Uffda

This weekend was filled with biking.

Dan and I met the Bernses along River Road yesterday and rode to Summit Brewery (we got a free beer each for being Bike MS riders) and then to Day Block Brewing in downtown Mpls. The food truck at Summit was yummy, and the pickle flight at Day Block was tasty. The Day Block bartender very kindly gave me a mini binder clip to fix my bike light strap.

Today, I rode to meet Matt after he went to yoga. We did a fun, and somewhat hilly, loop, exploring some new areas and old faves in St. Paul. It was a windy nearly-70-mile ride when all was said and done, and we got to use some problem solving skills to address a variety of situations (chain shifting off, bag hitting spokes, closed roads, dirt, nails). I'm now pretty beat and slightly sunburned and, thanks to my husb, well-fed.

My back is getting better, and biking didn't make it feel too bad, so I'll be headed back to yoga soon, which makes me happy.

Also, this week I got to about 75% of my fundraising goal. That's really exciting!
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MS150Maggie2015

May the road rise up to meet you

I was a bit in the dumps today. Grey, cool day. Challenging issues at work. Lingering sore back. "Bike ride" down the alley instead of somewhere real. Grumble, grumble.

After eating what one might call dinner, what another might call chips and salsa, I walked to the Angry Catfish to talk about waterproof shoe covers. I've learned mine are not waterproof, despite their label.

Parker greeted me by name, and then talked with me about what would be best based on my current biking shoes. I didn't remind him what kind of shoes I own. He remembered the brand and style he recommended last summer, which I bought at a different store. I'm just amazed by his wanting to try to remember, not to mention actual ability to remember. That's cool.

So I then was thinking that I'm actually pretty lucky that my back hurts during a week when the weather is crummy. If it was nice out, that'd really stink!

To top it off, recent donations have gotten me to nearly 75% of my fundraising goal, which is amazing! Look!
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MS150Maggie2015

Waking back from the bike shop, I was thinking the Irish blessing may have been written by a cyclist. Although I'd suggest a couple of tweaks:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall once you're off your bike.
And until we ride again,
May you find good bike mechanics.

Pastries of heathenish form!

I was reading about the customs of Easter and stumbled across an article about Ēostre, who may or may not be a Germanic divinity who may or may not be the namesake of Easter.

The article discussed customs related to celebrating Ēostre, including unique sword dances and pastries of heathenish form.

I celebrated by attending Lisa's great yoga class and going with Matt for a leisurely first ride of the season, and now am getting ready to eat the yummo pot roast Dan is cooking. It was a great day, and I don't mean to sound like an ingrate, but where were the sword dances and heathenish-formed pastries?

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MS150Maggie2015

A falsified diary

Well, the text is the truth, but these aren't photos of me. Shocking to learn this, I know, but it is true.




April 1: The forecast called for a possibility of storms on the way to work and a very strong likelihood of storms and heavy rain on the way home. Lesson learned: forecasts change during the day. The storms actually held off until after I was home, eating my dinner.





April 2: The ride in to work on April 1 was pretty windy. It was pretty crazy, too, on the way home on April 2. I always forget how strong the wind is in the springtime. I unclipped my right foot a few different times during the ride because I was convinced the side wind was going to knock me over. At one point, I think I was riding in place.





April 3: I decided to rearrange the furniture in our living room and apparently used bad lifting mechanics when moving the couch. This is disappointing because my back hasn't hurt yet this year while cycling, and I was thinking this would be the year of the un-sore back! I rode to the grocery store afterwards and was relieved to learn that my back didn't hurt any worse when riding and I bet it will feel way better tomorrow. So, I'm still optimistic about the riding season. But I think our living room will stay in its current state for the next five years. And this is a good reminder that my training is to fundraise for people who often are struggling with mobility issues and accomplish a lot more in their daily lives than I do.



http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MS150Maggie2015

Step out your cool suit, snap on your wet boots

Today, Stacy and I joined a couple hundred other riders on a short ride around Minneapolis, to kick off our pledge to ride our bikes every day in April. It was drizzly and 40 degrees when we met up on the big hill at Gold Medal Park and then assembled along the river.

