It's About time.....

....and speed.....

I have been logging my mileage on the sidebar for a few years now...and I have done my share of googling my mileage on maps from point A to B....but recently the Captain bought me an odometer for my work bike. It also has the time, average speed, maximum speed along with a stop watch for ride time and a sleep mode.....AND the best part of the whole thing is that I can read the numbers WITHOUT my glasses!

....so Monday I tried out my new toy....and imagine my shock when I got to work and saw that my max speed down the BIG hill was 33 MPH.... since I left late for work, the sun was coming up and I didn't have to be careful of deer jumping out into my path...so I sailed down. On the way home imagine my surprise when I saw that down the shorter but straight hill my max speed was 36 MPH!

I am always so cautious....on my road bike, clipped into the pedals, I always let the other riders go ahead of me down hills because I don't like to go fast..... and if I let go it has to be a wide road with no traffic...and I am still leery....but my work bike is more like the bike I rode as a kid...and the weight of all the "stuff" in my baskets does help propel me downward....and I really had no idea I was going that fast....but the Captain was wondering why I was going through brake pads so quickly...guess that's why!

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*RIDE THE HILLS*

IT'S ALL ABOUT TIME*

DAY 135

DAY 135 - 6:15 a.m. Pouring rain
Day 134- 6:20 a.m. Pouring rain
DAY 133- 6:20 a.m. Pouring rain

On DAY 0, I vowed not to drive a car to work this school year.
On DAY 0, the sun was shining. I had no idea it would rain for practically the entire month of March...and throughout half of February...

On DAY 133, I put on my rain gear and walked to work. After the first 5 minutes the rain turned to mist.

On DAY 134 it poured non-stop and I walked to work. It poured the entire day.

Today, DAY 135, I dressed to walk as it was pouring. When I went outside the rain stopped...and I looked up to see a little sky that wasn't grey....so I quickly packed my work bike...and as I made it to the big hill rain trickled from my rain pants into my hiking boot...which I was wearing because I was going to walk to work...but decided not to go downstairs and get riding shoes on since I wanted to get to work before it started to rain again...so I had to dry my sock on the heater before the kids arrived....and I cursed the rain.

48 days to go.

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*

*RAIN RAIN GO AWAY*

Squirrel, Squirrel, Deer....AAB Pattern

The plan is to not drive my car to work this school year...today was day 41, and so far so good... I have ridden, walked, packed a 25 lb. pack and run to work. Walking is nice but takes far too long. So the majority of the time, I ride. I have front and rear lights that flash because at 6:15 it's still dark. The nice part is that there is no traffic at that time...but the animals are just awakening...or going to bed...or whatever they do that early.

Several years back, Daughter #2 and I were doing a 65 miler training for America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride...we were on the back roads in the east bay and it was a cold, drizzly day. I was in front and as we went around a hairpin turn..... a squirrel ran in front of me....in a flash of a second I had to decide what to do...or what not to do....the road was slick and covered with leaves...I chose to close my eyes and and let out a string of explicatives. When I opened my eyes, the squirrel was gone-(most likely to change his shorts,) and I was still on the bike being followed by Daughter #2 laughing hysterically.

Come last Monday, riding to work as the sun was just bringing light to the sky....going downhill 25 MPH on my 30 pound work bike with baskets loaded and....THE DARNED SQUIRREL WAS BACK! He ran right across the street in front of me...I couldn't swerve because a car was in the oncoming lane....TAKE II.

Then yesterday, the same hill, only just beginning the decent, I heard something in the bushes...I turned to see.......A DAMNED 2 POINT BUCK!- he jumped in front of me- I screamed and he ran faster....I had 2 gallons of apple juice in the baskets and almost dumped the bike right there...I think he went home to change his shorts also...what's next? Indians? Tyrannosaurus Rex? Gremlins?

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*DODGE THE CRITTERS ON THE BIG HILL*