So this weekend was EXTREMELY packed with fun adventures. So much so that I didn't get one spare minute (at least not one in which I wasn't feeling like a sleepy zombie) to tell you about it! Friday directly after work Kiefer took me to see Lewis Black (great show!), which of course lasted until about 11 (my bedtime is 10pm max, I'm a grouchy old lady under all this young person skin, mostly because I wake up at 6:30 every morning, weekend or not due to our translucent blinds, and my inability to sleep in anything but complete and total blackness. yes I've used a sleeping mask, I take it off in my sleep every night.). Then we were supposed to be up and ready to go by 7am to go mountain biking. I was already off to a grouchy start at having to be up so early, after only 7 of my required 9.5 hours of beauty sleep.
Eventually our friend, the Crab, showed up, and we EVENTUALLY hauled our asses out the door. I must say we were quite a bit less organized than usual due to the fact that we had to run out the door Friday night. I'll let Kiefer fill you in on the details of that, but I emerged unscathed! Though I was bout ready to rip into some rude Sierra Club member. I've got to join this club, so I can rightfully tell those people off for treating people the way they do. It's very frustrating.... lesson learned: Just because every day you have to tell someone that they need to obey the signs, doesn't mean that everyone you tell has been told every day. Assume it's the first time ever someone has been told something. Be polite, and treat others with respect, the same way you expect to be treated. Otherwise, what is their motivation to respect you, if you don't have the decency to respect them in the first place??
We dined at the fantastic Good Stuff in El Segundo, yum yum yum! Then went home to hang out for a little while before heading to a party at a roller rink in Orange Countay. I havn't been rollerskating since elemetary, maybe middle school. AWESOME FUN!! I'm sure Kiefer will not agree with me here, but I had an absolute blast! I worked muscles I havn't used in years, and you know what I always say about that....if it hurts, then that means I don't do it enough!
Sunday morning we had a bit of a lazy morning, which was nice. Eventually we rode our bikes to the Wahoo's Fish Tacos by the beach, and enjoyed tasty burritos there. Then we walked around the strand some (I usually blast by on my bike, never took the time to walk), and after that ride (hills!) and a beer, I needed to walk a little!! Beautiful houses, and the sun even made it's appearance finally as we strolled along inspecting the gorgeous multi-million dollar beach front homes. We got home and spent the rest of the day like cats, napping on the sofa and watching TV. My two kitty men thought this was a fantastic way to spend the afternoon, and were laying on/with us constantly.
2010-08-16
2010-08-12
I, no WE did it!
As some of you know, I was recruited to the Roc n Rollers team for the Multiple Sclerosis ride in October of this year. At first I was really hesitant since I have never been required to fundraise for a ride. Reluctantly, I agreed and signed up. I am happy to say that with the help of great friends who are great people, I was able to exceed the minimum fundraising goal of $400 in about 2 days. If any of you out there would like to help with a contribution, please visit http://tinyurl.com/garytran and make a donation. Penny by penny, dollar by dollar and mile by mile, we can all make a difference!
GT
GT
Doing swimmingly, thanks for asking!
Yesterday was a very wet day. I returned from my bike ride, and had a shower. Made a tasty stir-fry dinner (yum!), then decided Loki needed a bath. He smelled kinda funky...as he does sometimes, so he and I got to have a shower together (after he got a manicure and pedicure, to ensure I didn't get a new design on my face).
Kiefer and I finally sat down to have a relaxing evening and I remembered: Wednesday is lane swimming day for us! OOPS! So I noticed it was only 8:30, and lap swimming hours start at 8:45, so I announced that we need to go and we both jumped up off the sofa and started throwing everything together. We got there by 8:50!
