School work = NO RIDE

I've got a FINAL that's going to be due this week.
Plus assignments and a quiz that's due tonight.

Woke up this morning and just could not justify going for a ride when studying MUST/NEEDED to be done.
*SIGH*

I'll be glad when school is done in October. Then I can really crank it up like I want to.
And hopefully won't be so tired.
Oh, and it's easter...HAPPY EASTER everyone!

Week riding plans look good though - Riding with the Skirts on Tuesday, then Riding to work Wed and Thurs. Thursday is a half day for me so I'll come home and do the final - then we're heading to Tallahassee for the wedding of the year. We'll be riding on Friday and Sunday for sure. Yessssss....

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.

St. Pete Skirts - An Awesome Tuesday night experience!

Last night, I went on a ride with the St. Pete Skirts ladies. Dimitrios's riding buddies girlfriend, Cathryn had suggested I come out and ride with them, and while she wasn't there for this ride, she said she usually is every week.

I was kind of torn between which bike to ride. I love love love my Trek, but the riding I've been doing lately (mostly commuting) hasn't really given me the opportunity to ride with her and race it up/train ride lately. Dimitrios told me that the ladies' ride didn't really seem that much like a training ride, but more like a casual/fun ride. So the Miyata was taken on this excursion.

I still wore my helmet. The other ladies didn't wear one. Probably because it wasn't like we were going at RAMMING speeds or anything like that, but now that I have fallen and didn't hit my head (just everything else). My theory is that if I don't have the helmet on, I am probably going to fall and hit nothing BUT my head since I didn't have the helmet on. So yea...helmet stays on. :-).

The ride we went on started at the 66fixed store and kept going through Snell Isle and DT St. Pete which I had never been to (the Island, not DT St. Pete). It was a really nice ride :). And the ladies were totally nice and welcoming. I'll admit I'm a little shy at first and terrified that I would speak and say something ...stupid but they didn't treat me like a retard so I must have done ok. *wink*.

We ended at a really nice barista that had THE BEST milkshake I have ever tasted (and Dimitrios..he came and checked on me after the ride to make sure I had made it ok and was having a good time).
I got up a good sweat, made some new acquaintances/friends and enjoyed myself throughly. All in all, I can safely say I think I'll be trying to come to this ride every Tuesday afternoon as it was a lot of fun and definitely something to change around the monotony of the work week.

Stitches will be removed on Friday

But I'm not letting that keep me from riding!! :-) Now that I have conquered my fear of falling, tonight.. I am conquering my fear of group rides. I will be joining these lovely ladies tonight for a group ride in DT St. Pete. http://www.stpeteskirts.blogspot.com/ Full Report tomorrow :-)
Also - the day D did his Crit Race in DT Tampa, I brought my commuter. She's quite a beaut -->

Carnage

Ok it's been a couple of days...so it actually looks a LOT better...I'm healing up fast (woohoo)
But here's some carnage for ya...



I'm not showing my sides or knees cause I'm pretty sure all of you know what road rash looks like...and the underneath of my arm looks like a cheese grater attacked it as well.
So yea..there ya go.  The 8 stitches RIGHT in the boniest part of your elbow.  Fun Fun.

Day Two of the BooBoo

I called off of work yesterday. I really didn't want to use any PTO time, but my arm was killing me and I could hardly move my neck over to the left (where most of the fall was). Work is being totally cool and understanding.
Took a shit load of painkillers and slept most of the day.
Dimitrios took care of my wounds/dressings yesterday. I can do most all of them on my own, except for the elbow one. When he took that one off, it was stuck a little bit to the gauze...the slight pain from that along with painkillers and everything else made me wretch...so that was fun. I hate puking.
I hate just laying around and doing nothing...but at the same time, the little things I tried to do ended up wearing me out and hurting me so I guess it's just better to lay still.
I really need to do my quiz and my discussion stuff for class, and the teacher has left it open for me to do, but I seriously was just so tired yesterday and the day before I couldn't focus.
I'm at work now...going to try to work for the whole day...my arm just started throbbing pretty badly . And my whole torso aches. They weren't kidding when they said that I was going to be sore afterward. Guess I didn't notice it yesterday cause I was laying around. Now, I'm having to hold myself up at my desk and that alone is painful.
And be careful that my elbow doesn't hit my desk. yea..annoying/not fun.
If you're wondering where the pain is - think of where you hit your funny bone. That's where it split open and needed stitches...so yea...OW! doesn't even cut it.
I still can't believe it's still oozing after all this. I was hoping it would stop soon.
Dimitrios has been amazing. He's done all the little chores I asked him to (litter box, launder (to get the blood out of our clothes), dinner, dressing/wound care, holding my hand at night when we're sleeping (can't spoon as I can't lay on my side), he's been a real good sport about all this.
I go and see my regular doctor tomorrow so she can take a look at the stitch area and determine when they need to be removed or what have you. I also plan on asking her when I can get back on the bike. I miss it already. Cancelled my dance lesson for this week -- hopefully can start back next week on that.
I'll update tomorrow after the doc visit.

