And that's a wrap

Well, 2017 is coming to a close and to further confirm that I'm a creature of habit, I realized that I do indeed take pictures at nearly the exact same spots each time I walk near my most northernly parents' house (see below). They live on the land where their old rustic cabin stood, so this place is very special to me.

We didn't take our bikes for the short Christmas trip, but I think we both sort of regretted that decision. Good snow and, compared to now, it wasn't really that cold.

A highlight of the trip, beyond going to my favorite woodsy spots with my trusty canine companion (and husb), was trekking to town with my parents to see the Star Wars movie.

We saw my other parents, too, as well as 2/5 of my sibs and 1/3 of those who call me auntie. We watched some good movies there, ate some pie, and had some quality Blokus competition going on.

We're hunkering down for the new year and I am behind on some of my team captain things (sigh), but I gave myself a treat of going to yet another movie.

I went to the cheap theater to see Marshall this p.m. and was surprised to re-learn that their cut-throat $3 rate was reduced to $2 at the 5 p.m. showing - - because it is a matinee. I wonder how many people sneak in a 5 p.m. movie because it costs $2 rather than $3? Regardless, it was nice to wind down the year watching a movie about such a great man.

Here's hoping that I can kick off the new year with a bike ride, like last year. We shall see, we shall see....

Happy 2018!

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How'd Ya Like To Spend Christmas on Christmas Island?

"Wait for Santa to sail in with your presents in a canoe..."

For some reason, whenever I ride from my house down to the state park, I forget that one of its islands is Picnic Island. I start singing about Christmas Island and can't go back...

The park had some surprisingly slim pickings in terms of animal tracks. Most of the deer tracks I saw were on Christmas, er, Picnic Island, and I did not see one turkey track in the whole dang park.

I saw two ice fishing parties on the little lake, and these guys (below) on the little stream that runs between the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers.

The Minnesota River had some cool ice chunks on it as it begins to turn more solid. My picture doesn't do it justice.

On the other side of the river is where my bike acquired its mud a few weeks ago. Today I learned that snow doesn't magically remove hardened, weeks' old mud. Who knew?

"How'd ya like to hang a stocking on a great big coconut tree?"

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Why yes, Maggie, there *IS* a Santa...

I'm singing along to some good ol' Trailer Trash honkey tonk (honkeytonk? honkey-tonk?) Christmas music while I update my #BikeMS fundraising pages because it truly is "time to polka those bleak midwinter blues away."

One good way to get rid of midwinter blues is to think of riding a bike in July. The 300-mile July Ride Across Minnesota (TRAM) is now called the Tour de Minnesota. It's a good change. The route rarely went across the entire state. They could have just called it The Ride Around Minnesota, but that's a dumb name, and "the Tour" will maybe get some new people interested in riding.

Anyhow, one of the hottest days of my life was the day that I encountered Santa and Mrs. Claus at rest stop #3 of an 80+ mile ride headed to Two Harbors.

July 2013 TRAM

Headed to Lake Superior after seeing Santa and Mrs. Claus -
I think this also was right when I crossed the Laurentian Divide.

I'm looking forward to the ride this coming July. The route hasn't been officially announced yet, but it will be scenic and festive no matter what.

Two years ago, I put together an Xmas Wish List for Santa.

Included on that list were a new road bike, a new fat tire bike, a new Garmin, better bike lights, better gloves and foot protection while cycling, and resolution of a work situation (I didn't quite envision a new job, but that works). I got all of these things since then! There is a Santa!

He still hasn't brought me more bike trips or Irish dancing skills, or even world peace, but maybe this will be the year.

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Goals

I'm not a super goal-oriented person. Well,  I am, but my goals are really fluid, which probably just means I'm not very good with goals. Or maybe I'm just good at life? 

When my work commute changed to a simple walk up the attic stairs and I had social events keep me from doing some longer rides this fall, my goal to steadily increase my biking each year changed to "maintain in 2017."

So, today, as the end of 2017 nears, I just barely (i.e. 2 miles) surpassed my 2016 mileage. And I'm good with that.

I'm not sure yet what my 2018 cycling goals could be. Right now I am sitting in the glow of the tree lights, mulling over a goal of doing a pull-up - a single pull-up - this next year. That seems pretty ambitious as is...

Livin' It Up at 21

If you're like me, you remember your 21st birthday. Oh, wait, maybe you were drunk. I wasn't, but I did go buy a beer because I could.

Anyhow, so much life had been lived by then - or so it felt. Endless years of childhood, toiling through the teen years, getting a decent part of college under the belt, whatever the heck that means.

Today marks the 21st anniversary of when I signed the papers on, and moved into, my house. The house is much older than 21 - nearly 100 years old - but man, that went quick.

