Cassandra: This week I have been saving up miles for when I am in Las Vegas (in two weeks) and won't be able to ride. I biked on the trainer for an hour on Wednesday night after class with an average BPM of 140-145 and on Thursday morning for 45 minutes with an average BPM of 145-150. But today was my big accomplishment. I set the alarm for 5:00 am (painful, very painful) and got up for a 52.25 mile ride. It was not my favorite ride that I have done. It was still dark out when I woke up and I had only gotten a little over 5 hours of sleep. The last thing I felt like doing when the alarm clock went off was getting up. I just wanted to sleep, sleep, sleep. But I did get up and was out the door by 5:45 am. I had taken longer to get ready than normal, still needing to pack snacks and dress my bike with water bottles, packs, and bar mitts. I was also trying to kill a little time until it was light enough to ride, since I don't have a headlight on my road bike. Finally, all was ready and the sky was lightening up. I was off, first on the Burke-Gilman and then on the Sammamish River Trail.

I noticed right away that the top of my thighs felt tight and pinched where they connect to my core. I figured I just needed to warm up some, but that didn't really help. For some reason, today my muscles were tired. That pinching feeling did loosen up as I rode, but it was replaced by a cramp on the right side of my hip that spread down my thigh a bit. My lower back and the top of my right calf muscle were also sore. I pedaled hard, though, because I didn't feel much like riding. I just wanted to get things over as soon as possible. I don't like riding like that. I like to appreciate the sun shining down on me and the scenery and enjoy the time I am outdoors. But today was not that day.

I think that because I was trying to hurry up and finish my ride, I pedaled faster than I should have (I averaged 14.9 mph, even with the big hill at the end). I didn't stop for a break until I was in Marymoor Park, near the Velodrome. That was 26.1 miles in. I hadn't stopped before that to even drink any water. After refueling, I jumped back on the road. On my way back I had to stop about 8 miles from home because my leg cramp was really bad and my butt was sore on the right side and I needed a break.

Although the ride was uncomfortable, I did get to see some cool things. This morning it was all about wildlife. I saw three deer along the Sammamish River Trail, along with a gaggle of baby geese and their parents. I slowed down to look more closely at the goslings as I passed and one of the adult geese started to come after me, honking up a storm. I picked up the pace after that! I almost hit a bunny that darted onto the trail in front of me before racing me from the grass alongside of the path and finally darting off into the brush.

But the coolest thing I saw on my ride wasn't wildlife. It was a group of East Indians (i.e. the red-dot kind) doing a prayer walk of some sort on the Sammamish River Trail. It was 7:30 am and I was almost to Marymoor Park when I heard them. I wasn't sure what the sound was at first. All I could make out was some sort of chanting and singing and drums. And then I saw them coming towards me, about 30 or 40 Indians in a big group, moving slowly down the trail. I passed them again when I turned back towards home. It was such a neat thing. I am not sure why they were out there or what they were doing, but it was so random and cool. It reminded me of one of those traveling moments. Randomly cool things like that always happen to me when I am traveling.

This afternoon I have had more muscle pain and stiffness. I'm not sure what is going on, but I took two ibuprofen and drank a lot of water to make up for what I didn't drink when I was riding. Dennis and I went to Costco today and I picked up some unsweetened coconut water to drink when I ride. It has a lot more electrolytes than sports drinks (without the artificial colors and other nasty stuff) and can actually be injected into your blood through an IV if you become dehydrated. Pretty cool, huh? I'll let you know what I think about the coconut water once I take it on a ride.

Here are today's stats:
Total riding time - 3 hours 30 minutes
Max speed - 33 mph
Average speed - 14.9 mph
Distance - 52.25 miles

