Resiliency

If you've been keeping track (but why would you?), you'd know that I watched the documentary Inspired to Ride three times in two months and topped it off by watching its predecessor film, Ride the Divide. They both are about endurance racing - one involves mountain bikes, while the other is about road riding.

In Inspired to Ride, the viewer meets Juliana Buhring, who began riding in 2011, set the first Guinness world record for fastest woman to circumnavigate the world by bike in 2012, was the only woman to race the inaugural 2013 Transcontinental Race (London to Istanbul) and placed ninth overall, and raced the 2014 inaugural Trans Am Bike Race (Oregon to Virginia). I won't tell you how she did - - - you should watch the beautifully filmed movie, regardless of whether you ride a bike.

Juliana explains in the documentary that she grew up in a cult, and that her ability to survive that experience helped her persevere as a endurance rider. She added that when she left to ride around the world, with very little experience or training, she didn't care what happened to her on the road.

For Christmas, my sister-in-law Sophie gave me the book that Juliana and two of her sisters wrote about their survival and escape from the cult. I am way more of a fiction kind of girl, but read the book in two nights. I don't really have adjectives to describe the mental/emotional, physical, and sexual abuse that they endured - and overcame. I can't imagine how I would've fared under those circumstances and have only read about some of them over the past two days, but in reading Juliana's account of withstanding beatings from adult cult members while a small child, I can better appreciate her statement about how she is able to focus and keep going on her bike when the going gets tough.

I am amazed at people's resiliency, but wish that they only had to demonstrate it when in engaged in voluntary recreational activities, not to survive abuse, overcome racism or xenophobia, house and feed their families, or fight illnesses.

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A good kickoff

Last night, I saw A Christmas Story at the Riverview Theater with my friend Jen. It was a good way to kick off my winter break.

Observations:

• Every time the mom was cooking supper, she was making meatloaf and mashed potatoes, except when she was cooking the turkey they never got to eat.

• When Ralphie was imagining how a BB gun would allow him to protect his family from mauraders, he is spitting chewing tobacco out of his mouth. I wonder if that was a paid-for product placement. The industry is very nefarious.

• One dedicated movie-goer was wearing a pink bunny suit. I'm so glad.

• Jen really can fall asleep easily, as she claims.

• I probably shouldn't have skipped yoga to go to a movie, in light of the last two weeks of lethargy.

• At my parents' tomorrow, for an overnight, we'll have 8 adults, 2 kids, and 5 dogs. I hope the dogs don't eat the dinner like the Bumpus' dogs.

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An Old Lady's Reflections

I'm really grateful for the birthday wishes I received over the past three days, particularly those that were part of a larger message about how the well-wisher appreciates our relationship - - regardless of whether we're related, we met each other somewhat randomly, or the frequency of our getting together.

Some random thoughts, as befitting my age:

• The Co-op Creamery is good. You should try it if you're in the MSP/STP metro area. I'm going to take my sister and B-I-L there the next time they visit.
• Cycling was a recurring birthday theme, either in terms of cards or gifts. I love it, including the donation to the MS Society.
• It is really sad, when seeing postings/articles about Sandy Hook on a day I feel somewhat naturally inclined to celebrate life, that we haven't resolved our gun problem.
• Suit jackets are more comfortable - at least when it is cold out - when you accidentally forget to take your cardigan off before wearing the jacket for a few hours. 
• Downtown St. Paul, as a place to work, hasn't gotten any better since I stopped working down there, but Caribou has some cute little gifts (probably at all locations) that I had to stop and admire and refrain from buying for myself.
• I like cards with the f-word.
• The cranky DMV guy likes self-depricating jokes and people who don't primp.
• I really am not a good Irish dancer, but it is a nice complement to biking, yoga, and the occasional day in the pool trying to remember what I learned at lessons last year.
• I have some quality co-workers. 
• Celebrations can (and should) happen anywhere - whether it is a balloon brought to a gathering, an impromptu solo dance party (resembling kung fu?) in your living room along to unknown (but surprisingly good) songs on the Google Play indie xmas radio station, or ribbons as streamers filling the passenger side of a car that you get into.

