Another Summer of Bike Riding

Well, another summer of bike riding is behind me.  I started riding on March 28th and finished on October 19th.  I would have ridden longer in October but the weather wouldn't cooperate.  It turned very cold and rainy.
   So for the most part the summer was awesome for riding.  We only had 1 week of extreme heat and I was only able to ride early morning and even at that it was hot by 9:00am and was hot and muggy all day long including the evening hours.  We did have a lot of windy days this summer and there were lots of time that I told myself to only go for a short ride.  Well, my "short rides" turned out to be at least 15 miles round trip, if not longer.  Once I got going, I didn't want to turn around but lots of times, I wished that I had not ridden so far because of the wind.
    Nothing exciting happened on the Rail Trial this summer.  I didn't meet any strange people.  I did see a guy on roller blades a lot pulling a dog on the leash and I always felt bad for the dog.  The poor animal was always panting really hard and I knew he needed to stop and rest but the guy kept on going.  I felt bad for dogs like that. 
    This year when I would ride every 300 miles, Curt and Sarah and Noah would treat me to ice cream at the "Tin Roof Cafe" in Sanford.  It's an ice cream restaurant plus they have the best burgers around.  So it was always fun to go with them.
    At the start of my riding this year, my goal was 4000 miles.  And I knew that was way to high as 2 years ago, I just road over 3600.  But I thought at least it's a goal and if I don't make it, that's ok.  I just wanted to ride as many miles as I could and at least tie my record or break it by a few miles. 
   So I rode in heat and chilly weather.  And sometimes I would get caught in a rain storm.  I rode with leaves on the ground and on wet pavement.  I rode with bugs hitting my helmet and bugs sticking to me.  I rode early morning and toward evening (but not after dark).
    I just want to thank God for giving me good health to ride this year, and I want to thank my family for all of their support.  My husband, Clif, has been wonderful to encourage me to ride (even when it was raining--but I told him, I don't mind getting wet, but I don't have wipers on my glasses--I can't see when the rain hits me in the face).  And thanks to Curt and Sarah and Noah for their support and encouragement.  Noah would sometimes be at the window watching me go by.  And thanks to Cindy and Ben, Carie, Nathan and Glenn, Chad and Sarah Jane.  It's so awesome having a family that will stand behind you when you are doing something that you love to do.
    And thanks to all of you, on FB that always encourage me.
        Now for the moment you all have been waiting for.  My total miles for 2013.  Would you believe it, if I told you, I only did 2000 this year?  Do you think I made 3000?  What about breaking my old record, do you think I accomplished that?   Well, would you believe it if I told you I hit 4010 miles this year?
     The correct answer is 4010.  I still can't believe that I did that many miles.  I not only reached my goal but went over.  I was so excited when I hit 4000.  It actually rolled over in the driveway.  I tried to plan it so it would do that, but wasn't sure if it would work or not, but it did.
   So that's all until next spring.  The total miles on my bike that I have been riding for the past 4 years is 10268.  Wow, that is a lot of miles.
    See ya again when the "Tread meets the payment."

Well, the adventure has begun for 2013!  I started riding today (finally), March 28th.  I'm 11 days behind last year's schedule so guess I have some work to do.  It was so great being out in God's country and "flying like the wind".  The rail trail isn't plowed from 9 mile to 8 mile so I had to ride on Saginaw Road for that mile.  It was kind of fun for a change and I might do that more often--just for a change of pace.
    We are off on spring break so I'm hoping the weather co-operates and I can ride every day this next week.  We shall see.  I only saw 3 bikers on my ride today and 2 or 3 people walking.  So it was kind of nice having the trail almost to my self.  The trail was clear except for under the bridge and again this year, it was icy.  I had to go slow and try to stay in the narrow trail so I wouldn't crash into the side of the bridge.
  That's all for now and I'll be back to tell more of my adventures as once again, "The Tread meets the payment."

