Where the wood drake rests

It has been cold and windy here, and I have what likely (based on my symptoms, exposure, etc.) is my normal allergy-prompted springtime cold. In lieu of solo bike rides away from people, I have been taking long, solo walks away from people. On the more cold and rainy days, I've been walking around the lakes by my house. On the nicer days, I've been walking through neighborhoods and finding an isolated spot to go peek at the creek or Mississippi River. 

I try to take at least one photo per day of something that catches my eye, but couldn't do that when I walked in the dark, in the rain, the other night. It would have been improper for me to photograph the scenes I saw in people's lit up homes! Instead, I offer you the mental image of my friend Jen and I having a dance party - she was in her house with the window open and I was on her front sidewalk. 

Along Minnehaha Parkway

This reminded me of the
half mannequin I used to have
in my dorm room - a gift from
my sister's old boyfriend

My sister sent me this beautiful poem, because it captures my dad's spirit 100%. She said she is walking a ton, too. I think this is something that we picked up from my dad. I sure miss him, especially right now.

The Peace of Wild Things

  by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2013/10/minnehaha-falls-controversial-sculpture-hiawatha-and-minnehaha/

Idiots were crawling on the ice to get behind
the falls. Bridge included in photo for scale for non-locals.

View of Mpls across Lake Hiawatha.
We live 1/2 block from this lake (towards downtown).

Geese enjoying the thawing lake.

A few moments of calm

I spent an embarrassing amount of time yesterday and this morning reading about social distancing, and came across this: "COVID-19 gives us an opportunity to frame our fears not in the context of panic or overwhelming anxiety, but as care."

I appreciated this framing. I am a public health person who believes fervently in vaccination I am a person who thinks it is our obligation, in society, to help others in our community. Social distancing helps prevent the spread of infectious disease to vulnerable populations. 

Naturally, I also am thinking of those in my circle. Yes, I have asthma and getting sick could be bad; I'm a very healthy person, though. Sure, I did buy two bottles of Zicam as my contribution to the hoarding mentality. But I really would like the people I know who have cancer, are going through chemo or are otherwise immunocompromised, or have serious lung disease, including my close family member who meets all three of those criteria all at once, to not get sick. So, I'm distancing myself, more to not unwittingly spread any asymptomatic germs than to keep myself safe. 

I'm already pretty socially distanced, working from home. I have grown accustomed, these past two years, to finding ways to get out of the house during the evening and on the weekends. I like the framing of these weird times, though, as an opportunity. 

I should have added something for scale, so that
the size of this tiny cup can be appreciated.

To that end, I made myself a tiny hot toddy in the cutest little cup my sister-in-law Sophie gave me years ago, and sipped it as sat in the tub reading a book that my sister Molly recently sent me out of the blue. I was feeling their care and warmth as I take a pause from my regular routine to take advantage of an opportunity to help my community.

We are stubbornly hung up on a damaging idea of self-reliance.

Thwarted!

After a nice ride to St. Paul yesterday, I met up with Keisha, Alicia, and Kim this morning for a ride along the Gateway Trail, which I'd read had been cleared of all snow. There were a few icy splotches under bridges, as we expected, but on this warm sunny day we were totally perplexed when we ran into a deep, snow-turned-ice field for as long as the eye could see. 

We were coveting the horses that passed us by. (With humans on top of them.)

Photo courtesy of Keisha

Because it was still early in the ride, we decided to take the dirt road that runs parallel to the trail to see if the trail was cleared further down. We hadn't ridden too far when Alicia realized her back tire was rather squishy and soft.

We pulled over to change her flat rear tire. Of course it was the rear tire. We learned that Alicia's rack must come off her bike to get her rear wheel off. Who knew?! The value of running your finger along the inside of the tire when you can't see an obvious source of the flat (and no snakebitey pinch flat markers on the dead tube) was reinforced by our success today. 

Although it looked just like a little nick on the outside, there was a sharp thorn poking through. We couldn't get it removed but broke it off, covered it with a patch, and hoped it worked. We then realized I do not know how to use a CO2 cartridge. We then realized that I was trying to use a hand pump without having opened the valve on the tube to let the air in. Once we got THAT sorted out, it all worked out great! What a day of re-learning! 

Alicia and I made a deal; she could have
my spare tube in exchange for a cup of coffee.

When I was putting Alicia's tire back on
the rim, Keisha made me bust out loud
laughing. Alicia thought it looked like
a good stretch. It was, but it being
caused by laughter was even better.

A lot of chatting, a lot of laughs, a lot of delays; not many miles. But that's okay, especially for ride #3 of 2020. 

It also reminded me that I should check the tires on both my bikes to see what sort of state they are in after last year, since they weren't used all winter. I generally hate changing flats but today was a great day for it - not cold, not hot, no bugs, nowhere to be, a tire that slipped relatively effortlessly on the rim. 