Carol - Saturday's ride.   Well once again I was fortunate to have Cassandra home to ride with this weekend.  I had forgotten that she was planning on being up so I was super excited when I learned that I wouldn't have to ride my long ride of the week alone.  If you haven't read her post you should read that before you continue with mine. 
So, everything that Cassandra described about the doggie mace and the quick stop (backward wheelie) really did happen and we sure did laugh about it.  I was a little bit apprehensive about our ride after these events because it just seemed that something else might happen.  It ended up being a pretty non eventful ride in that regard though.  One of my biggest issues tended to be either not being able to read the map (due to lack of great eye sight) or forgetting my reading glasses on with my sun glasses and figuring it out at the last minute and having to have Cassandra put them in my fanny pack.  I never realized how tough it can be when you can't see without your glasses. 
In spite of the too frequent map reading issues (getting lost) we did have a wonderful time. The sun was warm enough to take off my arm warmers, we took pictures of us riding with Mt. Baker in the distance and had a great time.  Even though some of the roads were narrow most motorist were courteous and gave us room.  We were even able to ride side by side and talk for some of the time which was good. The stretch from Ferndale to Birch Bay had a lot more hills then I think we both anticipated but that was okay because it's great training for the STP. 
This was the longest ride both of us have had to date.  Yes, our speed could have been better, I think we averaged about 13.5 MPH but that was still pretty good for the amount of miles we logged (especially with the hills). 
I believe we are fairly evenly matched in our riding, although I do think Cassandra is stronger on the hills. We tend to work well together as a team.  One of us takes the lead when the other is starting slow down a bit, so the slower person can draft. Drafting saves about thirty percent of energy, so it's great that we can both take turns.  Drafting will help us bike more efficiently when the big day comes.
Total miles logged were 68....even though it should have been a 63 mile ride...thanks again to our map reading skills (or lack of).
Another good ride for the books....

Cassandra: I was up in Bellingham this weekend, so mom and I were able to ride together again. We had big ambitions ... instead of following the tulip route again (this time to actually see tulips instead of just daffodils) we decided to both increase our mileage and head north, away from all of the tulip traffic. Mom chose the route after seeing it on a flyer at the bike shop this week. We had three options: 25 miles, 50 miles, and 62 miles. We chose the 62 mile route. Like I said, we had big ambitions.

The route on our flyer actually started down by the waterfront in Bellingham but we decided to bike from the house instead, which would take on a few additional miles. I wanted an early start time because of the distance we would be going. Mom didn't want to wake up too early since it was the weekend, so we compromised on 8:30 am. Our preparations were the same as normal (filling our water bottles, pumping up our tires, etc.) except we added one step to our routine. Butt butter. Mom had gotten sample packets at the bike shop last week and decreed that it was time to try this "magical product" that so many of her biker friends were talking about. Chafing can be a big issue when you are biking for hours at a time, so both of us were curious to see if the butt butter would reduce our issues as promised. Now, we ride without underwear anyways, to reduce chafing, but it still felt a little odd to slap on a big old handful of that butt butter, slide up our pants, and then get on the bike.

But get on our bikes we did. All was good as we flew down Cedar Hills and Oriental. Until we got onto Lakeway and mom dropped her doggie mace, for the first of many times. We had to stop our bikes while she went back into the road and retrieved it. And then we were off again. We zoomed for another ... oh, about half mile, until I saw something fly out from under mom's bike. It was a black bike part, and mom wasn't stopping, so I yelled, "Stop!" at the top of my lungs so she would hear me. Well, she thought I had fallen off of my bike or something and stopped so hard her back tire came up into the air and smacked her. It was about the funniest thing I have seen since our training began. It was funnier yet when we realized we were only about a mile and a half from home, the bike part wasn't even off her bike, and her tire had gone up into the air and come down so hard that it threw the chain off of her bike. We had to figure out how to put the chain back on and were laughing so hard it was tough to get anything done. Mom ended up with grease stains on her hands and we set off again, this time luckily for a longer distance.

Our ride through Bellingham was pretty. We weaved through the city streets under a blue sky and a sun that warmed us through our layers. I saw neighborhoods that I had never seen before, with parks that had gone by unnoticed throughout the time I lived up there. As we neared downtown we got to see the beginning of a 5k run, which was neat. And then we were dodging runners and trying to find a way to the water that wasn't on their path.

We eventually found our way and started heading north towards Ferndale. Most of our riding was done on roads that had either bike lanes or a generous shoulder or were infrequently traveled by cars. The views were beautiful. We pedaled through fields and past old barns and some very expensive homes. We also saw the opposite, though, too, pedaling through Bellingham's own Marietta trailer village, where all of the trailers were falling apart. It looked like some backwoods bayou village. There were boats everywhere, just resting on the ground, and boat fenders up in the trees. The whole place could have, in some other time and place, been quaint, if it weren't for everything falling down and looking like garbage. Mom had her doggie mace ready as we nervously looked this way and that for unchained and aggressive dogs.

