(no subject)
It was a great weekend. Not only was Monday off, but after a crazy week at work I had much of Friday off as well.
Friday I went for a ride. Planned to be gone about 2 hours. I knew I was going to stop at the LBS (squeaky pedal), but figured I could still get about 1 - 1.5 hours in. Left about an hour or so later than planned (work distracted me). Then only got in about 30 min... because the bike shop boys distracted me. I ended up talking with them for about 1.5 hours. All good though... it was fun :)
That night I ended up heading to the Sport Chalet where a boy I find very much cute and fun works, and picking up the Park Tools bike maintenance book. I told him talking to him earlier had been fun (yup, he had been at the bike shop), and that we should hang out sometime, and he invited me to a friend's place (a guy I also know, and who had also been at the bike shop earlier) later that evening to hang out. I decided sleep was silly, and headed out there around 10:30 or 11. It was fun... somewhat felt like I was in college again with the randomass dumbdrunk stuff going on. If you shake up a 2 liter bottle of soda, and throw it like a football, and the person trying to catch it misses, and it lands right at a car and explodes, it might, as some people claimed, look like "a whale just came all over her car". If roman candles are brought out of the house and set off, someone might notice that they look kinda like swords and start a sword fight. This is bad when people are hanging out in the garage (of couches) and the front door and garage door and garage-to-house doors are all open. The fireworks bounds off stuff well, and will end up going into both the house and garage. No harm done though... just a bit freaky. And I made it home by around 2am. Plenty of time to sleep before leaving at 7 to ride...
After my 3 hours of sleep, I was ready for a hard, fast ride that would test me ;-). It was a good ride - we road the San Gabriel Dam Recreation area, and it was one of my faster rides of that ride. Just over 2000 ft of climbing, 36 miles, and 2:16 total time (a few stops to regroup). An average moving speed of 16.5 mph!! That’s flyin’ for me! So I was pleased with how it went. it wasnt quite enough riding for me though, so after a quick fruit leather it was back on the bike for another 16 miles (in just over an hour - 15.4 mph with 1000 ft of climbing). That out of the way, I returned to the shop, threw on my running shoes, and went for an 8 mile brick run. The knee started aching a bit around mile 3, and was definitely starting to be unhappy by mile 7, but as it was an out and back I just finished it up and went home for some ice. Still was a good run - took 1:19 with an average pace of 9:35/mi, under the perfect-day-dream-goal for the IM! Sweet! The bike ride home after that (4.5 miles) was nice and easy, and it felt good to spin the legs.
After a good ride, I was ready for some fun, so called up Zeke and convinced him (it was hard, I had to twist his arm a lot) to come eat sushi with me, and maybe watch a movie. The sushi was ok, but too spicy for me (even on the roll we asked for no spice it made my brain hurt). Some of them were still really good, but as an overall experience it was just "eh" for the food, but good for the company. Then we watched "Go" (ok, I watched 2/3 of it, and Zeke watched the last part while being a pillow). Oh, and before the movie Zeke helped me kill spiders (black widows in my kayak are not my friends) and get the kayak onto my car, which saved me a lot of trouble the next morning!
Sunday I again was up early, and off to the beach with my kayak! I went and got Joey, and we took the kayak it out for just over 40 minutes minutes, and about 2 miles of paddling. We stopped for a while though - a sea lion was hitting fish, making them fly up above the surface of the water and panic, and was laughing and torturing them for fun. A pelican (the fatest one ever... it was decided he could eat me and I’d fit in his stomach) and a few seagulls watched with us. Then the sea lion tired of it, and became our guide through the water for a bit. I love how they glide through waves.
When we got back in the car after kayaking, I had a voice message from Holly. It basically said "Hi, hope you are having fun. We'll be walking around Santa Barbara for a bit so give me a call so we can chat". Uhoh... I thought... she doesn't sound happy. Sounds like she is holding back (tears, worries... I wasn't sure). Joey agreed it sounded like a "call me back soon" message, so I dropped him off and called her. Damn it... voice mail. "Uh... I got your message... is everything ok? I'll be driving for a while, so call me." No call back while driving, but once home I got another voice mail (stupid phone not ringing) and it said "It's about 4 and we are leaving Santa Barbara. Give me a call and we will chat" Ok wtf is up with the chatting? Something seems just not quite all there... I dial, wondering what is up. As it rings... I have a thought. Maybe it's not bad news... She answers. "Hello?" "Are you engaged, or pregnant?" Silence. "Umm... yes?" "Which one???" And yes, my dear Holly said yes to some boy :) They made it home eventually and we went out and got food, and it was good.