The neighborhood has changed - we have a new taproom opening imminently, a new restaurant and bar that opened a couple of weeks ago, plus all the businesses that opened in the past 8 years or so that are all within a few blocks - the cupcake shop, the bike shop, the taproom/brewpub, two restaurants, a gift shop, a fly fishing shop (yes, we live in THAT neighborhood).  There's now light rail. We still have the same number of bakeries and barbershops (2 each), the hardware store, the old-timey sporting goods store, and the scary Bill's Chinese Garden takeout place.

We still have the debate about what to do about Lake Hiawatha's shoreline (natural restoration, or crappy gross beach?), but now are debating what to do about the sinking golf course. The outdoor hockey rink boards have been delivered to the park, but the skating season gets shorter and less good each year and the sound of the puck hitting the boards is less prominent. 

Neighbors have come and gone, but the good ones stayed in touch.

I didn't realize when I moved in just how much I would appreciate the lake and park being so close, or how much I would come to appreciate my neighborhood's bikeability. I didn't know how much this place and my circumstances, just by happenstance, would shape me.

There are things about my house and neighborhood that stink, don't get me wrong, but I maybe would be different if they were different. So today I'm appreciative that I was able to scrape together some cash back in the day and get this place. Even if it doesn't - still - have a fireplace.

Year of Big Change, Big Thanks, Lots of Fresh Air, and Petty Gripes

In 2010, when I didn't ride in winters and I had very rigid rules of when it was too cold or precipitous (precipitation-filled?) to be on a bike, we had a really warm Thanksgiving. I started my Thanksgiving bike riding tradition that day, which has continued every year, regardless of the weather. 

Interestingly, the bike rides help me remember what we ate for dinner. Or do the dinners remind me of the bike rides? In any event, we had Indian buffet that first year. (The rice was a little dry.) The year after, I rode near some wild turkeys in the drizzle while I had a turkey in the oven at home. A few years later, we tried Ol' Mexico. 

Today, we made a repeat visit to Merlin's Rest. The last time we went to this Irish bar for Thanksgiving, it was snowy and really cold. I learned three important things that day: riding a fat tire bike can be tons of fun, I cannot ignore my poor circulation, and Irish whiskey in coffee is gross.

Today was a great day. It got up to about 40 degrees, there was a little bit of wind that slightly hampered western movement, and it was sunny. Ah, sun. 

For some reason, I opted to stay behind the trees
when taking a photo of the Grain Belt Beer sign.

During the bike ride, I was reflecting on 2017 thus far. I got to visit my friend Ian and my sister Molly's family in February, our BikeMS team grew a ton, we raised a new team record  amount of money for the MS Society, we did the MS150 in the most unbelievable storm, there was a memorable scenic hill I rode up while doing the MS TRAM that I remember fondly, we had a fun family reunion in Kentucky, I got to visit one set of parents in the north woods, and I got to go to Duluth with the other set. Professionally, I resigned - after 11 years - from an excellent job with amazing colleagues who taught me a lot and am learning new things at another excellent job with amazing colleagues, while still getting to work on tobacco control policy. 

I am grateful for my family, a good job, a lot of time riding around on my bike, and my health. Any complaints I have are all superficial and unimportant. Not everyone is as lucky. I know people who have lost loved ones, and who are struggling with serious illnesses. That makes my heart hurt. 

I can't solve everything, but I can do what I can do. So, as I spend the weekend eating turkey, hanging out with friends, and making excuses to not go to the gym, I'm thinking ahead to next year's BikeMS rides (and impatiently waiting for the 5-day TRAM route to be announced and for registration to open!), working with some teammates on some fundraising ideas, and am talking to the MS Society about recruiting, supporting, and retaining riders. 

Thanks to anyone who is reading this. You've supported me in one way or another, and for that I am grateful.

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Minnesota Goodness

While the title of this post could apply to being a hearty Minnesotan and riding these past few weekends despite the cold and occasional patches of ice, today it refers to today's fat bike ride along parts of the Minnesota River.

We rode last weekend on pavement in this area. Today was a bit more... muddy. I wish I would have copied Matt and taken a photo of my mud-laden bike at the height of its messiness. We thought it would be drier on the trail. As it was, mud was flinging up and hitting my helmet. A chunk even went between my glasses and my eye. My clothes and shoes were pretty stinky.

I think the highlight for me was trying not to run over a fully formed dead fish on the skinny, uphill, left-curving dirt trail. I'm still not great at riding - okay, not yet at all willing to ride - across a 4x4 hunk of wood across a tiny stream on 4-inch tires. I'm optimistic I'll conquer my brain at some point.

I've enjoyed getting out these past few weekends, which are making me think I might actually be able to just surpass last year's annual mileage if it stays above 20 degrees somewhat consistently during the daytime. It isn't actually about the mileage, but having a small goal will help keep me riding, which is always a good thing.