Listen and read on. :-)
After I got Iz off to camp this morning, I wondered what to do with myself, well, besides looking for a job, doing laundry, or cleaning the house!
It was another beautiful day, and I thought, “Hmmm, I could go to the beach ALL BY MYSELF today!”
Shortly thereafter, the running email came from “work”.
I then remembered that I had to sign up for the Cigna 5K race next month.
Hey, I came in 12th in the "Old Lady" division last year!
K, Brenda, it's really the "Women Who are Over 45 but Look Like They're 35" division. :-)
Then I pinged Brenda and Amrit, cuz we ran together last year.
One told me (and she shall remain nameless, but I will have her in something pink by the end of the year, I swear!) in jest how she felt jealous when I responded to the running email saying I couldn’t run, because I was going to the beach when she was there working.
I guess I could understand, because when I wasn’t going to the beach, I was in Nantucket, or flying to Paris to buy shoes.
Um, not!
But, it totally sounds like fun, doesn’t it?!
So, I thought it over – beach day or bike day.
I decided that in order to make everyone at work feel better about me spending time at the beach that I would have a brutally tough day, um, to make them all feel better.
It was decided then.
I would bike 50 miles!
Okay, so biking 50 miles (52 if you count the mileage from home to the rail trail and back) may not seem so painful to me……..and George. But, I figured to all the non-biking mortals, it sounded pretty brutal.
So, 50 miles is the rail trail up to Nashua, NH and back again TWICE!
Cyclist Shout Out to George: George informed me yesterday that he has biked 1500 miles so far this year. Of course, he lives in Austin, TX where they don’t have to deal with snow or rain. Okay, I don’t know how he ever bikes in those blazing temps, but whoa, Georgie, way to go! BTW: George send me some lovely soap last week. It’s made by a company called “Just Soap” (http://www.justsoap.com/), and the interesting thing about it is that the guy has a pedal (as in bicycle) stirrer!
After I mentally committed myself to the 50-mile ride, I figured it would be good to tell a friend what I was doing.
So, I emailed Brenda.
“If you don’t see a blog about it tomorrow morning, please contact the local authorities…Sephora, http://www.zappos.com/, and Bath & Bodyworks to tell them I won’t be shopping there any longer, as I’m probably in a ditch on the side of the rail trail!”
Brenda responded with “The “Maillot Jaune” will be yours today!”
Woo-hoo! Way to be all “Tour de France”, Brenda!
Okay, so once I had notified next-of-running-kin, I changed into my unitard (pretty flowers on it by Danskin).
Oh, here I am, and nothing says fierce cycling chick like a Hello Kitty hat and pearl earrings, right?
And, again, nothing says “fiercer” than teddy bear cycling socks!
Then, I gathered my cycling supplies.
Two water bottles (Hey, whose HK bottle? That’s SO not mine!)
Two granola bars
Helmet (Does anyone make a HK helmet? If so, I want one for Xmas.)
Sunglasses
Cycling gloves (They’re turned inside out, but yes, they are pink!)
PINK blackberry
iPod (Because everything is better with music!)
At this point, you are thinking, “Crazy girl, how does she ever think she will ride 50 miles?”, well, no fear, people!
I have been a cyclist since 1986.
I have done century rides (100 miles plus in one day), and I raced at the citizen level in my late 20s and early 30s.
That was about 5 years ago by the way!
Oh, look, here’s me when I raced for the Nashua Velo club.
This was at the Haverhill Criterium.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criterium
And, here’s what the NVC newsletter had to say about me at that race.
I would have told you myself, but I don’t remember!
“Jean destroyed the field at the Haverhill Criterium. Escaping with two laps to go, Jean simply road away from the competition. The previous day, Jean also took second at the Marlboro Road Race.”
See, I was a “contenda” once upon a time ago!
I won the “B Division” of the Tour de Lowell (30 mile road race) one year.
I beat the winner of the “A Division”, too.
The “A Division” was the younger age category.
The next week I saw said winner of the “A Division” in a full page ad for a local bank in the TV Guide edition of the Lowell Sun, which touted her as the “Winner of the Tour de Lowell”.
Jeez, it figures.
My 15 minutes of fame was lost due to age discrimination!
Anyway, at 12:30, I set off on my ride.
Few of you probably know this about me, but 1) I hate competition, BUT 2) When I get into that Terry bike seat, I’m the biggest competitor around.