Monday was also set to be a good day - the LBS beach ride and swim (with Lisa and a bunch of others). It starts the same as the dam ride, and then drops off the dam and onto a bike path that has no lights, street crossings, or anything for about 30 miles to the beach! It does have some tunnels and tricky corners, and some tricky pedestrians, dogs, and kids, but it is possible to fly down it. I later hear the very lead guys were going 26mph much of the ride, and over 30 at times! It is a slight downhill (2400 ft elevation loss and only 1400 of gain), but still! I was thrilled with my ride... I was feeling strong, and after chatting a bit during the ride to the bike path, I decided to push it a bit and see what I could do. I found myself alone for about 10 miles, but flying and it felt easy! I started my watch late by a few miles, but at the end had 2:32 minutes of moving time for just under 46 miles... for an average of 18.6 mph!!!!! And I thought I was flyin’ Saturday! Wooooo! That’s my fastest average EVAR!!! On any length of ride :D
I shocked myself and actually caught up to the front group at one of their regroup points! Of course they immediately dropped me once moving again (which was right as I got there) but Scott stayed with me and told me to jump on his wheel. We held about 19-20 mph the rest of the way to the beach (when not dodging other bikers and dogs). I just felt strong and comfortable in aerobars pretty much the whole day. I got to the beach… and was the first girl to do so! Wooo! I figure that’s all the rides I’ve done with the strong LBS guys most weekends paying off. They make me push it, and I think it has helped. I mean, really… my average is often just around 15 mph... and check out the *2* yes *2* 50 milers I did over the weekend - one at 16.2 mph (and enough left to run hard and then feel worn out) and the other at 18.6 (and left feeling energized and ready for the day, tons left to give)!!!
35 minute ocean swim once at the beach. The water was so nice I didn’t want a wetsuit, but wore it for the practice. At least I got my non-wetsuit water time with the kayak the day before. Drove back, ate pizza, stayed at the LBS chatting ’til one of the strongest guys, Mike, who rode both ways AND ADDED ON ANOTHER 25 MILES got back. And what miles did he add? Oh, he added climbing GMR, among other things… which is one of the toughest climbs in the area that I’ve done. Dang he is strong (and cute, of course... and yup, he had been at the bike shop on Friday... aren’t all biker boys cute??).
I went home soon after that, and read and slept on the couch for most of the rest of the day. I’d say the weekend was a good one!
Friday I went for a ride. Planned to be gone about 2 hours. I knew I was going to stop at the LBS (squeaky pedal), but figured I could still get about 1 - 1.5 hours in. Left about an hour or so later than planned (work distracted me). Then only got in about 30 min... because the bike shop boys distracted me. I ended up talking with them for about 1.5 hours. All good though... it was fun :)
That night I ended up heading to the Sport Chalet where a boy I find very much cute and fun works, and picking up the Park Tools bike maintenance book. I told him talking to him earlier had been fun (yup, he had been at the bike shop), and that we should hang out sometime, and he invited me to a friend's place (a guy I also know, and who had also been at the bike shop earlier) later that evening to hang out. I decided sleep was silly, and headed out there around 10:30 or 11. It was fun... somewhat felt like I was in college again with the randomass dumbdrunk stuff going on. If you shake up a 2 liter bottle of soda, and throw it like a football, and the person trying to catch it misses, and it lands right at a car and explodes, it might, as some people claimed, look like "a whale just came all over her car". If roman candles are brought out of the house and set off, someone might notice that they look kinda like swords and start a sword fight. This is bad when people are hanging out in the garage (of couches) and the front door and garage door and garage-to-house doors are all open. The fireworks bounds off stuff well, and will end up going into both the house and garage. No harm done though... just a bit freaky. And I made it home by around 2am. Plenty of time to sleep before leaving at 7 to ride...
After my 3 hours of sleep, I was ready for a hard, fast ride that would test me ;-). It was a good ride - we road the San Gabriel Dam Recreation area, and it was one of my faster rides of that ride. Just over 2000 ft of climbing, 36 miles, and 2:16 total time (a few stops to regroup). An average moving speed of 16.5 mph!! That’s flyin’ for me! So I was pleased with how it went. it wasnt quite enough riding for me though, so after a quick fruit leather it was back on the bike for another 16 miles (in just over an hour - 15.4 mph with 1000 ft of climbing). That out of the way, I returned to the shop, threw on my running shoes, and went for an 8 mile brick run. The knee started aching a bit around mile 3, and was definitely starting to be unhappy by mile 7, but as it was an out and back I just finished it up and went home for some ice. Still was a good run - took 1:19 with an average pace of 9:35/mi, under the perfect-day-dream-goal for the IM! Sweet! The bike ride home after that (4.5 miles) was nice and easy, and it felt good to spin the legs.
