February 27, 2013
Celebrating before I leave sounds a great idea because I may be too tired to celebrate when I get back. Right now I'm working out, bicycling on machines and ready to celebrate. I had lunch today with RC, a good friend who loves books and we talked about what we're reading, have read, and are about to read. We also enthused about "Makers,' the PBS documentary on the Feminist Movement which started in the 1960s and how much it influenced our lives all those years ago.
I began the day with an hour's walk with Sammy the Snow-loving beagle, and then went to the Y for a 20-minute warm-up bike ride, and an hour's exercising with Gerry the Total Trainer. Last week he assured me my legs would be like wet noodles after our session, but they were only mildly limp - so I think I can do this. We have one more session on Friday - what will he think of next?
This evening, good friends from the Manor where I'm living invited me out to Happy Hour at my favorite restaurant, Brasserie 1010 on Walnut Street. We toasted the trip with my Proseca, red wine and a cocktail. I had a bowl of delicious mussels in a white wine sauce, and the elegant tiny French fries with a garlic dip sauce. Lots of good conversation about where we were all going in the next months (Florida, Majorca, France) and how B was playing her monthly game of poker tomorrow, and loved to play, and we agreed the gambling casinos all over Colorado which were packed with people didn't interest us. Did the revenues go to Open Space?
We came back in the cold star-filled evening under a black velvet sky and sat and talked in the living room downstairs before taking the elevator up. A lovely day.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
And the bicycle flies away.....
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Today was the day I went to FedEx with my bicycle packed in a big box and sent it off to Bernie's Bike Shop in San Diego to be put together. Yesterday University Bicycles took it apart and packed it. Today it has gone. I hope it arrives safely on Friday or Monday. I arrive on Tuesday to collect it. It's like sending a child off to college - will it all work out the way I hope it will??? When FedEx weighed the bike in its box, it weighed the same as my dog - who never likes me picking him up.
Today also I met with M. and R., two residents in the Manor in Boulder where I live who grew up and spent most of their lives in South Texas where I'm going to be biking. This is hot desert Redneck country. The Klu Klux Klan town of Vidor is off to the north. Once the town begged a friend of theirs, the 7-11 manager, to open a store there. He did, and people shopped there every day. But then they noticed his stock manager who came twice a week was a black man. They told the manager to fire him or they wouldn't shop there from noon on Wednesday. He didn't. They didn't. And the store closed. Prejudice is amazing.
The tour doesn't go through Vidor but we do go to Kerrville TX where a man called Kinky Friedman once ran for Governor, and sang a song called "They don't make Jews like Jesus any more" which did not get him elected. Texas is going to be an experience and it's the place we have on the schedule a day of riding 111 miles - a significant number. My friends plan to put up a big map in the living-room downstairs and mark off the miles as I cover them.
Sammy the Patient Beagle sadly tore his toenail off on some ice in a parking lot, dripped blood all over the back seat of the car, and now has a neat bandage from the vet, which I have to swathe in plastic bags when we go out so he doesn't get it wet. He doesn't seem to mind the extra attention and loves the snow. He will stay with my cousins who have Scooter the beagle and Stanley the almost beagle, since beagles are the only dogs he sees around.
Next Tuesday at this time I'll be in San Diego California with a couple of days to get used to the oxygen in the air (ahhhhh!) and the lack of snow (easy-peasy). Yes, I'm taking a swimsuit.
Today was the day I went to FedEx with my bicycle packed in a big box and sent it off to Bernie's Bike Shop in San Diego to be put together. Yesterday University Bicycles took it apart and packed it. Today it has gone. I hope it arrives safely on Friday or Monday. I arrive on Tuesday to collect it. It's like sending a child off to college - will it all work out the way I hope it will??? When FedEx weighed the bike in its box, it weighed the same as my dog - who never likes me picking him up.
Today also I met with M. and R., two residents in the Manor in Boulder where I live who grew up and spent most of their lives in South Texas where I'm going to be biking. This is hot desert Redneck country. The Klu Klux Klan town of Vidor is off to the north. Once the town begged a friend of theirs, the 7-11 manager, to open a store there. He did, and people shopped there every day. But then they noticed his stock manager who came twice a week was a black man. They told the manager to fire him or they wouldn't shop there from noon on Wednesday. He didn't. They didn't. And the store closed. Prejudice is amazing.
The tour doesn't go through Vidor but we do go to Kerrville TX where a man called Kinky Friedman once ran for Governor, and sang a song called "They don't make Jews like Jesus any more" which did not get him elected. Texas is going to be an experience and it's the place we have on the schedule a day of riding 111 miles - a significant number. My friends plan to put up a big map in the living-room downstairs and mark off the miles as I cover them.