Now, some of you may already know this, because I like to talk about it a lot, but in high school I played water polo and swam competitively. I "retired" when I went to college since they had neither a water polo team nor a swim team /sadpanda. In hindsight, I wish I had taken some classes at the local community college and joined their team with my classmates, but hindsight is always 20-20. So now that I am into triathlons I get to kick everyones butt in the swim portion (I usually come out in the first 1/2 to 1/3 of women out of the water) because most triathletes start as runners or cyclists. I blast past them, literally swimming over people sometimes, even though I'd never gotten into the water between races. Imagine how much I could improve if I actually practiced!!! So I'm hitting the lanes in order to perfect my technique, and re-build my awesome swimmy endurance & speed. My specialties were breaststroke and freestyle, and I always loved being the anchor for the relay!
Kiefer is there to learn how to swim 300m without stopping. I have never instructed anyone on swimming technique before, so teaching him has been a learning experience for both of us. It takes a lot of quick thinking to 1) determine what the problem is, 2) figure out how I would fix it if it was my problem, 3) figure out what someone ELSE needs to do to do the same thing, 4) determine how to TELL THEM what you mean in a way that will make sense, and finally 5) get them to do what you're telling them while remaining patient. In the end it is extremely rewarding to see everything click into place!
Then I got to go home and have another shower to get the chlorine out. I don't know what they treat the public pool with, but it's very salty in there! By the way, if you like to get yucky stuff out of your hair after a trapse in the pool, I highly reccomend the Swim & Sport Kid's Shampoo by L'Oreal.
Finally As a closing note, check out this other blog that Kiefer discovered! It looks like this guy is getting out too!
Kiefer and I finally sat down to have a relaxing evening and I remembered: Wednesday is lane swimming day for us! OOPS! So I noticed it was only 8:30, and lap swimming hours start at 8:45, so I announced that we need to go and we both jumped up off the sofa and started throwing everything together. We got there by 8:50!
Now, some of you may already know this, because I like to talk about it a lot, but in high school I played water polo and swam competitively. I "retired" when I went to college since they had neither a water polo team nor a swim team /sadpanda. In hindsight, I wish I had taken some classes at the local community college and joined their team with my classmates, but hindsight is always 20-20. So now that I am into triathlons I get to kick everyones butt in the swim portion (I usually come out in the first 1/2 to 1/3 of women out of the water) because most triathletes start as runners or cyclists. I blast past them, literally swimming over people sometimes, even though I'd never gotten into the water between races. Imagine how much I could improve if I actually practiced!!! So I'm hitting the lanes in order to perfect my technique, and re-build my awesome swimmy endurance & speed. My specialties were breaststroke and freestyle, and I always loved being the anchor for the relay!
Kiefer is there to learn how to swim 300m without stopping. I have never instructed anyone on swimming technique before, so teaching him has been a learning experience for both of us. It takes a lot of quick thinking to 1) determine what the problem is, 2) figure out how I would fix it if it was my problem, 3) figure out what someone ELSE needs to do to do the same thing, 4) determine how to TELL THEM what you mean in a way that will make sense, and finally 5) get them to do what you're telling them while remaining patient. In the end it is extremely rewarding to see everything click into place!
Then I got to go home and have another shower to get the chlorine out. I don't know what they treat the public pool with, but it's very salty in there! By the way, if you like to get yucky stuff out of your hair after a trapse in the pool, I highly reccomend the Swim & Sport Kid's Shampoo by L'Oreal.
Finally As a closing note, check out this other blog that Kiefer discovered! It looks like this guy is getting out too!
Time Trialing
After riding an unsupported century on Monday, my friend Steve detected weakness and submitted a challenge: 5 laps of the Rosebowl. No drafting, no help just you, the road, pedestrian obstacles and the mighty UCLA styled Cervelo P3.
Never one to back away from a challenge, I took him up on the offer. After a lap and a half of warm up, my front wheel hit the agreed upon starting point I hit the start button on my Garmin and went for it.
