Apologies

My life has been a little hectic as of late:
- I finished school and will be graduating in two weeks
- I acquired a heart-rate monitor and can thus track my training a lot better. Got ready to make training goals and then:
- I was laid off from my job (which was only 5 miles from my home)
- I had to put off cycling for about 4-5 weeks while job searching (save for some small trips here and there to enjoy myself)
- I did a cycling adventure vacation up in Jacksonville with The Greek and had a great time
- I acquired work four weeks after being laid off over in Tampa
- Which makes for a 21 mile ride to work, ONE WAY
- AND I WILL BE DOING THIS 2x a week and commuting BACK over the Gandy Bridge every week (Weather permitting of course)

I already sucessfully did the commute one day this week. Dimitrios rode with me as he had mapped out the way for me through Tampa. The ride in? Kick ass - it was nice and cool super early in the morning (takes about an hour and a half to ride to work), and the water being on both sides was great. Hell, we were even passed by another cyclist who was booking it while we were going 23mph.
The ride home? HELL (LOL). We went from having the wind at our backs to fighting the wind, and being in the direct sunlight while going over the bridge. The wind was up to 20mph and we were going 11mph just fighting it.

It was still worth it though - and still awesome.
And so much worth riding and waking up 2 hours earlier than normal jsut to be on the bike and do soemthing that I love so much.

So I will be updating more here in the future. After my graduation ceremony in two weeks - expect weekly updates, status and comments on my trip over the Gandy and my commute as well as reports on my Project: Buff this year.

Ciao! for Niao!

2010 - New Year New Motivations

I have one more week of school - ONE.MORE.WEEK - - after that - training is going to be in full force with the biking, dancing, and every other thing that has been compromised while in school.

Got new shifters for the Trek - I have now moved up in the world to Shimano Tiagra's, which also meant a new cassette on the bike as well, so the Trek is now a 9 speed on the back. Woohoo - I got's more gears. That, I never really get to use since we live in FLATLAND (meh) but that will probably change here soon as I have requested that we make the trek out to San Antonio, FL to ride on hills so I can get acclimated to them for when/if we move out of state. If that does happen, it's going to start happening pretty fast.

The biking schedule has increased even though my mapmyride for the last two months hasn't shown it - just stopped logging it and I can't remember what I rode for certain - memory is being retained right now for school stuff and my finals this week. But I'm riding more to work and for errands and driving less and it feels pretty great!

In the market for a heart-rate monitor now. If I want to train and I want to train right, those are key to learning while training. Will update when I have one of those as well.

Need to get my schedule back on track - super cold weather didn't stop me from riding (yes I was riding to work in 35 degree weather - what of it?) but the dance schedule has. Along with my ballroom dancing I am now taking up belly-dance as well and those classes are on certain nights that mess up my early night for bed so I can do my before dawn/work bike ride. I've been waking up late and that's not good. So I think I need to change my schedule around to do the before dawn bike ride on Mondays, Fridays and every other Thursday. We'll see if that works.

This week's ride schedule will be M, W, TH, F - Ballroom is usually on Wednesdays, but I haven't heard anything from Joe/My Instructor...so I'm actually starting to get a little worried.

Welcome to 2010!

Updates

Dimitrios and I have been biking a lot more now that the weather is pleasant. We took our steel frame/commuter bikes this Sunday and rode to Target and got items we needed (put them in our pannier set), had a nice lunch and then rode back. About a 10 mile ride for the day. Dimitrios is also riding for everything now. His car has not been moved from the parking space since November 7th, when we got back from our Atlanta/The Jesus Lizard trip. It's been pretty cool. And it's not like the miles are going on my car, cause my car has pretty much been parked with the exception of the usual 1-2 days a week I drive into work.

We also rode to his mom's house for Thanksgiving dinner. That was really nice too. Ended up getting a night ride in (as it was about 11pm when we left her house), and the roads were dead. Very different and very odd for a Thursday night in Largo; but very beneficial for us as we weren't bothered by any motorists. People driving that did pass us didn't even seem to be in a rush, which is a nice change.

Rode the commuter bike to work as it was Monday and I didn't want to work up a huge sweat. D then suggested we go to his mom's for Turkey Soup (which was delicious). I suggested he meet me at work and so we rode from my work to his mom's - had a nice dinner and left about 8pm, we headed home and a mile away from the house, my pulley broke on the derailer, causing no inertia/pull. D went back to get the pieces and then pushed me the mile left that we had home! Got home and ordered the part - thank goodness only a 4 dollar part. So, my commuter bike is out of commission for a bit - no big deal. Should be back in working order by this weekend.