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A wheel in the ditch and a wheel on the track

Apparently Neil Young no longer sings Alabama, finding his own lyrics condescending and accusatory, but the lyric about a wheel in the ditch and a wheel on the track really resonated with me while in Montgomery this week. (I hear Birmingham is better.)

There are a lot of pretty homes, cool old buildings, and an abundance of historical plaques every seven-ish feet, but while there appears to be a lot of development happening downtown, I cannot figure out what - or who - is actually going into the downtown area.

My hotel room was just behind this statute of Hank. The hotel put a big Christmas tree and a little Christmas village (which a colleague thought perhaps was a dog training area, but I think it is a kids' play area) right in front of Hank, so I wouldn't have seen him if his shadow hadn't appeared once the tree was lit up at night.

I didn't make it to the Hank museum, unfortunately.
Like everything else in downtown Montgomery, it keeps very limited hours.

I got a little choked up looking at historical markers of key civil rights events and places, juxtaposed with the (sort of boastful seeming) historical markers about how Montgomery was such a key location for the slave trade and confederacy activities. Mix all of those thoughts and feelings together with thoughts and feelings about current civil rights and human rights issues, with a dash of exhaustion from a few full days of work meetings, and you get a sense of my twilight stroll around Montgomery.

We first walked toward the capitol.

Big marble sign along the street that leads to the capitol.

It was locked when we got there. The front wooden doors are pretty cool. 

You can imagine the marchers and the energy (plus there were a lot of photos on signs) in this area in 1965, and then feel the significance of this location when you get to the top of the capitol steps and see that it was the same site of Jefferson Davis' "inauguration." (We learned that in the years before the Civil War, or as half the signs said, "the war between the states," no free black people were allowed to live in Montgomery. I suppose that minimized any confusion about whether the white people needed to keep up a pretense of treating any black people with civility.)

On the top of the capitol steps, right in front of the doors.

About a block from the capitol - - - Rev. Dr. King's church. 

We then walked down toward what you'd probably call the business district (again, is there any business?), and saw this beautiful fountain in the middle of a roundabout-ish intersection. It was at this intersection that Rosa Park bravely refused to give up her seat.  

It wasn't all serious, of course. While strolling, I felt compelled to mingle with some appellate judges outside the courthouse. We had a good dinner at a farm-to-table restaurant (where the waiter - strategically? - called me "my love"), and then we snuck in a super quick visit to the site of the outdoor Shakespeare festival before heading to the airport this morning.

I didn't do any biking, although I learned from the local bike coalition that (at least in the summer, perhaps in the winter), the city has four bikes that can be rented from the visitor's center/chamber of commerce. I would have enjoyed the early 2015 bike ride from Selma to Montgomery commemorating the 50th anniversary of the march, I think.

p.s. Is it just me, or does the lyric "a wheel in the ditch and a wheel on the track" trigger a thought of "one foot on the brake and one on the gas" (or, as my sister sings it: "one foot on the brake and one on the wheel")?

[Editor note: This post edited on 12/11 to change the verb tense surrounding Molly's mis-sung lyrics from the past tense to the present.]


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Xmas list

Dear Santa,

For Christmas, I would please like:

A new, lighter road bike
A new, slightly smaller fat tire bike
A new mountain bike with shocks
Irish dancing skills
World peace and justice
Better gloves and foot protection while cycling
A new Garmin
People to be more freaking tolerant and accepting
Bike repair skills
Better bike lights
Fewer guns
Resolution of a work situation
More bike trips
Cycling pants 

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

Said the night wind to the little lamb

Last Sunday, I came across a lot of ice and road salt when riding to yoga, so today I diligently and lovingly cleaned up my road bike, with the intent to not ride it until spring.

