about getting from point A to point B in the most interesting ways possible

If you're a large woman in America, your whole life is an opportunity to feel self-conscious, embarrassed, resentful and way too big. You can hide in the corner or on the couch, you can go to therapy, or you can put on your lycra bike shorts and get out there and move.
—Jayne Williams, Slow Fat Triathlete

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July 7, 2005

riding through permalink

16:10! 16:10!! I made it to work in 16:10! For whatever reason, I only hit one light, so I was able to keep my momentum up. It was beautiful!!

Last night I rode home, and I really tried, when I'd get tired from an uphill, to do a little spinning to bring my heart rate down. So I'd ride in little flat loops, on the easiest gear. I'm sure I looked like a total freak, but as I've proven before, I only care a little bit. Better that then Somali men saying to me in halting english, practice makes perfect. Yow.

I had the really cool experience of trailing some folks who were actually riding my speed. There was a woman wearing a blouse and bike shorts, who looked like the usual spandex rider who just about blows me over by passing me so fast and close. She confused me by slowing way down after we crossed Broadway. Whaaaa?!

But she was waiting for her friend, a punkrock girl in a vintage dress with two braids down either side of her chest. We all ended up taking the neighborhood route, which is steep then flat, steep then flat, but with much less bike and car traffic. I was really rather thrilled to have kinfolk, even as I didn't talk to them, and they didn't talk to me.

The evening was spent in the front yard killing things. I took some pictures, but unfortunately, there was no before picture, and then, I didn't unload the camera last night.

Basically, my goal was to cut a keyhole to the front yard raised bed, and then start cutting around and in it. It's tempting to take a scorched earth approach, but I love my ferns, crocosmia, mock orange, and banana, and I just want to kill everything else. We had a couple of volunteer trees, and lots of nightshade, clematis, damned wisteria, and boston ivy taking over and totally overwhelming the box and the yard.

It's nowhere near done, but I got enough done that it's visible that I did some work, and that was terrifically satisfying. I had a wheelbarrow load that was as tall as I am to go back to the yarn debris pile! Afterwards, we sat outside on the stoop and enjoyed the evening. A lot of our neighbors were out, also enjoying the warm, humid weather.
...
I am resisting the urge to freak out. Sweetie told me to turn on the TV, and I did, but I am resisting the urge to compulsively check the news or run over to the windows that face the FBI and see what they are doing. Though even as I write this, the urge is overwhelming.

I thought about taking the bus in just because. And then I thought, if there are any hijinxs, any trouble at all, the bicycle is better. And the bicycle makes me feel better. And it gets me to work in a record 16:10!
...
Nancy Toby has a new blog: Lanterne Rouge: Celebrating the last-place rider in the General Classification. Because you couldn't hang on his wheel for thirty seconds. Similar to last summer's DFL, I'm looking forward to this giving me a different perspective on the good ole Tour de France.

This is the first year I've tried paying attention to the Tour, and I'm finding it a little overwhelming. I'm TiV0ing 5 hours of coverage a day, which is an awful lot to even just fast-forward through. I'm feeling exhausted just writing about it, and it's just TV for cripes sake!

Anyways. Dave Zabriskie. Nancy pointed to his web site, which is just so lovely and funny.

Posted at July 7, 2005

Comments

I'm only tivo-ing 3 hours - it is a lot, but I am so enjoying it. And even my hub is enjoying it more, now that I am explaining some of it to him.

Posted by: neca at July 7, 2005 11:55 AM

Thanks for the mention and the links! :) I appreciate it!!!! I have absolutely no clue what your musical selections are - I'm a total music Fred.

Posted by: Nancy Toby at July 7, 2005 5:53 PM

We're catching the live coverage in the morning and watch the prime time coverage again at night on OLN (I'm still tivo-free). This is my 3rd year watching (Jeff's been watching since he was in high school), and it just gets better and better. Every time I'm biking up a steep hill and feeling like I just can't go any further, I think of Lance and those riders in the mountain stages, and it gets me up the hill. Those stages in the Alps are the best!

Thanks for the link to Zabriski's website; it's great!

Posted by: Tricia at July 8, 2005 11:16 AM