Liquid Sunshine

The smells:

Flowers

Sage

Trees

Dirt

Cows

Skunk

Water

Rain

More flowers

Wet sage

The scenery:

Green

Hilly

Curvy roads

Low, heavy clouds

Cows

Horses

Fields being plowed

Trees

Grass

Birds

The sounds:

Conversation

The whir of 4 bicycle tires

Shifting gears

The wind in my ears

Quiet cars

Loud cars

Motorcycles

Cows talking to us

Ground critters scampering

Rain on my glasses

Windbreaker sleeves flapping

Me sucking wind going up that hill

Gurgle of water in my water bottle

The thoughts:

Oh God, keep my tires on the road!

This is FAST!

WHEEEEEEEEEE!

Up, down, up down, round and round, flat feet, up, down, up, down

DON’T FORGET TO UNCLIP AND lean towards the unclipped foot

Gotta get a DRINK!

The feelings:

Can’t help but worship my creator

Heart soaring

Wind in my face

Brilliant!

Fantastic

AMAZING

13.55 miles in a little over an hour. 12.3 average speed. 25.8 max speed (That was a FUN hill!!!!). Total miles on my bike: 32.6

Rubber, Meet Road. Road, Meet Knee, Elbow, and Bum.

Saturday was my first ride with my team. Well, my team didn’t come, but my coach and his wife did (Brad and Cheri). One of the part time staff members of Team in Training (Lynne) came to see us off and took our picture just before we headed out. I let Coach Brad know that I knew nothing about road biking and Lynne said that I looked like I was a pro. We started out by talking about how and when on the road to clip into your pedals. Then, on the road, we talked about cadence (pace), shifting gears, going up and down hills and shifting gears, many other things, and shifting gears. We did a couple of “small” hills, but to this beginner, they seemed to be never ending. (I know, in a month or two, I’ll be laughing at those hills.) When we got to the top of the first one, I decided that I needed to stop to get a drink and just take a little break. I unclipped my right shoe and promptly fell to my left, left foot still nicely secure in the pedal. I am still laughing at what my imagination tells me that I looked like. I just went “flop”. Brad and Cheri asked if I was ok, and Cheri said that now that I have my first fall out of the way-I don’t have to do it again, and at least I was going very slowly when it happened. I skinned and bruised my knee and elbow, but the “prettiest” bruise is on my bum. After a short break, getting myself stood back up and stretched out a little bit, we took off down the hill and just kept riding. Every-so-often, Brad would ask how I was feeling, and I would say just fine, other than a stinging knee. His response? “Good! I can torture you a little bit longer,” with a moo-ha-ha sort of tone in his voice. Up the next hill we went with no casualties this time. By the time we got to the top, I told him that my legs were jelly so we headed back to the car. We had planned to go 10 or so miles and ended up going just under 14. As expected, this morning, I’m discovering muscles that I either didn’t know I had, or had forgotten about. I’ll be meeting up with Cheri tomorrow morning to ride about 15 miles. I think Brad will be joining us, but I’m not sure. Molly and I went for a walk to work some of the soreness out this morning, and oh what a gorgeous morning it was!!!

Lovely Evening

When we lived in Missouri, my Dad used to say you can tell a happy jogger by the number of bugs in his/her teeth. Tonight, I went for my longest ride so far-not so very far, but considering that this is only my 2^nd ride and training hasn’t started yet, I’m feeling all right about the distance. 5.16 miles. It took me a little less than half an hour and my legs feel a little like jelly, but really not too bad.

It was an absolutely beautiful evening, with no traffic as I rode past horses, quail and dogs. I was enjoying the lovely scenery when I was jolted out of my thoughts and felt and heard bugs smacking into my face, helmet and windbreaker. I am so glad I had my sunglasses on!