Sammy the Patient Beagle sadly tore his toenail off on some ice in a parking lot, dripped blood all over the back seat of the car, and now has a neat bandage from the vet, which I have to swathe in plastic bags when we go out so he doesn't get it wet. He doesn't seem to mind the extra attention and loves the snow. He will stay with my cousins who have Scooter the beagle and Stanley the almost beagle, since beagles are the only dogs he sees around.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Two weeks to go before B-day!
So here I am at the Boulder YMCA on a stationary bike working up to two hours of steady up and down pedaling depending on the level from 2 to 20. It's a great opportunity to catch up on TV new and sports because those are the only channels with rolling subtitles across the screen. It's amazing how much time sports commentators spend discussing one piece of news about a sports figure doing anything. It's a one-sentence piece of news and they can talk about it for half an hour, repeating themselves frequently, and rerunning the same video of the person getting hurt, joining a team, leaving a team, or predicting what will happen in the next game. At least that means I can concentrate on biking - if I start watching, I always slow down. I don't like earbuds so I just lip read... or guess.
Other riders come and go - ten minutes, fifteen minutes, half an hour - and I'm still there pedaling away - and dripping -er - perspiration.
I love my padded bike shorts - how did women ever ride before? - and the Y has wide saddles to sit on as you can see. In front of me are the walking and running machines where people stay in the same place on foot. Outside it's still snowy from the last snowfall.
My week has a steady routine to it now - bike Monday, Wednesday and Friday and yoga on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, and I plan to rest on Saturday - though sometimes it's Sunday too. On Wednesdays I have a short bike ride and an hour of exercises on machines and with elastic ropes and on up and down step things with Trainer Gerry - who promises to keep torturing me for one more week, stretching and working on core and upper body strength. And he recommended a massage - so I've had two "trigger therapy" massages at the Y --- fabulous. Then I take a nap.
Sammy the Super Beagle needs a good walk in the morning and another in the afternoon. Or else I take him to the Foothills dog park where he can run around, chase other dogs, and bark at the prairie dogs squeaking behind the fence, which is even better than a walk. I throw him an occasional ball - he never brings them back - stroll round the perimeter of the area and admire the rolling mountain views and the huge open arc of the sky. Today the south sky was black with the impending snowstorm coming in from Denver and the east, and it started at 5 p.m. and is truly pouring down an hour later. Though I am summer person, there is something incredible satisfying about being inside warm and cozy and watching the snow falling falling falling without a pause. It reminds of the Boston Blizzard of 1978 when they closed the Mass Turnpike and I walked up the road with my son after buying some milk and we could hardly see where to talk because the snow was coming down so far.
So in two weeks time, on Wednesday March 6th, I will be in San Diego waiting for the first day of the ride. That is not a long time.....Gulp.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
A snowy day for bicycling
Thursday February 14, 2013
Today it is Valentine's Day and I chatted with Gerry, my trainer at the Y yesterday about how he was going to take his wife out to brunch on Sunday and avoid the chaos of today - though he would get a card and flowers somewhere. I feel enormously free from all that emotional pressure - my ex never remembered things like that so if I wanted cards or flowers I would start weeks ahead of time reminding him of exactly I wanted to happen. Now the pressure is off and the day just flows past me and I can buy flowers tomorrow if I want some.
Today I went to my Iyengar Yoga and the teacher invited me to talk about my ride. I told them what I was going to do and how yoga had helped keep me in shape, and Octavia put the postcards at the front so people could take the addresses and info. Then we did heart-opening stretches and backbends because it was Valentine's Day - which was lovely. Across my shoulders in back is definitely one of the least flexible parts of my body - so it is good to stretch those. It felt good. The hour and a half usually flies by - though Octavia told us about one teacher who when he saw students looking at the clock would say: "Is there somewhere you have to be? Are you bored? Do you need to know the time?" which embarrassed them enough they stopped looking. Yes, Iyengar can be harsh sometimes!
I went to pick up some food at Whole Foods and a met a woman from the choir, who I realized I knew from way back and whose husband is a writer, and I remember his first very successful book, and he's still writing..We had a great talk - she is a pianist and gives recitals. It was snowing when I came out, light flakes under a dark gray sky falling steadily. I came home and had soup for lunch - and took Sammy out. He loves the snow so I let him run around in the small dog park here, which he loved. Then I went to the Residents Meeting here, with about a dozen people and Carol Walker and the woman from the 4th floor running the meeting. It was informal and informative, and Jean Day suddenly decided to tell them about my ride so I talked about it and raising money for ALS and then gave Marlene a postcard so she and Ralph could contribute, because they had a friend with ALS. It is a pernicious and cruel disease.
Still snowing, gray, cold - but I can stay in this cozy apartment and not go out. Tomorrow I go to the Y to see if I can do two hours biking on the machine. We'll see.
