Sunday, April 24, 2005

The sun peers out at the end of a very wet weekend!

As predicted, it was definitely a weekend filled with rainy, dreary days. I kept trying to head out for a walk this morning, and every time I opened the door it seems like the rain faucet was turned on again. I finally got out at a little before 1, and surprise, surprise! While I was out walking, the sun finally made an appearance. It was more than a peek through the clouds - by the time I returned home it was to a beautiful blue sky. After a short rest, I changed into biking clothes and headed out on two wheels instead of two feet. It was a late start for a ride, but I figured a short ride was better than no ride.

I wish, I wish, that some of the warm weather that we had last week would repeat itself. Based on the weather forecast, it appears that the upcoming week will be a more typical spring week with cooler but reasonable temperatures, and with more of that wet stuff. I'm still hoping for the chance to get in one or two rides after work, but I have my doubts about whether the bikes & I will get out again before the weekend!

Th e good side of all of that water coming down from the sky is that (baby) leaves are starting to make an appearance. Green is good!


And flowers in bloom always cause smiles...

Friday, April 22, 2005

Ending the week walking...

...but wait, shouldn't it have been riding?

I headed home at 4:30 (after a full day of work, another 7:30 arrival...) with the thought that I would get a ride in tonight. It was a little cool, but the sun was still shining, and today was the last we were supposed to see of the sun this weekend. Somehow I arrived home with very little energy. My options: a ride, or a brisk walk. I felt like I would be riding through molasses, and the energy I need for a decent walk is somewhat less than I need for what I would consider a decent ride. The decision - a walk! It's funny, even at my low level of energy I managed a walk in a reasonable amount of time. At least I was outside...

I still need to figure out how to boost my energy levels. I suspect that not getting the amount of sleep that my body seems to want may play into this. The questions is how to get the right amount of sleep. I'm working on it!

A good thing about my walk is that I had my camera with me - just to capture the funny creatures like this that I met along the way!

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Bare legs?

Hmmm... 3 days of (false) summer this week led me to change my work attire for my legs & feet. I wear tights in the cold months, and bare legs in the warm months. Last fall my bare legs and sport sandals (Chaco Z1s, what else!) lasted until late October when I headed off to Hawaii for a week and then returned to noticeably colder weather. This season? After 3 days of summer-like weather, comfortably heading to work wearing my normal skirt - but with bare legs - I don't think I can go back to wearing tights. I wonder how long this will last...

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

A peek at a season yet to come

All I can say is wow! What a nice couple of days from a weather standpoint...

Monday was beautiful, in the 70s but a bit windy. Unfortunately, I really did myself in over the weekend, so I ended my work day in a state of exhaustion. I headed home at 4:30 anyway hoping that with a quick snack I might regain enough energy to hop on my bike, but it just wasn't to be. I think I would have been very unhappy with a ride in that state; it would have felt like I was pushing through molasses. It was too nice to sit at home though, so I headed out on a walk, pushing myself to walk at a good clip and stopping every so often to snap pictures of the daffodils. Smart? Probably not, but I was much happier when I got home after the walk. You didn't really think I was going to rest, did you?

Today was much better in terms of energy, in spite of the fact that I got very little sleep last night. I really have to figure out my ongoing sleep problem - my body seems to need 8 hours of sleep, but it very rarely allows me to get it! Anyway, I again headed home at 4:30 and was able to get in a (respectable) 20 mile ride. I'm hoping to repeat that tomorrow before our early glimpse of summer (with predicted temperatures in the 80's!) turns back into cool, wet spring days.

Sunday, April 17, 2005

A sunscreen weekend...

...means two days on the bike!

After our April snow on Tuesday, the weather started to behave a little better. It stayed cool until the weekend, so my exercise during the week was limited to walking. The weekend dawned sunny and warmer though, and my bikes were crying out for a ride. Saturday was in the 50s, but today the temperature got up over 70! What a treat! Even yesterday's ride, which required knee warmers and a long underwear tank under my biking jersey, was a pleasure. It is so nice to be riding unencumbered by extra clothing.

My ride distances? 32 miles on Saturday, topped off by 38 miles today. I have to admit that today my body wanted to stop a lot earlier than my mind did; 38 miles was a bit of a compromise. That was quite a jump from my previous high mileage day for the season at 26 miles, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful, and I'm really tempted to ride to work, but I know that wouldn't be smart at this point in time. I have to admit I was pretty tired after my ride today. I still need to work to increase my endurance. While I am capable of pulling off the round trip bike ride, I believe that doing the ride and sandwiching a full day's work in the middle would be hard. Soon, I hope...

In the meantime, I've been trying to get to the office by 7:30. That allows me to leave - without feeling guilty - by 4:30. That's just before the traffic builds, so I can get home quickly and get a ride in at the end of the day. Do you get the feeling that I think springtime = riding?

Thursday, April 14, 2005

How many states have you visited?

I don't know why, but today I started thinking about how (when?) I am going to get to the 5 states that I have not yet visited. I've been stuck at 45 states for a few years now - and it's funny, when I look back at my cross-country ride the only state that I entered for the first time was Kansas!

Tha missing states? South Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia. As far as I can tell it's going to take a minimum of 3 trips to get to these 5 states. What I'm thinking right now is long weekends...

The first is likely to be South Dakota and Nebraska. I really want to visit Badlands National Park, which is in the southwest corner of South Dakota. I figure that I'll take the time on that trip to drive into the corner of Nebraska. Maybe I'll even find something interesting to see while I'm there!

