blackberries in the Stump Dump

this year i got smart about the garden and timed things much better. Some judicious weeding and mulching means that we get to enjoy some fine produce with minimal labor. Great pea harvest. Now waiting on the beans, summer squash, carrots and tomatillos. Cucumbers and peppers are still deciding whether or not they’ll play along this year.

blackberries from our patch

Meanwhile the blackberries in our yard are ALL IN. I have harvested more berries this year than the prior three years combined. These are volunteer, wild plants that sprung up around the electric meter (sorry Green Mountain Power). And they rule.

summer bike rack

Excellent ride on Sunday. Wasn’t sure I was up for a four hour ride, but then I remembered that I really wasn’t sick that long. Three days out. And it’s not like my lungs are screwed up, it’s just that I’m missing half the skin from my hands. No biggie.

Over 80* out there. I left from home and hit some favorites in the town loops then over to Sterling Valley  and home via Town Loops. 4 hours at a mandy-crushing pace. No stopping except to refill my bottle twice at the office, and once to pee. The deer flies make it inadvisable to stop, so it’s just as well it wasn’t a social ride.

It’s been a rough week of feeling awful, sleeping a lot, being out of sorts and existing in a limbo land until the outbreak clears up. I’ve hardly been outside for the past four days. No workouts, no bike rides. There was a refreshing trip to the reservoir for some swimming, but that’s been about it.

Mentally it’s very difficult, but as someone who is naturally go-go-go-go, when my body says ‘no-no-no-no’ i’ve got to respect it’s wishes. I’m functioning at about 90% right now. My brain seems to be coming back online, my body slowly starting the heeling process, my energy level is coming back. I’m planning on getting back into the swing of things by tomorrow afternoon and back into loving life.

K and I got home on Friday night and enjoyed dinner at home. A home cooked meal is so nice after a week of eating out. Saturday was Waterbury’s 4th of July celebration. Keiran was all charged up to run the Green Mountain Mile - a one mile running race that occurs right before the parade. It’s a great race for kids and a lot of his friends were there. He did great for a kid that’s never run that far at one time, and he ran the whole way. Having the parade crowd lining the route and cheering definitely made it more fun for all the kids.

While George and K went off to watch the World Cup game, I snuck out for a Perry Hill ride. First day back on the bike. Things were a little slick with some light rain, and I took it really easy but had a blast riding solo at my own pace. On Sunday I went out for a 3.5 hour ride into Stowe and back, hitting many of my favorite trails. It was a great way to ease back into riding.

Garden is going gangbusters. We’re eating lots of peas. And check out the awesome poppy that volunteered.

Reasons for racing:

• Because I could
• Because more women should race
• Because the course was rumored to be fun

Reasons for not racing:

• I don’t consider myself or aspire to be a cross-country racer, and this was definitely a cross country race
• I didn’t really feel like getting my arse kicked because i was the only woman on a singlespeed
• Wasn’t in my schedule and therefore mentally I wasn’t thinking about it
• Really just wanted a nice long ride in the woods, not a race

So, I ended up deciding not to race and on Saturday I went out for a lovely long solo mountain bike ride. Well, first we took K for an hour long bike path ride. The George and K went to watch some soccer and I went out for another three hours. It was one of those meandering, make it up as I go along rides. First I climbed into Sterling Valley, tried a new trail (great find), rode an old favorite, added some dirt roads and worked my way back home over Stowe Hollow. That climb feels awesome after 2.5 hours of lots of climbing, but it’s not as bad as it looks. It ended up being three hours, which was just what I was after. Wish I could have pushed the pace a little bit, but the roots and rocks were a bit slick and I had the wrong tires.

Sunday we headed down to New Hampshire, George was racing along with the majority of the VT-based Bike29 team. K participated in a fantastic kids race. They have a neat little course where the kids climb up into the woods, ride some spaghetti singletrack and bomb down an easy descent - great for the little guys. K is very tentative on the bike still and needs to gain experience, strength and a little tenacity. We need to take him out on his bike more often so he gets more comfortable. We’re making an effort this summer to get him riding and not just focus on our own program.

