Maintenance

When I was riding the other day with Tom, I mentioned that I couldn't remember the last time I got a new chain or a rear cassette, but I figured that I'm probably due. The next day my gears were slipping. The guy at the bike shop used a tool kind of like the one below to measure my chain to support his and my hypothesis that a new chain was in order. I wasn't sure how the tool worked, so explained it to me as he gave me a tutorial on being a better wiper of the side of my chain. He also confirmed that I am overdue for a new cassette, the thing that holds the gear parts (technical term).

They can get me in on Monday. In the meantime, my dog knocked my bike over and my shifter/brake lever thing is totally off kilter. Mine are kind of like those shown below.  Guess I'll get that fixed too! (They can just realign it.) My poor bike.

On the bright side, this feels like something I totally can manage. Unlike my fears about riding 86 miles in unknown conditions! I can manage that, too, I guess. It's just a tad more scary. Thanks, though, everyone, for your words of confidence! I'm sure it will be fine and even fun. That just is not what I expected.

Thankfully, I'm going to have a great pit crew with me...

Hmmm... Ouch?

I haven't posted anything for a bit because I was fairly consumed with having family in town for my brother's wedding. Three of the best visitors are shown below.

My brother-in-law shipped his bike, so we were able to do some shorter, 20-35 mile rides together.

I got info about the TRAM in the mail. 86 miles for day one? Gulp. Guess I'd better pick up the pace over the remaining two weeks!

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

What you once were isn't what you want to be any more

Today I went to a visitation/funeral at the church attached to the school I attended from kindergarten through eighth grade, which is about five hours from where I live. Between the visitation and the funeral, I went in to the school and walked around. There was more I wanted to explore, but I think I made the office people uncomfortable.

The school now serves pre-K through fifth grade and, based on the size of the cafeteria, now located in what was once the science lab where I dissected a fish, it looks like enrollment is quite low.

In addition to snapping a photo of the hall where 6th-8th grade classes were held, I took a picture of the hall where K-3rd grade classes once were held. The drinking fountain almost was at knee level. I thought my siblings would appreciate the pictures. (The drinking fountain one, or "bubbler" as referred to in Wisconsin, won't load. What the heck, Blogger app? It is loading a photo from the MS 150 instead. Maybe it wants me to focus?)

The most relevant photo, though, is of the stairwell we used to take to the nasty basement to go under what was once the high school to get to the part of the school where the office was. If you were a good student, you got to leave class to take the attendance chart, in its plastic sleeve, to the office. Once there, you might be asked to take blue-hued mimeographs back to your teacher. It was cool to be picked, but terrifying. The basement smelled like sweaty high school boys, had cages filled with sporting equipment and cleaning supplies, and the boilers and whatnot were down there. It was a scene straight out of a Freddy Krueger movie. I used to run through there, terrified of aliens, monsters, and body snatchers, all to take the damned attendance sheet to the office. Why the heck did they send little kids down there??

Anyhow, I walked down there today to confront the demons. I was slightly scared to go down the steps, but when I got down there, I saw that they cleaned everything up and it is clean and bright. I almost wanted to see the scary place just to confirm that it was as twisted as I remember.

I got to see my dad on father's day, which was a perk of going to Wisconsin. We got to talk about my upcoming bike trip and the training I need to do to pull off 280 miles. I'm looking forward to some more rides soon. The last one was 36 miles, two days ago. Time to ramp things up.

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

Monkeying with Tires and Avenging

My plan was to, starting Thursday, bike more regularly to get used to being on my bike many days in a row and to start rowing again.

I rode my bike to work on Thursday, but got stuck there too late to get to rowing practice, so I just rode home at the end of the day.

Today, Friday, I was at a stoplight and saw that my new tires that I bought at the MS150 starting point had cuts and gouges in them. So, after work, I drove to North St. Paul to return them to the shop from which I bought them in Hinckley. They didn't have my regular standby tires (photo below) in stock, so I went to my neighborhood shop and got them from a woman with the most beautiful and numerous tattoos. She has a really soft voice and reminds me of a non-tattooed person, but I can't think of whom.

I am going to try to get up early tomorrow to put them on my bike and ride to rowing practice. We'll see.