Today it is Valentine's Day and I chatted with Gerry, my trainer at the Y yesterday about how he was going to take his wife out to brunch on Sunday and avoid the chaos of today - though he would get a card and flowers somewhere. I feel enormously free from all that emotional pressure - my ex never remembered things like that so if I wanted cards or flowers I would start weeks ahead of time reminding him of exactly I wanted to happen. Now the pressure is off and the day just flows past me and I can buy flowers tomorrow if I want some.
Today I went to my Iyengar Yoga and the teacher invited me to talk about my ride. I told them what I was going to do and how yoga had helped keep me in shape, and Octavia put the postcards at the front so people could take the addresses and info. Then we did heart-opening stretches and backbends because it was Valentine's Day - which was lovely. Across my shoulders in back is definitely one of the least flexible parts of my body - so it is good to stretch those. It felt good. The hour and a half usually flies by - though Octavia told us about one teacher who when he saw students looking at the clock would say: "Is there somewhere you have to be? Are you bored? Do you need to know the time?" which embarrassed them enough they stopped looking. Yes, Iyengar can be harsh sometimes!
I went to pick up some food at Whole Foods and a met a woman from the choir, who I realized I knew from way back and whose husband is a writer, and I remember his first very successful book, and he's still writing..We had a great talk - she is a pianist and gives recitals. It was snowing when I came out, light flakes under a dark gray sky falling steadily. I came home and had soup for lunch - and took Sammy out. He loves the snow so I let him run around in the small dog park here, which he loved. Then I went to the Residents Meeting here, with about a dozen people and Carol Walker and the woman from the 4th floor running the meeting. It was informal and informative, and Jean Day suddenly decided to tell them about my ride so I talked about it and raising money for ALS and then gave Marlene a postcard so she and Ralph could contribute, because they had a friend with ALS. It is a pernicious and cruel disease.
Still snowing, gray, cold - but I can stay in this cozy apartment and not go out. Tomorrow I go to the Y to see if I can do two hours biking on the machine. We'll see.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Thursday, February 7th, 2013 8:15 p.m.
This time in four weeks exactly I will have had my first day on my cross-country trip and will be in San Diego, California, at the first-night banquet. I hope my bike will be safely stored in my room, and my wheelie and my daypack ready to go. Wow. That is a thought.
Today someone sent all the participants a most inspiring email about doing the trip in 2011 and just giving a presentation to a group of women and remembering what a wonderful experience it was for her, and will be for all of us. I hope so.
My life has a pattern of preparation. I took my bike into University Bicycles where they added extra handles on the handlebars, and a mirror, and changed my tires so they are new to start, and I bought inner tubes and patches and other essentials for biking. And they cleaned it beautifully so it looks like new. I went on a short ride up the Creek Path and back and took it in to have the saddle put up a notch so it is perfect. Now it sits on my porch waiting. I have to sort out what I want to put in the case on the back and how to organize raingear.
Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. I have four more one-hour sessions with Gerry Hernandez, the quiet but thorough trainer at the YMCA where I am now a member. It will make it 12 sessions altogether. He gives me leg and back strengthening exercises, I have learned to warm up for 15 minutes or so on a stationery bike, and he's shown me how to use the Kinesis machine without fear and the elastic stretch bands from the ceiling for my arms and back. And he's given me squats with a 10 lb weight, and plank position (up to 60 seconds) and more. It is a great introduction to getting into shape, and I do hope I will go on doing it afterwards.
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 to 10:30 I go to YogaShala and do Iyengar Yoga at the intermediate level with Tam or Octavia - whoever is teaching and they are both excellent. The third floor studio overlooks the mountains and faces the colorful Google sign whose office is opposite. Mondays and Fridays I was taking spin classes but they were so exhausting that I now go in on my own and time myself to ride the stationary bike for an hour while I watch TV and adjust the gear level so it's more difficult at times, and easier at others.
On Sunday I go to the Yogashala class at 10, and usually take Saturday off. But having Sammy the Beagle to look after means I go for a walk of at least a half hour twice a day, and sometimes an hour. And on days when I feel like it, I'll do half an hour of Gerry's exercises which I can do at home - arm stretches, and squats and plank.
So that is my daily life which gives me time to learn how to use this new Asus computer, get myself up to speed on my new Iphone, download the Mapmyride maps, and keep up with the fundraising things for ALS with the Facebook page and emails to my list of friends.
I don't miss teaching the Arab students at all! Though I do feel as if my thinking is getting a bit mushy because I really don't focus on intellectual things much - it's all physical activity.
I'd like to go dancing somewhere - maybe salsa on Thursdays at Avalon. And I also go out in the evenings to the schmooze on Tuesday with BMW and Happy Hours on Wednesdays with the Manor Bunch, and to see David and Lisa for tea and conversation over the weekend. They are off to see Spencer in San Luis Obispo CA this weekend so I am on my own.
That's it. I posted yoga photos on the Facebook page - and a new quote.
