So Green

and so beautiful around here right now.  We keep getting flashes of spring/summer here, and maybe it is finally ensconsed.  I've been doing lots of gardening, but more cycling.

Today I rode out Middle Waitsburg Road.  I didn't go all the way to Waitsburg (it's 20 miles from our house), but I did go out twelve miles.  This is the turn around.

This shows how high the wheat is already.  Even if it has been cold this year, it is still growing well.  The red barn spoke to me.

Some fields aren't planted yet

but most are.  It was a good way to spend the morning.

Again With the Busy-ness

It's been a busy week, again. I feel like I'm running on a treadmill. Luckily, I was able to ride once this week. I took some pictures because it was really pretty on Monday.
That's a dust devil, off to the east of where I was. You can see which fields have been harvested, which are ready for harvesting, and which ones are ready for burning. The sky is quite blue right now, and it goes on forever.

I do wonder sometimes how they can farm some of the hillsides. They can be quite steep.
I've been knitting Christmas ornaments. Last year it was miniature sweaters. This year it is socks. The pattern I've come up with that will be the "official pattern" fits a GI Joe's foot quite well. They are a very fast knit, so I'll be able to knit them pretty easily.
Another pair of fingerless mitts. This is the fourth pair I've knitted this fall.
Skull and crossbones washcloth, knit on Talk Like a Pirate Day.
A jack-0-lantern dishcloth.

I've also finished a sock (to wear) and started a stripey Christmas stocking. The stocking's at the foot, so I should be finished with that one soon.

Today it's cold and rainy, and Wiz is home (sent home yesterday with a fever) so it should be a relatively quiet and peaceful day. Of course, he's not actually sick today...

Stuff and Nonsense

You pick which is which.Christmas stockings: a wedding gift and samples for the class I am supposed to teach.Oak leaf shaped meatloaf, because Wiz has decided it's fall, even though we're still hitting the upper 80s and lower 90s. (In his defense, it is chilly when we are walking to school.)A jack-o-lantern dishcloth, washed and ready to use.A skull and cross bones dishcloth, knit on talk like a pirate day. Aaaaarrrr!

I've also picked up a temporary part time job, logged 125 miles this month (I've been busy, and sick) and have about an hour or more of homework help/supervision for the Wiz.

It's only September. I hope it becomes easier!

Two Rides

This week I've gotten to ride twice. (Hopefully, I'll get to ride again tomorrow.) It's amazing how differently both rides were.

On Monday, I went for a ride with the Collar. Last week, I'd been sick with a fever for a few days, but thought I was better. It was not much fun. We rode to M-F, very, very slowly. The wind was fierce--I really felt as if I was going to be blown off my bicycle. It's very dry right now, so there was a lot of dust in the air. The mountains were blurry due to the dust, and M-F looked almost as if it were on fire. Dust + asthma meant it was a very exhausting ride for me. Add on the fact that I was still recovering, it was a miserable ride for me. (The Collar enjoyed it more.)

Today I rode down to CP. This was much nicer because the wind wasn't as ferocious. There wasn't dust in the air, so breathing was much better. I felt faster (and I was: 15.0 mph Monday, 15.7 mph today). The sky was bright blue and the wind was crisp (not gritty and warm). Some of the difference was feeling better today and some of it was the weather wasn't against me. I am probably more recovered from last week, too.

As I rode today, I thought about what I see as I ride. I ride past historical sites (Whitman Mission), vineyards, onion fields, and wheat fields. I can almost always see the mountains. I see other cyclists, runners, and farmers. The horses here do not freak out like the ones in Kentucky did. They just watch me go by. There's even a farm with a flock of goats.

There's a reason I've ridden over 1100 miles this year. I'm not afraid a dog is going to attack me and there are so many places to ride. My cell phone works every where, so I'm not afraid of breaking down either. (Of course, I had a lot of help with child care this year, too.)

I can't wait to see where I go next year.

Tan

If you want to know what a really, really fair skinned white chick looks like after riding over a thousand miles, here you go:Yes, my fingers are tan, but the back of my hand isn't as tan.
Wrist and back of hand.Shortest short tan line. Yes, I AM really that pale.

Time for a change

I still haven't blogged about going to the beach (pictures are very grey) or going to the TriCities Dustdevils game. I haven't blogged about what I'm knitting lately, either. So I'll do that.