Been riding three weeks now two days a week an hour before I am expected to go into work. It's been nice. I think next week I might bump it up to 3 days a week. Mondays are just going to be commute only days; as I can't get my @$$ up to save my life on Mondays.
And I came up with an 'epiphany' this past weekend while staring at my car parked in the parking spot. I think on the days/weeks I have appointments I'm just going to drive the car into work on Monday mornings and keep the car in the parking garage at work all week and just bike to and from work. I mean...why not?? That way on my lunch appointments I can drive to them and make it - and IF it rains, then at least the car is here for me to use and I don't have to try and find another alternate route/plan (even though 75% of the time I just ride in the rain cause I like to). Then on Friday, just drive the car back home. Easy Peasy. And I will still be able to get most of my riding in during the week.
So that's the update ...I'll get better at posting on this now that I'm riding more often. And I'll be sure to post my stats as well soon as I haven't done that in awhile either

Discoveries

I'm not as young as I used to be. I need sleep - and a decent amount of it in order to function. The days of drinking and being retarded, crashing out and then getting only 4 hours of sleep to wake up the next morning and go to work are done/over. I'm 30 - it doesn't work that way anymore.

Also - setting any...WORKOUT goal on a Monday morning (or a biking goal for that matter) ain't gonna happen for a bit. I wanted to start riding in the mornings before I head to work - at least an hour before -- twice a week for starters. I THOUGHT Mondays would be perfect for that, but they're not, as I want to sleep in until I absolutely HAVE to get up and get my butt on that bike.

I went to bed at 10pm last night. It was kinda hard as I usually want to fight to stay up as late as possible (EFF THE MAN), I had to use two glasses of champagne in order to just make me sleepy - crashed...and amazingly - woke up on my own at 4:52am (alarm was set for 5:15). I laid there...kinda surprised by all the noise that goes on outside my window/in the parking lot of my complex (I had no idea that many people went to work at that time) until the alarm went off, then got up - started a load of laundry and got ready for the bike ride before work.

Headed out of the house @ 6am -- rode until 6:50 in the neighborhood behind my work, and then headed into work at 7am.
So I now know that:
a) I HAVE to go to bed by 10pm if I'm going to get up for this ride by 6am
b) I CANNOT DRINK the night before a ride day. Or..really ever again for that matter. I'm sure I will have certain weekends that I will drink but that whole hangover shit?! yea, not happening anymore.
c) The 6am ride is awesome. There's hardly anyone on the road and the people that are?? Leave you the hell alone. Plus seeing the sun come up in the morning and all the colors over the horizon - ah-MAZ-ing! I'm going to have to get my handheld back from Chris and take a photo one morning while I'm riding. :D
d) The awesome thing about being short is that you can take legwarmers that are supa-cheap at Target and use them as arm warmers as well and nobody is the wiser. My total warm gear on my bike (without my coat as I felt it would make me too hot)....about 5 dollars (the sets of legwarmers were 2.50 each last year). And they just look like sleeves...awesome.
e) Bike riding makes me feel better - so I need to not let it fall astray and continue it.

Those are my discoveries for the week - well - that and the Jesus/Gun Truck I mentioned earlier today

Sited while doing my hour ride before work...

A Ford F-150 that has a sticker of the Head of Christ on it (with thorns) and then gun shot stickers all around the Jesus Sticker and the truck. What kind of symbolism is that?! I want to Shoot Christ? I've been shot for liking Chirst? I'm just a retard?! WHICH ONE?!

Link for test

Dear White SUV Lexas:

I'm sorry that YOU thought you needed to go on the complete opposite side of the street and impede passing traffic...100 FEET BEFORE A STOP SIGN that you and I are coming up to while I'm on my bike. It's not my fault you're a complete MORON and can't just WAIT YOUR TURN AT A STOP SIGN LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.
If you had just COASTED and stayed behind me to begin with - you wouldn't have that problem, or have pissed off the other driver.

Stay classy, jackass."

SHOOOOM!

Cold Weather
New Wheels
New WheelSet (thanks to Dimitrios - happy birthday to me! The Hubs finally came in and he made my wheelset all last week and this weekend) :D

Makes for a faster/happier ride into work
This weekend - starts the weekend rides again and the training. I'm excited!

"Cold Front" Starts here tomorrow

Which means the biking starts back up to and from work during the work week.
And maybe some group rides with the Skirts, as I do miss them.

Hell - YES

Stay tuned for more on this - breaking news...

Thanks to velonews.com:

California road-rage case heads for court

By Patrick Brady

Published: Oct. 12, 2009

A California emergency-room physician faces trial this week on multiple felony charges stemming from a 2008 road-rage case that left two cyclists seriously injured.

Dr. Christopher T. Thompson allegedly braked suddenly in front of Ron Peterson and Christian Stoehr after he and Peterson exchanged words as they descended Mandeville Canyon Road on July 4, 2008.

The road, a two-lane, dead-end street in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood, is a popular destination for local cyclists who want a climb with relatively little traffic.

Peterson and Stoehr had taken part in a Fourth of July group ride and were descending behind the rest of the group after assisting another cyclist who had fallen and waiting for paramedics to arrive.

Thompson, an ER physician and owner of a medical-records company who lives on Mandeville Canyon Road, is said to have approached the duo at speed in a late-model burgundy Infiniti sedan and honked at them before pulling alongside and telling them to ride single file. After a brief exchange of words, the cyclists say, Thompson pulled ahead of them and then stopped short.

