Beyond blinky lights: A bicycle lane you bring with you
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A little research and uncovered that the Peoria area isn't the best for cycling, but that doesn't mean there aren't folks out there doing it!
Peoria Triathlon Club: http://tri-peoria.org/
Welcome to Illinois Valley Wheelm'n: http://www.ivwheelmn.org/
Peoria Bicycle Club: http://www.peoriabicycleclub.com/
Peoria Area Mountain Bike Association (PAMBA): http://www.pambamtb.org/
Illinois Trail Map: http://www.trailresources.com/il13.html
Wikipedia - Rock Island State Park: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Island_Trail_State_Park
Rock Island Trail: http://www.ritrail.org/
Pimiteoui Trail: http://www.trailresources.com/trail-illinois-pimiteoui-trail.html
This appears to be one route to get to the Rock Island Trailhead:
View Larger Map
Peoria Bicycle Club: http://www.peoriabicycleclub.com/
Peoria Area Mountain Bike Association (PAMBA): http://www.pambamtb.org/
Illinois Trail Map: http://www.trailresources.com/il13.html
Wikipedia - Rock Island State Park: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Island_Trail_State_Park
Rock Island Trail: http://www.ritrail.org/
Pimiteoui Trail: http://www.trailresources.com/trail-illinois-pimiteoui-trail.html
This appears to be one route to get to the Rock Island Trailhead:
View Larger Map
Fellow Cyclists,
The Bicycle Commuter Act has been reintroduced in both houses of the US Congress. This legislation would provide bicycle commuters with tax benefits similar to those enjoyed by transit riders.
The League of American Bicyclists (LAB) has provided a web page with ready-made, editable letters of support:
http://capwiz.com/lab/issues/alert/?alertid=9520176
All you have to do is enter your name, addresss, and zip code, and a letter will automatically be sent to your congressman and senators. You may edit the letters or write your own if you wish.
Please take a moment to do this.
Also, please forward this information to other listservs, newsgroups, and web forums.
Thank you for your support!
All that remains behind her metamorphoses is a long and narrow corrugated cardboard beige box. She's in the corner, one hood lightly resting against the black and steel gray BBQ. It may be the light, but it looks as if she twinkling; her dark amber and forested green skin a sheen of earthy colors glowing softly under the isolated bulb overhead. The garage breathes life just by housing her within its womb.
Another stolen glance at her reveals more of her true form. She isn't dainty--not by a long shot--nor is she unpleasant to look at. Instead, her beauty is like that of Katherine Hepburn, a handsomely rugged beauty. She's remarkably well-proportioned, yet looks a good few inches taller than her actual height. Her top tube slopes ever so slightly from the well-cushioned seat into slightly larger-than-expected handlebars. Indeed, she appears to be more stylish workhorse than the conventional waif winners of late.
She was birthed into life late last night with the able hands of Le Boyfriend. While I remained buried in the dark corners of our office scribing and searching for a suitable maiden voyage for the fair bicycle, he steadfastly created her. Well into the twilight hours of the night did I finally hear him cry out, "And, it is done!" Leaving websites of Rails-to-Trails behind, I rushed to the garage. What I came upon was both a grisly, yet tender scene. Bike parts and casings and plastic wrap discarded in disheveled heaps surrounded the two of them. But I saw him with her, sweetly and lovingly caressing the fine cables, tweaking and truing them, coaxing smooth braking and shifting out of her; these things would be the final vestiges which would bring her to life and into my heart forever.
Juniper is her name, "a symbol of longevity, strength, athleticism, and fertility." [Wikipedia]
And today ... she rides.
OMG. Rick Crawford just described my dream office:
"We need to get rid of business suits, and make sure every facility has showers so that people doing big business feel clean and comfy after they commute to work on their bikes. It should be cool to do big business in casual clothes that can be stuffed into a backpack. And put a laundry room in the office too."
Read all about his "rant" here: http://www.velonews.com/article/78930/circles-wasting-energy-in-an-energy-challenged-world
I, too, have come to realize commuting by bike is something so much bigger and better than just feeding my inner hamster.