I'm trying to cram in a lot of stuff tomorrow so that I can get an early start to go to Wisconsin on Sunday. There is a memorial service on Monday for the father of my best friend from childhood. I pretty much lived at their house, which was one block away. Their phone number was only one digit different than ours. I was a sedentary kid, and Mr. Kersten used to tease me and call me "Muscles." I think he would be amused by my attempts to be active.

Speaking of my attempts to be active, I just (finally) watched The Avengers. I decided that the superpowers that would come in most handy for me are those of the Black Widow. She's very athletic and resourceful. As a bonus, she is not huge, so she wouldn't have the same sort of wind resistance as the Hulk or Captain America. I was looking for an action shot from the movie. Most images show her standing still, looking sexy, although in the movie, she was always on the go. I'd like her endless energy and good flexibility - that would come in handy on the MS TRAM.

Ah, poop. Neither the tire photo nor the Black Widow photo are loading properly. I think I need to download an update for my phone blogging app. Sorry about the lack of images!

Drafting and Chains

On Sunday when I hit my peak point of exhaustion and was just trying to plow through the last 20 of the 150 miles, I was riding solo on a stretch of bike path and came upon two big guys who were going about 1-2 mph slower than me. I got on their left and announced that I was passing, but they sped up and wouldn't let me pass them. Finally, I pushed past them and got in front of them, only to have them draft behind me for about 7-8 miles.

This angered me. Unnecessarily so.

All I could think of during this time, though, was this book we had when we were kids - Boffo and the Great Motorcycle Race. Unfortunately, I was identifying with the antagonist, Rudy, rather than Boffo.

Rudy has the moustache

Rudy, that jerk, threw nails in Boffo's path

I am somewhat ashamed to say that, in my exhaustion, I seriously thought to myself, "I wish I had some nails like that bad guy with the moustache in Boffo and the Great Motorcycle Race." I wouldn't have thought such evil things if the guy behind me had just said, "Hey, we're drafting, in a few miles we'll take a turn so you can draft behind us." That totally would have been fine.

Two stray thoughts:

1. This book was one of many my parents let us order from the Parenting Magazine book club. The books we got from that service were my favorites - - Socks for Supper, the Fat Cat, the Little Old Man Who Could Not Read, etc. I don't think they sell books anymore - at least they don't self-publish them anymore, which is too bad.

2. My bike chain and rear gear cassette were a total mess after riding on the shoulder of a road in the rain for many dozens of miles. I didn't know that Dan got a chain cleaning kit for Christmas, so I went to the bike shop and bought one. It works great. I highly recommend it. I guess now we have a matching his-and-hers set! 

On the agenda:

1. Return to the bike to resume training for the MS TRAM and to call the MS Society people to get the low-down on the TRAM logistics (where do we camp, if we want to camp? they carry our luggage, right? if they don't serve breakfast and dinner, are those things hard to find? do they have shower trucks?).

2. Start rowing for the summer.

3. There was a third thing, but I can't remember what it is. Get some sleep, I guess.

150 miles? Check!

Hey there, old bloggy, old buddy, old pal. We did it - 150 miles! This year's challenge was neither heat nor wind, but hoards of cyclists and rain. And we dealt with it through perseverance and creativity.

Friday

On Friday, we loaded our bikes on semis and took a bus to Duluth. I posted some photos on the blog on Friday from the bus, including one showing my wrist bands for the weekend. The gold one is given out to anyone who has raised at least $1,000. It is your key to short biffy lines at the rest stops and access to special treats. Thank you, donors!

Veronika, in the shadows

Stacy

Once we got to Duluth, Stacy's in-laws (Travis' parents) picked up about a dozen of us. They fed us and found places for all of us to spend the night. 

Saturday

In the morning, Travis' parents and a friend of his from high school drove us to the start of the ride in Proctor, just south of Duluth. We ate the traditional pancake breakfast and headed out. (I can't post the pancake video here, apparently. Let me know if you want the link and I'll send it to you. People who get my email updates will get the link, whether they want it or not. Ha!) I saw the Finnegans jerseys at breakfast. I liked the saying and at first thought that the bottles were real.

