Private Property - Keep Out

Dear Blog,

I am so sorry for neglecting you this week. I have so much to tell you!

It was a busy week at work and with Dan's birthday events, but despite the several inches of snow early in the week, I managed to ride my bike. Can you believe it? Oh Blog, I love the wind on my face when I first start riding each spring. It reminds me of when I learned how to ride my bike. (This youthful memory must be why I'm treating you like a tween's diary, Bloggy.) It was so great.

On Thursday and Friday, I rode to and from work. On Saturday, I led a just-under-22-mile group ride, but rode an extra 20 miles with my friend Dave (10 miles each way to the starting and ending point of the group ride). We saw deer, turkeys, tons of migratory birds, and a turtle (from a bridge, basking in the sun). The group ride went from the MN Valley Wildlife Refuge, which is hidden behind the Mall of America, over the Minnesota River, to the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, along the Mississippi, through downtown St. Paul, along the other side of the Mississippi, and back.

I was pretty tired, since I haven't ridden much yet this spring, but managed to stay awake while at Target Field watching the Twins beat the Rangers, and had a great late dinner at the Bachelor Farmer. Today, my team from the Minnesota Boat Club rowed for the first time this season. I'm pooped. It's a good cross-training activity, I think. Despite the exhaustion, I managed to do some yardwork for the first time this year, too. I'm getting familiar, once again, dear Blog, with these things called muscles. They are sort of disgruntled at the moment. I know, Blog, right? Hardly shocking.

Blog, I'm sorry for not updating you sooner. I might be delayed again because there probably won't be much to talk about this week. This little 70-degree spell will end, and it will be in the 40s and raining most of the week. Hey Blog, do you think I should try out the shoe covers I bought last week?

Next Sunday, Blog, I'll lead our team on a ride further south along the Mississippi. I hope it will be nice out. The plan is to finish the ride at either El Burrito Mercado or Boca Chica for chips, salsa, and margaritas. Oh, Blog, in typing this, I just realized the flaw or the genius of this plan. Is it a bad or a good idea to try to do that ride, ending in the biggest Mexican neighborhood on Cinco de Mayo? Hmm. Let's think about this overnight.

Great news, Blog! I'm at 81% of my fundraising goal. Just about six weeks left to try to get the remaining $725. I think I can do this.
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyMS150

I'm including a picture of Saturday's riders - I am lurking in the back - and a picture of my little new computer. It works! Oh, and Blog, I also have a picture of me all geared up on Saturday before the ride. Lots of layers - including fun knee warmers - for a ride that started at 45 degrees and ended at over 70 degrees. Thanks for listening, Blog. You're the best.

p.s. If my brothers are reading this, I'm going to tell Mom and Dad and then you'd better watch out.

Got Some Loot

If you raise a fair amount of money for the MS 150, you get a thank you gift, in the form of a gift certificate that you can use at one of a few area bike shops. I gave back to the MS Society some of my thank you gift from last year's ride ($35? $50?), but chose to get the remainder, $200, as a gift certificate because I'm always needing to replace things. (I found out that I was offered such a nice, big g.c. because I raised the 49th highest amount of money out of 3800 riders. Thank you, my friends!)

I spent my g.c. today. I got a new bike computer because, as I mentioned previously, mine recently broke. I looked for bike shorts (I have enough for the 2-day MS 150, but could use another pair or two for the 5-day MS TRAM), but options were limited in my size. There must be a lot of medium-sized women buying shorts this week.

I have a rain coat for when it is cold, like now, but got a rain coat and shoe covers for when it downpours in less frigid weather. I also got some wool socks to keep my feet dry.

Below are pictures of the rain coat and socks, as well as some photos showing how the shoe covers work with shoes that clip in to pedals. I thought these may be of interest to those of you who don't bike. I've ridden in some pretty torrential rain, so I got highly visible yellow gear, although the coat was available in a cute plaid pattern. This gear isn't essential for training or for the MS 150, but if it rains during the MS TRAM in July, it will be extra great to have.

Finally, I'm including a picture of Piper who seems to be pretty happy to have me home. (These might not be in order.)

Special thanks to Tom and Molly for making it possible for me to go on a tiring, hilly bike ride yesterday in California before getting on the plane for MN. They're forecasting more snow these next couple of days, but I'm hopeful for smooth sailing from next weekend on.

