Alive in the Present

So, the past two years, I've not only done the MS150 bike ride, but also the week-long MS TRAM. Why two rides? Well, the short answer is to raise more money for the MS Society. But, really, I don't raise much more doing two rides than I would if I just stuck with the one ride.

This article about a local musician, touring along the length of the Mississippi River (Mpls to NOLA), by bike, sums it up:

"Ben talked about how all the stress in life, the meaningless little details, simply vanish after a few days on the road. You’re alive in the present and only concerned with the wind, the rain and the miles ahead. If you can find the place in life where the wind and the rain are among your biggest concerns, you’re doing something right."

Iconic schmiconic

Last night, Dan and I went to the neighborhood theater to see the documentary his meteorologist/climatologist friend made about winter, via a kickstarter campaign. It was a good movie, which made me simultaneously look forward to and dread this next winter.

The movie calls winter Minnesota's most iconic season. I guess that's true, but this fall has been Minnesota's nicest fall in recent memory, even if it isn't what we are known for.

This weekend also involved a trip with one half of my parents to an orchard with my nephews, a visit to a new nature park with a natural, kids play area (sticks for forts, chalk for boulders, etc.) where some cool basket things hung from the trees, and the longest bike ride I've gone on in a month (sad, but true).

Today's fun ride was planned by Matt and involved a mostly-trailed route from Hopkins to St. Boni along the north side of Lake Minnetonka, through Carver Park, and along the south side of the lake back to Hopkins.

I overdid it a bit at dinner, eating way more, way more quickly, than called for by my pressing hunger. So now I laugh as Piper plays with Millie, who we are dog sitting, while I'm multitasking by. digesting the meal and digesting the weekend.

My celebrity lifestyle blog

The local paper included an article from the Post related to celebrity lifestyle blogs, and reviewed the blogs written by people like Gwynneth Paltrow and Tori Spelling. The article provides information in six categories for each celebrity blog reviewed.

I thought I should evaluate my own blog using the same criteria.

Who's responsible?: Well, I guess I am. Although I certainly am a product of my environment, as well as possessing certain family traits that I am starting to think are genetic in nature.

Target demographic: Myself, I suppose. Maybe my Mom, since I think she reads every post.

Sample Posts: Hard to characterize. Originally it was intended to relay information about using my bike to raise money for the MS Society, so some posts relate to biking adventures or purchases. Other posts contain random historical information about Minnesota, there are a lot of photos of the river, and I've even posted assorted pictures I found online showing leprechauns and horses riding bikes. A complete hodgepodge, it seems. Certainly no recipes or crafting tips.

How Informative is it?: Uhmmm.... See above? Yeah, sorry.

Is it Blatantly Commercial?: Although I did show a photo of my preferred type of tire changing levers, I haven't encouraged anyone to buy anything (and actually suggested taking free items from hotel rooms), and have included no links to shopping sites. So, I think not. (At this point I'm mumbling to myself like Harold's mom when she fills out his dating service questionnaire in Harold and Maude.)

But How Does it Make You Feel?: Well, dear reader, I probably don't make you feel like the celebrity blogs do (too poor, too much meat in your diet, and I certainly can't make you feel like you aren't stylish... have you seen me?), but I'm not too worried about it. (See "target demographic.")

Another Halloween decoration?

I went to the doctor yesterday to get new orthotics that would serve their original knee purpose, yet maybe would alleviate recurring toe pain a bit more effectively than my super old ones.

It turns out that a bone in my toe that is supposed to be square is a rectangle. I knew it was longer than the others, but it's kind of cool to see the culprit bone that I am unable to punish or reprimand or rehabilitate (depending on your view of  the correctional system).

The best part of the visit (other than being asked by two separate people, "are your feet really always this cold?!?" and being told that it is good for me to sit in the warming house and drink cocoa a ton when engaging in winter sports due to my poor circulation and increased propensity for frostbite) was getting confirmation that my new biking shoes are the right size.

I bought big cycling shoes recently and was worried that maybe I went a little overboard since it sometimes feels like I'm wearing clown shoes. But nope, it was a good purchase, it seems.

Bike-Yoga-Walk: A Great Pairing... of Three Things

Swollenhamstringassana pose?

What do you call it when three things are put together? Does a pairing imply two items only? That's a question for another day, I guess.

The morning didn't go quite as planned. The bee that stung me in the hamstring while moving out of a downward facing dog pose at yoga wasn't nearly as cute as this little drawing I found online. I rode my bike to yoga today, but of course today is the one day I didn't have my little ziploc with ibuprofen and benadryl. All in all, I was glad to learn that when I get stung I still don't need an epi-pen and was glad that I made it home on my bike without annoying myself too much. Just a little bit.

Although I didn't tack on any extra miles on the bike, my trusty canine companion Piper and I went for a roughly-7-mile walk with Marcy along Minnehaha Creek to where it empties into the Mississippi River. Neither of us have never been to that spot before, which was beautiful.

Near the confluence of the creek and the river

Before yoga, I put the fat tires back on my fat/mountain bike and rode around the alley a little bit to make sure that I assembled everything correctly. Everyone in Mpls seems to have fat bike fever. I've seen a lot of people riding them already this season. Once I was on it, I remembered how fun it is. So, I guess I'm not so surprised that people are out on them a lot already.

When I was in Atlanta this week, a colleague showed off Atlanta's crown biking jewel - a paved, separated path. Of about 12 miles. Those poor Atlantans don't know what they're missing in nice places like Minnesota. 

I'm not quite sure why this post reads like a third-grade book report. Can I blame the convenient bee scapegoat?

Hazen + Grey Cloud Woman

Today, I took a leisurely ride with Matt to Grey Cloud Island, a cool little spot in the Mississippi River where the Dakota lived after leaving Kaposia (which, as I noted in a blog post a long time ago, is where they moved after leaving the Battle Creek area). Matt and I rode here in early August with my brother-in-law Tom, when it was quite toasty. Today was perfect - - about 55 and sunny.

On the island, we stopped briefly at Hazen Mooers Park and I took some photos. We were speculating about who he was. Apparently, Hazen was the fur trader husband of Grey Cloud Woman, for whom the island is named.

A City Pages blog post says that the island is haunted. I don't buy it. But I've never been there in the dark.

Mecca

I am in Portland for work, missing my bike as I watch all the very many people doing their commuting thing in the robust bike lanes. I was easily distracted, though, by my hike today at Mt. Hood. That is, until I accidentally started hiking on a mountain bike trail.