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May 24, 2006
Zoom zoom zoom 
I read Running in Place this morning, where Lara is being optimistic, positive, etc., about running the MCM, in spite of having a bona fide knee injury.
When she was in town, we did some talking about how to get back into a habit that you've lapsed out of. How do you move from disenchantment to falling in love again. I mean with walking, of course.
And as I was puttering around the house this morning, trying to spot clean, it came to me as clear as day. Fake it til you make it. Set some goals and work towards them.
I thought initially of the Helvetia Half, which is three weeks away. It's a nice hilly half, a test of not-starting too fast, not getting-too-gung-ho on the hills. And then I remembered that I committed to cohost (or host.... I'm not sure which) a pub crawl during Pedalpalooza... which of course is the night before.
So, I'm not sure what to do. It's clear I need to come up with a walking event to train for, and I could easily do the July 4th half, as I have for the last couple years. And maybe that's something I need to do, considering that I lost my lust for walking there last year.
Anyways, I'm on the look out. Thanks, Lara!!
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Did I mention that I'm scared-$#@()*less about this pub crawl? Mind you, I have no problem with riding my bike to pubs, I've been known to do that sort of thing. I'm just afraid I'm gonna be riding with a bunch of speedies who will be leaving me in the dust. And hosting suggests perhaps leading?. Yikes.
Still, every time I do a group ride, I amaze myself at my ability to not be the slowest person in the group. Still, some training might be in order.
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My sweetie works directly with a guy we call Snowball. Anyways, just found out that Snowball has Noro virus. It's not a big deal, just a highly contagious stomach virus that lasts a couple days that you'd rather be dead during.
Nausea, vomitting and diarrheoa are the main symptoms. The disease lasts for 1 to 2 days but victims can remain infectious for at least a week from the onset of illness. There are many strains of Norovirus and immunity to one strain does not protect against another. Therefore people can be infected again.
http://www.newgenn.com/microbes/virus-data/noro-virus.html)
Here's hoping we (and you) skip this one.
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It only cost me $400 bucks to collect the car yesterday. My check engine light was caused by, get this, the bulb for the up-shift light being burnt out. I didn't even know I had an up-shift light. Another argument for less-complicated transportation.
As I sat in traffic last night waiting to get home, I watched the cyclists with envy. Here, they were moving freely, much faster than I was. Sure, I had a radio, and I could blast the Smiths, but they had freedom. Damn it!
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So this morning, I cycled in. Yay!
As I was pulling the bike out of the shed, I saw a father-child combo cycling up the street. I've seen them before: usually, Dad is pedalling and child is hidden in the trailer. But this time the child was perched on Dad's shoulders, holding on to his helmet-ed head. My first reaction was, Dude, you can't do that! Your kid! You're endangering your kid!!
But the kid was clearly having the best time ever. It's gotta be great to be a kid and be up that high.
I made a detour through Irving Park. One of the things that marks this last six months of rabid guide writing is my following tangents. Oh so much fun. I have a yarn store page, and a farmers market page, both about 90% done. And then, there's my Better Know a Bridge series... and my public fountains you can let your kids play in page which I've just started on.
Anyways, you go to the Portland Parks page, and they have this feature search engine that is very cool, but you get to the results, and it's really unclear that you're at anything useful. Like, they claim there are Water Play features at all these neighborhood parks, but, then you get to the particular park page, and it's just not terribly convincing.
So, long story short, Irving Park supposably has a water feature, so I went looking for it.
They have asphalt paths going through the park, so I cycled past the covered and uncovered basketball courts, the softball field, the dog park, and way off in a hollow I could see playground equipment. And sure enough, there was this odd little water play thingee which of course was not running because it's 50-something degrees and drizzling, as well as being 8 am.
Now I just have to go back when it's actually running and take some pictures.
Did I mention that it was a wonderful ride in? I had all my stuff in my panniers, which seemed to just help the whole traction issue. I was feeling pretty good as I was cruising around, zoom zoom zoom. And then I'm down in the Rose Quarter crossing a busy street when I hear my panniers go splat.
It lands, naturally, in the middle of the busy street. So I jump off the bicycle, and, ta-da! My shoelace is untied.
I did manage to reassemble the bike/pannier combo, but not without getting a dirty look from another bicyclist. What was that about?
Posted at May 24, 2006
Comments
It's so hard isn't it? I really want to be back where I was, psychologically, last year in terms of my drive and dedication - and I guess sometimes you just have to bite the bullet to do that. Good for us!!
I was blown away by all the Portland cyclists bombing through traffic. I am riding on very rural roads and I have a mini panic attack when a car passes me once every 10 minutes or so!
Posted by: Lara at May 27, 2006 9:13 AM