I figure I can get anywhere on my mountain bike that converts into a fat tire bike. In pursuit of that goal, I got those studded tires and a new pannier rack that will fit on my bike regardless of the type of wheels, and commuted to work in the snow a couple of times this week - for the first time ever.

I spent a lot of time this week fiddling with that rack so that it doesn't rub against my tires and so I can easily swap out the wheels. After all that monkeying around on Wednesday night, I was back at it this afternoon, realizing that there's no way to put the fat tires on without removing the rack and consulting with the bike shop about online rack retailers, if I want to buy yet another rack to try.

After all that, I was getting ready to ride to my sister-in-law's birthday party tonight and messed up my brakes, rendering my bike stationary.

I was pretty frustrated because I spent all day getting ready for a ride that never happened, and am not going to be able to ride this week due to work. But in the grand scheme of things, this is a totally fine problem. I calmed myself by remembering riding home the other night in the dark, senses heightened, passing the Christmas tree lot, overwhelmed by the scent of pine trees.

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One big, paved bunny hill

Today, I commuted to work for the first time in the snow.

I am connected to a woman's cycling Facebook group and it appears that a number of Minneapolitan women commuted in the snow today for the first time. One of them compared today's conditions to a bunny hill, and I'd have to agree. I've ridden in more snow, obviously, with my fat bike, but got to test out street conditions, St. Paul plowing leftovers, and traffic from the safety of my big, heavy, slow bike (or is that me?) with new studded tires in mild temps.

I learned some things today about gear, the fragility of old boots, and the kindness of faster, better riders like Ward, who decide that they are going to ride half of the way home with you. (He's got some spectacular high vis gear that I don't get to see in the summer!)

Today was Giving Tuesday. I don't think I received any donations to the MS Society, but will have to check. If you've donated before, you learned from an email from me that the new donation system is kind of quirky (but not on the donor's side!). If you donated today, and didn't get a thank you message from me yet, never fear, you will!

I've included a photo of a guy doing a fancy bike/ski thing. I think, based on things I've heard from some of you, that you think that I'm doing crazy stuff like this, when really, I'm a pretty boring bike person. Also, Google REALLY thinks that I should have searched for images of Benny Hill, rather than a bunny hill.

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The wheels of inevitability?

Dr. King said, "Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle." I think my plan to try commuting by bike this winter may be a bit of a challenge. I'm pretty sure I'm up for it. . . once I pass the first hurdle of getting my new studded tires on my mountain bike wheels.

I took my old tires off, but one of the tubes was nearly impossible to remove due to the stem being lodged in a weird rim tape, uh, trough, for lack of a better word. I got it out but realized the rim tape is totally not in the right place on either rim, making my tires more susceptible to flats. So I guess tomorrow I'll teach myself how to install rim tape. It should be relatively straightforward, although I can complicate any simple task.

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

(The more full quote, which I like, especially in light of current events in Minneapolis: "Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent." - MLK, Jr.)

Amiable Acrostic

Today, I dusted off my fat bike and went for a short ride. I learned a few things. In no particular order: 

• Eye protection is important when it is snowing, even if it isn't cold, to protect the eyes from getting attacked by snowflakes.
• My rain pants are no longer waterproof.
• My big gloves don't work for shifting when using Dan's pogies/bar mitts. 
• We've had an inordinate number of geese down the block, if the mess they left on the paths are any indication.
• The creek is really full, due to our wet Fall. 

Minnehaha Falls will be pretty spectacular
when the water freezes.

I am thankful this Thanksgiving for a number of things including:

Truly great family and friends

Healthy family members

Awareness of my good fortune

Network of supporters for my MS fundraising efforts

Kids, in the form of nieces, nephews, friends' kids, cousins' kids, etc.

