I always seem to miss the memo...

apparently it was Stupid Night at the gym this evening and no one warned me. These sorts of things happen when we're slower at The Wine Bar - and I get to the gym before 9pm.

D thinks it's somehow unhealthy that I refuse to go to the gym any other time of the day - he says it's weird that I'm uncomfortable when there are lots of other people there... he just doesn't understand, I'm not afraid of the people themselves, but rather, I'm afraid of overhearing all the Stupid that comes out of these people's mouths...

and when there are lots of people there - there's no way to get a machine far enough away to Not Overhear one or another of them.

I don't care about Britney's Boys...
Or whether or not you decide to go out drinking with your ex-boyfriend tonight...
Or who is totally getting fired where you work...
Or where your friend got her Oh So cute new tank top...


Oh - and Please, please - can we not answer our cell phones while running on tread mills or using ellipticals??? Can't you wait another ten minutes till you're off the machine... especially since your entire work out was a whopping 12 minutes long???


Like I said - it's not anti-social or unhealthy in any way... I just need everyone to stay at least six feet away from me at all times, and talk with "inside voices"... okay??? Good, I'm glad we had this talk.

D's Fault.

All last week I kept telling D - we should get that tail light fixed...

preface - I'm not one of those girls who bats her eyes and somehow manages to get out of all tickets - I am not that girl.


So when a cop pulled me over on the way home from the gym, going 58 in a 45, with my back tail light out - I wasn't excited.

However - after he elucidated my wrongs and I was getting the insurance card out of the glove box - he looked in and noticed our odometer -

Cop - That's a lot of miles you got there.
Me - Yeah, we're only had her a bit over two years, got her with 90,000 miles.
Cop - Wow, still the original engine???
Me - So far - so good.

Verdict - while I've never been persuasive enough to get myself out of a speeding ticket, apparently Josey is!!! Go Josey - and yea for warnings!!!

Planes, Trains and Bicycles.

With other, more illustrious members of the endurance community up in Alaska - ready to start their races - reading their last blog posts before they left... their anxiety, grasping madly for reasons to be calm - I can't help but wonder what mindset I'll be in, what my last blog post will look like, in a little under two months, before I head to Iowa.


I have Iowa on my mind all the time now... I wonder if it's unhealthy. Spending the first 20 years of my life there - I can tell you, I never dreamed I would think about it so much after I'd managed to leave (leaving Iowa being a major desire of mine for the last eight years of that residency)... and now I can't stop thinking about going back. Something is clearly wrong.


So I got on Kayak.com today and typed in Phoenix Sky Harbor to Des Moines International. Usually flying into Des Moines is super expensive and a general hassle. There is only one airline that does direct flights from Phoenix to Des Moines and they are neither my preferred carrier, nor the cheapest (a non-stop flight being over twice as much as one with a stop-over).

Which leads me to looking up which airport has the worst history of flight delays - Minneapolis, Chicago (yeah, I know), or Denver... I mean it's not a huge deal - I have the time to arrive several days ahead (cause I'll be shipping PomPom and will want that time to make sure everything is alright, anyway). So I don't really need to be worried about missing a connection and missing the race... except sometimes when there are really, really, horrible flight delays it leaves people stranded for days...

it seems Chicago is really the worst airport in the US after the trifecta surrounding NYC, so it's out. Denver could still get lots of snow in April, and even though Minneapolis could too - if I get stuck in Denver I'm 12 hours away from Des Moines (and my family), if I get stuck in Minneapolis it's four at the most... okady - so I really can apply basic logic to senseless fears - who knew???


Now I just need to talk to D and find out if he wants to drive me down to the airport himself - or have me take the shuttle.


I think... can it be true... one more item on my list has a sweet, fat check-mark next to it!!!

Crucial ingredients.

While I sat around contemplating all the ingredients I still need to add into my TransIowa recipe (like those new shoes below)... I decided to make brownies. Unfortunately we didn't have eggs.

This is not how brownies should look. Now I'm debating what the equivolent of eggs is for endurance cycling. I need to remember that you can't always make substitutions - at least you can't always make substitutions and enjoy eating the result.

White like the snow outside.

Since we've been home from Moab there's been a little something special, a little something NEW, hiding under my sewing table, wanting to come out and play...

They're my first clipless shoes - Ever. And I find myself ambivalent... not about finally delving into the world of ClipLess - but rather, about their color. I hate to be so vain - but really I don't - I don't like white. I wanted the pretty Blue ones - but they didn't fit very well... and I wanted the ugly brown ones (at least more than white), but, if it was possible, they fit even worse than the pretty Blue ones. I reluctantly slide into these detestable White Ones and it was immediate perfection - there was no question - I was stuck.

But what I really want to know is - what on earth is that detailing on the lower two straps??? The rest of the shoes are very 80's Angles, straight lines, raised pebbly surfaces - and then... I don't know, maybe because they're women's shoes and some idiot designers just couldn't control themselves - they put Indented, curly-cue flowers on the straps.

Why do the designers of women's specific gear think the women they're designing for have the aesthetic sensibility of Barbie??? I applaud the idea of introducing a bit of style to items that only need utility - but why does the execution always come out so poorly???

I figure there must be at least one woman working for an outdoor company - somewhere... but apparently she's in the marketing department - cause she's sure not designing any item of women's specific clothing I've ever seen.

Americans.

They always show FoxNews on the little tele at The Wine Bar... which makes primary nights much more fun... and makes all the other people I work with wonder what I'm watching so intently.