I bailed on the social ride today because I couldn't get home in time to change clothes and to meet up with everyone. Just so you know, the Tuesday social ride I speak of is actually NOT a club ride. It's just a ride that I've volunteered to lead for my friends and their families. We ride a local Rails-to-Trails route (Huckleberry Trail) and the average pace is 8mph on a "fast" day. :) Literally, it's an active rest ride for me, but I get a handful of women coming to this ride. They're interested in cycling, but are afraid to start (and confused by all the different options and "rules" of riding). I'm trying to help them out and get them comfortable and interested in road cycling. My goal is to one day incorporate them all into the local club social rides that happen on Wednesday and Saturdays around here. I'm sure it will be a while before that happens, though! The average pace for those rides tends to be 15 mph on hilly terrain (3000+ ft of climbing over 20-30 miles).
Anyway, I canceled today's social ride when I realized that I wouldn't be able to start it at the regular 6pm time. My normal carpool ride home couldn't leave work by 5pm and the bus wasn't going to arrive until 5:15pm (and then it took the LONG way home). By the time I stepped off the bus, it was 5:45pm an I still had a 20 minute walk home in my heels while carrying a laptop bag. Trust me, at this moment all I was thinking about was how I wished I had put together my commuter bike and rode it to work that day!
By the time I got home, it was already past 6pm. I took the dog out for a quick 20 minute walk, came home and suited up in spandex, and at nearly 7pm I headed out for a tempo ride with 30 seconds intervals of big chain (hard gear) followed by 2 minutes easy and then another interval of 30 seconds medium gear spinning as fast as I could go, followed by another 2 minutes of easy. I did this for 15 miles (less than 500 ft. climbing) for ~1 hour. It was tougher than I thought it would be, but I completed it. That's all that matters! 
As soon as I get my new commuter/touring bike put together, I think I'm going to try to start commuting to work. I only have 10 minutes to ride. It's sad. I usually either take the bus or get a ride from my boyfriend because I don't like being all sweaty for just 10 minutes of riding. I'm thinking about actively riding out of my way as part of my "commute" and then just shower at the gym that is only 3 blocks away from my office. The thing is ... I really like being able to get ready at home in the mornings. Damn, convenience! :) I almost wished I lived 15-20 miles away from work so that I really would have a good excuse to start commuting again (like I did in CA). Adding 15 miles to 3 miles every morning just seems a little ridiculous when I know I can skip it and sleep in for an extra hour. You know what I'm saying? I really do like my sleep.
I also need to remember to take it easy on the runs! I started out feeling really strong with them and then--WHAM!--the next day I feel shot! I have been more fatigued than I thought I'd be. I feel strong when doing it, but it's taking longer for my body to recover. I'm still working on finding the right number of recovery days and balancing when I should be doing what. So far, it's just chaos: I do the exercises/training as I can, and there's been 0% swimming done so far. That's okay ... I'm not the least bit worried. June was just getting started on routinely working out. (So far, very good. I'm averaging 4+ times a week!) I think I'm going to make July the month that I actually try to stick to the workout plan. We'll see what August may bring ...
How about you? How has your "workout stickiness" been?
I started looking at some of my old blogging friends' blogs again: Libor, Eric Ford, Kyliee, and discovered that Eric is back! He just started back in around April/May after a few years hiatus. Go figure. Maybe he, Vollenda, and I all just had a little burnout or needed some time to miss triathlons to get "it" back. Although, to be honest, this training thing is a lot harder to do than I last remembered. :)
The BIG excitement this week would be that I got a new commuter bike! It's the Schwinn World Tour Commuter bike and it was delivered Saturday ... but I didn't (and still don't) have time to put it together until Wednesday or Thursday of this week. I was hoping to assemble it over the weekend, but between being ill, resting, and doing chores, it just never happened. I also didn't do much exercise over the weekend. I rode Amelia for 45 minutes on Saturday and didn't push my HR higher than Zone 3. Mostly, I slept and rested a lot. I did a ton of laundry. That's okay, I obviously needed it.