We continued north on our quest, winding through more fields on our way to downtown Ferndale. Once in Ferndale proper, it became apparent that our map skills were questionable. Or, as we preferred to think, our map wasn't always clear. I accidentally took us the wrong way, and then we spent a bit of time searching for the right road further north. We couldn't find it for the life of us and finally had to ask directions from an attendant at an auto parts store.

After getting back on track we thought it would be smooth sailing, but we actually had just entered a more difficult part of our ride. It seemed like there were hills everywhere we rode. Some were small and rolling. Others seemed to go on forever. We wound our way north to Birch Bay, huffing and puffing up hills. Mom was having significant left knee pain, which was exacerbated on the hills, so our pace slowed a bit. At this point, all I wanted was lunch. The miles started creeping by as we headed out by Semiahmoo and took in the beautiful, but hilly, views. All I could think about was a cheeseburger, a big and juicy cheeseburger.

That image kept me going as we finally rode into Birch Bay and found a cafe to have lunch. We did order our cheeseburgers and took about a 30 minute rest before getting on our bikes again. We figured the way home would be a breeze, since the map seemed pretty clear about the path we needed to take and we were over half-way through with our miles. It took us a while, though, to fall back into an easy rhythm. I think we just hadn't eaten enough food to replenish what we were burning.

I nearly took us the wrong way again, and then we got on a long stretch where we weren't going to have to turn for a while. We relaxed, playing leapfrog down hills and passing random joggers out for a country run. It seemed like we rode for quite a while, and then suddenly we were at I-5. I, having lots of misplaced faith in our map, figured we just needed to go further to find our next turn, on Rainbow Road. But mom, knowing the area better, said we were way too far. We looked at the map and found out that, yes, we had gotten lost again. Somehow, we had missed our turn. By this point we had gone quite a long ways on our bikes, more than 55 miles. To find out that we were lost again could have gotten us upset. We were getting more tired and more ready to be done with the ride. But instead, we just threw up our hands and laughed. We had a good, hard laugh about the whole situation. And then we went into a roadside 7-11, bought more Gatorade, and improvised a new path back to Bellingham.

We found our way back to Ferndale and the last place we had gotten majorly lost and stopped for a break. We rehydrated and ate some more Lara bars and raisins and suddenly our ride was really looking up. It was like we had really needed those calories, and once we got them, our bodies were so much more willing to take us the rest of the way home. And home we went. We pedaled the last few miles back to the waterfront and met Rich at the dock where our boat is kept. He had just finished a sail boat race in perfect time to load our bikes into the back of the truck and drive these tired bikers back home. We knew it was an indulgence, but after biking 68 miles (yep, you read that right, 68 miles!!) we figured we deserved it. Well, that and more snacks and a good hot tub.

Overall, it was a great ride. Mom and I were still very well matched with regards to our pace and overall tolerance for riding, and it was evident that we were both improved from our previous rides.

It is clear that we are getting to be stronger and smarter bikers, which is really encouraging. But more than that, we are learning to take everything in stride that comes with getting stronger and smarter, mainly getting lost and getting tired and pushing up hills even when we don't want to. I'm proud of all of that stuff. But what I'm super proud of, more than anything else, is the fact that we are laughing our way through this thing we call training for the STP. As long as we can still laugh, no 204-mile ride is going to kick our butts.

Cassandra: I started off strong this week with two trainer rides, one on Monday and one on Tuesday, of an hour and 42 minutes, respectively. I was feeling the need for some exercise on Monday and on Tuesday I needed to burn off some stress. The bike trainer is really great for that. If something in your life feels overwhelming, especially work, it feels good to work it out on the trainer. Instead of putting a video on or listening to a nutrition podcast like normal I put on my running music, which is loud and has a good beat. And I biked fast ... fast enough to work up a sweat and fast enough to leave most of my stress behind. By the time I took a shower and headed off to study I felt like a new person. It's pretty cool that exercise can make your head feel so much better, not just your body.

