It has been a while since I posted. I have not been riding as much as I did when I was training for the Tour de Tucson but I am still riding. Last weekend I took part in the Tour de Cure, a fund raiser for diabetes research. The weather was lousy. We had rain and hail. The route was very hilly. I opted for the 45 mile route which I completed. There was lots of support on the ride. The people at the rest stops were very friendly and helpful, the route was well marked and there were volunteers stationed along the route in case of breakdowns. At the end we enjoyed barbecue pork, chicken, beans and potato salad.

One of the other things I have been doing is working on my embroidery. We had a Japanese embroidery class last month and I got quite a bit done on my piece. I have also been working on a Hardanger piece.

On Fridays this past year I have been teaching embroidery to my grandson's kindergarten class. I had the children draw their own design which they then traced onto muslin. They used floss to sew the design using a running stitch. Most of the time I spent threading needles and teaching them that the stitches went in and out not round and round. I also did a lot of unstitching when they made their stitches too long or went around the hoop instead of in and out of the fabric. When they finished I had them sew a backing on and we then turned it right side out, they stuffed it and sewed it shut making a pillow. It has been lots of fun!

Finally made it on the bike again. I tried to ride on Thursday but I could not get the tire pump to attach. I finally went on the internet to try to find out what I was doing wrong only to find a lot of posts from people saying not nice things about that brand of pump because of the impossibility of getting it to work correctly. Friday I bought a new pump.

Today the weather was still nice so I decided to go visit my sister. It is a short ride but I figured it would be long enough to let me make sure I had put everything back together correctly after Tucson. As I was riding I decided the handlebars weren't quite straight but I figured I could fix that when I got to my sister's. I was almost there when I felt my chain go. No problem, I know how to get my chain back on. Then I looked at it. The derailleur had completely sheared off and was caught in the wheel. I couldn't even walk the bike. Don came and got me.

I took it to the bike shop as it should still be under warranty. Apparently they have to send the defective part back to the manufacturer and get their OK before they can fix it. Result: no bike for at least the next few weeks.

New Year

It is a new year and time to get the bike back out. Yesterday I finally put it back together after getting it back from Tucson. I am hoping to be able to go riding this week some time if it stops raining. I have also signed up for the Tour de Cure here in Washington. This ride raises money for diabetes research.

After the Tucson ride I came home to a new kitchen. I immediately started putting things back away in the kitchen trying to get as much done as possible before leaving for Hawaii on Dec. 1. I enjoyed my trip to Hawaii with my family. We stayed on the Big Island and went swimming practically every day. The boys loved swimming with the turtles and fish and going to see the volcano.

After we came home I went back to fixing up the kitchen, washing everything before putting it away. I also had to get the Christmas decorations up as I had a party the next week. Between parties and Christmas shopping there has been no time for bike riding.

I finally did my long bike ride. I completed the 66 mile loop of the Tour de Tucson!. Saturday morning started early with the ride from the hotel to the start line where we cheered our team members off on their 108 mile loop. Because I am so slow Coach Russ then took me to the 66 mile start point where we started early (otherwise I would not have been able to finish in the time allowed). We arrived at the point where the 66 mile loop joined the main route before the professionals got to that point. We crossed the dry wash and then waited for the leaders to get past before continuing. The last thing I wanted was to get in the way of the front runners. After several of those groups had passed we continued up the hill. I had people cheering me on and saying how wonderful I was doing and I kept wanting to explain that I was not one of the front runners, don't cheer me. Russ said the riders would come up behind me and look at my bike and look at me and shake their heads wondering how I got where I was. Eventually enough riders passed me that I did not feel so conspicuous anymore.

The weather for the ride was beautiful and the temperature was moderate although I did get a little warm going up the hills. The countryside is very dry and there were lots of cacti. My favorite part of the ride was coming down Tangerine. This is a very long gradual downhill that went on and on. I didn't want it to ever stop. My least favorite part was a very bumpy road towards the end. I think it was worse than the hills and I hate hills! Eventually I made it to the finish line after about 6 1/2 hours. I don't know the exact time because of my irregular start.

The boys had sent Flat Stanley with me and he rode in my pack all the way. At one point one of the riders passing me spotted him and called out "Flat Stanley! How cool is that!"

After checking in and grabbing a bite to eat I rode back to the hotel for a shower and a nap before the Victory Party that night. My total mileage that day was about 69 miles. This is the furthest I have ever ridden.