Usually, on the rail trail, I bike by myself.
And, I don’t mean this in a conceited way, because this is ONE of the few areas where I have a lot of self-confidence, because I’m way faster than anyone out there.
On the first 12.5 mile leg, I passed a guy riding at a so-so speed.
He had a helmet on, a decent bike, cycling gloves, but when I looked down at his feet as I passed him, I saw…
-gasp!-
He was wearing sneakers with black socks.
When I passed the next person, I looked to the left to see if anyone was behind me before passing, and I noticed that sneakers-with-black-socks guy was trying to stay up with me.
Oh, no.
No, no, no, no!
While I give him credit for trying to keep up with me, 1) No man will ride with me, AND 2) No man wearing sneakers with black socks will get within 15 feet of me purely from a fashion standpoint!
Needless to say, I dusted him.
My legs are probably the strongest part of my body, and I think probably stronger than most.
My Mom used to call them the Schulz legs, because supposedly, I got them from her Mom, Othielie Louise (Shulz) Smith.
I wanted to shout back at him and say, “Do you know what you’re messin’ with here? The Schulz legs, Baby!”
What?
Are you serious?
You people have not heard about the Schulz legs?
Gawd, I so need to create a wiki page for that!
It was funny because last week, I dusted a guy who had all the right cycling stuff on.
Okay, so I’m not generally a snob, but don’t try to keep up with me when you’re not wearing the right cycling stuff!
I dusted this guy, and when I passed him on my way back, he totally ignored me.
Today, when I passed sneakers-with-black-socks guy on my way back, he looked right and me and said, “Wow!”
I had AC/DC’s “Back in Black” blasting in my ears, but I’m pretty sure that’s what he said.
Okay, maybe I was too hard on him. While he was cycling fashion challenged, he was certainly most complimentary.
When I hit 37.5 in Nashua, I stopped to drink some water and, um, check my email and send some email.
I saw a woman in the parking lot with all the right cycling stuff on, and then she took off.
I thought, “I’ll get you, my pretty!”
Sure enough, I caught her a mile out of Pepperell center, and she didn’t even put up a fight.
At this point, I also had to go to the bathroom.
Yes, I guess I could have found a heavily wooded area, but I’m so not a pee-in-the-woods kinda chick.
As I told a friend last week, I practice mind over matter.
If I don’t mind that I have to go, it don’t matta!
Another thing about cycling and cycling at a good clip is the bug factor.
Yeah, I know you all see those contestants on reruns of “Fear Factor” and on “Survivor” eating bugs, but when you cycle fast, eating bugs is a given.
There are three different types of bug consumption when cycling.
1. The bug flies right in and goes down the hatch. Nothing you can do about it but say, “Yuk, but it’s protein!”
2. The bug flies in, you spit it out (or so you think), and then moments later, you feel something in your mouth, knowing full well you brushed and flossed your teeth before you left. You reach your fingers to your mouth and then expel the bit of discomfort. Then when you look at it, and you see one half of a bug carcass! Ick! You toss it away, and then immediately gargle with water from your Hello Kitty water bottle.
3. The bug goes in, and because it is so large, you are able to immediately spit it out. But however lucky you feel you are to have spit said bug out, once it’s gone, it leaves this incredibly bitter taste in your mouth. No matter how much gargling you do from your Hello Kitty water bottle, the taste of that bug lingers.
Note to self: Carry breath mints for such a bug eating occasion.
After cycling the 51, I had another mile to go to get to “home”.
Unfortunately, I have to go up this hill.
Yeah, I know it’s nothing like what Lance Armstrong has had to deal with, but then again, I’m not Lance Armstrong. And, if I were in France now, I’d be shopping for shoes, as previously mentioned, and not cycling!
So, I have to go up this hill in my easiest gear and ride pretty much the whole way up and then some “out of the saddle”.
And then, if I’m really lucky, once I get up that hill, I pass Mark’s house, and his dog, Jeff, chases me the half mile home!
I got home at 3:15...yes, cycling rock star, k?! :-)
Speaking of bugs, when I peeled off my unitard, well, it always amazes me what gets stuck to my chest.
Human windshield.
And when I was in the shower, it was apparent that some small green worm had been in my hair for the last four hours!
Anyway, Brenda was right.
The yellow shirt was mine today!
Tawanda!
See!
Of course, it’s a Hello Kitty!
Would you expect anything less from me?
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