Stable home and work lives

Great, long biking season in 2015

Improvements that are sure to come due to the protests and demonstrations in our city

Very cute dog

Interests and hobbies that are always evolving

Nature is close by

Good books and music to read and listen to

One thing I love about my messed up city:
nature is always close by.

Alaska's Golden Heart

It got cold in Minnesota when I was in Atlanta last week.

When I left home this morning to ride to yoga, it wasn't much warmer than it was in Fairbanks, "Alaska's Golden Heart." Despite my wool socks and shoe covers, my toes froze and were numb throughout yoga, even though I wore socks during the entire class.

It was a bit warmer after class, though, and after spotting a neat owl, I warmed up enough to stop for a photo and to unzip the many assorted vents on my jacket by the icy mini-cliff by Mendota.

I've got a lot of work things on my mind, I'm behind on my bike captain duties, have some household balls that I've dropped, and have been spending a lot of time reading about what's been happening in Minneapolis after the shooting of Jamar Clark and keeping an eye on the idiotic grandstandish remarks made about Syrian refugees. I'm glad to be able to get out on my road bike still to shake loose some of the cobwebs and to have passed my somewhat arbitrary and fluid 3000-mile (the distance from Minneapolis to Fairbanks!) cycling goal, but am lacking some creative, blogtastic inspiration on this Sunday night. 

So, on that note, I leave you with a photo of this cute... salamander? who lives in my nephew's bedroom. The quality of this photo isn't as good as some others I took, but I love his? little adorable direct gaze. 

Rails *on* trails?

Out of all of the images on the Internet, you'd think I could find one of a person with bricks as quadriceps, so that I could illustrate how my legs feel right now, after today's bike ride to the Coon Rapids Dam. I don't think it was the distance, but rather the temperature and my failure to stretch before walking the dog when I got home.

It was a nice day and a great ride up the east side of the Mississippi, despite the fact that there was a point where my occasionally-frequent riding partner Matt and I nearly collided, some young guys in a crappy car thought it would be cool to spin out on the pavement a bunch of times and we got hit by some rocks, my feet were numb for 3/4 of the ride, and we had some unintended detours. We explored some new streets/paths, which will make their way into a group training ride in the spring. 

The river isn't as scenic as it can be other times of years, but it still was really pretty, and we got really good views of the historic Minneapolis Water Works buildings in Fridley. I can't find any good photos of them, either, online, but did learn that Minneapolis first started distributing water for firefighting purposes and later for drinking purposes, and Minneapolis had a big typhoid outbreak in the early 1900s. 

When we looped back to the Fort, we took the Hwy 5 bridge, which we learned has these rail things to help you get your bike up the steps. I had been carrying it, but tested out this newfangled technology.

The sun on my face makes me look other worldly.

We've had a great, long riding season in 2015. I feel really lucky to have gotten out for a big ride today. I'm really close to hitting 3,000 miles for the year, which isn't a lot for people who commute nearly every day by bike, but is the most I've ridden in a year - - a year in which I had to take a few weeks off due to injuries. 

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

Following the curve

My friend Jen sent me the sudden curve sign, which made me think of this crazy bike-crash-on-a-curve video.

That, in turn, made me think of a great blog post I read this morning by a woman I admire who did a race with a super challenging nighttime climb up a windy mountain.

I recently started following more women cyclists on Twitter and Facebook, which is having a weird effect: I'm more inspired to go outside my comfort zone and feel that the community of women cyclists is more supportive than I knew, and yet I am feeling sort of intimidated and overwhelmed.

It all will sort itself out, as long as I generally follow the curve of wherever this road goes, I guess, with bent knees and loose shoulders.

Recipe for success

An entirely pleasant weekend consists of things like:

- Going to see comedian Jim Gaffigan late Friday night (not hilarious, but entertaining) after walking the dog by the lake down the street at sunset.

- Biking about 50 miles in some new places on a crisp, somewhat windy, but nice and sunny Saturday, and having a nice riding partner who doesn't get upset when you are a, for lack of a better term, backseat driver.