I'm at 78% of my fundraising goal as of tonight. Thank you for your help and all of your encouraging words!!

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyMS150

My Last Full Day in Cali

I'm feeling very thankful.

Thanks, donors, for getting me to 76% of my fundraising goal! (And for those of you connecting via Facebook, I didn't even contact Jeff Tweedy - yet.) Thanks, nieces, for a super-special auntie week! Thanks, Molly and Tom, for inviting me to this warm escape! And thanks for setting me up for another bike ride tomorrow before I skip town and head back to the MN cold. Woo hoo! There are a ton of exclamation marks in this post.

I went to Edgewood again today for a vigorous walk (I ran, yes ran, there yesterday). Here are the highlight photos, including another lizard shot.

I was missing my husband Dan and my dog Piper, both who would have enjoyed being out there, although maybe Piper would have gotten covered with the poison oak or would have been attacked by mountain lions (I saw big cat scat, yikes)? I'll be glad to see you at home Sat night, but maybe you should come out here instead?

Alternative Activities

I decided to be creative today with my activities, since biking isn't much of an option. After I dropped Sylvie off at school, I went for a hike at Edgewood, a San Mateo County Park.

One of a thousand cute little lizards

A view like this always makes me happy

View toward the ocean

View toward the bay

It was 70 and sunny and, of all the days I've been here, this is the one where I forgot to use sunscreen. I didn't get too burned, which is good. I plan to go back tomorrow. I realized today that although I like my job, I could really get used to not working if I could figure out a way to become independently wealthy.

Despite the fact that it was 70 and sunny, when I picked up Sylvie from school at 12:25 (early dismissal today), one mom was wearing a winter coat, another had a thick fleece and puffy vest, etc. Seriously, people.

If the weather in MN doesn't get better soon, I'm going to have to stay in California and take up this fine sport.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyMS150

I Am My Own Worst Enemy

Recap of recent events: I've ridden outside in MN just a few times this year because it will not stop snowing. I am in California, watching my nieces for a week. The goal was to ride while they are in school. I rode my sister's bike on Friday, my first full day here, before she and my brother-in-law left town. My brother-in-law had gotten me all set up. Those are the photos I posted last Friday. Beautiful! Here's a reminder...

Reservoir Near San Carlos, CA

Yesterday was Monday, and so I got out my sister's bike and pumped up the tires to what I thought my brother-in-law told me was the correct inflation level for the tubeless tires. I went inside to finish getting dressed, heard a weird noise, looked all over the house to try to figure out what had fallen or tipped over. I went to get on the bike and saw that the rear tire was flat. To make a long story short, I overfilled the tire and it burst open. I got a tube and put it in the tire to reinflate it and go for a ride, but the alignment of the wheel and/or tire is all messed up. Basically, I either wrecked the tire by warping it in the explosion or I wrecked the rim.

Here I am, in sunny California, where I'm supposed to hopefully - finally - be training for this sort of lengthy ride in less than two months and, well, I wrecked the rear wheel in some way and can't ride the bike. I guess I will be hiking for the remainder of this trip. Any exercise is better than what I was getting at home over the last six weeks.

On the bright side, I got some new tire-changing levers. They've been on my shopping list and I had intended to do some online shopping some night while I'm here for some miscellaneous biking items. Since I was able to find them at the local bike shop, I just got them.

I had these:







I wanted, and got, these:


I know, I know. You wouldn't think that a $3 purchase (or, in my case, $6 purchase - I bought two sets of 3 levers because I know I'll lose one or two along the way) would matter so much. But if you doubt my sincerity, try changing a tire with those top ones. They stink. I have no idea why they even make those. And why the bike shop 4 blocks from my house only carries that kind.

I had daydreams that I'd be riding a ton, feeling happiness like the person who owns this bike surely must feel. Soon...






Speaking of soon, the 150-mile ride is in about 7 weeks and I'm only at about 62% of my fundraising goal. If you're planning on donating, maybe you can help me get a little momentum in that department? Thanks for all of your support!

Here's that link: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyMS150

Back to California Where It's Warm

Yesterday morning I walked the dog in snow. Then I got on a plane to California, where I'll be spending a week with my beautiful nieces. I took a couple of photos from the ride today (after a hilly climb). What a difference a day - and a plane ticket - makes!