After a good ride, I was ready for some fun, so called up Zeke and convinced him (it was hard, I had to twist his arm a lot) to come eat sushi with me, and maybe watch a movie. The sushi was ok, but too spicy for me (even on the roll we asked for no spice it made my brain hurt). Some of them were still really good, but as an overall experience it was just "eh" for the food, but good for the company. Then we watched "Go" (ok, I watched 2/3 of it, and Zeke watched the last part while being a pillow). Oh, and before the movie Zeke helped me kill spiders (black widows in my kayak are not my friends) and get the kayak onto my car, which saved me a lot of trouble the next morning!
Sunday I again was up early, and off to the beach with my kayak! I went and got Joey, and we took the kayak it out for just over 40 minutes minutes, and about 2 miles of paddling. We stopped for a while though - a sea lion was hitting fish, making them fly up above the surface of the water and panic, and was laughing and torturing them for fun. A pelican (the fatest one ever... it was decided he could eat me and I’d fit in his stomach) and a few seagulls watched with us. Then the sea lion tired of it, and became our guide through the water for a bit. I love how they glide through waves.
When we got back in the car after kayaking, I had a voice message from Holly. It basically said "Hi, hope you are having fun. We'll be walking around Santa Barbara for a bit so give me a call so we can chat". Uhoh... I thought... she doesn't sound happy. Sounds like she is holding back (tears, worries... I wasn't sure). Joey agreed it sounded like a "call me back soon" message, so I dropped him off and called her. Damn it... voice mail. "Uh... I got your message... is everything ok? I'll be driving for a while, so call me." No call back while driving, but once home I got another voice mail (stupid phone not ringing) and it said "It's about 4 and we are leaving Santa Barbara. Give me a call and we will chat" Ok wtf is up with the chatting? Something seems just not quite all there... I dial, wondering what is up. As it rings... I have a thought. Maybe it's not bad news... She answers. "Hello?" "Are you engaged, or pregnant?" Silence. "Umm... yes?" "Which one???" And yes, my dear Holly said yes to some boy :) They made it home eventually and we went out and got food, and it was good.
Monday was also set to be a good day - the LBS beach ride and swim (with Lisa and a bunch of others). It starts the same as the dam ride, and then drops off the dam and onto a bike path that has no lights, street crossings, or anything for about 30 miles to the beach! It does have some tunnels and tricky corners, and some tricky pedestrians, dogs, and kids, but it is possible to fly down it. I later hear the very lead guys were going 26mph much of the ride, and over 30 at times! It is a slight downhill (2400 ft elevation loss and only 1400 of gain), but still! I was thrilled with my ride... I was feeling strong, and after chatting a bit during the ride to the bike path, I decided to push it a bit and see what I could do. I found myself alone for about 10 miles, but flying and it felt easy! I started my watch late by a few miles, but at the end had 2:32 minutes of moving time for just under 46 miles... for an average of 18.6 mph!!!!! And I thought I was flyin’ Saturday! Wooooo! That’s my fastest average EVAR!!! On any length of ride :D
I shocked myself and actually caught up to the front group at one of their regroup points! Of course they immediately dropped me once moving again (which was right as I got there) but Scott stayed with me and told me to jump on his wheel. We held about 19-20 mph the rest of the way to the beach (when not dodging other bikers and dogs). I just felt strong and comfortable in aerobars pretty much the whole day. I got to the beach… and was the first girl to do so! Wooo! I figure that’s all the rides I’ve done with the strong LBS guys most weekends paying off. They make me push it, and I think it has helped. I mean, really… my average is often just around 15 mph... and check out the *2* yes *2* 50 milers I did over the weekend - one at 16.2 mph (and enough left to run hard and then feel worn out) and the other at 18.6 (and left feeling energized and ready for the day, tons left to give)!!!
35 minute ocean swim once at the beach. The water was so nice I didn’t want a wetsuit, but wore it for the practice. At least I got my non-wetsuit water time with the kayak the day before. Drove back, ate pizza, stayed at the LBS chatting ’til one of the strongest guys, Mike, who rode both ways AND ADDED ON ANOTHER 25 MILES got back. And what miles did he add? Oh, he added climbing GMR, among other things… which is one of the toughest climbs in the area that I’ve done. Dang he is strong (and cute, of course... and yup, he had been at the bike shop on Friday... aren’t all biker boys cute??).
I went home soon after that, and read and slept on the couch for most of the rest of the day. I’d say the weekend was a good one!