I remembered to unclip my shoes from my pedals before I came to a stop, and I’m getting a little faster clipping them in. I’m learning how it feels when the cleat is in the right spot on the pedal, and then I listen for and feel the “click”. I also experimented with shifting gears a little bit and got a better feel for how those work. One other thing I noticed. There were times that I felt like I was sort of plodding along and realized that I wasn’t taking advantage of the full range of leg motion on the bike. When I did take advantage of that, I felt like I was flying, even though compared to most, I was probably going really slowly. But when I got home, I had a smile on my face and-what’s that? Eeeeeew! There’s a bug in my teeth!

The right time AND place

It started with an MMS at the beginning of this week. Since I am starting this cycling journey from the very beginning, getting set up with a bike and all of the gear, I have been keeping friends posted as to certain things that I still need/want, but things that I’m not willing to pay full price for. A friend sent me a picture of an ad of a windbreaker that she had received in the mail, one of the things I was holding out for. She brought to my attention that it was purple (the color for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society). The sale didn’t start until Friday, so I’ve been waiting all week to go. Finally, Friday came and I headed down to the store. I found the jacket in my size right away and snatched it up, along with a pair of riding, fingerless gloves and got in line to pay. As I was standing there, the lady in front of me turned around and saw the jacket and commented on it. I realized right then and there that I had the opportunity to tell her what I am doing., so shyly, I mentioned Team in Training and asked her if she had heard of it. She said no, so I told her what we are all about and what I am starting to train for. She looked at me and said that her neighbor’s son has Leukemia and her daughter was diagnosed last November with Thyroid Cancer. (Interesting that at Kickoff the night before, one of the people there mentioned that a family member was a Thyroid Cancer survivor, so this caught my attention.) The lady in line goes on to tell me that in December, her daughter (a young teen-ager) had gone in for surgery, and they were able to get all of the cancer. She sort of hesitated as she stated that it was a miracle, and as she hesitated, I let her know that God has a purpose for her daughter. As she was talking about it, she got teary-eyed and said she still has a hard time talking about it. Me, being the sympathetic crier that I am, also got teary-eyed and so we were both crying in the check out line, not quite blubbering messes, but I can see how easily it would have been to end up there. The experience reminded me that it’s amazing what we can find out about a complete stranger, if we will just take a risk and open up and be authentic with each other.

Time to stop talkin’ and start walkin’…WAIT!

Yesterday, while thinking about the Team in Training Kick Off Party for this season that was last night, I was mentally prepared to start training this Saturday with a 15 mile ride. I was all psyched up and ready to go and was thinking, “The time has come to stop talkin’ and start walkin’ (riding)”. I decided I wanted to arrive at the kick off a little early. When I got there, I looked around wondering about how few cars were in the parking lot, but then realized I was there a bit earlier than I anticipated. I went in the building to sign in and see who was there. I recognized Kari and was re-introduced to Lynne (I met her at the Rock and Roll Marathon that Julie ran in 2 years ago), both of whom I’ve been corresponding with through my decision making process regarding this century ride since about October or November 2009. They have been fabulous to respond and answer my millions of questions. At sign in, we were given a goodie bag which had all sorts of really great information (training, fundraising, etc.), a running jersey, an emergency contact strip to stick on my shoe while training among other things. The meeting started and the group was asked who was there for cycling, so I raised my hand and looked around expectantly for my other team mates. I couldn’t see one other hand raised. Not ONE! They started introducing coaches and mentors and they were all for the marathon trainers. I’m looking around for someone that might look like a cycling coach or mentor, but decided that I would have no clue what a cycling person might look like. I observed someone walk in just as the meeting was getting started and quietly take her seat. She was the last one to be introduced as (drum roll, please) the cycle mentor, and when she got up, she asked, “Who here is going to cycle?” I looked up and said, “That’s me!!!” WHEW! Finally, someone that I can talk to about cycling. She smiled at me and looked at the back of the room and acknowledged another cycler. As I contorted myself to look around the person beside me, I spotted my team mate. YEAY! Another cyclist!!! In a room full of about 50 people, there were three of us (mentor included). I got to talk with our mentor for a while after the kick off to get a few more questions answered and to meet my teammate. Apparently there are 5 people-total-signed up to train for the Sawtooth Cycle Challenge, but 3, not to mention the coach, couldn’t be there last night. So-I am still looking forward to meeting him and the rest of the team.