First, I finished my afghan square. I made a mistake on it (well, two--I misread two charts) by missing a cable crossing. Two of the knitters at knitting group said that I could fix it. I finally tackled it on Sunday. I crossed my fingers, hid in my bedroom, turned on NatGeo to learn about national parks, and dropped the four stitches down. Then I painstakingly crossed the cable, did all the rest of the stitches, crossed the second cable in the column, and finished the square. It is done, I am pleased, and it doesn't look too bad.Last week, I started another pair of mittens. This pair is NHM#5. I knitted them for the Wiz, on size 2.5 needles. Yarn is Heirloom Baby Wool 4 ply. It's machine washable, which is good for something that I make Wiz.

Here is the palm of the white mitten. I'm getting better at figuring out the tumb join.Both mittens, one palm up.
Wiz, showing off the new mittens. (He's wearing his clone trooper helmet. I don't know why.)
I have also started two pairs of socks. One pair is just a plain stockinette sock that I've finished the leg on one and am 2/3 of the way finished with the other leg. There's also a pair of socks that I'm knitting for me that has a nice yellow color in it for while I'm watching TdF. I'll show them later, when they are more than a cuff. Oh, and there's secret knitting, but that's boring for you.

I'm riding a little bit, but not as much. The boys are home, but soon Game Boy will be able to keep an eye on his brother so I can ride. July is just not a good time for cycling this year. I did get to go yesterday (almost 32 miles, go me), and I might go tonight. It does keep me sane.

Metric Century

Yesterday I finally was able to make an attempt at a group charity ride (I've had things happen before the last few I've tried, so this is really exciting.)

This is the ride I did. Here is the route.

This is what my gps looked like at the end (an average of 15 mph):It doesn't include about 10 minutes of rest time (you MUST eat at these things).
And what I looked like (after some food and a ride home):
Wow, my hair is getting red. No, I'm not dyeing it. Yes, I was kind of giddy/stupid/tired.

It was a fun ride, bad headwinds, stupid dogs, and all. I wound up riding with a couple of guys from the Tri-Cities (and I pulled a lot, too) so I wasn't alone. I also saw a friend at several of the rest stops, so we chatted a bit too. Now I know some more routes (my goal is to have about 10) and so I have more places to go.

Maybe I'll sign up for a full century in fall. I'm pretty sure that I could do it.

Whoa.

Today, the Collar and I rode together. (He kept up today most of the time, and we went 16.2 mph, so go us!) This ride is down through CP to Whitman Mission, plus a little extra distance because if I don't ride 20 miles at least, it doesn't seem to count.

This route goes past an air field for small aircraft.

Do you know what it's like to be riding under the flight path when a plane is coming in for a landing?

I don't recommend it.

That will be all.

Bike Geek Post

I've been riding a lot more this year--and a lot of it is because I have more choices. Another nice aspect is that I do NOT have to worry about mean dogs chasing me. Mean dogs are all over in Kentucky, and they all live at the top of a hill.

I've been getting faster and mostly adding mileage. I missed one week due to back pain, but that's gone, so I'm happy.

Here is the data (I made a graph, but I can't get it to post!):

Week	Speed	Miles
15-Mar	11.6	38.76
22-Mar	11.3	16.64
5-Apr	13.8	47.3
19-Apr	14	54.49
26-Apr	14.2	38.70
3-May	14.6	54.39
10-May	15.1	64.49
17-May	15.2	89.12

I started off pretty slowly, but have picked up speed as I've been riding this spring. My goal for the summer was to be able to reach 50 miles a week. I think I need to think of new goals. I'm quite pleased that I'm riding over 15 mph over an entire week, especially when I'm adding mileage. I'm already over 200 miles for the month of May. Not bad at all!

Bikes are Us

We've been doing a lot of being outside on our bicycles these last few weeks. Wiz learned to ride last week, and is doing very well. We'll be able to ride more now as a family.

Game Boy has quit track (he hated it) and has switched to cyclocross. It's something he can practice year round, but only compete in the fall/winter. He likes to have one thing he does, so it is working well. He really loves it. It's very active--running across sand pits, carrying your bike over barriers, riding in tight turns. The only down side is he will need a new bike. He really needs a lighter one.