- Touring a local brewery and getting to sample different styles of beer for free.

- Enjoying a quality dinner at Craftsman  with nice, funny, smart people like Andre and Jill.

- Cleaning up your biking mess, packing up the dog, and driving to the north woods.

(When I wiped out on a wet, wooden bridge a few years ago, I assure you the tire marks didn't follow a path like this, but the point of this sign along the Luce Line trail is well-taken.)

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A clean bill of health

I commuted a lot by bike this past week and was greeted by a bike shop guy the other day, who shouted out "Maggie Mahoney Super Commuter!" He said I looked fast.

Well, I was slowed down today because I had to get my bike to the shop for a check-up. Yesterday, when my bike was locked up outside of work, a likely church-goer apparently hit it while attempting to parallel park, wedging it into the most difficult spot to unlock, scratching off a goodly amount of paint,  forcing off the front wheel, wedging spokes in the fork, etc. I was able to ride it home, although I was worried about its integrity.

Apparently it is safe to ride, with the front wheel just a little untrue, but nothing cracked or stripped.

I missed a great fall riding day because of that bozo, and was worried that this might be the end of my old faithful Giant Avail.

First world problems.

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Aimless Lady

"Aimless lady, is this your home town? Tell me baby, tell me where you're bound." Grand Funk Railroad

Today, after yoga, we were really indecisive about where to ride, so we tried out the new bike bridge along Warner Road, went up a big hill in Cottage Grove that made me embarrassingly out of breath, and over to Newport and St. Paul Park, where we came across an old entrance gate with two security buildings. It turns out we were on the site of an old (1919-1979) Armour meat processing plant. The only preserved portions of the 22-building site are these two little structures flanking a gate. 

Southern gate

Northern gate

In 1919, this was known as the most modern meat processing plant in the world, extending more than 1/2-mile along the river. It had its own branch of the St. Paul Public Library to promote continued education for its 4,000 employees, who processed 700 hogs, 180 cattle, and 1000 calves and sheep - hourly! There were 21 railroad spur lines serving the site. 

Naturally, I had to climb a bit up the ladder,
wearing my helmet in case it wasn't sturdy.
I think my legs look nice in this profile shot.

We then road to South St. Paul and checked out this view of the Mississippi, above Kaposia, and then had coffee at a nice little shop in that sort of depressed town.

The main river is beyond this narrow bit of river.

I don't get this, but hope it is a funny memorial,
rather than a sad tale of someone who got hit by a train. It reads:
Alan Wigren, 1988-2009
"Run Over By The Grand Funk Railroad"

Yesterday was pretty nice, once the rain ended. I took this at the Fort while waiting to meet Matt to ride to Travis' graduation party in Roseville. Check out my new sunglasses, which are nice to look through. We rode home in the dark, which was one of my most favorite rides of the year - - so quiet and peaceful and not cold with the proper gear.

Fort Snelling with downtown Minneapolis way back there.
Yes, I wore the same clothes two days in a row.

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A push from an unlikely corner of the country

My first donation for the 2016 MS rides came in this week - from Oregon to Minnesota by way of Santa Fe. This is an unusual route, skipping St. Louis entirely.

I was at a work meeting in Santa Fe for most of the week and, when on the shuttle to the Albuquerque airport with other meeting attendees, I learned that Patrick from Oregon did an MS fundraising ride this past year. He very kindly was my first donor for the rides next summer, and I'm thinking that his generosity and interest will set the stage for a good fundraising year!

Santa Fe has no bike share program, so I had contacted local shops to see if I could rent a bike for a couple of hours before heading to the airport. They weren't very responsive, and it was raining quite a bit for the desert, so I ended up just walking around and checking things out.

I saw this sculpture on top of this gallery, and was immediately drawn to it. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who looked at my photos from my January trip to England and saw that nearly every photo I took focused on gargoyles and grotesques (gargoyles without waters spouts).

