Long overdue updates.

Health:


Health update- I am going to keep this brief as I am still trying to process what it all means:

Overall, I am healthy as far as I know, but after a follow up pelvic MRI there was confirmation of what I already knew/feel. I can sum it up by saying Tamoxifen is wreaking havoc on my uterus and there is a chance I may need surgery down the road.

But I am going to try my best not to let it worry me too much.

On a more positive note, The Bike Wise fund raising event was a huge success despite the rain.  I could not believe people showed up and rode with me in the pouring rain.   It did stop raining about 45 minutes into the ride and the sun even came out to dry us out on our return trip.  Thank you to those of you that came out and rode in the rain or volunteered their time to be ride leaders.  Thank you also to those that donated.  100% of the donations are going right to the organization to provide free Pilates to other patients in need of healing.

Thanks for the photo Bill Winters.  

The Family Ride 

Racing:

I have been contemplating pulling myself out of the Hampshire 100.

I have not really had as much time in the saddle these days so I am a bit concerned that this race was too ambitious.  Is two months enough time to get ready for such an endeavor?   Some may say yes and some might just say I am out of my mind.

After some more thought on the subject and discussing it with a few friends, I think it is still a bit premature to pull the plug on a race for mid August.    In fact, I decided to enter into another race to test my endurance.

I will be racing in the Stewart 6 pack on July 1- it is a 6 hour race.  You ride as many laps as you can in 6 hours. The one who finishes the most laps- wins.  I figured it could serve as a great training ride and a long day on the bike in some really fun single track.  I am actually looking forward to this and I talked G into racing it with me.

I am still registered for the Darkhorse 40 on August 5.  That is two weeks before the Hampshire 100 so it will either be great race prep or it will bury me.  I am hoping for great race prep.

Training/social Rides:

I have had some nice solo rides lately and my times have showed improvement according to my Strava records.  This has been really helpful since I have no clue how to figure out if I am really getting any faster unless I time myself. For the record, I did not state that I am getting fast, just that I am faster than I was.

I did get a chance to ride with some awesome people a couple weekends ago.

Saturday, G and I met up with some friends for a single speed ride up at Stewart.  It was a recovery day for them, so I had a better chance of trying to keep up with them.  It rained most of the morning and we were covered in mud from the huge puddles but it didn’t stop us from having a blast.

SweetMango and ThirdGear - all smiles! 

G and the leaf. 

Sunday was the annual Fat Tire Festival at Blue Mountain Reservation.  I had volunteered to lead the women’s ride again this year.  I get so much out of these rides even though they end up being at a pretty beginner level.   The group heads off into the woods, shepherded by us volunteers- a group of women I ride with regularly.  Some of the beginner women really had no desire to go off the fire roads and some others were ready for the challenge.  My friend Melissa took the fire road crew and Kim and I headed into the single track with 4 brave women…3 of which were pretty good.  I ended up staying in the back with one woman and giving her some extra pointers to help her.  It is amazing how a few suggestions can make a world of difference with someone's riding ability.  We had a few laughs and she was full of smiles even after she rode her bike right off a wooden bridge right at the end of the ride.  It was not more than a couple feet above the stream but it was enough to rip her off her bike into a front flip landing on her butt in the stream.   I was horrified watching this happen but thank goodness she was alright.  She actually laughed and smiled about it all the way while riding her bike to the EMT tent.  I just wanted to make sure that she was okay.   It turns out, she wants to buy a new bike and keep riding.  That is the spirit!  She actually left me a very nice note at the registration desk thanking me for helping her and giving her a gift that she will never forget. That is why I do these rides- I have helped another woman find the “religion” of the two wheels.  Ride on ‘stream flipper’!

I met up with G after that and  we headed back into the woods to show a couple new friends around our favorite trails.  It is always fun to show people around Blue and get to know some new folks.  Mountain biking has some amazing cast of characters.  Some of the best people that I have met have been while riding bikes.

G took some fun photos that day! 

Me on the 'new' trail at Blue. 

Our new friend - shoogs. 

"radio voice"

I rode solo most of this past week.  I am not really minding all the solo riding as it is helping me to clear my head and I can keep things rolling and at the pace I want.

I had a two day Anatomy workshop for my Pilates training on Friday and Saturday so I had to get quick rides in during the early morning hours.  Nothing longer than 2.5 hours but they were all good steady rides.  I even forced myself out on the road bike Saturday morning.  Sunday morning G and I headed up to Graham Hills and I actually hit a Personal Record on one of my favorite climbs- I was almost a whole minute faster! 

The weather for this week is going to be hot so hoping to get my rides in on the early side again.  Waking up extra early is better than suffering in 97 degrees and humidity.  My body and joints do not really care for those conditions.

 

If you are all still following along- thank you for reading. 

S.M.