Carol - This week my goal is to ride all the scheduled miles to see my progress and also to see if I'm on track with my training.  Wednesday I rode the trainer for thirty miles and I finished up the other ten on Thursday night when I was at the gym doing my weight lifting. Thursday night I also went to Kulshan Bike's Women's Night Only.  Great discounts on most items.  I bought a biking book for women training and nutrition.  Also bought some butt butter so hopefully I won't have any issues next time when I have a long ride which Saturday calls for a seventy mile ride.  Oh my....at least Cassandra will be up to ride with me.  I'm sure we'll have great new stories to tell.

Carol - Saturday's ride was for me my longest ride to date.  I did not get on the rode as early as I'd have liked.  So, after finishing my preparation I gave Rich my anticipated route and off I went. I had originally planned on riding sixty to eighty miles, however, between my late start and afternoon plans I didn't have as much time as I  needed. After doing some research I found that Old Lake Samish has a stretch similar to the grade and length as what we will encounter on the STP.  So off I headed in that direction.  This meant for me to take the safest route I would have to ride down and then back track and back up to even get to that stretch of road.  Oh well, extra hill work is always good.  My new fanny pack needed some adjusting so I did stop a few times at the beginning of the ride.  However, after mile eight I really didn't stop again until I reached Sedro Woolley where I stopped to visit my Dad and Sue.  This first stretch was 30.5 miles and after some calculating my average speed was 14+ per mile.  I have to say that given the amount of hills I was really happy with that.  Since the day was so beautiful I continued my ride out in the farmland of Skagit County and over Cook Road interchange and on to Edison Tavern where I had arranged for Rich to meet me for lunch and to give me a ride home so we could attend some friends memorial service.
I have found that most drivers are very courteous to biker riders, however, not so much for the big trucks.  More then once these large construction trucks would pass me and not even move left when no one was coming.  I mean seriously, are they that inconsiderate or do they just don't see me.  Either way it's kind of scary.
I also was chased for the first time by a dog.  My air horn just seemed to make this little dog angry and he kept running after me.  It was irritating but I have to say I was impressed with his stamina.  He probably followed me two blocks before he gave up.  I could hear him breathing the whole time and by the end I thought he was going to have a heart attack and die on the road. 

Highlights of the ride:
Making it up the hill that is similar to the STP's at mile forty five
Riding a seven mile stretch at 17+ mph
Seeing Dad and Sue
Riding along the rural route and smelling freshly mowed grass
The fanny pack is great for longer rides but probably not necessary when riding twenty or less

Some things to think about:
My shoulders still hurt when I ride for a long time
When riding more more than forty miles I should use some body (butt) butter
It might be good to take an advil before a long ride to help alleviate muscle soreness.

If you have any good idea's for my trouble area's please leave a comment as I'm willing to learn from other peoples experiences.

Cassandra: I had a major achievement on Saturday with regards to biking ... I finally broke 50 miles! The next-longest ride I had done was the tulip field ride with mom the previous weekend at almost 36 miles, so this was a bit of a jump for me. Luckily, everything came together to make it a great ride.

I set the alarm for 7:30 am Saturday morning and was out of the house by 8:05 am, having quickly dressed, filled my water bottles, put together snacks, and hurriedly eaten a muffin for breakfast. It was a beautiful morning. The sky was blue, the sun was beginning to shine, and it wasn't too windy. Since it was early I decided to bomb down 23rd, which is a more direct way to the Burke-Gilman but is also a lot busier than the side-road route I usually take. I stayed with the main route until I came to the UW stadium, where I got on the Burke.

There weren't a lot of people out, mainly just joggers and a few other bikers, so it was quick going on the trail. I was riding at a pace of around 16 mph when I noticed another cyclist was drafting behind me. I know it is biker etiquette to just go up behind someone else's bike and draft off them, but to me it feels slightly awkward. It feels, really, like walking up behind a random person on a dance floor and dancing on them without permission. Part of me wanted to say, 'Hey you, this is my personal bubble!' But I was, at the same time, kind of flattered that someone would want to draft off me. That meant I had a pretty decent pace. The cyclist stayed on me, like white on rice, for about 15 minutes before finally turning around.