I also saw this monument, honoring the first European settlers in Santa Fe, which seemed weird to me, given Santa Fe's rich history as a population center as early as the year 900. I liked the animals (there was a pig on the other side), and the fact that they were honored.

I originally had drafted a blog post to share these photos late last night, but my Blogger app on my phone can be testy and essentially lost the blog post. I'm sure it was exceptionally witty and clever, despite my exhaustion from the trip and working pretty vigorously (for a desk job) on Friday. I will share a gratuitous shot of Piper, who was not amused by my ignoring her and focusing on my phone instead. I think she gave a haughty nod when my draft post was lost.  

I'm looking forward to getting out on my bike this weekend, although it looks like all the leaves fell off my tree when I was in New Mexico, so there may be some raking in store for me, too.

I set up my links for next year, as well as our team links, and managed to get a meeting on the calendar for next week with a potential sponsor for our team. Stay tuned!

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http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieTRAM2016

Planes, Bikes, and Automobiles

After a week of pretty consistent bike commuting, my weekend bike output was weak, considering how close I am to hitting the 3,000-mile mark for the year and how I should just ride as much as possible yet this fall to reach that level.

Saturday, I went for a nature walk with Marcy, attended an info session about the proposed compassionate care/death with dignity law, donated blood, and raked  leaves. I thought about biking, but just didn't have it in me.

Today, I did a ride down, over, down, over, up, over, up, over, and down the beautiful, autumnal Mississippi River before we drove to Anoka to meet Stacy and her dad for an airplane ride.

It was great. I got to sit up front on the way to Chetek, Wisconsin. I helped go over the preflight checklist, kept an eye on a dial or two, and then looked out the window at the farms, lakes, and the St. Croix River until we landed. We had dinner, and then switched seats for the ride home, with Dan taking the controls for a good spell.

It was a great weekend, especially before heading out of town for a work trip. I spent some time perfecting my pitch for some sponsorship of our cycling team for 2016, and looked over the just-released details for TRAM 2016. It looks like a great route, and I'm already looking forward to next July!

Great weather and a little Mahoney attitude on the bike

Today, I rode to Raspberry Island where I met Matt for a ride to Stillwater. He was a little delayed due to a flat tire situation, so I ate a little snack, lamented the fact that the City of St. Paul thinks that people only need restrooms and drinking fountains between Memorial and Labor Days, stretched out my hips and back and watched a guy who was sleeping in his car move his car to a different spot, open his trunk, pee on the ground, and go back to sleep.

We had a great ride to Stillwater - bypassing some of the annoying little spots where the trail intersects with streets in neighborhoods, riding through the trees with changing leaves, stopping at Pine Point Park before heading to Chilkoot Cafe and Cyclery for some good food, and opting for the new Brown's Creek Trail instead of the Myrtle Street Hill. I was having so much fun riding my bike. I don't even know the words to describe the freedom of just moving.

Once again, we decided to bypass the annoying spots of the trail, opting to instead ride on some side streets from North St. Paul to Maplewood. We were on a road with one lane of traffic and one parking lane in each direction. Matt and I were riding single file in our lane of traffic, near the white line that separates the driving lane from the parking lane. Some young dude in a pickup truck (confirming my biases, yet again) yelled at us, "Get off the road, F*ckers!" Way to show the North St. Paul spirit, young pickup man.

What did I do? I moved into the whole lane, which we have the right to do under state law. He unfortunately had already turned. (I'm 99% sure he turned into a church parking lot! Sounds like he needs some guidance.) Upon reflection and weighing the options, I think this reaction is something that I've picked up from the Mahoney side of the family rather than the other side.

It makes me think that I should get one of the masks that my nephews have been collecting for their Halloween costumes!

I rode a bit over 75 miles today. I was lagging that last mile and later realized that this is the furthest I've ridden since the end of July, so don't feel so bad about being a bit worn out.