line. I have only experienced this once or twice before under rigorous instruction, so I was a little thrown off today. The group was going faster than normal, so I knew it wasn't going to be too long before I felt the back calling my name. I got up in the front one more time and was feeling pretty good, then I had to jump on someone's wheel just to hold on because speedy ken got up front. I was a goner, there was no coming back from that surge for me. I stayed strong and continued my ride. Accident Andrews eventually saw that I was behind the group and he came to get me. We continued the ride at a pace I could breathe at:) We finished strong, coming in at about two hours. I survived another day riding and I thoroughly enjoyed the path I chose today.