Oya, and we didn't get any photos of the carnage. LOL. We kind of wanted to, but there really wasn't a place or time for me to show and photo. D did get a photo of me walking out of the clinic all bandaged up, but I just look like a soceer player with knee stuff. HAHA.

Graceful is not my middle name

Today was D's second race day of the weekend.
The race was only 5 miles from my house. We figured we would ride our bikes there (it was in the Gateway Office Complex if any of you know where I'm talking about)
Geared up - got out the racing bike, shoes, etc.
Ride Ride Ride all is fine...a little windy - but fine.
We see the race turn coming up ahead...about 200 feet
I look down and see a twig coming right for me...
Which I went over my front wheel with - -
Which caused me to jump and loose the distance between me and D's wheel and put me at an angle right where his back wheel grabbed my front wheel and pulled it...
AND DOWN I WENT.

Tumble tumble, roll and PAIN..sharp shooting PAIN everywhere....OH GOD did it hurt.

Some biker (as in HARLEY DUDES, not cyclist) saw us while driving down the road. The man's introduced himself literally as 'Coon'. They were kind and awesome and gave us a ride to the Race to try and get me some medical attention.
THERE WAS NO MEDICAL ATTENTION AT THE FA

CKING RACE. This is unbelievable. By then, I had stopped screaming, had regained some of my composure and was just severly shaken up...
I go to get out of the biker's truck that helped me, and then I see my elbow.
Nothing.But.Blood....blood all over my side, blood HANGING with skin on my elbow..bloodbloodblood.
Then I got sick/weak dizzy and tired.
A cop there made a makeshift icepack, bandange for me Dimitrios hauled ASS on his bike to get the car and they told me I needed to get to a ER or walk in ASAP. I needed stitches on my elbow.
So...I'm home now. The Walk-In Clinic was able to stitch me up (8 STITCHES LATER), give me a tetanus shot, took x-rays to make sure there were no fractures or bone pieces before they closed up the wound, dress my road rash on both my knees and side, and prescribe drgs and painkillers.

I'm hurting now..and the elbow feels like it's going to pop back open. Doc said it's going to turn an ungodly color tomorrow and hurt like shit for about two days. Gotta go and see them in two days to check it/make sure it heals somewhat ok. It's in an odd/crappy/bony place too..so thats going to be fun to have heal up.
Everyone has told me tomorrow is going to be worse, like a car accident. I'm going to hurt. A LOT.
I guess that's what the pain meds are for
And I asked my teacher if I could please have another day to do my quiz as right now..I just can't..I feel like crud and have road burn all over me...everything hurts.
Yea, I know...WAH WAH WAH.
Anyway..that's my excitment for the weekend. It could have been a LOT worse. And I think most of you know, this is bound to happen...you WILL fall on a bike if you take it up as a sport at some time. I just hope this is the first, LAST, and only time it happens to me.

Ok painkiller time.

If none/any of you have nothing to do on Saturday - FloridaCycling is having Criterion Races on Saturday all day starting from 8pm - 6pm. Dimitrios WILL BE RACING AND WILL BE IN THE CAT 5 Category. I know we're going to get there early to hang out, oogle bikes and watch some of the Pro Categories so text me if you like and I'll let you know what time we're heading out to Tampa. We'd love to have you.

