Weekend BikeAway: Crater Lake

Hi All!

Dimitrios heard on his obsessive watching of the bike forums that Crater Lakewas open to cyclists and hikers only this past weekend.  It was a rare occasion as the snow has melted earlier this year than any other year.  So we moved some stuff around in our busy life schedules to make the trek (it's five hours one way) to Crater Lake and back in one night and a day.  Yes it was a bit grueling near the end (I crashed pretty quickly after showering when we got home) but...it's something we have been meaning to do since we lived here as we heard the experience actually seeing the lake is amazing...and well.  It is.  

Dimitrios was a trooper and sherpa'd the bike bag the whole way on our ride around the lake.  The highest point we climbed was 7708 feet (higher than the city of Denver..WOW) and you could feel it in your lungs going up that beast.  The ride we did is here (http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2723133) should you feel so inclined to look at what we did.  

These photos have not been photo shopped at all.  I have done nothing with them.  Crater Lake is seriously that beautiful and seriously an experience to uh...experience.  We want to go again, maybe even rent out one of the cabins they had in the National Forest (they only allow swimming in ONE area of thelake and usually just in July/August..and even then, the water is between 55-60 degrees so..you don't swim for very long me thinks.)..

If you want to look up more information on Crater Lake (yes it was a volcano that went boom, but there is SO MUCH MORE!!) then to to this link:
http://www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm

But now, let's show some photos! :)

Life has been busy  I have been biking and I have pictures to share of my adventures...so be prepared.

Sunday - Sunday will have a supa dupa post for you...about ..you guessed it - MORE CYCLING..

And some life stuff that's going on as well :)

Hadda crash day on Wednesday

It was a day of doing absolutely nothing - no yoga - no biking...just sleep.

Body wasn't 100% used to the whole new workout regime, so it was telling me to QUIT/RELAX for a day.

 I'm back on the bike and back to doing the yoga now and I plan to keep going.

I'm 11 miles short of my goal this week - so that means tomorrow I will have to ride at some point in time.  My friend Christina is participating in an art show with her jewelry in DT St. Pete (which is about 11 miles from my house) so I think - depending on when I wake up - I shall ride to see her tomorrow and ride back.  That will put me above and beyond the mile goal for this week.

Add the standing Yoga poses for the weekend (all this past week I have been doing the back poses/stretches with the assistance of Senor) and I should be good to go.

Tonight is hanging with one of my favoritist's, going to dinner at a place I've never been to and then hitting up 'Da Club (ok this place is really nothing like "DA CLUB as it's the CASTLE in Ybor) and the heading home to relax with the bestest man in the world.  Watching what I drink tonight won't be a problem at all.  

It's going to be a great/awesome weekend!

Sunday = The Riding Begins again

Writing this as I sit here, cooling off from my first 'back into it' ride after the accident.

I did [meh] ok today. Only went about 14.75 miles. I wanted to do 20-30, but the elbow was just doing this nagging PAIN everytime I went over a bump. The stitches are out, the skin is still fresh, but I must have bruised the motha-fu***ng HELL out of the bone cause I still cannot rest it on...ANYTHING, even a pillow or let it get touched.

I was also REALLY dehydrated this morning. NOTE TO SELF HYDRATE HYDRATE HYDRATE the night before.
I think I also have a mental fear now of drafting. Something I will have to get over, but Brendan was telling me to get in closer on Dimitrios to draft and I did for a bit, but then I would immediately get farther back. Just a little mental block. It'll pass over time.
Kept up with the boys though for a good 7 miles averaging about 18-20mph. The ride back was even easier since I didn't have any headwind (Dimitrios planned the ride that way so they should have fun coming back.
So next weekend I WILL make it to 10 miles before I turn around...the week after, I'll increase it until I get to my goal.

20 miles = Beach Ride on Sunday

As I didn't ride on Saturday, I made up my 10 miles that day by going to the beach with Dimitrios and his friends from Portland. 10 miles each way = make up for Saturday and my 10 miles for Sunday achieved.

It was a 'commute' ride so I rode the Miyata. She looks quite sassy with her Christmas Gear on her might I add (rack, fenders, etc). I shall put a photo up soon enough.

The day was nice on Madiera Beach and we enjoyed throwing the football around and getting a little sun. Only down fall for the day was that we left a little later than we expected to and had no headlights, so half of our ride home we did on sidewalks so as not to inhibit drivers since they wouldn't be able to see us.

