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.
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