ice cold beer after 107miles...PRICELESS!!!!


you can check out the healed version of the shoulder wound in this pic...

silver comet ride o8

who knew that 200 miles could go so fast and so slow all at the same time! a bunch of riders(and i would now call them all friends, bc that's what biking together does for you) drove to anniston and then rode the chief ladiga and silver comet trails to atlanta last saturday and back on sunday. this was a total of 208 miles, though should have only been 202 (and let me say, when you're approaching 200, every mile counts!) but for the typical navigation of men--aww, we'll figure it out, maybe down this piece of dirt road. they're called ROAD bikes for a reason, kale! right after the thriving metropolis of cedartown, where you apparently throw your chicken bones in the road, you go off trail to some side streets for a bit. but it all turned out fairly well if you don't mind following some colorful locals in their car.

it was just after cedartown when we came out of the shaded trail and into the direct sunlight for what seemed like forever. i've had trouble all summer with the heat, but you know when you have chills and it's a hundred degrees, it's just not good! thankfully we lunched and cooled off in rockmart and i realized what i really needed was to soak my head and jersey (can't begin to say how incredibly helpful that is!!). we had reservations for dinner that night, but have to say that beer and pizza by the pool could have not been better!

we were very fortunate to have had abe's sweet wife, gail, drive our belongings over and wait patiently in the parking lot for us to arrive. we stayed at the la quinta just 3 miles from the trail and it was nice to have sidewalks all the way so some very tired bikers didn't have to dodge atlanta traffic. i'm sure this was all part of our fearless leader, jim's plan--along with the iced beer in the back of gail's car (mmmmmmm!). though it sounds like we drank a lot of beer, we were all safely in bed by 10 wondering if we'd lost our minds thinking of riding back the next day!

the return trip on sunday was pretty uneventful and we all made it back safely, wondering how the tour de france riders do that everyday for 21 days!!! truly amazing athletes! i felt pretty great on monday (endorphines are wonderful!), but it all came crashing down tues., after our morning ride. i have never felt so tired and depleted. i, stupidly, rode again thurs. morning and then realized recovery is also a very important part of training. i started saying i was taking a week off, but have to say, 2 days into it, i only think i'll last until the tues. morning ride. well, i do LOVE my bike!

is it worth it? OH YEAH

so, this little beauty mark occured 12 miles into the sonoma ride (which was supposed to be my first century-100miles). BUT, i did get back on my bike, concussion and all, and ride 55 more miles. some called this stupid, i call it determined.

freak accidents just happen, which is why you ALWAYS wear a helmet. the guy in front of me hit a water bottle which then spun into my front wheel. a very tour de france kind of flip then occured, which is what happens when you go from 25 mph to 0 mph in a half a second!

Cool experiences and riding with friends

As i said, riding with friends is one of the best things about riding, but riding in interesting places makes it even better! a group of us raised money for several months and then were flown to sonoma, california for a benefit ride for juvenile diabetes. they just happen to be having a peanuts festival-sonoma is the home of the charles shultz museum (went there instead of a winery, maybe i'm stupid, but i love snoopy!). how can your spouse say no to a trip (even a cool one) when your raising money for such a good cause! and of course, you have to go a day or two early to enjoy the sites.

my younger child's best friend has juvenile diabetes (that's his mom on the right) and she got me into this ride, but if there's a cause out there, there's probably a benefit bike ride to help support it. jdrf (juvenile diabetes research foundation) has 5 rides every year all across the country, in some pretty cool places. you can check them out at www.ride.jdrf.org . but i've been involved in a few other's as well. in our hometown, birmingham, alabama, we just had the tour de cure. this ride raises money for diabetes as well--check them out at www.tourdiabetes.org and we are currently preparing for the MS 150. this is a two day event where you ride 75 miles on two consecutive days. a cool challenge and if you live in alabama, you get to do it at the beach, woohoo!! their website is www.bikems.org , this ride takes place in 100 different cities all over the country.

now some of these rides may sound overwhelming, but often, they have shorter distance rides for those just getting into biking and you can't beat the love, fun and support of people dedicated to a cause.

why i ride

yeah, biker as in bicycle not motorcycle. why do i ride, well, lots of reasons, but the biggest is freedom! i mean the kind of freedom you had as a kid the first day of summer. as you get older, that feeling gets harder to achieve. life has a way of weighing down on you, but my bike makes it easy. are you one of those people, like me, whose mind runs 90 miles an hour, all the time. well, not on the bike, cause if you're not paying attention, you'll be off that bike in a second and it might be just a bit painful! i have the scars to prove it, but that's a topic for a later posting.

cycling is also a great way to meet friends. because you're out having fun, most people are in a good mood and friendly. you meet all kinds (really ALL kinds) of people and i love that! you hear their stories and perspectives and that is the coolest wether i agree or not. so, if you're looking for that something that will give you some exercise, is fun and will help you put all the "crap" of life behind you, think about this. and i didn't look like that when i started so, you don't have to be in shape when you start either.