Since my last post I still haven't done any long rides. The flu was still affecting my performance. Two weeks ago I managed to do 50 hilly miles but I was not feeling at all well on the hills. Last Saturday I finally was feeling back to normal but the weather was so foggy and icy that we got a late start and the coach only had me doing 40 miles. This week is the Tour de Tucson. The decision has been made that I will do the 66 mile loop rather than the 109 mile loop as the flu really set me back and I was borderline on being able to do the 109 miles in the time allowed. It will still be further than I have ever ridden before.

The boys gave me Flat Stanley to take on the ride with me. He is a paper doll that they and their classmates color and then send all over the world. The people who receive him then write about his "adventures" in their part of the world and send that back to the children. It is a way for them to learn geography. Debbie made a Team in Training jersey for him and the boys made a bike helmet. We are ready to go.

this past week was a lost cause as far as biking went. Last week Saturday it poured rain and the ride was cancelled so I went to spin class instead. Sunday was nicer but I could feel I was coming down with something so I just did a short ride around Point Defiance. I figured the hill practice was good for me. The rest of the week was a dead loss as I huddled on the couch with a fever, aches and pains and loss of appetite (something that almost never happens with me). Tuesday was the worst day and things started to get better after that. By Saturday I felt I was able to ride again. The weather turned out to be beautiful. Our ride was scheduled to be about 70 miles - Kent, Auburn, Black Diamond, Enumclaw, Mud Mountain Dam and then return. It did not take me long into the ride to realize I was still feeling the effects of the flu. I just could not get up the energy to go faster than about 9-10 mph. (Lately I had been riding 12-13 mph). By the time I reached the sag stop at Black Diamond I figured that was as far as I was going. So after a brief rest Russ and I headed back. Instead of 70 miles I only did about 40 miles and that was enough for the day. This week I have to work hard on building my stamina back up so I can do next week's 70 plus miles. There are only a few more weeks of training left before Tucson.

Yesterday's ride was another long one. One person told me 58 miles and another said 56. There were lots of hills but I managed to ride up every one of them - a first for me. There were 2 hills in particular that almost did me in. The first one was a long one out of Woodinville. My coach who was watching me said that there were a couple of times he thought I was going to fall over I was going so slow. The second one was towards the end of the day as we approached our last sag stop. I was very rapidly running out of steam and I still am not sure how I made it. When I got off my bike I had to hold on to it for a minute as I was dizzy from the effort. Sitting down for a few minutes and eating something gave me the energy I needed to finish the ride. It also helped that the coach took me a different way than the others which had a much more gradual hill. I think the prettiest part of the ride was the ride down the hill into Snohomish with its view of the mountains and the valley. The stop at the bakery in Snohomish was also nice.

I guess I have missed a few weeks on these posts and need to do some catching up. My only excuse is I have been doing a lot of riding lately. Last week's Saturday ride was supposed to be 50 miles. Somehow it grew to 58 miles which is my longest ride to date. There were a few hills and Mitchel, the coach who was riding with me would not let me walk them. He told me if I stopped and could not start on the hill again then we would go back to the bottom of the hill and start over. What an incentive to stay on my bike! He also pushed me to get my speed up on some of the flat sections. By the end of the session I was tired but still not as tired as on the rides I did last spring. I am definitely improving.

Sunday I did not ride but went to watch Nicholas run in his first cross country race. The kindergarten distance was 1/2 mile up and down a hill. He did well. As Brian couldn't run with his broken arm, he cheered Nicholas and the others on his team.

Monday I rode with the Tacoma Wheelmen for the first time. That ride was around Point Defiance which has a lot of hills. I made it all the way around (albeit very slowly) and only had to walk a couple of steep hills coming out of the park.

Thursday I went with them again. This time it was a flat route on the Foothills Trail. Therefore I worked hard at keeping my speed up so I did not fall too far behind the others.

Yesterday's Saturday ride was around Vashon Island which is very hilly. I managed to ride most of them but some were just too steep so I walked (after going as far up them as I could). It was a pretty day for a ride and there were even a few places where I could enjoy the ride and the scenery rather than just keeping my eyes on the road in front of my tires.

Today I am going to enjoy lunch with my cousins.

This Saturday was another 40 mile ride. We started at Mercer Island, rode south along Lake Washington, back up the other side and across the I-90 bridge to Mercer Island where we rode around the southern half of the island. The weather was perfect for a bike ride. Coming across the bridge the water was so peaceful to look at. There were several hills on the ride, some of which I walked up. Coming down to the bridge on the Seattle side I took a tumble but luckily did not hurt myself. I more or less landed on my camelback and the water cushioned me. I definitely was tired at the end of the ride.