Speaking of being lazy ... This weekend in the garage I uncovered a set of new racing wheels STILL IN THE BOX that I bought last November. How come I never got around to putting these on? I guess I kept thinking that I just needed a racing bike to put them on--Ha, ha! Yeah, I could be that, but I'm starting to think that I really am lazy! :) Maybe, I'll finally get both of those things done this week ...
On the work front: I'm instructing lots of pedagogical workshops this week. Today is the only "slow" day I have ... but I do have a 1/2 day off on Friday and Monday! On Friday, I'm heading up to NY to participate in the Long Island Harbors Ride. Florin and I will be riding 50 miles on Sunday for the event and I'm really looking forward to it. It's so nice to get out of town and ride sometimes! I love the local rides, but there's something so cool about doing an event somewhere far away. You know what I mean?
I also recently joined the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and have fallen in love with the idea of going on a transcontinental ride. (Not all at once, but sections and pieces at a time.) I especially love the "find a trail" site they have, TrailLink: http://www.traillink.com/. This is awesome!
So, I'm planning to run easy tonight (but I feel so sluggish and bloated today--what's up with that?) Tomorrow, an easy social ride. Wednesday, I hope to ride at a moderate intensity. Thursday, I plan a 2+ hour ride down to the New River with Florin with lots of breaks along the way. Friday and Saturday will be off days. Lot's of leg work as you can see, but I still need to squeeze swimming in somewhere. I don't know why I abstain from it ... it's not like I hate to swim ... I guess it's that whole "lazy" thing again!
What do you have planned for the week?
I've taken Thursday and Friday off from workouts due to a nasty head cold and general malaise. I slept a lot in the hours that I would normally be working or working out. I feel 1000% better for it. I awoke with only a runny nose this morning--the head congestion has bid adieu! I spent the better part of the morning getting a little extra sleep and then around 2pm started chores around the house. Aside from a bit of dizziness, I feel pretty grand. After a protein-heavy, light-carbohydrate breakfast, tons of water, and some more chores (ironing while watching Top Gear), by 6pm I felt confident enough to head out for an easy ride.
I grabbed Amelia and decided to go out Glade to Merrimac and back on Prices Fork. I was careful not to push too hard and to keep it in Zone 3 or less. I have to say that I do still have a bit of a scratchy, sore throat. (That was quickly apparent as I am still breathing through my mouth because of the runny nose.) Other than that, I think I'm nearly 100% again. It's amazing how R&R really can and does work wonders.
I've been pretty worn-down this week. I've finally succumbed to a really bad cold complicated with an eye problem (I've got styes in my left eye. Ick!). I took today off from work and haven't exercised since Wednesday evening, but I plan to go cycling really easy tomorrow if I'm not still stuffed up. I'm hoping to go, and if I do, I'll go slow ... maybe for a longer ride of 2 hours? We'll see. I have to make sure to stay well-hydrated! The cold medication is making me so drowsy and thirsty! I'd be using my SinuPulse (sinus irrigation), but I'm so congested that nothing will go through. (Doubly Ick! Plus, breathing is a little tough; there's snot running everywhere! Ew!)
Have a great weekend and I'm looking forward to finding how Vollenda's bike ride this weekend turns out!
PS - Did I mention that I got my new commuter bike today? I bought a Schwinn World Tour Commuter Bike and I'm just dying to starting riding it to work and to run errands and stuff! The box was delivered today ... It's killing me to be sick right now. I want to be out riding it around! Maybe tomorrow will be different? (I've got my fingers crossed!)
It's still busy at work (now I'm conducting training 8-5 Tues-Thur), but at least I'll likely leave by 5pm today to do a super slow social/family ride with friends and co-workers. I rode 33 miles on Saturday and it nearly killed me. I was the slowest (and most tired) one in the group. It's been awhile since I've been *that* person. Oh, well. We all start somewhere, right? Despite being dead last and all, I still had a great time and took Sunday OFF to also sleep in (love those lazy Sundays!)