The other 3? Well, I've got a bit of reading to do to find something that interests me in those states. I really regret not getting to Mississippi & Arkansas on a business trip several years back. I had to go to a meeting in Memphis, and I wanted to eat dinner on the run and loop through Mississippi & Arkansas. That would have been an easy way to get to those states, but the colleague I was traveling with insisted on going out to dinner. Hindsight? I should have dropped him off at a restaurant and headed out wandering on my own!

One of these days...

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

An April walk --- in the snow!

I walked out of work this afternoon to wet - what I thought was a cold rain. But wait, what's that blob? Yes, it really was snowing! I headed home, determined to get in my planned exercise of a fast walk outside. The snow continued for the entire time I was out, but at least it didn't stick! In the midst of the snow, I saw bright yellow daffodils and robins hopping and flying around.

Weather wizard, are you even there? We've really had enough for the season; it snowed in early to mid-November, and here it is snowing again in mid-April. Can we skip forward to summer? OK, I understand no summer yet - how about a real spring, at least for a couple of weeks?

Sunday, April 10, 2005

A sure sign of the (finally) changing season

Ah, the first ride of the season in shorts and a jersey. No tights, no knee warmers, no jacket...

I spent most of this beautiful spring weekend out of town, visiting my folks and meeting their new dog Bailey, but my first activity on arriving home this afternoon was to get out on my bike. It was actually 70 degrees out - very hard to believe! And what a wonderful feeling it was to be riding in (close to) summer cycling clothes. When it really turns into summer I usually ride sleeveless jerseys, but a short-sleeved jersey felt just right today. And I have to admit that I feel for all my fellow cyclists who live in Colorado - I'd prefer not to experience that late-season snowstorm that cropped up out there today!

Bailey, posing for the camera, and in the true dachshund spirit - asking for more food!

More pictures of Bailey can be found in his photo gallery at denise.smugmug.com/gallery/476289

Friday, April 08, 2005

It's the week for funny photos...

I guess this is just my week for noticing funny photos. I participate in a discussion group on the Team Estrogen web site, and one of the women posted the photo below of two people on a tandem. I loved that the front rider appears to be cycling hard, and the woman on the back is along for the ride with her arms and legs thrown high in the air! I actually saw something similar when I was riding between Telluride & Frisco, Colorado on my cross-country trip back in 2002 - a man and a child on a tandem. The little girl had her feet thrown over the handlebars while her dad continued pedaling. I guess she'd had enough of cycling for the day!

Image courtesy of the web site www.eurocycle.at

Thursday, April 07, 2005

Smiles from photos

I just realized how much the April photo on the calendar (at my desk) makes me smile - and I think it's a photo worth sharing!

These 3 bears were caught on camera in Katmai National Park in Alaska by Val Dutter of Carson City, NV - winning 3rd place in the National Parks Pass Photo Contest for 2003

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Loops within loops...

Another beautiful spring day meant another day to escape the office at 4:30 (after a full day's work and an early start!) to head home for another quick bike ride. I wanted a slightly shorter ride than yesterday, but I couldn't wrap my head around a reasonable loop. So today's ride was a right-hand-turn-only loop on roads with relatively heavy traffic with more loops within my big loop through neighborhood streets. That was a good choice for an early evening ride - it gave me the biking mileage I wanted along with really not having to deal with traffic.

I have to admit I'm tired - working all day and putting in 2 hours worth of exercise (walking + biking) each day so far this week has put a dent in my energy levels. I think I have a ways to go yet to get back into what I consider to be stellar biking shape, but (I really think that) I'm on my way.

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

A taste of spring...

...is it finally here to stay?

I got home yesterday to find my new Sidi Dominator rose-colored biking shoes waiting for me at my front door - definitely a nice greeting, and a sure sign of a new biking season to add to the very reasonable weather. (And no, I don't replace my biking shoes every year!)

I made sure to be at work early this morning so I could head home at 4:30, giving me enough time for a reasonable length ride. The first week of daylight savings time provides daylight for a safe and visible ride even at that hour of the day. It was a pleasure to end my work day with a 22 mile ride. My goal is to repeat that slightly early work departure tomorrow so I can do it again!

Last weekend? Saturday was definitely a rainout, but Sunday was better than expected. The sun would peek out, then dark gray clouds would roll in. The sun would... Well, you get the picture. After thinking it was going to rain at any time, I decided to play chicken with the weather and headed out for a short ride. Luck was with me, and my bike and I stayed dry. Here's hoping for more dry weather. I'm putting in my request for rain during the week rather than on the weekend (not that the weather wizard is listening).

My nice new rose-colored Sidi Dom biking shoes. Red isn't my usual color choice, but for some reason these jumped out at me!

Friday, April 01, 2005

The calm before the storm

The weather forecast for the weekend is wet, wet, wet - so I snuck out of the office at 3 this afternoon to head home and to wander off on my bike. It was a good biking day with sunshine and temperatures that were in the low 50s when I started, probably in the high 40s by the time I returned home. It felt good to be out on the bike in relatively light clothing, although I have to say that my choice of a wearing a wind-proof vest rather than a jacket was a little questionable. It was OK at the beginning of the ride, but by the end I was a little chilly. It worked, but I am really looking forward to riding in shorts and a light jersey. It appears I'll have to wait a little longer for that though.

I'm hoping to be able to ride again on Sunday, but I have a feeling that I'll be limited to walking again. The current forecast calls for serious rain Saturday and Saturday night, with an 80% chance of rain on Sunday too. Guess I'll have to wait and see.

A definite sign of spring - clumps of crocus in bloom.


These ducks were happily paddling through what looks like a lake but what is really a very large puddle on someone's lawn!


No, this picture is not upside down! I thought this was an awesome view of a still ice-clogged pond with trees reflected in the portion of the pond that was clear of ice.