That afternoon I babysat with Nicholas. Brian broke his arm the day before and was in the hospital. Debbie had spent the night there with him and not gotten any sleep so Yangguang went to stay with Brian, Debbie came home to sleep and I watched Nicholas.

Today I went riding with a friend on the Foothills Trail. We rode about 20 miles. The weather was again beautiful. Quite a difference from last week when it poured rain.

Last weekend was a 40 mile ride from Kent through Auburn then up to Black Diamond then down through Green Valley back to Auburn and return to Kent. I had done this ride once before but this time I rode up the hills I had walked before. I also ended the ride in much better shape than the last time. It is so nice to see that I am improving.

My riding the rest of the week has been across the bridge again on Sunday, although this time I did not make it up the hill without walking. I figure I was still tired from Saturday. I also went on the Scott Pierson trail. I am almost able to ride all the way up the hill to Pearl. I thought I would be able to make the other hill on that ride until I lost my chain when I was downshifting. It took me a while but I finally figured out how to get it back on.

The boys have started kindergarten this week. They have been very excited about getting back to school and seeing their friends again. Tomorrow they have off and I will be babysitting them. If it is not raining in the afternoon we plan to go bike riding with Mommy.

I am not looking forward to Saturday's ride. It will be up hill to Snoqualmie Falls and beyond and will probably rain.

Last weekend was perfect for riding. We did the Fall City Carnation area again but went about 35 miles this time. The weather could not have been better and the temperature was probably in the 70's just right for the amount of exercise we were doing. The last time we did this ride the corn was just starting to come up and now it was full grown and probably close to harvest time. The ride was very comfortable and I am apparently averaging about 13-14 mph on the flat which is better than I was doing when I first started riding. The few hills there were I rode up.

Yesterday I had planned to go for another long ride but decided that I didn't feel like it. Instead I decided to work on my hill riding by riding from my house to my sister's on the other side of the Narrows. I did much better than I thought I would and only had to walk twice. That was on the steepest parts on the approaches to the bridge. My sister-in-law who is an expert biker says that a lot of bikers end up walking those sections. To my surprise I made it all the way up the hill to my house although I came close to getting off a couple of times. The distance was short but the accomplishment was great!

Saturday was practice again. We rode in the Fall City, Carnation area. The weather was beautiful and although it was warm it was not impossible. We were scheduled to do 20 miles but instead we did 29 miles. By the end I was tired but I still felt good. My knee was starting to bother me a little at the end but was fine afterwards.

Yesterday I went riding on the Foothills Trail. I had intended to ride the full trail (30 miles) but when I started my knee was bothering me a little and I was feeling very tired (I think from a cough I have had for the last week). Therefore I only went as far as Orting which I think is about half way. Since I won't be able to make pracitce this weekend I will have to make sure to get my 30 miles in sometime during this next week.

I had bought an odometer for my bike but when I tried to install it I couldn't get it to work. I will have to bring it to the next practice to see if one of the others can figure out what I am doing wrong.

While my teammates were riding the STP I was sitting at Debbie's at a garage sale to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We raised over $200 thanks to donations from Debbie, my sister, a friend and me. We had beautiful weather on Saturday when we had the garage sale. I am very glad we did not do it on Sunday when it rained.



Last week the doctor also cleared me to ride my bike again. So today I took it to Orting for a short ride (about 5 miles). It is amazing how fast one loses conditioning when one can't exercise. I am now signed up for the Tour de Tucson in November and have been told that the credit for funds raised will transfer. The training starts next week so I still have a little more time to get ready for the first ride. At least this time I have all the gear.

Just got back from cheering Debbie on to the finish line at the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Marathon. She did very well and then had the energy to walk with us to Uwaijimaya for lunch. We said goodby to her at the bus stop as she went back to her hotel for a much needed rest and Yangguang, the boys and I went to catch our bus back to Tacoma.

Although I am unable to do my event (I am still not able to ride) we still raised over $4000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Thank you to everyone who helped.

Last week Saturday I again helped with the team sag wagon. I was definitely needed as two people had mechanical problems with their bikes that required transport back to the cars. Since I was there I was able to take them and leave Bill to support the others with the sag wagon. Luckily this happened last week rather than this week when they are in Tahoe doing their ride.

This week I had the boys overnight so I wasn't able to go sag with the team. I figured trying to get them up early enough for me to go was not worth it. Instead we met Yangguang down on Ruston Way and worked a water stop for Debbie and her team of runners. The boys wore their Team in Training shirts. This week was Debbie's 20 miler. Only a couple more weeks before she has her big run. Go team!