Total mileage = 20 miles.
Fatigue Ration = Not that bad. Me and the Wind are still enemies (it makes me fall behind a bit more at this point), but that will dissapate the more I ride in it and get acclamated to it. Keeping hydrated on the ride there was no problem and eating a sub when we got there helped with the hunger.

Week Review (11/10-11/16)

Week was good. Best thing to talk about this week was my ride on Sunday to my friend Melanie's house.

Melanie lives about 10.92 miles from my house and I figured instead of having a bazillion cars at her house for moving purposes, all she really needed was arm muscle (plus, where to park all those cars in DT St. Pete where there are alleys and such?). So I work up - started my ride at 11am and got to her house by noon. It was a nice brisk ride and no honking horns or rude people whatsoever.

That ride made me realize that I can, in fact, ride pretty much anywhere and everywhere if I just take the time out for it. That's the catch - you have to prep for rides, bring a change of clothes, etc. And depending on what you're doing, it's not a bad thing, but if you were going to the symphony - for example, you might want to rent a car...but yea, it's doable. Totally.

Didn't ride in this morning as I have a headache and was pretty worn out from the ride yesterday, but this week's commute schedule is Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (possibly Wednesday too - we'll see if I'm up for it). I brought clothes changes today so that I could if need be on Wednesday even . So yea, looking forward to it.
And next weekend. We'll be in Tallahassee with my good friend Brendan and we plan on doing a nice ride through my mom's neighborhood and possibly all the way up into Georgia if we can. Awesome.

The new derailer for the Miyata is on it's way. I cannot wait to get that bike up and running and ready for commuting!

Weekend in Review

Friday night: Rode to my friend Beverly's house and back (about 3-5 miles away). Got home REEALLLY late and was riding REEAALLLY late...but it was awesome riding home at 3:15 in the morning. There was hardly anyone on the roads and the people that were, didn't even bother or taunt me.

Now I honestly want to make a point of it to go to bed super early on the weekends (say...Friday nights..) and wake up super early (like 3-4am) and go for rides! Something to consider...

Sunday we rode to Dimitrios's uncles house in the afternoon for a cookout. Left his place by about 10:00 and again, night riding = AWESOME. I really enjoyed it.

So not too bad. This weekend I think we're going to shoot for riding to Country Inn Pizza on Friday night for our dinner outing, Lenny's in the morning on Saturday or Sunday and maybe even try to do a training ride on Sunday evening...
Kick ass.

This weekend rides have been postponed due to Gustav

Was able to get in one ride today to Chick-Fil-A and back. That was even kind of hard for me to get into.
The weather was rainy all weekend. Which meant me being pretty non-motivated to do any riding, or anything else this weekend for that matter.
But the ride today helped get me back. And I'm sure I'll sleep good tonight because of it.

Sunday: Different Ride, Different Time

So, I paid off the car on Friday. What a feeling of relief that is. Hello Rags to Riches... (ok well not really..but it is nice to have that off my plate, after five years).
The weather has been ....evil lately. I've been wanting to ride, but while Fay is still around (tropical storm JOKE, if you ask me), the rain, not raining has been a bugger. And I desperately need to get a commuter bike. That will be a definite search after the Portland trip.
So the only riding I have done (no thanks weather) was today. Woke up early and did our usual commute to Lenny's in Clearwater. I decided to try something different: Ride Casual. Meaning, casual clothes (But with biking shorts underneath), and NO CLIPLESS SHOES. I just rode with my polka dot slip on Keds.
Oh, what a pain in the ass that was. The streets were wet..and with no rack on the back of my bike, the water just went all up my butt/back area. Then because everything was wet, my shoes kept slipping off the pedals. So that is something I definitely won't go without ever again. They make the biking shoes for a reason, so I learned today.
But we rode there and back, getting a little wet both ways. It wasn't too bad.
I do plan on riding everyday this week to work except Wednesday when I see the personal trainer at the gym.

Saturday...in the park...

The boyfriend's birthday.
We rode our bikes to our favorite breakfast diner (Lenny's on US19) and back.
Also stopped by the hardware store and picked up some supplies and the post office.
Found an excellent path between Gulf to Bay and Nursery Roads too that doesn't put you on US19.

Total Ride: About 10 miles.
Feelings During the Ride: A little shaky early in the morning (needed foods I think), but after eating, just fine. Still note: I need to get new Capri's that are black.
And a commuter bike. Cause while I do love my Trek WSD 1000. I do not like leaving 'my baby' out of view.