How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?

Today was an educational day.

I was riding to the annual MS team captain meeting in Brooklyn Center, having a good, fun time, when I got a flat on that stretch of 2nd Ave N where I tend to be pretty alert.

I've gotten a flat there before. And, like before, a piece of glass was wedged in my tire.

Unlike before, it is winter. It's a balmy day, but it is still winter.

Unlike before, I was on my mountain bike, rather than my road bike.

Unlike before, I had a newish good hand pump, with two ends, presumably to accommodate two different valves.

Well, dear reader, let me make a suggestion. If you're on a bike you've never had a flat on, it'd be good to make sure that the valves on your pump actually accommodate the type of valve on your tube. And it'd be good to not just assume your valve adapter thing you had for your old pump made its way into your current flat-changing kit. And it'd be good to figure all that out before you remove your rear wheel, tire, and tube.

I am glad I packed some extra clothes. They were helpful when I stopped riding and was standing in the wind. I'm glad I ended up deciding to wear my heated insoles. And I'm glad I didn't cancel my AAA membership, which offers bike services within Hennepin County.

I'm bummed that I missed the team captain thing, but am glad to be home drinking tea.

(p.s. AAA's tracker thing doesn't note that you're on a bike. Nor does it update as the driver approaches.)

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MS150Maggie2016

Apologies and penance

Well, hello there, little blog. Do you feel better about my neglect of you, when you see my dried-up houseplants and my dirty house?

I've been using my time (mostly) wisely, though, I promise! First, I escaped the city for a weekend and went to my parents' "cabin" with three of my friends. I used that time to convince Kristin that while it's great that she's doing the MS150 ride again, she really ought to do the MS TRAM, too. She signed up yesterday. (Yay!) Maybe she was worried that I'd "accidentally" make her fall in the water in 6-degree temps, like my poor dog, if she didn't agree?

Kristin on a chilly afternoon.

In addition, I've been working on some MS Trivia night planning - soliciting prizes from local businesses, getting people signed up, and things of that ilk. In addition to that, I was finalizing our very limited sponsorship deal with Erik's Bike Shop and looking for other businesses to chip in a bit of money (and their logos) so that my team can have free, matching jerseys. I feel that should be easier than it has been, but everything is a little challenging the first time around, I suppose.

Trivia Night is a Ol' Mexico again.
(my first use of a .gif!)

 

I've also been spending some time researching flights to Iceland, Belgium, and Amsterdam for the trip that my parents, husband, and I plan to take in September. I've been assured that I can do a bit of biking. Perhaps it would be best to do that before drinking Belgian ale.

I have to renew my passport and, as a form of penance for my neglect, I offer you photos of me in 1987 (high school, with my retainer), 1992 (college, with my nose ring), and 2006 (looking like a tortoise).

I prefer the 1992 photo, of these three.

I will try to raise my eyebrow in my next
passport photo, I think.

The other photo of me, from my birthday last month, is way more fun. I wish real photos could go on passports. It also appears that, over the past 30 years (what? shit!) I mostly prefer an inch-below the ear haircut, despite two forays into long hair with handy bike-riding braids.

If you are planning on joining our team, that'd be great! Please do so soon, though, so that I can include you in my jersey calculations! And, of course, if you'd like to support me in my MS fundraising efforts, here's the link for the June ride (the one on which I'm focusing my fundraising efforts: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MS150Maggie2016.

Thanks, blog, for being a not-too-judgmental listener.

Tan lines must be razor sharp!

I haven’t seen my cousin Nikki for years, but I admire her for a ton of different reasons, including her fearless (to me) attitude about riding in snow in the mountains of Denver. She sent me a somewhat male-centric (although maybe the discussion of facial hair will become increasingly more relevant as I age) list of rules for cyclists, but there are some good, ahem, lady parts in there. http://www.velominati.com/the-rules

I know from my own experiences that some are undoubtedly true (e.g., “Free your mind and your legs will follow,” “Never ride without your eyewear,” and don’t be a jackass, introduce yourself when you join other riders, and don’t sneak up and draft behind them), while some are downright funny even in you are just an occasional cyclist (e.g., “If it isn’t wet or cold, save your Flandrian Best for Flemish weather,” “Espresso or macchiato only when wearing a cycling kit and enjoying a pre- or post-ride coffee,” tan lines must be razor sharp, instructions for stem placement for the best photos of your bike).

I appreciate this one, though: “If you are riding out in bad weather, it means you are a bad ass. Period.” I agree, but I love seeing in real life how people define “bad weather.” But whatever, I’ll take credit even though I don’t deserve it, especially as I sit out the cold snap waiting for my heated insoles to arrive from Amazon.

(p.s. while we’re discussing cycling bad asses, let’s not forget my other cousin, Sarah, who has built her own bike. I can’t even adjust my freakin’ disc brakes without wrecking my bike.)