The race started for the big kids and I watched them head off into the woods without one tinge of regret about not being in it. Not once. They can have their laps. I ended up spending most of the race in the woods looking for an ewok village with four little boys who turned every stick into a blaster gun. The course looked a little damp and there was quite a bit of carnage and crashing. Again, not something I was looking for and happy to be on the sidelines.

Last week before my big trip to FL and a week off the bike and out of my normal life. I’m trying to make the most of it and get outside as much as possible.

Oh, and there weren’t any other women anyway. A few in the younger category, but again not much hot, racing action for me.

The weather was in the midst of turning from good to crap, a stiff cold wind made the wait for the start really cold and annoying. I had a sorta good start, good for the first 30 seconds to a minute, then I lost the lead folks. No problem, hung with the next group next two to three minutes but couldn’t hang on the downhill/flat section. I ended up in the back section of the pack, trading places with the folks that can ride — as long as it’s not singletrack. Sigh. Kinda depressing.

Turns out that riding felt pretty good last night, good stress reliever. And even though I wasn’t giving it everything I got, I still took almost 10 minutes off my Flower Power time and had a much easier time on the hills. The weather is here now, pouring rain = no ride today. My legs feel fresh (which i can tell from walking up the three flights of stairs here at work) and if I do race this weekend I think I’ll be in good shape. But if I don’t race, then I’m going out for a real long adventure type ride. And frankly, that’s sounding appealing to me right now.

The good news, this weekend I was on a team for the Stowe Triathlon. My friend Jon wanted to do the race but just had no interest in the road bike part, so I signed on. Woke up early on Sunday morning to get ready to go and it was pouring rain. Not the most inspiring conditions. Still pouring when I got to the venue. It poured for the 1.5 hours it took everyone to do their swim heats (in a pool). It poured while I spent 35 minutes warming up indoors on a spin bike. It poured while I lined up according to swim time for the bike start. It poured for the entire 13.something mile road ride. And it poured when I tagged Jon for the run and the whole time he ran the 5K. Blech.

The good news is that despite feeling like I was underwater, I like riding in the rain, there was no headwind, and my legs felt great for my ride. I do a lot of intervals on some of the course sections, so I was accustomed to pushing it. I passed a lot of people and liked having a lot of rabbits to keep my pace up. Jon did great, he took a couple of minutes off of his previous swim time and five minutes off of his 5k time. Together we got it done and took the win in the team competition.

Heat makes it worse. Sweating makes it worse. So now I’m spending what will probably be the nicest days of the year hiding inside, not riding bikes, not working on my overgrown garden. Trying not to let it bother me - but it’s really difficult. And uncomfortable.

Racing tonight is out of the picture, I’m hoping this is the last bad day and that by tomorrow I’m on the other side. The ‘other side’ is indicated when all the skin falls of my fingers at the rash site. It looks gruesome, but in reality means things are better. Can’t wait to be there.

wow. what a weekend. today has had to be a recovery day. i packed a lot into two short day. makes me remember with fondness when i had three day weekends every week.

But anyway.  Saturday K went over to his Aunties house for a little time with the extended family and George and I met up with some friends at Pine Hill Park in Rutland for an afternoon of riding.

Pine Hill is very fast, very flowey. They built all the climbs with wide, bermed switchbacks and it’s all incredibly singlespeed friendly. It was also incredibly hot out there. The first time I’ve been hot since Pisgah. The heat was sucking a lot of life out of my legs, but still it was a blast. I’m loving being able to ride at the front of the group now. Not always, sometimes I get bogged down on stupid little climbs or screw up my lines in techy parts, but I was really enjoying keeping up with the boys and having the stamina to keep at it.

Sunday morning I woke up nice and early and struck out for a short, fun, easy ride from the house to the Wall and back. The Wall was so peaceful on Sunday morning. It such a short little trail, but the twisty, technical nature of it is very interesting and was perfect to combine with a little road spin.

Followed that up with a huge day of gardening and I am totally worked today. The dictionary definition of weekend warrior.