At this pace, and in the sun, I quickly became too hot, having dressed in a ton of layers. I had thought it would be colder than it was and had put on a jersey, a long-sleeve cotton shirt, a long-sleeve Smartwool shirt, and my riding jacket. It was so warm that I took off both of my long-sleeve shirts and tucked them into my pack. After that, I didn't stop until I had ridden the Burke-Gilman to the end, jumped on the Sammamish River Trail, and ridden to Marymoor Park. Yep, I didn't take a real break until I was half-way through my ride at just over 25 miles.

I really enjoyed most of the first half of my ride. The sun made everything beautiful, including the lake views from the Burke-Gilman and the fields that flanked the curvy Sammamish River Trail. I got into a zone and just kept pedaling, usually around 15 to 16 miles per hour. On the river trail I had to slow down some because the trail curved this way and that. There was never very much visibility, which made me nervous. I didn't want to collide with a baby stroller or a jogger. It was difficult trying to remain alert on the trail; I found my eyes wandering to the scenery. There were little inlets near the intersection of the Burke-Gilman and the river trail, filled with small boats and the occasional fisherman. But the inlets soon gave way to sprawling fields. At times it felt like I was in the middle of nowhere, although I was passing through Kirkland and Redmond.

I gave myself a 'hurrah' when I passed Redhook Brewery. Mom and I did the ropes course there for her birthday and had made a mental note to come back to ride the trail we saw along the river. I finally made it!

At about mile 20, things started to become painful for me. I was having a pretty severe cramp in my right gluteus minimus muscle, which made it difficult to sit on the bike seat, let alone pedal. But I kept pushing on, even though I was slightly miserable and desperately needed a good stretch.

At mile 30, after having gotten to my turnaround point and started back on the river trail towards home, I finally stopped for a break. I found a picnic bench in the sun and stretched out my muscles, drank some water, and ate some much-needed snacks. After resting for about 20 minutes, though, it was time to get back on the trail.

The way home went pretty quickly. I had to stop once more to stretch and put my cell phone back together. It had fallen out of the pouch I put it in and busted on the ground. Luckily, besides a few nick marks, it was no worse for the wear when I put it back together.

After that brief stop, I only had 8 more miles to home. I ended up taking off my riding jacket when I got even warmer, riding for the first time in just my jersey. Even though I had to huff and puff up the hills near my house, I was feeling good. I rolled onto my street with a big smile on my face, proud at having ridden 50.5 miles!

Ride summary:
Miles: 50.5
Average speed: 14.2 mph
Total riding time: 3 hours 32 minutes
Total time with stops: 4 hours

Note: This week I also rode the trainer, both for an hour on Wednesday night and an hour on Thursday morning.

Carol - Wednesdays ride.  Today the schedule called for a 20 mile ride.  I was going to start first thing this morning but it looked like it could start raining at any time so I decided to go into town and get my errands done.  Sure enough by the time I made it home it was sprinkling.  Now, I am no fair weather baby, but the idea of riding on slick rodes with skinny tires is a little bit intimidating.  So instead I put on my work clothes and went out and spread compost until I ran out.  By that time I was soaked and decided to ride on the trainer.  I rode my 20 miles.  For the first time in a while it didn't seem to bad, however, I can see how people can get addicted to tv. Some of the court shows kept me amused and the time went by rather quickly.
This Saturday calls for an eighty mile ride.....hope the weathers nice so I don't have to ride the trainer for six hours.

My new long sleeve jersey came from Amazon and it fit perfect.  I can hardly wait to ride the road in it.  Black, white, and red, it looks so racey.  I still haven't purchased the heart monitor but I love the new biking clothes I've purchased.

Next item needed:  Wrist ID to wear when on the road.

