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