Today is the first day of MS Awareness Week 2020. I am very grateful that I was able to be outside, moving effortlessly in the sunshine. I am confident that our fundraising efforts will someday stop MS from keeping others from doing the same. http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/GoMaggieGo

Being a human in regular old neutral-smelling times

I am reading a great book by R. Eric Thomas, called "Here for It." I am not a non-fiction person yet I seem to be reading a fair amount of non-fiction these past few years. Is that what happens when you start getting old? Anyhow, the chapter I'm reading is about the challenges of living in these times, generally, and I'm laughing about how he is juxtaposing the present against the past, when everyone stunk due to a lack of hygiene. 

Over the winter, my shoddy blogskills degraded as I mostly used this site to post some photos. The thing is, this started as a cycling blog and, well, I didn't even take my fat tire bike out once (gasp!) this winter. My visits to the gym thankfully were lacking much to report! (Although I'd love your thoughts on the crazy workout lady and the two guys who I'm pretty sure must be fraternal twins and walk in total unison on their treadmills.) Also, if you've been following along, you know there's a lot going on in my head and there's a lot happening with my family. I, the queen of TMI, decided to spare you, whoever you are, the details of my ruminations. At least at this point.

But I will share some more photos. And my excitement about getting out on my bike. Woo! 

I grant you that winter can be pretty...

View of Mpls from near my house in Feb. Not from
a wintery place? That's a frozen lake, not a field.

I helped my mom out after she had
surgery in February, but also snuck away for
a few little snowshoe adventures.

But I joined Dan on his annual visit to Dallas at the end of February, which is a tradition he started a long time ago when we realized that both of our lives are a lot better when he goes somewhere sunny in February. I won't lie that being able to walk without thinking about ice was rather liberating.

Carter and Moss - their owners are
big Vikings fans. Me? I was glad to
have their company on a bunch of walks.

We visited my cousin Sam and his
family. They live near a meadery, which
we swung by because we haven't been
to one before. Now that I outgrew
my honey allergy, this works for me.

When we came back, the weather shifted. We are now in our pre-spring phase. Melty days, colder nights, wind, and still not entirely in the clear for snowfall. I took my bike out on March 1 for my first ride of 2020. I tested out the workout data-gathering feature on the Garmin watch I convinced Jen to give me in January. I'm still figuring it all out and how it relates to my regular Garmin bike computer and to Strava, which it is apparently automatically updating (to my chagrin).

Slow pace to Clockwerks Brewery due to the fact
that there was still snow on the pedestrian
path and tons of people walking on the bike path.

Still high on my I-got-out-on-my-bike endorphins, I then headed to lovely ATL for some work meetings. It rained the whole time except the day I went home, of course. If they are ever in a drought situation again, they should just buy me a plane ticket. It rains every time I visit, regardless of season.

My room, overlooking the interstate. However,
the hotel has been giving me a room on a high
floor between the stairwell and an angled bank of
windows. Meaning that I've had no neighbors the
last 3x I stayed here.

Full wall-sized mosaic at the MSP airport. I love it.
This is my favorite part of Minneapolis, and
am glad that it is depicted in the airport.

If you know me, you know I like a good river. And that I really like confluences (conflui?). The lady on the airplane next to me must have thought that I have never been on a plane before. Actually, I never sit by a window, so I took advantage of the scenery this time.

The top left is MN, as demonstrated by the snow.
I have no idea what states we were in for the others.
Tennessee? Illinois?

On the plane, I finished listening
to this. It brought me great joy.
Maybe you'd like to read it, or
listen to it?

I got back last night and was motivated by today's beautiful weather and did some BikeMS captainesque things: put together a training schedule for my team, shared information with them about upcoming events, etc. I then took my bike for a spin, mulling over the whole time whether I screwed up something on the training schedule given the way that the weeks fall between now and the 2-day ride in June. Nonetheless, I stopped to take a photo of Fort Snelling, from St. Paul, looking across the Mississippi River. I also took photos of my bike to demonstrate how wet and sandy everything is!

The Fort, across the Mississippi River

I have these quick, snap on front and rear fender
things. They come in handy on a day like today, but
my bike still got all gross. I rode my older more
junky bike for this reason.

I came back and made a non-alcoholic
Bloody Mary. A healthy choice to counter
the fact that I ate frosting as a snack. No
wonder why my recent visit to the
doctor showed that I indeed am a
little rounder in the midsection! Let's bike!
p.s. Is it gross to put tomato juice in
a blood donation glass?

I'm really excited to ride again tomorrow and need to start thinking about my fundraising. In the meantime, I'll be grateful that we live in neutral-smelling times and that I have such consistent access to a nice shower!

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