Mind you, the Rosebowl loop has two main sections: (1) a constant 1-2% climb that peaks at 3% in some sections and (2) a constant -1% descent. Compared to Steve, I have the climbing advantage being lighter and more aerodynamic, but on the downhills he easily had 1-1.5 mph on me due to his gravitational advantage. Because of this, my first lap was rather deflating. I was able to gap Steve on the climb, but midway through the descent he was right behind me. Given that scenario, I didn't think I was going to be able to break his time.
After lap one, my legs were already burning. Time trialing after the century was proving to be a VERY bad idea on the list of bad ideas I typically have, but as the miles added up and the laps counted higher, a new determination took over me. With laps 2, 3, 4 and 5 I got faster and faster. Steve was no longer on my rear wheel and my glances back showed no signs of him. With half a lap left, the climbing section, and 2 minutes that would give me bragging rights or a sense of shame I kept it in a tall gear and went for it.....41:46, Steve's best from his prior TT 42:42
That's right folks, I am Champion of my little world!
Next time trial fun is schedule for the first week of next month. Come on out and enjoy the friendly competition!
GT
Never one to back away from a challenge, I took him up on the offer. After a lap and a half of warm up, my front wheel hit the agreed upon starting point I hit the start button on my Garmin and went for it.
Mind you, the Rosebowl loop has two main sections: (1) a constant 1-2% climb that peaks at 3% in some sections and (2) a constant -1% descent. Compared to Steve, I have the climbing advantage being lighter and more aerodynamic, but on the downhills he easily had 1-1.5 mph on me due to his gravitational advantage. Because of this, my first lap was rather deflating. I was able to gap Steve on the climb, but midway through the descent he was right behind me. Given that scenario, I didn't think I was going to be able to break his time.
After lap one, my legs were already burning. Time trialing after the century was proving to be a VERY bad idea on the list of bad ideas I typically have, but as the miles added up and the laps counted higher, a new determination took over me. With laps 2, 3, 4 and 5 I got faster and faster. Steve was no longer on my rear wheel and my glances back showed no signs of him. With half a lap left, the climbing section, and 2 minutes that would give me bragging rights or a sense of shame I kept it in a tall gear and went for it.....41:46, Steve's best from his prior TT 42:42
That's right folks, I am Champion of my little world!
Next time trial fun is schedule for the first week of next month. Come on out and enjoy the friendly competition!
GT
2010-08-11
Upcoming activities!
I've got quite a few events coming up on the bicycling schedule.
Thursday (8/12) - Getting together with George to have a few beers and plan a bike ride. I'll need to build his confidence that we can do a long ride. I'm thinking Irvine or the beach.
Saturday (8/14) - Heading out to Rancho Palos Verdes with Sean (and possibly Chris W.) to try out the Portuguese Bend trail. Here's hoping I don't get bitten by a rattlesnake or Sean's quads explode.
Sunday (8/15) - I had invited Marty from work to bike through Santiago Canyon to Cook's Corner today, but unfortunately he cannot make it. However I plan on subjecting Ryzzie to this challenging but beautiful ride!
Thursday (8/12) - Getting together with George to have a few beers and plan a bike ride. I'll need to build his confidence that we can do a long ride. I'm thinking Irvine or the beach.
Saturday (8/14) - Heading out to Rancho Palos Verdes with Sean (and possibly Chris W.) to try out the Portuguese Bend trail. Here's hoping I don't get bitten by a rattlesnake or Sean's quads explode.
Sunday (8/15) - I had invited Marty from work to bike through Santiago Canyon to Cook's Corner today, but unfortunately he cannot make it. However I plan on subjecting Ryzzie to this challenging but beautiful ride!
2010-08-10
Hanging out
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Morning
So a big part of getting out is just simply getting off the sofa and doing something. Well getting out includes hanging out with friends, and that's exactly what I plan to do tonight. One of my friends has a weekly board gaming thing, and I typically don't go because it lands on the one day of the week that I have to myself with my daughter, and we usually do mother-daughter things. This week she is at my mother's house since it's summer break, and Kiefer will be out at his mom's house for his weekly dinner, what a good son!