Note unzipped right pocket, filling with water. Left pocket with electronics stayed relatively dry.

Shortly after beginning, it began to rain in earnest. While I was feeling kind of miserable going over the Mississippi - and back - with a 25+ mph wind blowing sharp rain drops into my face, I passed a little kid on a tiny bike, his glasses full of rain drops, and realized I should grow up. Besides having decent rain gear, I've ridden in way worse.

Once we got onto the Cedar Lake Trail, the rain mostly had stopped.

Kenilworth Trail

From the Cedar Lake Trail, we took the Kenilworth Trail to the Midtown Greenway to the Hiawatha Trail back to Gold Medal Park and the MS Society's food truck-filled parking lot.

Trying to look pensive, while striking an odd pose and showing off my yellow.

Today's ride was short - under 20 miles, but I feel sort of tired due to the cold, wet windy day. But it was similar to the first 75-mile day of the MS 150 last year, and we could face conditions like that again this year, so I should get used to riding in crummy weather again.

I forgot how variable spring can be. Yesterday, I took this shot of downtown from the Cedar Lake Trail, not realizing I'd be on the same trail again today.

The title of this post are some lyrics from Terence Trent D'Arby's Blame it on the Rain, which I thought were descriptive of Stacy's and my garb today. Go ahead, you know you want to relive the 80's. Listen. It's okay.

Unfortunately there's no video for Blame it on the Rain, but if you want to laugh, you can watch the video for Wishing Well (weird inserted dance shots, although he's good at the splits, but why is he wearing a sheriff's star?).

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MS150Maggie2015

Bacon and cheap tequila

Bacon. Cheap tequila. Raw garlic. Roller coasters. Cabbage.

These are all things where moderation is prudent, in my mind.

Perhaps I'm not committed enough to cycling - or anything - to fully appreciate how it could be enjoyable to ride a bike 556.856 miles over 24 hours. Maybe my attitude stems from my inability to sustain 23 mph for an hour on flat land with a tailwind, while this guy averaged that pace over an entire 24 period. That's factoring in any quick stops for the bathroom (provided he didn't just always go while riding), to stretch out a cramp or his back/shoulders, or to jump on another bike when getting a flat tire.

This is amazing, and perplexing. Such is life.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MS150Maggie2015

It's good to know your literary sources

I was going to start this post with, "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers," to kick off a discussion of how great Friday's trivia night was.

And then it came back to me. Tennessee Williams. A Streetcar Named Desire. Blanche being taken to an asylum after the very good looking Marlon Brando/Stanley helps prompt her final breakdown. I guess it is not a fitting quote at all (unless I were to explain how Twitter is driving me insane).

Good work, Vivien Leigh. 

So let's start over, shall we?

Trivia was fantastic! We had 72 players, 6 volunteers, and a whole bunch of prizes, tacos, cake, and cookies. We raised $1,902 in just a couple of hours, and it seemed like all of the people playing had lots of fun. It was easier to plan for this year, since we had a better idea of what we were doing.

If you, kind reader, live near me, please visit the businesses that donated the prizes: Angry Catfish, A Cupcake Social, Michael's Cycles, Salut, Cafe Latte, Mama's Pizza, Toasted, St. Paul Bagelry, Operation Om yoga, Snuffy's Malt Shop, and Cole's Salon Spa. Please also visit Ol' Mexico. Although we had to buy food, obviously, there was no fee to use the event space, they provided great service, and the staff working our event donated to the MS Society because they liked what we were doing. Fantastic.

This trivia cash has managed to get our team to 25% of its $30,000 fundraising goal, and me to 55% of my $4,000 goal, with 82 days remaining. It's looking good again this year!

When verifying my memory that the quote above was uttered by Blanche, I found some other quotes that perhaps are more fitting:

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”--Winston Churchill
“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”--Dalai Lama 
 “Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together”--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

If life was about winning love, then this would be a good one, too (although I appreciate the point he was trying to make): “Kindness in women, not their beauteous looks, shall win my love.”--Washington Irving