Team Finnegans

Saturday was beautiful, weather-wise. It started in the low 50s and ended in the mid-60s. We were rerouted at the beginning, skirting Jay Cooke State Park, instead of riding through it, because the bridge and trail are still being reconstructed after getting totally washed out in last year's devastating floods. (Don't live around here? The floods were on TV because animals escaped the zoo, including a super-cute seal who was all over the news.)

As is typical, the start of the ride is a little crazy. Some big downhill portions, a lot of adrenaline, and some crashes. Most of the people had minor scrapes and cuts, but there were a few people who were seriously hurt and had to go to the hospital. I think that the MS Society needs to consider capping the number of people who participate in this event. There are so many riders that it can get really congested in certain areas. It also doesn't help that some riders, regardless of what everyone is told, don't announce that they are passing or stopping - - things that are pretty essential when riding in a group of about 4,000 people. We came to a complete stop twice on Saturday - for about an hour total - to allow for ambulances to clear the trail. 

Waiting for the trail to clear

A ton of people had flat tires during the weekend. When I was standing in this line, I glanced down at my tires and realized that they were really worn. It was sort of surprising that I didn't have any flat tires recently, considering that there were cuts in the tires, little chunks of tire missing, and a couple of little rocks embedded in the tires. When I arrived in Hinckley, our overnight stop, I got some new tires on. The guys from Gateway Cycle were super great, and gave my bike some extra TLC for free.

Once we were in Hinckley, we went to our team tent. Every team that raises over $25,000 gets a big tent, with tables and chairs under it. Our tent captain, Tara, brought us delicious food and drinks, as always. I ate enough snacks to feed a horse. I was categorized as a VIP this year because I raised over $3,000 last year. I skipped my free VIP massage again (and gave my pass to some guy who looked like he needed it more than I did), and cruised in the VIP tent to see what delicious snacks were waiting for me there. (Cheese! And wine that I didn't drink. There were also some veggies, which were a nice touch after eating a lot of PB&J and bananas en route.) While I was in the tent, look what I found! And this wasn't even from this year, when I totally kicked fundraising butt! 

One of the top fundraisers of 2012!

After we took a team photo, we went to the hotel, where I threw a firm, slightly louder-toned, yet not enraged, fit with the front desk clerk who told me that, despite the fact that we had reserved a non-smoking room, that they only had smoking rooms left. Remember my misery last year? And remember what I do day in and day out, professionally? Yeah. So. Anyhow, she magically found one. The last one, she assured me. It was being held for a "special circumstance." That means, I think, that they purposely slot anyone they can into a smoking room, because they know there is high demand for the non-smoking rooms and only give them to people who are insistent. C'mon hotel people. There is a freakin' demand for smoke-free hotels - meet it! I digress. So, we got a room designated as a non-smoking room. It could have been called the thin-as-paper-wall room, though. I want to know why about 75 people were getting ice for roughly 35 minutes at 1:00 in the morning... Regardless, it was much, much better than last year, and I slept for most of the 6.5 hours that I tried to sleep. Most people zonk out after riding their bikes 75 miles. I wish I could do that. 

Sunday

On Sunday, the people I was riding with got together kind of early, to try to beat the rain. No such luck. It was raining by the time we collected our bikes from the big field of bikes, and rained for about the first 35-37 miles. There's a picture of me early on in the day, riding in the rain, taken by the photographer used by the MS Society. I might buy it. I look remarkably chipper. I think this must have been before we stopped to change Tim's flat tire. (This! After I purposely bought new tires so that I wouldn't have to change a flat in the rain! It actually was okay, but this is when I got really wet, despite my shoe covers.)

The rain stopped right as we rolled in to lunch. By this point, we'd split up into two groups of three, and one lone rider (sorry, Tom). After eating lunch, I was miserable. My wool socks were working admirably to keep my feet sort of comfortable, but my padded bike shorts were thoroughly soaked, the pad acting like one horribly soaked cloth diaper. My hands were turning white and were numb from riding in the rain in 50-degree temps. At least I was in better shape than the people who were lining up to take buses/vans to the finish line. I was wringing out my gloves and debating whether to leave Tim and Shannon and leave a few minutes ahead of them to warm up a bit. 