I also found out that we aren’t starting training this weekend like I thought. We are starting either May 29^th or the first Saturday in June. This weekend the coach is out of town and next weekend is Memorial Day weekend (the two of us who were there last night are here next weekend and mentioned that we are happy to start then). So-we’ll see. Part of me is glad training doesn’t start tomorrow because I’ve been watching the weather report and Saturday is looking oh not so pretty, with an 80% chance of rain. I’ve been thinking about this for so long that I feel like I am mentally ready to get my body ready for this September event. If I can’t ride this weekend, well then I will reacquaint myself with gym. “Hello gym.”

All in all, last night was a good experience, and I came away ready to “play”. Some of my nerves have been squashed with encouraging words from our mentor, but there are a few nerves that still exist due to the anticipation of the unknown.

Let the Adventure Begin

I am very excited about this Summer! Beginning May 22^nd, I will be training with Team In Training (TNT) for the Sawtooth Cycle Challenge-a 100 mile bike ride that starts in Sun Valley, following Hwy 77 up and over Galena Summit to Redfish Lake and back to Sun Valley. (For more information, go to http://sawtoothcyclechallenge.blogspot.com/. (Holy smokes! I just looked at the elevation for the century ride shown on this website…this is definitely going to be a challenge, but I’m looking forward to it!) The event is September 18^th, 2010. TNT is the largest endurance training program in the world, having trained over 389,000 participants to run marathons, triathlons, century rides, etc. all the while, raising money for research to find a cure for Leukemia and Lymphoma.

Cancer, regardless of the type, has touched most if not all of us, whether through someone we know personally, or through a friend of a friend. I am riding with TNT for a couple of reasons. After my friend’s Mom fought CLL for 3 years, Julie decided that if her mom could fight Leukemia for three YEARS, she (Julie) could train for a marathon for 5 months, and she did. Julie had “never run a step in her life”, but finished the marathon with flying colors! (She might say differently, but I was there cheering her on, and I saw those colors soar!). Phyllis lost her fight with CLL just after Julie started training for her marathon. The next year, I was able to go cheer another friend on in a century ride in Texas, which got me to thinking-I won’t run, but I can ride. Those experiences brought me to a point of understanding that this organization really is making a difference. Why support research for Leukemia/Lymphoma when there are so many types of cancer out there? Cancer is cancer, whether it is a blood type of cancer or not. Any step closer to finding a cure for one form of cancer is a step closer to finding a cure for all cancer.

I committed to raising a minimum of $2,250 for this event. 25% of the minimum commitment pays for my entry in the event, room and board at the event, training, several clinics, a couple of jerseys, etc. The other 75% of the minimum committed funds raised go directly towards research for a cure. If more than my minimum amount is raised, every penny of every dollar above and beyond the minimum goes directly towards research. To date, TNT has raised one billion dollars for research. Will you please consider helping me reach my goal by donating to this cause? My deadline to have the minimum amount is July 17^th.

I am riding in memory of Phyllis Keeton (CLL [Leukemia]), Isaiah Rodriguez (AML [Leukemia]), my Uncle (Lung Cancer), and in honor of family members who have survived and are Cancer free from different types of cancer, and in honor of friends; Randy (Leukemia fighter), and a friend’s Dad-Dan (Lung, Liver, and Brain Cancer fighter).

I will try to give weekly updates as to how my training is going. I promise not to whine about my sore bum…too much. There is a link to my donating page on my blog site (pedalchik.blogspot.com) or you can go directly to my TNT fundraising page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/oswim/Sawtooth10/jkdowner

Or if you prefer, you can make a check out to LLS (The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) and give it to me. I’ll make sure it gets turned in.

Thank you so much for your consideration!

Sincerely,

Julie