I've been riding a lot. I do not seem to think it counts any more unless I ride over 20 miles at a time. How did that happen? Today I rode down through College Place, and out of town, to Whitman Mission. On Monday, I rode to Milton-Freewater (with the Collar). Technically, I've been getting out of town, and the state. Tomorrow or the next day I'll write a totally geeky post about biking complete with a graph. You probably won't want to read it. :)

Firsts

Today there were three firsts (in order of when they happened today):

1.) I rode to Milton-Freewater and back. I also rode it averaging 15.4 mph. Go me!

2.) Game Boy had his first cyclocross practice. He made it across the sand pit twice--the only one who did. He's proud, and he LOVED it. Go GB!

3.) The Wiz took off and rode on his bike, all by himself, and I couldn't keep up with him. He is now in love with his bike. GO WIZ!

And now we're all tired. Good night!

Cycling

Chain ring tattoo by gears, calves by cycling

I've been trying to ride at least three times a week. Last week, I only was able to go twice: Monday and Friday. Tuesday and Wednesday it rained and was cold, and I'm a wimp. Thursday I had a flat. At least I got to go twice!

Monday I rode the loop I think of as Oregon to Russell Creek. I'd never done it before, but it is a nice ride. It's a nice 23 mile ride. I'll do it again this week, I'm sure. Friday's ride was a new one too: I rode to the end of the pavement (or close to it anyway) on Cottonwood. It's a long, hard, uphill ride. However, if you turn around and come back down, it's a long, easy, downhill ride. (This ride is about 15.5 miles.) If you have to go uphill, you should at least have some reward.

Today I went out with the Collar. We did the Cottonwood loop. That's usually a 15.4 mile ride, but I forgot to start my GPS. Oops. It's nice to ride with the Collar, but we don't exactly ride together. We're almost like toddlers playing side by side. (Ha!)

One of the strangest things for me to get used to is that when I go out, I'm always climbing at least the first half of the ride. The way back is downhill, back into the valley, and is always easier. It's so strange, but really nice.

It looks like it will be a nice week for riding, if the forecast stays the way it is.

Still Busy

When it's nice outside, and the boys are in school, and it's the end of the semester, I'm too busy to really blog. This might be good, because then I'm not writing about minutiae. This has been another very busy week.

The Collar has had three funerals since last Saturday, and a fourth is coming up tomorrow. Sunday is the youth Evensong at church, so Game Boy is learning a new song. I've gotten to ride three times this week for about 55 miles this week.

Wednesday (besides being Earth Day) was my 39th birthday. (I don't care who knows.) It was such a nice day--temperatures in the 70's, sunny and beautiful. On top of that, my boys all gave me a great day. Game Boy baked my birthday cake and gave me a gift certificate to the bike shop.

The Wiz bought me a water bottle, which says enjoy the ride and new cycling socks, with a cup of coffee, and a writing on the sole. It makes me smile to know that my socks say things.
The Collar made dinner: grilled steaks, grilled asparagus, fresh steamed broccoli, and baked potatoes. It was so good, and all of us really enjoyed it. For my birthday, he gave me a new jersey and a weather center, because he thought I needed a non-cycling gift. Of course, I'll use that for deciding what to wear when I'm going out or if I can go out. Of course, we'll use it for other decisions.
A really great week and birthday. (Pictures courtesy of Game Boy.)

Random Pictures

One of the souvenirs that we sold at the race were these cowbells. Isn't it great?This is the magnolia tree in front of church on Sunday. Our boys (and an extra) all were climbing in it.
Finally, we had meatloaf last night for dinner. It was supposed to be a flower, but the boys insist it is a starfish. Either way, it was good, because it had more edge on each piece. There wasn't much left.Today I had my bicycle readjusted. The handlebars were too low for me and were causing me pain. After it was adjusted, I went out on the 5 mile route and conquered the hill. Hooray for me! I was also a lot faster today. I upped my speed on that route by 3.6 mph. Amazing how well I can do when I am not fighting the bike.

Scenes From A Race

This weekend was the Tour of Walla Walla. There were 4 stages, but I was only around for two of them. Friday's stage was at Waitsburg. Here are a few pictures from the finish line. It wasn't too cold, but there was a pop up rain shower during part of the race.
Saturday morning was the time trial. The weather was absolutely perfect for riding. I wasn't out on the course, but I was able to get pictures of the start line and the riders warming up from my spot at registration.