Embers and Spices

Good soup and a good fire is all a girl needs.

13.1

My legs are sore.  I don't even want to get out of bed because I know my calves will scream at me. 

A half marathon will do that to you.


1:53:32 was my time.  Pretty average, but I'm happy with it.  I've never run that far in my life, so I didn't know what to expect when I started the Jacksonville Bank Half Marathon.

I stayed real consistent the whole way through, and before I knew it, I was back to where I had started earlier that morning.

I still had gas at the end, which makes me think that I could've gone a bit quicker.  There's always next time, I suppose. 

For now, it's back to the bikes.  My first (unofficial) race is Jan. 21.  Here goes nothing.

a little slice of Belgium

This past weekend was Swamp Cross, Gainesville's annual cross race.  The weather was beautiful (a tad windy at times), riders suffered and a lot of beer was consumed.  Sounds like a successful cross race to me.

Inner peace

Find it.

What I want

I ran over a sharp piece of metal nearly four centimeters long yesterday on a training ride.

The metal punctured my rim but didn't go all the way through, thankfully.

Couple this with the fact that my birthday and Christmas/Hanukkah are approaching, and now I can't get new wheels off my mind.

Introducing my latest obsession:

American classic Road Tubeless.  So pretty.  I want them (I'm talkin' to you, Mom and Dad).

Operation Fenders a success.

This has been a long time coming.

No more wet butt and muddy back when riding in the rain.  Hooray!

Looking at this picture, it looks like I may need to adjust the front fender.  It looks stupidly uneven.  Whoops.

I got these fenders.  Super easy to install.  Can't wait to test them out.

I love my commuter bike.  She's named Cecile.

Off for a group ride.  These legs are getting strong.

Dirty girl.

It rained.  I rode.

Chikinz

I'm oh-so-close to getting two hens.  I can't wait to stroke their soft brown feathers.

I have a friend who is raising several dozen chicks and needs to determine their genders before she sells them to me.

I just finished painting my "Chikin' Haus" that I built with Ged.  I've neglected it for a while but soon enough it will be full of poop and eggs.

I present to you the Haus (built for under $45):

Grow.

Things I've been up to lately:  

• Riding A LOT
• Gardening
• Yoga (hatha, vinyassa, bikram)
• Running (I know, right?)
• Using The Stick
• Eating/Sleeping occasionally 

As evidence, I leave you with a picture of me in the garden:

Back to real life I go!

For a good cause.

This past weekend I rode the MS 150:  Cycle to the Shore for the second time.  It's a charity ride for multiple sclerosis that takes place over two days.  You ride 85 miles from St. Augustine to Daytona Beach the first day then ride 65 miles from Daytona back to St. Augustine the next day.

Last year, I rode by myself and flatted twice on the first day then crashed on the second.  Not exactly the most successful charity ride, but I still had fun.

This year was a different story.  I rode with Team Gainesville and broke off with our relatively "fast group."  The miles flew by.  And I didn't crash OR flat.  Yeehaw.

And now, I give you pictures.  Lots and lots of pictures.

Saturday:  Arrived at St. Augustine Airport before the sun was up.

Changed into kit, signed in and found my team.

Did my pre-ride happy dance.

And we were off!

Even these guys...

Ride stats:
85 miles
21.3 average


Sunday:  Another early start.  Beautiful sunrise in Daytona.

Bit of a headwind, but we managed to stay together.

Ride stats:
65 miles
18.1 average

I survived.

I've done Six Gap.  11,200 feet of climbing, 104 miles, eight hours of riding.

The drive up on Friday was long.  Around six hours.  Don't know if I'll sign up for another ride that is so far away from me.

Saturday morning, we checked ourselves in for the ride then checked out the bike expo.

We picked up a nifty tool for massaging muscles called "The Stick."

Then we watched the Six Gap Criterium.

Really fun to see these guys ride 28 mph around downtown Dahlonega.

After dinner, we headed to our campground and tried to get some sleep before the 5:45 a.m. wake-up call.

We woke up cold and tired (someone was playing loud music late into the night) but managed to throw our tent in the car and head to the start.

Around 4,000 people participated in the ride this year, so you can imagine how packed the start area was.  We hung back until the bulk of the crowd left, then we rolled out into the chilly morning air.  "Let the games begin" is what I remember saying to myself.

How did I feel during the ride?  Strong at first but tired after 70 miles.