Biking Adventures for 2012

Well another biking season is behind me.   When I started in March (15th to be exact), I did not set any goals.  I just wanted to ride and see what I could do (or couldn't do).  The weather was so windy this spring.  It made it very hard to ride but there were some days that I just got on my bike and took off.  Then as it got closer to summer, it was very, very hot.  I don't do well riding on hot days.  Even early mornings, this last summer were muggy and even though I tried to ride then, it was difficult. Toward evening wasn't much better as on one of my rides, I saw the big thermometer in Sanford and it said 98 degrees.  What!   98 degrees at 8:30 at night.  Just a little bit crazy.
   Did I mention that I got new tires on my bike?  They are a lot skinner than my old ones and it's a whole lot easier to coast than my fat tires.  The only bad part is I have to be careful in sand or gravel.  I'm excited to say, that I didn't wipe out once this year.  Not bad for new tires!!!!!!!!!!
   It was odd, though this summer that I didn't see 1 turtle on my travels.  Last summer I saw turtles just about every day, but this year it seemed like they just vanished from the earth.  I only saw a couple of snakes too where last year, I saw more.  Guess it was to hot for them too.
  So all in all, my summer biking wasn't very exciting.  It was still fun to ride but kind of boring on the trail each day.  The bad part of my whole summer was being chased by a dog on my last day of riding.  I was riding down 7 mile road and I saw the dog in the yard with 2 girls jumping on a trampoline.  The dog started after me and the girls yelled at the dog, but he kept right on coming.  It was a pit bull and even though he wasn't growling, he was chasing me down the road.  I thank God that I have strong legs as I took off and he finally gave up.  But then I thought, "Oh, no, I have to go back past that house to get home.  There was no other way around."  So I kept watch for the dog and I yelled at the girls to grab him but they didn't listen to me.  Here comes the dog again and wouldn't listen to me telling him to stay in the yard.  He kept right on coming.  I was wishing a car would come along at that time and hit him but I was on my own.  So I took off again and left him behind.  I won't go that way on a bike ride ever.
   I didn't break last year's total but I'm ok with what I did.  I figured my grandson, Noah, had to come first, and I would watch him when ever I could.  I also made over 100 pies for Cindy and Ben to sell at their farmer's markets.  Curt and Sarah helped me figure out that I lost about 1000 miles just on making the pies.  But that's ok.  I was glad to help them out since their apple orchard got damaged by the frost that we had in the spring.
   So my grand total for 2012 is 2255 miles.  Not bad, like I said for a hot summer and doing a lot of baking and watching Noah.
   I'm looking forward to March already when I can once again ride and get that tread going down the payment.  See ya next year.

  

Good News and Bad News.

Since my last post, I have had spring break from school but the weather didn't co-operate much for bike riding.  It was very windy almost every day.   I did manage to get some miles in though but not as much as I wanted.  If you read my last post, you will remember that I put a new battery in my thing-ma-jing that keeps track of my miles.  It was one of those days over spring break that I was riding, I looked down to see how fast I was going, and much to my dismay, my thing-ma-jing had quit working.  So I stopped (instantly) and monkeyed with the little magnet on the wheel hoping that would solve the problem.  I jumped on my bike and took off, but, nope, it still didn't work.  So, I stopped again and turned the magnet to where I thought it should go, jumped back on and took off.  Still didn't work.  After several times of stopping and going, I gave up and just kept on going. 
    When I got back home, my wonderful husband attempted to fix it too but to no avail.  The thing-ma-jing was wore out, I guess.  That's the bad news.  Well, at least I have a new battery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    So the next day, after work, I ran into Walmart and got a new one.  We installed it the same day and it worked. That's the good news.    I have to add up my miles now from the old thing-ma-jing and the new thing-ma-jing and let you know how many I have so far.
   I don't have a lot to report yet.  I have seen dandelions on my biking adventure.  In fact I counted 100 so now I can go barefooted.  As 13 of us kids growing up, our mom always made us count 100 dandelions before we could go outside without shoes or socks, so I still do that today (in memory of her).  Of course I don't ride my bike without shoes or socks, but I can walk on stones (unlike my husband because he never went barefoot that much  :)  ).  I haven't seen any animals yet except squirrels.  I heard there was  a bear in the area but haven't see him (or her) yet either.
     Today, after work, I decided to go for a short bike ride.  It was cool even though the sun was warm.  I put on a sweatshirt and off I went.  By the time I got to the rail trail, I was almost ready to turn around and go back.  But I kept on going and decided to ride to Sanford.  Between 8 mile and the fire station (for those of you that know the area) I saw something ahead on the trail.  But I couldn't quite figure out what it was.  As I got closer I could see it was a person sitting on the trail.  That was not uncommon as I have seen joggers sitting and resting before.  As I got a little closer, I noticed that this guy didn't have a shirt on.  I thought, "Wow, he must be really warm".  Then as I got a little closer, I noticed that he didn't have any pants on.  I could see the clothes around him on the trail.  His shoes and socks were also close by.  I wasn't sure what I would find as I got really close.  Then I could see that he had underwear on and that was it. 
   I was going to call 911 but down the trail I saw a county guy coming on a machine to blow all of the sand and junk off the trail, so I figured he would see him.  So I went on for my ride and on the way back as I got close to where I had seen him sitting, the county guy had him on a bench by the trail and I saw a state cop pull in. 
    So, ya, it was quite the experience for one bike ride.
    And now for the number of miles I have (drum roll please)   227.5.   Hopefully, I will start racking the miles up as the "tread meets the pavement" a lot more.  See ya next time.