Here's more details on it if you like...

D's race starts at 5, but we'll be there earlier.

In other news on Cycling...I'm doing it!!
Well, ok, I know you guys KNOW that I'm cycling, but with the weather over the past two months going from nice to FRIGID...I wasn't doing it NEARLY as much as I would have liked (yes, I'm a pussy). But this week is the THIRD WEEK IN A ROW that I have ridden my bike to work 3 days a week (Wednesday-Friday)!! I've even found a new route to go that makes me NOT have to go home on East Bay at all (unfortunately I can't use it in the mornings as the road is a ONE WAY / from McMullen Booth, but still)..it's made the right a LOT more enjoyable in the mornings and I I think even shaved off some time since I no longer have to follow/weave around like East Bay does.
I've also started riding on Sunday mornings super early. That's 'MY' ride time (Dimitrios does his on Saturdays, but I like being able to go out on my own on Sundays and do my thing). This month I'm only doing about 20-30 miles each Sunday, and then I'll increase it to 10 next month.
I'm also looking at joining the group ride that Dimtirios goes on Tuesday nights. I'm still chickenshit about this group ride thing. Why?! Insecurities mostly ...and the fact that ..unlike the rest of the group cyclist I WON'T run a red light when the group is going through it (Dimitrios has told me that cyclists do this a lot just so that the group won't get split...but see...I think that's DUMB because if you're on the street - YOU NEED TO FOLLOW THE RULES OF THE ROAD. Him and I both agree with this. He says that he has stopped before while with the group and while passing him they all stare at him like he's nuts, but he doesn't care. He refuses to become THAT BICYCLE GUY that doesn't follow the rules of the road. And I personally don't blame him one damn bit as I would be the same.
But his said this new group that he's found to ride with on Tuesday nights are nicer and they have a girl's group. So when/if my study schedule CALMS THE HELL DOWN (grrr) then I think I will suck it up and go with him and see what it's like.
We also got this book from the Paperback Swap web-site that I'm a part of we've heard NOTHING BUT GOOD THINGS ABOUT THIS BOOK and how it's got all sorts of training ideas, tips and techniques. If I follow this book and the book regime..who knows, maybe by my birthday *I'll* be doing races as well!!

And lastly, if anyone is interested in seeing Dimitrios's race results for the two crits he was already in:
They are here
http://floridacycling.com/results/ResultsViewer.asp?popup=&view=79&cat=708&eVclass=720
and here
http://floridacycling.com/results/ResultsViewer.asp?popup=&view=83&cat=725&eVclass=737

He's motivating me to race, that's for sure
(sidenote: His photos are in my flickr account. Ask if you would like more details on how to get to them :-)).

My minimum speed is picking up. When I started, i was all puny like - down to 12-15 mph was fast to me. Now? My warm-up speed is about 15mph and my kick it into high gear is up to 19-20mph. I'm quite impressed with this :-). Maybe with the training stuff I'll be able to catch up to Dimitrios and be at 25mph in no time!!

The weather..

Keeps Flip Flopping
And my ability to ride and motivation goes with it.
Working on getting better....hopefully that will happen.
School full time and work full time really do bear down on your mentally though..

Anyways..here are my stats for the month of February. They're not too bad, but they could be better, IMO
Training Summary: February 2009
Total Distance:132.84 mi. Total Calories:4,312 (kcal) Weight Change:2.0 lbs.
Average Sleep:n/a Average Morale:n/a Min. / Max.:125.0 lbs. / 127.0 lbs.

Awesome

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJmxCuPiM0c

Weather...

- Has been great this week. No ridicously cold, no humid/icky warm. I've rode into work three days out of the week (wanted to do four, but not going to beat myself up)...it's been a good week.
- Dimitrios is doing a race this weekend in San Antonio. I'm pretty excited for him.
- I started riding home actually ON East Bay/Roosevelt now. Still a little scared in the mornings to try that (especially as I would have to cross three lanes of traffic in order to get into the turn lane for our street, so I'm still sticking to the sidewalk for now on Roosevelt, but I might actually try and go into the neighborhood behind the building and take the 'back way' ....it would give me more mileage and a change of pace even :-).
- Need to work on getting over my fear of the 'group ride'. Just need to go one afternoon when he goes (or one Saturday morning) and go with the small group. He says I can keep up with them, and that they're ok to ride with. Just gotta give it a try.
- Also considering parking my car where I can no longer see it RIGHT.IN.FRONT. of my door. This way, I'll conclude to ride instead of walking all the way to my car (note - I will need to put it REALLY far) and maybe give me more incentive to do this.