This time in four weeks exactly I will have had my first day on my cross-country trip and will be in San Diego, California, at the first-night banquet. I hope my bike will be safely stored in my room, and my wheelie and my daypack ready to go. Wow. That is a thought.
Today someone sent all the participants a most inspiring email about doing the trip in 2011 and just giving a presentation to a group of women and remembering what a wonderful experience it was for her, and will be for all of us. I hope so.
My life has a pattern of preparation. I took my bike into University Bicycles where they added extra handles on the handlebars, and a mirror, and changed my tires so they are new to start, and I bought inner tubes and patches and other essentials for biking. And they cleaned it beautifully so it looks like new. I went on a short ride up the Creek Path and back and took it in to have the saddle put up a notch so it is perfect. Now it sits on my porch waiting. I have to sort out what I want to put in the case on the back and how to organize raingear.
Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. I have four more one-hour sessions with Gerry Hernandez, the quiet but thorough trainer at the YMCA where I am now a member. It will make it 12 sessions altogether. He gives me leg and back strengthening exercises, I have learned to warm up for 15 minutes or so on a stationery bike, and he's shown me how to use the Kinesis machine without fear and the elastic stretch bands from the ceiling for my arms and back. And he's given me squats with a 10 lb weight, and plank position (up to 60 seconds) and more. It is a great introduction to getting into shape, and I do hope I will go on doing it afterwards.
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 to 10:30 I go to YogaShala and do Iyengar Yoga at the intermediate level with Tam or Octavia - whoever is teaching and they are both excellent. The third floor studio overlooks the mountains and faces the colorful Google sign whose office is opposite. Mondays and Fridays I was taking spin classes but they were so exhausting that I now go in on my own and time myself to ride the stationary bike for an hour while I watch TV and adjust the gear level so it's more difficult at times, and easier at others.
On Sunday I go to the Yogashala class at 10, and usually take Saturday off. But having Sammy the Beagle to look after means I go for a walk of at least a half hour twice a day, and sometimes an hour. And on days when I feel like it, I'll do half an hour of Gerry's exercises which I can do at home - arm stretches, and squats and plank.
So that is my daily life which gives me time to learn how to use this new Asus computer, get myself up to speed on my new Iphone, download the Mapmyride maps, and keep up with the fundraising things for ALS with the Facebook page and emails to my list of friends.
I don't miss teaching the Arab students at all! Though I do feel as if my thinking is getting a bit mushy because I really don't focus on intellectual things much - it's all physical activity.
I'd like to go dancing somewhere - maybe salsa on Thursdays at Avalon. And I also go out in the evenings to the schmooze on Tuesday with BMW and Happy Hours on Wednesdays with the Manor Bunch, and to see David and Lisa for tea and conversation over the weekend. They are off to see Spencer in San Luis Obispo CA this weekend so I am on my own.
That's it. I posted yoga photos on the Facebook page - and a new quote.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Pedaling Across America 2013
It's Saturday, February 2nd, Groundhog Day - which is one of my favorite movies - and it's warm and sunny in Boulder CO. I went to the Y and bicycled on the machine for an hour watching a documentary about rescues for gorgeously cute sealions and dolphins from the ocean by Sea World I think - no sound. They were adorable. Then figure skating with a young man of about 12 who was tiny and skated brilliantly - and a young couple looking more nervous than they should have but they did fine with fixed smiles.
After an hour I am dripping with sweat but I can do it. 14.5 miles it said. I then went to the Kinesis machine to explore my shoulders again, had a shower and went home.
Today I had a tutorial from my son and daughter-in-law on using my Iphone to take photos and send them and to get email and to understand why everyone loves their Iphone so much. Right now it all seems a bit overwhelming but I can see it will be great when I'm out on the road on my own. I really want to use it to record the trip and put things into this blog as well as on Facebook.
It's five weeks till I leave. Wow. I got a new daypack with a pocket for my computer today at Best Buy which is exactly what I need, nice and light. This week I am going to take my bike in for a few adjustments and things I need. Tomorrow I hope it's warm and I'll actually go for a real ride outside.
After an hour I am dripping with sweat but I can do it. 14.5 miles it said. I then went to the Kinesis machine to explore my shoulders again, had a shower and went home.
Today I had a tutorial from my son and daughter-in-law on using my Iphone to take photos and send them and to get email and to understand why everyone loves their Iphone so much. Right now it all seems a bit overwhelming but I can see it will be great when I'm out on the road on my own. I really want to use it to record the trip and put things into this blog as well as on Facebook.
It's five weeks till I leave. Wow. I got a new daypack with a pocket for my computer today at Best Buy which is exactly what I need, nice and light. This week I am going to take my bike in for a few adjustments and things I need. Tomorrow I hope it's warm and I'll actually go for a real ride outside.
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