That leaves me! So I'm going to head over there after I get home, freshen up(I rode my bike to work again!) and have some healthy/tasty dinner. I'll post more later when I've completed my experience.
Also, I know that SOMEDAY Kiefer and our other poster will actually post something up here. Kiefer went Mountain biking on Saturday with a friend, and our other (yet handle-less poster) did a century bike ride yesterday. He has had some exciting life experiences (and some really scary ones) that I'm hoping he will share with us.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Afternoon
Ok, so I've decided to bike there directly from work. I feel like it's incredibly crazy, because my friend lives halfway up a VERY steep hill, but I'm going to try to come in from the top, and glide down to his house, then glide down (theoretically) back to the main drag. This will entail riding home at night, but I have lights, and light colored clothing.
Chipotle for dinner! I'm not particularly THRILLED about buying dinner, seeing as my bank account got nearly bottomed out (hey I used it to pay off the balance of my student loan!), but I gotta fuel my bike somehow!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Evening
Well I ended up getting there really quickly, 5 min tops? My front derailleur is still acting funky (as it always has) and popped the chain off trying to go up the last 10 yards to my friend's driveway. Played a couple really fun games with everyone, and a WHOLE bunch of people started showing up! WOW! I left by 8pm so I could get most of my ride done before pitch dark. Ride home was fairly uneventful, but a pleasure nonetheless. Kiefer wasn't home when I got there, so I took my time freshening up, starting laundry (my cycling sweatshirt needed a wash!), having a snack and sitting with the kitties to read some manga (Ruroni Kenshin vol 2). Later Kiefer came home and we watched Layer cake. Pretty good, but the ending annoyed me (though it was more realistic). I like Snatch better.
All in all a busy lovely day!
So a big part of getting out is just simply getting off the sofa and doing something. Well getting out includes hanging out with friends, and that's exactly what I plan to do tonight. One of my friends has a weekly board gaming thing, and I typically don't go because it lands on the one day of the week that I have to myself with my daughter, and we usually do mother-daughter things. This week she is at my mother's house since it's summer break, and Kiefer will be out at his mom's house for his weekly dinner, what a good son!
That leaves me! So I'm going to head over there after I get home, freshen up(I rode my bike to work again!) and have some healthy/tasty dinner. I'll post more later when I've completed my experience.
Also, I know that SOMEDAY Kiefer and our other poster will actually post something up here. Kiefer went Mountain biking on Saturday with a friend, and our other (yet handle-less poster) did a century bike ride yesterday. He has had some exciting life experiences (and some really scary ones) that I'm hoping he will share with us.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Afternoon
Ok, so I've decided to bike there directly from work. I feel like it's incredibly crazy, because my friend lives halfway up a VERY steep hill, but I'm going to try to come in from the top, and glide down to his house, then glide down (theoretically) back to the main drag. This will entail riding home at night, but I have lights, and light colored clothing.
Chipotle for dinner! I'm not particularly THRILLED about buying dinner, seeing as my bank account got nearly bottomed out (hey I used it to pay off the balance of my student loan!), but I gotta fuel my bike somehow!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Evening
Well I ended up getting there really quickly, 5 min tops? My front derailleur is still acting funky (as it always has) and popped the chain off trying to go up the last 10 yards to my friend's driveway. Played a couple really fun games with everyone, and a WHOLE bunch of people started showing up! WOW! I left by 8pm so I could get most of my ride done before pitch dark. Ride home was fairly uneventful, but a pleasure nonetheless. Kiefer wasn't home when I got there, so I took my time freshening up, starting laundry (my cycling sweatshirt needed a wash!), having a snack and sitting with the kitties to read some manga (Ruroni Kenshin vol 2). Later Kiefer came home and we watched Layer cake. Pretty good, but the ending annoyed me (though it was more realistic). I like Snatch better.
All in all a busy lovely day!
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