Ride on, ladies. 

p.s. This year's trivia night is March 18 - let me know if you're interested! 

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MS150Maggie2016

Accomplishments and Lessons Learned

After my obligatory "I rode my bike on New Year's" post, I really slacked off in the biking department, partly due to work obligations, partly due to my own self. I've accomplished and learned some things, though, over the past week and a day:

• Walking to Minnehaha Falls is really beautiful in the winter. (Accomplishment.) And even nicer with a friend. (I already knew that!)
• Eating at the nearby Mexican restaurant is delicious (learned thing), especially after walking to the Falls, and they have plentiful, good, fresh, homemade chips that go down easily (accomplishment?).
• I need to practice my Irish dance stuff more if I want to keep up with my classmates. (Learned thing.)
• My weird circulatory issue that has gotten really bad this winter is messing with my head. (Learned thing.)

  

  After driving home from Target,
  having worn gloves and mittens.

• It may be the reason why my Tuesday night platelet donation did not go well (hypothesis, not a learned thing), but a drawn-out and somewhat bruising platelet donation (accomplishment) is 1000x better than what's going on with the people who need my platelets.
• I re-watched Ride the Divide while donating platelets and learned a thing or two about perseverance, and also not to judge the Red Cross workers (who knew of the documentary) by their covers. (Learned things, obviously, based on the wording of this bullet point.)
• Sometimes it's okay to go to bed at 8:45 p.m. (Learned thing and accomplishment!)
• I should have re-treated my rain gear with the waterproofing stuff my parents gave me for Christmas before commuting to work in the slush on Thursday. (Learned thing.)
• Cars give you wide berth when commuting in the winter. (Learned thing.)
• Riding home at night in the winter can be as nice as riding home at night in the summer. (Here, more of an accomplishment than a learned thing.)
• Swimming at lunchtime on Fridays, even when my form is horrendous, helps with afternoon focus at work. (Learned thing.)
• 3-year old kids don't mind when you sing them INXS songs from 1985 at bedtime, apparently. (Actually, I'd put this in the accomplishment category thing due to being able to remember the words.)
• Desks that bring back traumatic memories of junior high apparently aren't high on the list of items scavenged out of alleys.

  

  This has been out there for a week,
  which is pretty much unheard of in a Mpls alley.

• I thought I might be sad when purging our house of half of its books today, but it was quite liberating. (Learned thing.) I think all those CDs will be next.
• My 93-year old former neighbor, Esther, still loves donuts from our neighborhood bakery, despite her concerns about her weight. (Learned thing.) Today's visit was grossly overdue. (Accomplishment.)
• I got Ol' Mexico booked for the MS trivia fundraiser on March 18 - and think I'm able to keep all of the costs the same as last year. (Accomplishment.)
• Despite my nightcap margarita being very weak, after working for a few hours on a grant proposal for work, the tequila feels twice as strong. (Learned thing, I guess. If I was in college, I'd call this an accomplishment.)

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MS150Maggie2016

Starting off on the right pedal

Today, I accidentally deleted my 2015 bike riding log (fancy name for my lame spreadsheet). It shouldn't be that big of a deal, right? Today's the first day of a new year, and it's just a list of some bike rides, right? Thankfully, I was able to restore it (thanks Google docs for anticipating my stupidity), which means I can tell you this:

1. Despite a super disappointing (in the bike department) December, I still managed to hit 3,162 miles for 2015, give or take a few miles. This is the most I've ridden in a year and I think next year I could easily do the same, if not more.

2. One reason why I got more miles in was the late start to winter. My October and November were great riding months for me this year. I rode 15 times in October and 16 times in November, which isn't too shabby considering that I was traveling for work those months, too.

3. I started and ended December on biking high notes, commuting to work on studded tires the first two days of the month, and riding in the snow on fat tires at Fort Snelling State Park at the end of the month, with another commute and some Christmas shopping via bike in between.

Path to Fort Snelling

I rode to Fort Snelling again today, because it is a nice easy way to get a fat bike ride in from home. Two days ago, I was one of the first people out on the newly groomed trails to and in the park. I saw tons of deer tracks and deer. Today was sunny and many people were out, and last night there was a candlelight hike at the St. Park, so the snow was a bit different. Despite having to dodge people all along the way to the park, I only encountered a couple of people while in the park, so it was a nice nature-esque way to start off the new year.

I don't have formal resolutions. I started flossing my teeth every day on my birthday, and suspect that will continue. I suspect I'll continue to ride my bike. I hope to commute twice per week in the winter, but will abandon that plan if it is too cold. I guess I hope to be more like my niece Bryanna in 2016. 

On Christmas, we noticed she wasn't around. It turns out that she went into my parents' office and decided to take a little nap right in the middle of all the loud Christmas festivities.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MS150Maggie2016