It comes and it goes and it makes riding IMPOSSIBLE

Cold Weather here has made it hard for me to a) get out of bed and b) get motivated to ride all the days that I have planned. I guess that's why in cycling, people consider this the 'off' season as you can't get in as much riding as you would like. I thought maybe, living in central Florida that wouldn't be the case, but I just can't get the willpower to jump on a bike when it's past 55 degrees outside and dark in the morning.
So yea, I know - WIMP. Hopefully I can break this.
In the meantime, I've been trying to ride to everything else when I can. We rode from a friend's house in St. Pete to Downtown St. Pete to check out a Museum Exhibit on Sunday. Total ride was about 13 miles and it was nice. Amazing how more understanding people are towards cyclists in St. Pete than they are in Largo, where I live. Really wish I could move my townhouse or sell it and move to that area of Pinellas.
So, Jan/Feb will probably be the lowest months of riding for me. Actually January came in at 169 miles!!. That's pretty impressive. Hopefully the weather will warm back up so I can get more rides in.
This week looks like Friday will be my only riding in day to work. Saturday, I'm doing some volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity and I think I'm going to ride to the actual work-site depending on where it's located. Sunday morning will be waking up and doing a early morning ride and then, hopefully the weather stays neutral and I can ride to work all next week with the exception of Tuesday (and maybe one other day for lunch with a friend..have to return her house key).
Happy February everyone!

Sunday = Athenian Garden Ride

Sunday night we went to dinner with my friends Angelica and Johnny. We asked if they would mind going to Athenian Garden, a restaurant near our house that was less than 10 miles (and thus, we would bike it).
The ride was nice actually. We went through neighborhoods and avoided main roads except when we needed to cross Starkey and Belcher to get to the restaurant.
The Greek food here is ok. We've been to the one closer to Tyrone Mall and [men]. But this new one was a lot more fancy looking in the inside and the food quality seemed to be a lot better.
They also had bike racks, which we thought was pretty nice (and not one, but two).
Total Miles: 6.03 (perfect little ride for a Sunday)

Last Week = FREEZING (aka obstacle)

So last week.
Monday I rode in, no big deal.
Tuesday is the usual drive to work since I have a dance lesson on my lunch.
Wednesday, was COLD.
Temperature dropped here in the Tampa, Florida area to around 20 degrees at night...37 by the time I woke up to get ready for work.
It stayed that way for each day afterward.
Thursday morning, there was even FROST on my windshield I had to scrape off with my work security badge!!
So yes, I drove..everyday except one.

High 40's and 50's...I can do no problem. But when it gets past 45 degrees outside. OUCH!
Plus all the bundling up I have to do just to get to work and unbundle and then rebundle in warm work clothes.
The Hibernation Factor also kicks in as well for this. I would much rather stay in my WARM bed, than get up early, get ready etc.
So - off the wagon for a week. No biggie.
Started back yesterday and will be riding for the rest of the week except Tuesday (as usual).
I will admit though, I need to get over this 'too cold' stuff. Especially if I plan on moving to Portland. Get this, it was WARMER IN PORTLAND LAST WEEK THAN IT WAS HERE IN FLORIDA!!
I'm not sure if we'll have another cold freeze like that again (we usually get one in January/Feb and then we slowly warm up after that for the year), but if we do, I need to try and figure out how to get the WILLPOWER to make myself get up and ride and get used to it. I need the exercise AND need to build up the immunity to it.
This week, starting Wednesday afternoon, I will be cat-sitting for a friend who lives near my work. Gotta check out the maps to figure out a 'safe' way to ride to her house after work so that I can incorporate the ride and get more more miles in as well.

I entered this today...

Don't know if I'll win or not, but still It'd be pretty cool if I did:



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