So, Monday I woke up too late to workout and then I worked really late and figured I'd just skip a workout day. Then, I found out that I had missed the last bus home and my boyfriend was also stuck at work. That meant I was either going to have to walk home or run home. Since I keep a stash of workout clothes and shoes at my office, I figured, "What the hell, let's run!" I donned the clothes and left my office and started jogging home. It was actually really awesome, except for the hailstorm 10 minutes into my run. (Ouch!) I should've known by the thundering rainclouds ... which followed shortly with big, fat, juicy drops of rain. :) In less than 2 minutes, I was SOAKED head-to-toe and still had a mile-and-a-half to go. At least it was a warm rain ... and I wasn't all hot and sticky when I was done. :D
Today, I woke up at 5:30 AM feeling lazy and was just about to go back to sleep when had this horrible half-awake/half-asleep realization: gaining 20 lbs. in 2 years means I'd be a huge disappointment to my friends and family back home. Following that thought was a phrase I like to repeat to myself, "If You Keep Doing the Same Thing, You'll Keep Getting the Same Result" Needless to say, I'm still not as heavy as before and I'm certainly more fit at my current weight then when I was previously at this weight. I'm ready for this change. It was all I needed to get my butt outta' bed and into my workout clothes. I got to the gym and lifted weights for an hour in the BodyPUMP course. It was great and I'm glad I went. Now, if only I'd stop being so hungry at lunchtime! (*grumbly belly*)
I'm back on the training plan.
It's been a few years since I last did a triathlon. Grad school and full-time work really isn't all that conducive for a regular training schedule. Sure, I can do it, but at the cost of other things that I had deemed to be of more importance. Now, with summer here again and I'm steadily getting a handle on my not-so-new job, I've got the time, the desire, and the plan in hand.
So far, I'm about 2 weeks behind in my workouts, but I actually made attempts to do it last week. It went surprisingly well. I was really sore after my weights and run workouts on Thursday, but I took Friday to walk it off and Saturday was Le Boyfriend's birthday party so that was an off day, too. Just as well. I rode and rode hard today, but the late evening heat is murderous! It's 91 degrees F and 42% humidity. Ugh! Anyway, it was a short, but sweet ride and now that I'm home in front of the fan with a cold compress to my head, I'm feeling infinitely better. The ride is as follows:
Something pretty cool happened yesterday during the party. The discussion of cycling came up, and although I'm no means hardcore anymore (like I ever really was!), several partygoers requested a basic cycling ride with me. Most of them were women. I was really surprised, but then I guess I remember being like that only 3 years ago myself. To be honest, this is a real opportunity. My cardio is fantastic, but my strength and endurance so far this cycling season is shit. If there was ever a time for so-called "lesser" riders to join me, now would be the time! I have the know-how of cycling and all the bizzare-etiquette down-pat. Besides, I like to teach and I could use a few easy rides that would at least just get me into the saddle a few more times a week (I can always follow up with a run or swim to cap the session.) So, I thought about it and I'm looking forward to starting up an easy-ride cycling group this week with some friends and acquaintances.
I suspect it'll be one of those things where we meet at Huckleberry and God-only-knows what kind of outfits and shoes and bikes I'll see. I'm thinking of scheduling two rides: one for Friends and Family which will be an anything goes SLOW ride on a protected trail; the other will be a very basic Beginning Road Cycling group and we'll discuss clothing, nutrition, signaling, etiquette, spinning/cadence, terrain strategies, and underwear vs. chamois. :)
Man, what a depressing way to end the day. :(
There's been a lot of talk of death today. First, my sister asks me about the VT Shootings. I really haven't revisited it much in my mind since last April 16. Probably for a good reason. (It's depressing.)
Katrina Cometa (of the Radford cycling group) was recently attacked by a dog while she was cycling. She lucked out, breaking hips and other bones. But I just learned that Forrest "Fess" Green, a professor at Radford University, was riding his bicycle when struck by a car. He passed away today in the Roanoke ICU. Don, a Pulaski cyclist just placed a memorial for Fess on the introduction (Enter) page of thedrivewaygear.com. Iain wrote the below email to the NRVBA listserv:
Folks,
I'm sure many of you have stories of Fess Green as I do. I hope you bring them in your hearts to Fess's service later this week (arrangements to be announced). I think his wife, Millie, would very much appreciate your attendance an hearing your appreciation and memories of Fess.