Carol - Saturday's ride.  What a joy it was to have Cassandra home.  We started the day coloring Easter eggs for Sunday (I love being creative).  Then, after careful preparation...which includes fueling our bodies, checking tire pressure, lubing chains, packing our riding gear and bikes into our vehicles, we finally took off for our departure site by Sammish Island at the public hunting area.  After parking we looked up to see a wonderful young eagle in the tree.  What an amazing sight that was.
We started our ride in the direction of Bayview continuing on to LaConner.  Our average speed with no tail wind was 15.5.  This part of the ride was wonderful...good speed, great companionship, and lots of beautiful sunshine.  We couldn't ask for anything better.  After reaching LaConner we looked for a place to eat where our family friend Melissa works.  Yes, we needed to eat again to keep our energy levels up.  This ended up being a very good thing because after leaving LaConner we rode toward Conway then crossed over to ride through the tulip fields.  Wow....the sun was still shining but the wind we encountered was crazy.  From my time spent on our sailboat I've become pretty good at determining wind speed and it must have been blowing a constant 35 with gusts higher than that.  I've never ridden in wind like that before and at times it almost blew me and Cassandra off our bikes.  It felt like a constant non-stop uphill battle trying to ride against it.  Where before we were making such good speed, we were now averaging about 11mph.  Sometimes we actually dropped to 8mph and we rode our remaining 20+ miles in these conditions.  Needless to say we were both exhausted when we finished.
Since I usually ride alone I treasured having Cassandra with me and without her I probably would have been tempted to find another way back to the truck. All I can say is thank you honey for the inspiration to continue.

Instructions for Posting Comments

Cassandra: We have heard from several people that they haven't been able to post comments, so I checked out the process and here are the instructions. You can click on 'Comment' underneath a post to make a comment. Type what you want to say. Then, you will have to select a profile. The easiest one that probably applies to the most people is Google Mail (Gmail). If you have Gmail, click on that. It will redirect you to your Google login page. Log in to your account and you will see a page setting up an account for Blogger.com. Just type the name you want your posts to be credited to, accept the terms of service, and then you will be taken back to Blogger.com to finalize your comment. Type in the little security phrase and you should be good to go. Your comment will post to our blog and you won't have to go through this big long process again. I know it sounds complicated but the system takes you right through all of the pages to create an account and finalize your post, so it really isn't as hard as it seems. We can't wait to hear from all of you!

Cassandra: This weekend mom and I enjoyed our first outdoor ride together on our new bikes! Since I was home for Easter we decided to do our ride up north, in Skagit County. It was a beautiful day to ride and we had a lot of fun. Our ride took us from the release site at Samish Island (near Edison), through the mostly straight roads and rolling hills near Padilla Bay, across Highway 20, and through the fields of blooming daffodils and tulip buds to La Conner. We stopped to eat lunch at the Waterfront Cafe, where our family friend Melissa works, and then we were off again, winding our way back through different fields and on different long, straight roads (Skagit County has an abundance of these) to mix up the scenery.

The weather was gorgeous. We couldn't have asked for anything better, except for maybe less wind. At times we were getting blown completely around ... I had to take my bar mitts off my bike because they were acting like sails. I also unclipped for some of the time, because I was worried I was going to tip over and not be able to put my feet down to catch myself. The wind was scary when it came as a cross-breeze but presented challenges even when it was head-on, making the flat roads feel like steep hills. I don't think we had a tail-wind the whole ride!

I really liked biking in such a rural location. It was very different from biking the Burke Gilman, where there are tons of people and you get some pretty scenery (Lake Washington), but not much tranquility. I don't think anyone out there is writing poetry about the Burke-Gilman, but they could about the Skagit flats. Our constant companions were farm animals, it seemed. We saw horses who perked up and watched us, goats who didn't even notice us, and lots of cows. The big ones just looked at us with lazy eyes but the little ones were completely terrified of our bikes and ran quickly away. We even saw an immature eagle in a tree where we left our cars.

Besides the nice weather and the great setting, it was fun to finally ride as a team with mom. We ride at generally the same pace and are going to do just fine on the STP, I think. We certainly had our share of laughs (mom wearing her sunglasses and her reading glasses at the same time) and complaints (the wind) on our ride. Here's to many more!

Here is our ride in stats:
Total Time: 2 hours 57 minutes
Miles: 35.73
Average Speed: 12.2 mph
Max Speed: 22.2 mph

Cassandra: I did the same thing as mom this week and split my mid-week ride in two, riding the trainer for 46 minutes on Wednesday night after my nutrition class and 47 minutes on Thursday morning after waking up. I needed the Wednesday night ride; for some reason, after class, my mind was on fire. I just couldn't wind down. I needed something to burn off all of my energy. And for the most part, my ride accomplished that. For once, I didn't wear my heart-rate monitor but I was riding at about a 140-bpm pace. I did the same thing on Thursday morning. I tell you, it is harder to work out in the morning when you just wake up and your muscles are cold. But, it is a good way to shake off sleep and get your energy up for the day. I rode at more of a 150-155 bpm pace that morning, with limited soreness from the night before.