Our motto of the day, when we were making slow progress and whenever any of us wanted to stop at one of the schedule rest stops, was "it's not a race." We decided to embrace that and, in the break in the rain and the relatively clearish radar for the next couple of hours (we hoped), we went to a laundromat, kept on the clothes we needed to still be decent, and put the rest in the dryer. I put newspaper in my shoes to try to dry them out. Technically, I owe Tim and Shannon a couple of bucks and a hot cocoa, but I think I sort of owe them my sanity, too. I felt so much better for the rain-free roughly 20 miles after that.

Tim

Here's a shot (below) of Shannon and Tim during our respite from the rain. When we were changing Tim's flat tire in the rain earlier in the day, a ride marshall guy on his bike stopped to help us. He asked us, "Why do we do this shit?", meaning why do we ride in crummy weather like this. Shannon said, "This is why," and showed him her jersey, which says "I ride with MS." I told Shannon I wanted to try to get a picture of it when we were riding. Three of the 31 riders on our team have MS and many, many more of the riders do, too. Sometimes you just know about because it is mentioned in passing. Other times, it is somewhat apparent, based on mobility issues or jerseys like Shannon's. There are also a lot of people who ride who are, well, very unfit. Some are developmentally disabled. Some ride really crappy bikes. Some are really young - - - we had a few teenagers on our team again this year. The point is that it is very inspirational to ride with so many people devoted to a common cause.

So, we were riding on this part of the trail, which tends to be hard, mentally. It's between Wyoming and Hugo. Shannon and Tim were slowing down and my back was bugging me pretty unenjoyably, so I rode ahead. And then it started raining again. All the way to the finish. (About another 17 miles.) But at least I knew the end was near. In Hugo, I found Adam and Brett and made them let me ride with them. It was great because both of them had music on their bikes - - industrial music from Brett's bike, Slayer from Adam's bike. Not my typical music, but it was nice to hear something that sort of distracted me for the last seven miles. I think I amused them with my story about how, during my 10 solo miles, I was trying to lose two guys who were drafting behind me, "but didn't come by it honestly." So, we made it to the finish, although I accidentally lost them at the last traffic light before the hill, so I finished alone. It felt like a good, strong finish, worthy of the medal that they give all participants. 

Next up? I guess I'll train for the week-long MS ride I've got in July.

The Wheels on the Bus

After zipping into the high fundraiser VIP parking lot at Century College and getting my wrist bands and free t-shirt, I waited in a huge, at-a-standstill line with my bag over my shoulder to put a piece of burlap on my bike and load it on semi truck #9. (Jane the chiropractor: note that I put it on my left shoulder. I think you would have approved. Thanks for the last minute TLC this a.m.)

Now we are on a bus headed to Duluth, with our luggage stowed below. Team members from Team Finnegans handed out beers on the bus.

Dave, Veronika, and I have talked about the Wire, Game of Thrones, and gangsters. I think we have exhausted most avenues of conversation. That's when it's time to update ye olde blogge, I think.

Last night, I personalized and pimped up my bike jerseys with iron-ons from the mom of our team captain. Check it out. I could totally get into making and ironing on some iron-ons...

My Team

So, I often refer to "my team," in reference to Stacy's Cycling Supporters. We are a "friends and family" team, according to the MS Society. We aren't sponsored by a corporation that donates money, jerseys, etc., or that ships gear and makes dinner for its riders. We use elbow grease, have a super great volunteer tent captain who rounds up our dinner on Saturday and brings it to Hinckley, and have iron-on decals for our jerseys so that we sort of match. And we raise a lot of money, considering that we have no corporate donors and that we have a few riders younger than 18. Basically, we rock.

But my team is much bigger than that. It consists of all the people who ask how training is going, who wish me luck, and who generously share their hard-earned cash. After my last update I received even more donations to the MS Society in support of both my rides. I'm honored to be the legs, arms, and, well, butt, of all of you. Your vehicle.

Your support is very inspiring and humbling. Thank you so much.

The Final Countdown and, Hey!, Busy During the week of 7/15?