Too bad I had to leave the state to try to train for the big rides. I think it might stop snowing in MN. Maybe I won't go home until I get a guarantee...

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyMS150

I can't figure out how to put these pictures in order. I think you can guess which photo relates to what...

Minnesota: Land of 10,000 Ice Cubes

This afternoon, Stacy and I met for a 23-mile bike ride. It was supposed to be warmish. I think it did make it almost to 50 degrees, but it was a bit windy. And there were a ton of lakes on our route, which meant that the wind blew cold air off the still-frozen lakes on to us throughout the entire ride.

I know, you're skeptical. Were there really that many lakes? Yes, and oddly enough, almost all of them are named after animals: Island Lake, Snail Lake, Turtle Lake, Amelia Lake, Otter Lake, Birch Lake, Lake Vadnais, and Sucker Lake. We also rode on Goose Lake Road, and near Bald Eagle Lake, but we didn't see either of these lakes.

Here's a cornfield we saw near Amelia Lake. You can see what a lovely day it was.

We saw a few old run-down farmhouses in this stretch. It was an interesting ride, due to the mix of old farms, crummy 1950's ramblers, and new developments. I read an email from FarmAid the other day that said that since 1982, we've lost more than 23 million acres of farmland - an area the size of Indiana.



The sun did come out for a few minutes, so I snapped some photos of Stacy and Otter Lake.

Stacy near Otter Lake

Otter Lake - brisk wind coming off that sheet of ice!

We turned after Lake Vadnais to go between that lake and Sucker Lake. Stacy decided to model her leg warmers while I snapped a picture of this cool, old house in the lake - - it's related to the lake being a reservoir.

Lake Vadnais (lots of deer tracks here, by the way)

Stacy and her legwarmers - and some sass

Where the path veers away from Lake Vadnais (behind those evergreens) and follows Sucker Lake, we ran into a bit of a problem. It was impassable. And, not only that, it was really, really cold between these two lakes. We had to backtrack, take a detour, and go up three pretty big hills to get back to where we started.

Snow, still. April 7, 2013

All in all, a good day, but cold and tiring.

















http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyMS150

Impromptu Training Workout

I haven't ridden my bike since Sunday and was pretty bummed to see today's snow. Even though it didn't stick to the ground, it was pretty disheartening. This coming Sunday should be fairly nice, and I will go for a training ride. I'm ahead of the MS training schedule, so that's good, but I just need some exercise.

I did get some unanticipated exercise yesterday, when I ran in the Atlanta airport to catch my connecting flight home from D.C.  We pulled into the far end of Terminal D at 9:05. I had to be at gate C7 for my flight to Minneapolis that was departing at, coincidentally, 9:05. I wasn't sure whether it was even worth trying.


I super-speed walked through Terminal D, jogged down the escalator, strong-armed my way on to the tram as the doors were closing, jogged up the escalator, and had to go halfway through the C terminal to get to my gate. It would have seemed more glamorous, but you connect to the different terminals at ATL while underground and, well, it is pretty dismal and icky. (But I made it, due to AirTran being delayed on all of its flights. I guess, for once, I'm glad about stinky airline service.)


Considering the layout of ATL and the vast amount of running that happens there, I think they should install these signs.

My friend Stacy and I have signed up for Squataggedon. It's a monthly challenge on Facebook where you do squats each day in April. I told Stacy that my squats got disrupted by work travel, but that I wasn't going to let that deter me from meeting my goal. I would just do them on the plane instead. And this, my friends, confirms for me that you can find just about any type of image on the Internet with enough digging.

I'm at 61% of my fundraising goal. I bet/hope that donations will pick up as I start having more interesting stories related to my training rides. You know I'll have them. First group training ride is in just a couple of weeks!

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyMS150

Shopping List

In addition to rain gear that I haven't fully investigated and tire changing levers I haven't ordered, I am going to need to buy a new bike computer.

The one I have was pretty cheap and good enough for the thousands of miles I've used it. I tend to drop it when putting it on or taking it off my bike, so it was beat up. The other day, riding with mittened hands, I wanted to switch views (trip miles to trip time) and the thing flew off my bike. I found it, but all of the buttons fell off. If it rains, my little computer will fill with water. And I probably can't switch views or reset it for a trip.

Let me know if you have recommendations! I might go wireless this time...