I am having a persistent training pain in my left hip, which seems to get worse when I ride. Originally, the pain started after my first-ever kickboxing class. Now, it just doesn't seem to go away. It feels like a charlie-horse in my hip/lower back, coming on whenever it feels like it and pulsing until I do something like stretch or roll on the foam roller that Dennis got to stretch his IT band. I think I need to focus more on stretching and proactively rolling on the foam roller a few times a day to keep the pain away.

This weekend I am headed up to Bellingham and mom and I are planning on riding together on Saturday. It will be our first outside training ride together! Keep your fingers crossed for good weather!

Carol - I have been negligent in posting lately.  I think this goes hand in hand with my mental state.  It has been very difficult for me to ride on the trainer lately.  Yes, I have been putting my miles in mid-week which is twenty to thirty, however, this week I decided to spread them out over two days.  Yesterday I rode seven miles at the gym on the spin cycle.  This was once again interval training with some high intensity interspersed with recovery pace.  For some reason time seems to go faster when I am at the gym.  I'm not sure if that's because of the distraction of other people working out or if it's my competitive nature to succeed (especially within eyesight of other people).  Anyway, I finished my workout with an intense weight lifting session and felt great.
Today I had planned on riding the rest of my miles in the morning, however, the plumber was here to finish the bathroom and the faucet fittings we had bought would not fit.  So, off I went to find another so he can come back before Cassandra comes home this weekend.  I wasn't in the mood to go to town so I decided that I would go to REI first to purchase a few items on my continuous bike "need" list.  This was something I could at least get excited about.  I was so happy when I found two hot pink jersey's:  one short sleeve and the other sleeveless, a pair of biking shorts, riding glasses with interchangeable lenses, arm warmers, fingerless gloves (for when it warms up) that match my bike colors, and two pair of socks.  All my pretty's will inspire me to ride more, and I'm sure faster.  Then off to get the new faucet, a few groceries and back home. The weather warmed up while I was in town so I decided to find some good hills close by the house and finish my miles for the day.  I ended up riding some of the same roads I had ridden when I first got my bike.  I remembered how difficult some of the hills were so I was pleased when I breezed up them without stopping.  I was at mile six riding up Euclid when I felt that familiar female feeling of warmth.  Way to break in the new biking shorts!!  Of course I headed home feeling cheated out of a longer ride...but that's okay, because this weekend we are scheduled to ride one hundred miles....I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Cassandra: I was overjoyed yesterday when the weather was nice enough for me to ride outside on my bike. There was a bonus, too, and that was that I also had company. Dennis and I played leap-frog on the Burke-Gilman for a little over an hour and a half, and about 24 miles. By this point, most of my gear issues have been solved. To combat my perpetually cold hands I invested in some Bar Mitts, which are neoprene mitts that wrap around the handlebars. You slide your hands inside for access to the handlebars, shifters, and brakes. My hands stayed toasty warm yesterday. I did run into one potential problem, though, and that is that you have to slide your hands in the mitts in order to hit the brakes. I tried squeezing them on the outside and ended up off the trail and in a flower bed. I have also come up with a solution to having a cold core. I am now layering a long-sleeve shirt underneath my Smartwool instead of a jersey. Everything gets topped with my bright riding jacket. Yesterday my temperature was great. It was so nice to be outside, and with company, while I was riding yesterday. I almost didn't notice the soreness in my legs from riding both Friday and Saturday on the trainer.

I really prefer riding outside now when the weather permits. It is a lot more entertaining and as a result time goes by much more quickly. But, I have to say, I am getting more and more weary of the busy Burke-Gilman. Last weekend a little girl on a bike swerved into me and nearly caused me to lose my balance and fall off my bike. When you're clipped in and can't get your feet out in a hurry, losing your balance can lead to a huge injury. Her parents weren't watching her and didn't even apologize to me. And then yesterday some people were just talking on the side of the trail. Their dog lunged for another dog across the trail, nearly hitting Dennis who hit his brakes so hard that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to stop in time and keep from hitting him. Of course, those people didn't apologize for nearly causing an accident, either. Some people are just clueless.