Stoehr hit the back of the car and vaulted into the oncoming traffic lane. His injuries included a grade-three shoulder separation and road rash. Peterson went through the rear window of the car; the impact broke his nose, nearly severing it from his face, and shattered several of his teeth. More than 90 stitches were required to reattach his nose.

Thompson was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon; he was later released on $30,000 bail. In December 2008, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Amy. D. Hogue ordered that Thompson stand trial after a preliminary hearing in which Los Angeles police Officer Robert Rodriguez testified that Thompson complained that cyclists frequently traveled the canyon road and that he was “tired of them.” Thompson allegedly also told police that he stopped in front of the cyclists to “teach them a lesson.”

Also testifying were two other cyclists who claimed to have had an earlier run-in with the doctor on Mandeville Canyon Road. Patrick Watson and Josh Crosby say they were descending the road in March 2008 when a motorist sped ahead of them and hit his brakes. Watson bunny-hopped a curb and rode onto a lawn while Crosby dodged into oncoming traffic.

Watson says the motorist made a second attempt to hit them and then sped away. He used his cell phone to record the vehicle’s vanity plate, TCH MDX; that plate was also on the back of a burgundy Infiniti driven by Thompson in the July 4 incident involving Peterson and Stoehr. Thompson’s medical records company is called Touch Medix.

The Los Angeles Police Department investigated the March incident, but Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley declined to file charges against Thompson, saying the case wasn’t “a winner.” Since then, the case against Thompson has been amended to include a single count of misdemeanor reckless driving causing injury, reflecting the allegations made by Watson and Crosby.

Thompson pleaded not guilty to the charges against him on January 15. Final pre-trial motions will take place on Tuesday. A jury is to be selected on Wednesday, with opening arguments scheduled for Thursday.

Six Gap

Dimitrios did well last Sunday.

105 miles in 6 1/2 hours. He did all of Six Gap...and his legs felt like spaghetti to prove it.

I started looking today for photos of him on flickr - and came across the ones I posted. Thanks to x376 User on Flickr for posting them and this set

I'll be posting more as I find them!

Oh and the guy in that last photo -- with the black/white helmet right in the front?! That's my BFF Brendan... :D

Biking and Six Gap

I've started biking into work again. I missed it - two times these past two weeks. that's pretty good - next week I'm going to strive for three weeks - my body has totally missed it so it's definitely something I'm going to get back to. The afternoon showers after work are hitting me as I drive home, but that's ok. Makes the drive less humid/gross feeling.

Going to Tallahassee tonight to drop Dimitrios off with Brendan for the ride up in Six Gap I was going to participate in this, but something has come up with my grandfather, so I'm using the weekend as a weekend to visit him and possibly do some riding around the Tallahassee area for a bit. And do homework. It'll be a quiet/private weekend for me and it's something that's definitely needed for me.

At some point I'm going to start attempting to go back to the weekly ride with The Skirts Sadly with the way it's looking, it might not be until I'm 100% done with school, and then I'll only be riding with them until we move out of state in May :(. I miss seeing them though.

Going to also start on a training schedule for the rider with little time (see book below). Plans for that are to be in October that I start doing that.

And Im getting a new bike soon. Details to follow on that when I get it.

Well this is sad (Click Title for story)

Washington's Bike Messenger's are in decline :(...

Hiatus is almost over

I'm sorry, but the heat and humidity for the month of August pretty much killed any ambition I had to ride to and from work - or even just to go and get the mail.

We went to Colorado for a week - it was..AMAZING!!! D did some mountain biking and had a good time.
Just got back from an Atlanta/Tallahassee visit this Labor Day. That was fun, and the Silver Comet Trail in Atlanta is really a nice trail that we enjoyed. Shaded, nice - and EVERYONE KNEW HOW THE HELL TO RIDE, walk, and jog on the trail (unlike here in the 'Burg, where the Pinellas trail is filled with morons and walkers who take up the entire trail....Sigh).
D went with Brendan up in Tallahassee to a Chaires ride...i bailed on riding as my rear is sore from the ride on the Silver Comet. Mainly because I haven't rode in over a month and my booty's gotta get used to my seat again.
I have come across a conclusion however....

My bike is too small for me. It's something I didn't...WANT to admit - but let's face facts...I have a stem on it that's ridiculous (150-200), I have spacers to get the stem up where I need it in order to fit me correctly (about 4 or 5 spacers...which is a LOT). its' just too small. It's a 47cm, and I probably need one up - (49 or 50). so I'm biting the bullet and looking for a bike now. When I get it - I'll sell my Trek and that will be the hardest thing. Since it was my baby - my first REAL bike and her and I have shared many memories.
W
I've got time and like I said - The Trek fits for now..but it does still hurt sometimes...so bigger would be better as I can't really keep stretching it out when it's gone as far as it can go.
So that's the plan with that...

As for the biking - the plan right now - depending on the weather - will be to ride into work tomorrow. Here's hoping it's not disgusting - as one month without biking is like going north to sound on my arm with a razor blade!

It's all about 'Performance'