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.