It is difficult to think of a person who has been more involved and giving to NRV cycling in his own way than Fess. As Matt O'Toole now does for the NRVBA, he fought persistently, stubbornly, intelligently, and patiently to improve the lot of cyclists, young and old, in this valley. Without him, there is some question whether the bicycle path in Radford would exist. Without him, it is doubtful that planning for alternate methods of transportation in the NRV would have been considered 10 years ago. Cantankerous, yes! Opinionated, yes! A man who involved himself in giving back to his community, YES! They don't make them any better.
I also remember my rides with him. His learning to use clipless pedals--ouch! His fondness for a rollicking good time. His stories of his wanderings around the world on his bike, in a canoe, on a hike, and even by cruise ship. His wisdom about the confounding frustrations of trying to get community projects implemented. Many of us are riding, hiking, and water-crafting on improvements that Fess was an instrumental part of. His authorship of a book communicating his passion for the history of this area and cycling culminating in his book:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Wilderness-Road-Odyssey /Fess-B-Green/e/9780936015941 &sourceid=Q000000630
http://countryroadscollections.com/artistinfo.htm#fess_green
I've attached a few pictures of Fess (thanks to Katrina Cometa & Linda Burk for contributing). This is how I will remember him.
Blessed, following winds, my friend and colleague,
Iain
Skuut - Welcome to the official home of the Skuut wooden balance bike - www.skuut.com
The minute I have kids of my own, they are getting one of these. I just hope my kids are ready to skuut as soon as they are walking! :)
I'm teaching my very first Spinning class this Sunday! I'll be leading the NRVBA Club winter training class ... I'm a little nervous, so I've asked Ava Howard to do it with me and she has agreed. (Phew!)
I'm thinking about doing something different from the normal spin routine. I really like the "Monster Drills" that Cheri (from Chico Sports Club) had us do, but I'm also thinking about doing something more "realistic" that is actually based upon real, outside road conditions. Maybe a "ride Mt. Tabor" session in which the 4 hour ride is condensed into 1.5, and equating the different elevation profile with the different levels of difficulty? I dunno. Usually we get in there and hammer away ... I know that often I want more variety in the spinning classes. It's not because I'm bored, it's just that I hate sprints but love climbs because I'm a weak sprinter and a strong climber. Making me do sprints is probably really good for me. :)
I'll let you know what I ended up doing ...
Streetsblog » Ciclovía: A Moving Experience in Bogotá, Colombia
This is INCREDIBLE. It is safe, it looks like so much fun, it involves getting outside, and it's social networking in classic style. Watch it and want it!
X marks the spot. Today the spot is a 5x accomplishment!
I did something today that I haven't done since June 2007. (Man, that was long ago.) I managed to get in 5x of workouts this week. Even better than that is that 4 of the 5 workouts were 45 minutes or longer!
It may not be a big deal to you, but it's quite an accomplishment for me given how demanding school has been. My exams, papers, and finals are finally over and I'm right back on track. All semester long I've been keeping a 3x a week workout schedule consisting mostly of 45-minute sessions of spinning, swimming, or jogging. It's not been enough to stop weight gain, but it's been enough to maintain my cardio. With school winding down significantly (I no longer have to take 3 hard courses at the same time! I'm down to one class this Spring, Summer, and Fall and I'm DONE with courses! OH, YEAH!) In the spirit of this newfound time, my overall goal for this year and part of the next is to actually lose weight over the holidays--and I think I can do it!
I'm starting out next week with a 1.5 hour long spinning class. I have to admit, I feel really good about all of this, but oh-my-goodness, am I tired. I need a nap. :)
DogPoweredScooter.com
I really need to get Calen and I one of these. I simply cannot run as long or as fast as he anymore and taking him for walks seems rather ho-hum. I know Calen would love this contraption. He is a sled-dog after all.
You know, there's a few places around here [Blacksburg, VA] that could use a "bicycle lift." Check it out:
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