Becoming irrelevant, in a good way

Thanks to Rachel, I read a really interesting article about a hermit, who said this, when reflecting on his decades living in the woods:

"With no audience, no one to perform for, I was just there. There was no need to define myself; I became irrelevant. The moon was the minute hand, the seasons the hour hand."

I think maybe I sometimes feel sort of like that for a few minutes when doing a 5-day bike ride, and think I'd like to try to experience this more - on or off the bike.

(I messed up my hyperlink when editing this on the phone, and now can't add one. Here's the article: http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201409/the-last-true-hermit)

True Confessions

Here it is, people, the juicy truth: I like my car. I don't like paying for things like tire rotations and oil, since I'm able to deal with tires and oil for my bike all on my own. And I don't like using a car all the time. In fact, I like passing cars on my bike when riding home during rush hour. But I do like having the option of driving, like on a thunderstorming day when the CSA is being delivered to work and I'm going straight to the boatclub after work to row.

I have a basic, simple car. I'm thinking about ways to simplify my recreational biking (versus my commutes), and to lighten my load. During the TRAM, I saw a woman using a tennis ball container in her water bottle cage, instead of a bag under her seat or on a rack. I'm considering putting another cage on my bike and trying it.

Don't let me down, Bruce

I was thinking I haven't ridden much lately, as compared to last year, and feeling a little bad about it. I checked my biking log from last year. I'm actually almost exactly at the same mileage this year. I wonder why it feels different.

Maybe because my last real ride, 9 days ago, didn't go well, although it was a great route. That probably has made me feel out of shape. And maybe I can blame the delayed spring and late summer, too. I still am holding a grudge against last winter.

Maybe since I'm in a similar spot as last year, I can adjust my attitude a little bit, and enjoy some nice rides. Or, as my phone wants to say, via autocorrect, some Bruce rides.

That, of course, leads to having ELO on the brain.

Root, root, root for the home team

It's been a while since I've posted anything here. That's partly due to the busy mess that is life, and partly because I've been trying to think of how to say something that's been rattling around in my head since the TRAM.

You may recall, gentle reader, that I was crabby on Wednesday of the TRAM and through sheer determination, made myself be cheerful, resulting in my being told on Thursday that I was "the most joyful rider."

But Wednesday: Crabby? Moi? Former official President (and likely Chief Executive Officer, if we'd been a bit more organized) of the Crabby Club from roughly 1978 - 1984? Yes, me. C.r.a.b.b.y. Crabby.

I had a tough time riding. My back hurt, my foot/ankle hurt, and my seat hurt. I was riding with, and using, ibuprofen, Icy Hot, and Chamois Butt'r. They helped, but did not alleviate my issues. Once I got off the bike, I was mostly better. Until bedtime.

I was in my tent when this guy came to talk to Matt, sitting near my tent.

I shouldn't have let him bother me; he wasn't even talking to me. I was in a tent, though, which isn't exactly soundproof. He is a fast rider, he said multiple times. He's looking to join a fast team (presumably for riding not just during this charity event). He rides 7,000 miles per year, in Minnesota. He's a fast rider, he said again, many times. All of that made me roll my eyes, but what made me want to leave my tent and punch him was this, "No one should have struggled riding today."

It's a charity ride. A lot of old people, a lot of people who ride 1,000 miles per year, and riders wearing jerseys, reminding you that they have MS. And people who ride a fair amount who now mysteriously have a sore foot and a sudden need for chamois cream.

In the following weeks, I've been thinking about my reaction, as well as what a team sport means to me, even though we don't really do the TRAM as a team sport (although four of us pooled our gear and food).

Seven years ago, I took a learn to row class because I wanted to participate in a team sport. I wanted to get exercise in a way where I'd be accountable to someone for showing up, I'd have to work hard once I showed up, and I'd meet nice people who I'd want to be active with (I know, not technically the proper way to end that sentence). I met my friend Stacy on that first day, and she's the one who first suggested that I consider the MS150 ride. I've met a lot of great people in the boat and on my bike, and am reasonably fit.

I can't fault that annoying guy for wanting his own version of that.

But he might want to work on his messaging.

Errata

Ok, this isn't really a printing error, but it is a correction to a previous post. While I still don't think you can make limes out of lemonade, you can - apparently - make lemonade out of limes! It is quite tasty.

http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/54083/brazilian-lemonade

(Also, please note that I am only including one item on my list of errata. It is quite remarkable that this is my only error to date.)

The TRAM, in a nutshell

Sunday

We took a bus to Pipestone, set up camp, checked out the festivities, and rode our bikes to South Dakota.

Monday

We rode against a pretty massive head wind to Marshall. As I said in a text to my husband, "Crazy wind. Breaking my spirit." His words of encouragement shored me up. At one point, I was sort of spacing out and thought that one of the yellow dotted lines in the middle of a road was a canoe paddle.

Tuesday

I watched part of Willie Wonka on the big screen in the park after riding to Redwood Falls and was pleased to see that no one else likes the sappy songs in that movie either. We learned on Tuesday that Pizza Ranch restaurants are pretty disgusting.

Wednesday

I was confused about what day it was and how long I had been riding my bike. To be clear, it was day 3 of the official ride and we were going to St. Peter. I was impressed that the small town of Fairfax had a bike lane and loved the Renville County path that we got to ride on for a bit.This was a tough day for me - sore back, sore ankle, and in great need of much chamois cream.

Thursday

This was a great day. It was a short, pretty, and sort of hilly ride to New Prague, and I did it pretty quickly. I got to see my friend Pat from law school and his family, and Stacy brought us the most fantastic dinner. We watched the team song contest and it was pretty entertaining. I had been so crabby on Wednesday that I had resolved to think positive thoughts all day. This guy Daryl from Mankato accused me of being the "most joyful rider on the TRAM," and thanked me for boosting HIS spirits.

Friday

We rode from New Prague to the finish in Welch Village. I was cruising so as not to make my friends wait too long for me at the finish line and some guy said that I must have trained a lot because I was such a strong rider. That was nice. Another guy called me, "young lady." That was nicer. After the finish, Travis, Matt, and Ron and I rode to Wisconsin. On the way we saw a huge snake. It was about 6 feet long and at least 2 inches in diameter.

Want to see more? 

You can view my photo album here (click the slideshow to see captions!):

https://plus.google.com/photos/116605318386460554287/albums/6038324644553009665?authkey=CLqDqdi706HtMg

You can also look at photos of me that were taken by the professional photographers each day. You can see that I wore a clean shirt every day!

Day 1

Day 2 

Day 3

Day 4 (for once I don't look like a moron!!)

Finish

"Ride around on my bicycle like a pony."

I listened to a lot of the Pixies in the car to and from my parents' cabin yesterday and today, and was reminded of Tony's Theme.

I dropped my sweet, wild-mushroom-eating-then-vomiting-dog off for the week. Thank you and good luck, dear parents. And thanks for the pontoon boat ride, Terry, before I got back in the car. I needed to experience the lake a little bit.

I'm already exhausted, and haven't even started the bike ride yet! Tomorrow is a day of last-minute errands and household responsibilities before we head out on Sunday. I haven't ridden my bike since last Saturday, but whatever. Bring it. But not bad weather. Keep it.

(Oddly this is not the first time I've scoured Google Images for a photo of a horse on a bike. I'm concerned.)


I reached the minimum needed to do this ride, but am still aiming for $165 more. If you know of someone who doesn't want to miss out on the fun, feel free to share this link! http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/Maggie2014TRAM