Last Saturday I did my duty on sag wagon support for the team. Since I can't ride I figure I will support the team by helping out with the sag wagon. Saggy Bill has things so well organized that there wasn't very much for me to do, but I did bring bags of ice which I was offering at the second stop where I figured it would be most needed. I also figured that I am there if anybody needs transport. This week nobody needed a ride unlike the previous week when there were two of us getting a ride for the last few miles.

It was a beautiful day for a ride. They started in Kent and went up through Black Diamond and Enumclaw. I think they did about 70 miles. I found that the sag wagon involved a lot of time sitting in the car and waiting. It was very nice listening to the birds and I had brought some stitching along to keep me busy. The first sag stop was at Black Diamond so I had time to go in and buy some bread from the bakery. Next week I will do this again

I went to the doctor today and it looks as if I will not be doing the STP. He said I should avoid riding until my knee heals which can be 2-6 weeks and then I should just start out with short rides and if it starts hurting I need to stop. He recommended that I don't do the STP and I know that if I miss that much training I won't be able to catch up anyway. I may be able to switch the credit for my fund raising for another event later in the year. At nany rate I know the money that I have raised has gone to a good cause and I now feel comfortable about continuing to ride which was one of my goals.

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a ride, the nicest weather I have had on a ride to date. We started in Monroe and rode north to Granite Falls. There were two options for the ride, a 75 mile ride to Arlington and back or a 50 mile option to Granite Falls and back. The ride took us through the countryside and then through rolling hills around Lake Stevens and Granite Falls. For part of the ride we were on the same course as the Tour de Cure riders. I did fairly well on the first part of the ride and even made it up a few hills. However the hills took a toll on my knee and I started hurting with the result that I grabbed a ride with the sag wagon at about mile 36 (just about the point where we left the hills for the flat). Today I will be spending the day with a bag of ice.

Yesterday I had a nice long ride on the Foothills Trail between Puyallup and South Prairie. Although there was a head wind (both ways!) it did not rain. It is a nice ride through the countryside past rhubarb fields and cows and along the river for part of the ride. I was using my new clips and did very well until I came to the last crossroad before the parking lot. As I was slowing to stop I did not free my foot in time and fell. I got some lovely bruises on my arm and collarbone but the worst damage was to my knee. I didn't think it was too bad and was able to get up and start walking. I even was able to get back on the bike and ride the little way to the car. By the time I got home I was starting to hurt and getting up from the chair was not any fun. This morning instead of going on the scheduled 70 mile ride I went to the Urgent Care and they said I had a sprain and told me that I should not do any biking until it is healed. They wrapped my knee and prescribed some painkillers. The info they gave me said it could take 3 - 6 weeks to heal. If that is the case I won't be doing the STP because I will never be able to catch up on the missed training. I'll keep you posted.

I am home again after a lovely trip through the Netherlands and Belgium. We started with 3 days in Amsterdam then took a barge through the inland seas and canals to different towns and cities. It was a little early for the tulips but we did see some. Most of the fields we saw were daffodils and hyacinths. One of the most fascinating things we did was to go to the Aalsmeer flower auction. This is a huge warehouse where they auction off flowers that are then sent to florist shops all over the world. Instead of bidding up the price there is a clock that starts at a high price and then goes down. The first person to press the button and stop the clock wins the bid at that price. The flowers are then loaded onto a different pallet and sent to the loading docks to be shipped. They can be on the other side of the world and in your flower shop by the next day. It was an amazing thing to watch with people scurrying all over the floor of the warehouse with carts of flowers of every description. It also smelled wonderful with all those flowers.

Our last three days we spent in Bruges, Belgium. From there I was able to take a train and go visit some friends in Ieper for the day. It was a lovely trip!

I had hoped to be able to use the exercise bike on the ship to keep up my training while I was gone but that did not work out very well. The exercise room did not open until 8 at which time I needed to be getting ready to leave for whatever excursion was planned for the day. The bike they had was not very good either. On one of the few times I did manage to get on the bike the seat collapsed on me about a half hour into my session. I never was able to adjust the seat nor was I able to adjust the wheel tension. The exercise room was also small and hot even when the hot tub wasn't filled. However I did get in a lot of walking, at least enough to offset the calories I was taking in from all the good food they served us. I walked all over Amsterdam, Bruges, Delft, Ghent, Antwerp and a number of smaller towns.

Now I am back home and trying to get back into my routine. At least the weather is much nicer now for bike riding than when I left.