Today, Stacy, Dave, and I rode from Raspberry Island in St. Paul to Afton. After leaving St. Paul, we wound our way through Battle Creek Park.

I didn't take pictures, but this is an accurate photo from the Internet, although you can't see the cool waterfalls. Here's a link to a short video of the history. I guess I had forgotten who had fought in the battle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kO4j8-LloM. Kaposia park, across the Mississippi River from Battle Creek is equally as beautiful, although it looks very different. We rode through Kaposia on our 5/6 bike ride.

Dave, working on a tire.
Maggie, working on a sunburn.

Just after leaving the park, we were delayed by Dave's flat tire and my apparently not-so-reliable hand pump. After getting off the annoying paved path through Woodbury, we rode through stunningly beautiful (although somewhat disappearing) farm land along a creek to Afton, a city that is on the St. Croix River, which forms the boundary between Minnesota and Wisconsin. We had lunch and headed back.

There were some decent hills on this route and, after riding yesterday, I'm pretty tired. I did 40 miles today, 40 miles yesterday. Last weekend, I rode 55 and 40 miles. Two back-to-back weekends of rides this length is my final prep before each MS150. I guess I'm ready! We will load our bikes on trucks and ride a bus up to Duluth. I'll stay with my friend Travis' parents in Superior on Friday night, and then the ride starts bright and early Saturday. I feel a little jittery. I can't believe it is already June.

I raised $4,255 for the MS150 and have also raised $305 for the MS TRAM in July. Thank you, everyone, for all of your support! I'm no longer on the scrolling list of top fundraisers, but my team is just barely hanging on. I don't mind if other people bump me. I'm super excited that I've managed to raise this much already this year! 

Helene is the lowest fundraiser of the top fundraisers, which means I got bumped off the list. That's okay - I exceeded my goal, thanks to you! My team, SCS, is still showing up on the page, though, that's cool. And some people from my team said that they're still expecting some donations.

One week from right now, I'll likely be asleep, but I'll be really proud of another good ride. Which, I should remind you, is basically a training ride for the MS TRAM. 

What?!? Yes, yes, yes. You may have forgotten, devoted reader (if you exist), that the MS TRAM is a five-day ride in Northern Minnesota. Which brings me to a question for you... what are you doing that week? Are you someone who doesn't have work obligations and wants to meet us in one of the towns where we'll be riding to keep us company ? Do you have a friend or a family member who lives in one of those towns and loves to shower home-cooked meals on strangers? Travis and I are the two people from our team doing this ride and plan to sleep in tents, but we'll roll into each town at around 1 or 2 each day and have nothing else going on - - and will have no meals provided for us. Essentially, we're looking for a pit crew (minus luggage carrying duties - that will be done by the MS Society people).

On Sunday 7/14, we'll take a bus from Duluth to International Falls. On Monday 7/15, we'll ride to and spend the night in Orr. On Tuesday 7/16, we'll ride to and spend the night in Chisholm. Wednesday 7/17? Biwabik. Thursday the 18th we'll be in Two Harbors. Then, on Friday the 19th, we'll finish in Duluth and both have people there for us.

Let me know if you think you're interested, or know of someone else who may be able to help us out!

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

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

Oh my, my, oh hell yes, you got to put on that party dress.

Tonight I went to the party that Stacy and Travis hosted to raise money to meet their fundraising goals. I think they brought in a lot of money.

The Pabst rep that Travis met on our ride last year (our team had Pabst jerseys) donated a keg of beer for the party, as well as some stuff for an auction. Other businesses, including Fulton Brewing donated food and beverages.

Here are some photos from the party: (1) my contribution to the party, after today's 40-mile ride, (2) the band, which played some classic rock and oldies, and played that one Petty song I like so much, and (3) the sleeping bag I bought in the auction for Dan. When I got home, I realized that it is reversible.

I have another 40-miler slated for tomorrow a.m., the last ride of any real distance before the MS 150 next weekend. Stacy, Dave, and I are going to ride to Afton, which we've never done before. They said on the radio that there's a 0% chance of rain. Let's hope they didn't jinx us.

I got a lot of recognition this p.m.for my fundraising efforts. Thanks, everyone!

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

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