2012 Bike Season Has Begun.

I have 110 miles so far.  Not bad for just starting out.  It's been very windy and cold the last 2 days.  Even on the warm days it was windy and hard to ride.  But I love being out in God's country, with the fresh air and seeing animals or even the green grass coming up. 
   Last week as I was riding the Rail Trail in Sanford, I noticed up in a tree some movement.  So when I got a little closer I could see it was a squirrel.  But there was something different about this squirrel.  He was hanging on a very small branch just dangling.  I was watching him and it looked like he was having a hard time trying to go back up the branch.  I thought as I got closer, "Please don't fall on top of my head as I go under".  I didn't really want to give the squirrel a free ride.     But I made it safely under and kept on riding.  When I came back through, I didn't see him.  So I don't know if he climbed back up or fell to the ground and ran away.  That's the first time I have ever seen a squirrel on a skinny limb like that and dangling in the air.
    Next week is spring break, so I hope to be able to ride mornings.  That way, I might be able to see some deer.  This morning in the car, on my way to work, I saw a doe and a fawn, crossing the road.  (I have seen deer cross in the same area when I was riding the rail trail last summer.)  Then they got across and went back in the same direction they came from.
   Well, that's my report for now.  I will try to keep the tread on the payment and keep the wheels going.  So far I haven't crashed with my new tires.  But, my son, Chad,  told me that I wasn't a good biker unless I wiped out.  Last year I wiped out twice so guess I did ok.  We'll see what this year brings.
  So until next time when the "Tread meets the payment."

The Rest of The Story

It looks like I didn't post at the end of last summer, so I will give an update.  After I reached my goal in July, I kept on riding.  After all, I was doing to good to stop.  During last year, I rode in snow, and I got caught in a few rain storms.  I also rode when it was windy out and I rode through the leaves as they fell to the ground in October.  What a great sound that was!  To hear the crunch of the leaves was awesome as I rode through them.
And there were a lot of hot days that I rode. 
    At the end of October I had rode 3603.5 in 2011.  That still blows my mind that I rode that much but when I think of every day getting up and going not just once a day but sometimes, 4 to 5 times, I guess it would add up fast. 
   Thanks to all of you for your support and encouragement.  And we will see what 2012 will bring.

Unbelievable week

Monday, I started out with 50 miles.  It was a hot day   We got a load of wood at 6:00am and then I rode 20 miles total.  After lunch we got another load of wood and then at 3, I rode to Sanford and back.

 In the evening, we got another load of wood and once again I rode to Sanford.  When I was almost home, I realized that I only had 2 miles to go to make 50 so I went down Nielsen Road.  Not bad for getting 3 loads of wood too.

On Tuesday, I was kind of tired after getting wood and riding 50 miles the day before, so I only went 20 miles total.  My total now is 1830.

Wednesday was another slow day as it rained in the morning but I did manage to get 20 miles in again.

Thursday was another hot day but I managed to get 55 miles in.  It really helps to do my long trip early mornings.  If I ride to the Tridge, that's 25 miles.  So it makes it easier to do my short (?) rides when it's hot out.

Friday was an awesome day.  It was cool in the morning, so I rode to the Tridge and back.  I had a goal in mind and wanted to make it.  Even though it was hot, I took lots of water and didn't try to break any speed records.  At 8:00 at night, the temperature in Sanford said 98.  So it was very hot.  I broke my personal record and rode 65 miles that day.  My old record was 60.  So that evening I slept really good.

That brings me to today.  This still seems like a dream to me.  I made my goal and a little bit extra.  When I made my goal at 1:45, I was on the Rail trail between 8 and 9 mile.  A couple was coming toward me.  I raised my arm and gave a shout and they started laughing.  I told them I had just reached my goal.   I now have 2016 miles.  And I did it in less than 4 months.  I started March 17th and never thought I would make it till October.  Wow, that's all I can say is, "Wow".  291 miles total in July and this is only the 9th.

So what's next, you might ask.  Well, I will keep on riding.  I probably won't push myself as hard, but you never know.  I love to ride and God has given me good health so far and that will keep me going.

As the "Tread Meets the Pavement", who knows how many miles I will have by October.  But I will still keep you posted, and I want to thank all of you for your support.  That has meant a lot to me.

Until next time, see you later.