Morning rides...

The past two mornings, I have taken the initiative and gotten out on a 15 mile loop from home and started biking. I had planned to get some exercise as soon as I changed to the new schedule. The cold mornings have kept me indoors up till this week. But as of yesterday, I broke free.

The days have been windy! Mother suggested that I could take note of the wind direction to make it easier for myself. On a circular route, you will have to cycle into the wind on at least 3 of the 4 cardinal points. Cross winds slow you down a good bit when the wind is strong. Besides, I am doing this to get in shape. Harder is better. Today the gusts of wind slowed me down a lot. I managed rides in the 15 mph average range. I really don't know how good or bad that is. I expected with the shorter distance, I should be able to go faster!

Since I can only get in an hour of riding, I can compare the ride to time spent in spinning class. One advantage to riding is the time savings of getting up to the class and setting up the bike. I can be out of the drive and gone pretty quickly and that frees up time. I believe there are benefits to riding that I can't get in the class.

Horn Mountain Shelter

Yesterday, I volunteered my time to work on the shelter up at Horn Tower. I worked with two men from the Forest Service one of whom was an archeologist. He had extensive information about how and when the shelter was built. It turns out the shelter was originally built for registering folks coming to see the fire tower which was a really big item of interest in the 1930's. The CCC crew who built it was composed of young Black men. The Foresters had pictures of the men who built it. They even had a copy of the blue prints.

I did a small part of the work. Mostly I helped peel the uprights and picked up rock and smoothed the base under the shelter. So now when I look at the shelter, I can be proud for having got an appreciation of what it took to build it.

Another big ride today...

I am supposed to be meeting Paul and Richmond today at 1:30 to ride a big ride. Whether or not that is out to Fayetteville or Childersburg or elsewhere, I don’t know right now. I should look at the weather and conditions so I can evaluate the best routes considering wind direction and traffic factors. That might be a good thing for the club to publish. Data on what are the best rides for the areas we travel.

Sycamore

We are riding to Sycamore this afternoon. I will see if my weight loss made a difference.

Since I began this weight loss program, I have reduced calories by 900 per day. That coupled with burning an extra 1600 calories in a day may have left me flat for energy. I was stronger on the hills but still seemed to lose energy as the ride went on. I climbed over the Twin street hills pretty well. Not as strong as Paul though. I was able to power over the Sycamore hills better than last summer, still not as well as Paul. I didn't look at my overall speed. It probably wasn't that great. I rode for 75 minutes and we covered about 20 miles. Today I will do another ride. I don't know how far I will go.

Sara-Today is your birthday...

Well, you aren't a teenager any more! I was remembering that day 20 years ago when you were born. Your Mother had been in labor for a long time. We were told that the second time went faster than the first. It wasn't true. We had been at the hospital for a long time. Finally the delivery nurse said you were ready to come. Dr. Robinette pulled you out and said, "its a little sister!" I took you into the nursery like I did with Nikki. Once you were bathed, weighed, and wrapped up, they put you in a little bed. I stood there and watched you sleep quietly. I waited for a while watching you. The family had been waiting for you to come but once you were here and there were no problems, we all went somewhere for some sleep. The next day was hectic for me. I had been away from work and had to go in. Then the next day when I returned to pick you both up, the car broke down and I spent the morning at a garage. That wasn't how I wanted to spend that morning. Finally I got there and picked up you and your Mom. We drove home and I put you in a portable crib in our living room. Nikki was staying with Maw-maw and Paw-paw. For a while, I just sat there in the living room watching you sleep peacefully.

Now that day is 20 years in the past but it doesn't seem like that long. I mentioned to you the big difference in being 20 is how fast the next 10 years will fly. I remember turning 20 after what seemed like an eternity. Then suddenly I was 30. Most of the really wonderful things that happened to me occured during that decade of my life. It was a decade of changes.

Goodbye Auburn

I have finally come to a conclusion about the Pharm D program. I simply don't have the interest or drive to continue. The continual delays and other problems have become too much.

Winter finally comes...

One year ago today, I was in Cullman and went riding on the Pine Torch trail. That was a difficult ride back then. I wonder how it would feel now. Winter weather has finally arrived here. Tomorrow we are expecting accumulation of snow in Cullman and maybe Sylacauga so we are taking David to Paw Paw's to see his first snow. Maybe we won't be dissapointed. I will have to find some other exercise to take the place of my spinning class. I have been planning to begin those unlimited martial arts exercises once my body weight got below 220 to spare my knees and joints. That time is almost here. These two days will test my resolution. I can take my Organizer with me to keep on track. We will see.