The ride wasn't terrible.   The first climb (Neel's Gap) was great; I rode at 8-9mph the whole time.  By the fourth and hardest climb of the ride, I was feeling fatigued.  My computer read 3-4 mph for most of that climb.  

So many people around me were dismounting and walking up.  I made a promise to myself that I WOULD NOT do that.  Come on, it's only Georgia.  I had to think back to the amazing climbs I did in France and tell myself what a badass I am.  In all seriousness, the hills of northern Georgia make for really good climbing.  No disrespect.

At the 70-mile mark, I remember thinking to myself, "Hey, there's the SAG.  Man, it would be so nice to throw my bike and my body in the car and just drive back."  Well, I didn't.  I rode my slow behind all the way back to the finish and had a lot of spaghetti before starting the car ride back home.

How do I feel now?  I feel like I haven't slept properly since last Thursday.  All of that driving to and from Georgia combined with studying for tests has rendered me exhausted.  Yep.  Big black bags under these eyes.

Now I leave you with a cute picture of a cat riding a bicycle.  Ged gave me this kitty, which is now in my front yard.  Enjoy.

Goings on and guilt.

I'm currently buried in a pile of schoolwork and punctured bicycle tubes.

I'm riding the Six Gap Century in Georgia on Sunday and I'm a little worried.

You see, this is what my training has been like as of lately:

Pretty solid.  Yet, this week I'm lacking motivation.  My legs and arse still hurt after Sunday's ride.  I didn't ride yesterday and I'm not riding today, hence the guilt.  I still consider myself a rookie cyclist, so I don't know where to draw the line and let my body rest or push it a little harder.  For now, I'm resting.

I plan on riding tomorrow with a group.  We're doing two hours moderate with 4x10min rotation with 10 min. rest.  That's what the email said anyway...

This is the plan:

Wednesday:  moderate two hours
Thursday:  easy, short spin (to the massage place for a discount rubdown)
Friday:  Off/Driving to Georgia
Saturday:  easy spin
SUNDAY!:

(sponsored by my mommy and her company, http://www.northstarcorporatehousing.com/)

In other news, I got an incredible flat on my commuter bike yesterday.  I was riding home from school and could feel something sticking to my tire.  Well, I got home and saw this guy:

Oh, and I tried to go surfing when I last visited my family.  I didn't really catch any waves because they were so puny.

That's all, Folks.  Send me good vibes for the Six Gap.

Ride like the wind. Or not.

I know I haven't posted in a while.  Sorry, grandpa.  I'm pretty sure he's the only one left who is still reading this blog.

The last month has been full of traveling in the Old South, visiting family and cycling up hills.
Oh, and I saw a rocket launch.  Heavens, I mustn't forget the rocket.

A couple of weeks ago, I drove to my cousin's house in Savannah, GA, for some family time.  We also managed to go for a little ride with the local cycling club.

And now, I'm back in school.  I just finished my first week of school, and I must say there's a lot of aggression on the road in Gainesville right now.  On Friday, I was yelled and honked at more than I've ever been audibly attacked in Gainesville before.

Don't worry, I'm not deterred.  I plan on riding a lot within the coming weeks, not only as a cycling advocate trying to spread peace between bicycles and cars, but also as an athlete in training.  Yes, you read correctly.  I'm doing the Six Gap Century in Georgia at the end of September.  I better get my behind in the saddle and start rackin' up the miles if I plan to finish..

Highs and Lows

My time in Europe is once again coming to a close, but it's a nice and happy ending.

These past few days have been incredible as I've been able to see so many different sides of the tour--on top of freezing Alpe d'Huez, on a hairpin bend in Grenoble and on the Champs Elysees in Paris.

Without further adieu, here are a bunch of pictures I've taken over the past few days.  I'm off to Florida.  Enjoy.

Our campsite on Alpe d'Huez.

I twisted my ankle the day before and got a "boot" from the pharmacy.  Of course, I had to customize it with a limited edition free sticker from the tourist office.

During the time trial, we found a really nice spot on a hairpin to watch the riders come by.  Very relaxing not to have to push and shove my way to see the riders.  They had to slow down so much because TT bikes are so hard to handle on turns.

Then we were off to the city center to watch the finish.

After the time trial we hopped on a train to Paris.  It was nice to be in a proper bed again.

Paris was busy but we managed to get some good views of the riders by stepping on our camping stools.  Those things come in handy.

First, we took a train to Creteil to watch the signing in then back to the Champs Elysees for sprinting madness.

Goodbye, Europe.  It's been real.