A couple weeks ago I had to explain to one of the other young ladies who serves - and one of the more intelligent ones at that - what a Primary was, and the part it plays in our choosing a president... the other day I thought I'd ask one of the young Mexican men that makes pizza for us, about voting.

Whenever there's an election in Mexico, he drives two hours to the nearest Mexican Consulate to complete his ballot.


See any problems here???

Favorites.

After our stay in Moab this past weekend - I've come to officially realize that all the places I find to be the most superlative of their kind, are in Utah.

Most gratuitously delicious brownie -> Red Rock Bakery, Moab

Most Hugest and Thickest Malts - > Iceburg Drive-In, St. George

Best Pawn Shop-> Family Pawn, St. George

Most fun, Swoopy Mountain Bike Trail- > JEM trail, Hurricane

Best Thrift Store-> Wabi Sabi, Moab

Coziest Library to lose three hours in-> the old Grand County Library

Most exciting pavement alternative -> Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Visitor's Center parking lot, Escalante

Best reuse of ugly brick high school-> City Hall, Moab

Greatest, most desolate, still inhabited Ghost Town-> Cisco

Best Museum Gift Shop-> John Wesley Powell River History Museum, Green River

Most Situationally Appropriate and "Green" NPS visitor's center-> Zion National Park

Best Off-Ramp for getting engaged-> I-70, Ranch Exit a bit before Salina

There might be others - but I think my point is made.

Quote of the Day.

"Why is all the Rum gone???"

-One of my customer's tonight... I kid you not - one of my customer's quoted Johnny Depp from Pirates of the Caribbean.

We had a special Valentine's Flambe. Vanilla Bean Gelato, warm blueberry topping laced with cayenne pepper, and just a tidge of Bacardi Dark Rum pooled on top and lite up at the table.

One of my tables wanted to know what made it burn... so I explained that my chef was hording a bottle of rum in the back - at which point the above phrase was utilized.

I felt all warm and fuzzy inside... it almost made me hate Saint Valentine's Day just a teensy, eensy bit less.

Apparently.

D - for some reason beyond me - alluded in his last post that I should, here, display pictures from Sunday, as he had talked about Saturday, of this last weekend. Which we spent at the Sonoran Desert Museum... which in reality is less the typification of it's name as much as a small zoo, plus botanical center... that restricts itself to those flora and fauna found in Arizona and particularly the Sonoran Desert Area (I realize that small fact is probably a great surprise to all).

Why I was chosen for this sacred task, it is better not to bother higher powers about. Accordingly, below is a collection of photos taken primarily by D - with what small bit of witty or appropriate commentary I find myself fit to manage.

An illustration of a Javelina that D found to his amusement.

There is a coyote in this picture someone.

Wondering why such an interesting plant can't give us a drink better than Tequila. Right after this photo was taken, the Agave tried to eat the South Carolina Junior Miss Dancer.

A fake cave. That is fake.
Continued.

For whatever reason.

This is a bird. A pretty little bird.

This is why we don't let D have the camera all the time.

This is me - making a new friend.

This is how much riparian area has been lost in Arizona over the last hundred years.

Elucidation.

"Once the snots in the back of your throat you're already lost the battle."

D- on the finer points of Snot Rockets versus Loogies

Phooey.

Earlier this week I sort of felt like maybe I was getting a bit of something... like a bit of something in my sinuses... a bit of sickness. Then I rode my pretty bicycle over to the dentist's office yesterday morning, for a quick check-up and assessment (we're moving on to Stage 3 of Meredith Have Super Happy Teeth, which, you might remember, pulling my Wisdom Teeth was Stage 1)... then I ran some other errands around town...

when I got back, in the course of four hours, I went from A Little Bit of Something, to Shivering Uncontrollably with a side of Pounding Headache... and I don't get headaches... then six hours after that, my body had regained it's ability to regulate temperature, but still felt all achy and unhappy - didn't sleep much last night - but sort of feel better today.


This is only problematic because we're going down to Tucson this weekend. D does long ride with friends on Saturday, and we play in Organ Pipe on Sunday (which also happens to be D's birthday). I was going to do long ride by myself on Saturday... but that doesn't seem like a good idea. D doesn't want to leave me at home cause then he'll have to celebrate his birthday without me... (which is nice of him, cause more often than not I mistake his b-day for the 11th, and just yesterday I tried to tell him his b-day was on Monday... but he ignores my silliness and wants to hang out with me regardless)... he's a good boy.

Anyway - I think I'm going to spend Saturday sitting around Chad's place, getting sickness all over. Sorry Chad!!! Then D said I could meet them in Green Valley for dinner... apparently Green Valley had good Mexican food - which I would expect as it's 40 miles from the border.

The last time I was in Green Valley was over a decade ago - when my grandmother lived there... it's an unincorporated retirement community - the average age is 72. Less than 2% of households include someone under the age of 18. And it's over 98% white. And they have Golf Cart lanes - cause the older folks just drive their golf carts around, instead of dealing with cars.

When my family went there, everyone starred at us when we were out and about... like they had never seen three children under the age of 15 in one place at one time... it was weird.

Word of the Day.

First - there was TomKat. Then - there was Brangelina. Now - there's

Billary.

Check the New York Times - I don't make this stuff up.

Under and Out.

The title of this post is my new cycling mantra - for the moment. After evaluating my knee and cycling behavior this past Saturday, there will be a few adjustments to training, PomPom, and my behavior... the new behavior equation D has encouraged -

Under 40 = Out

Last night at the gym I was switching the display so I couldn't see my RPMs, then riding for a minute and trying to guess what I was at - then checking... hoping I'll get better at feeling what my cadence is at any moment. I think for the immediate, I'll probably adopt something closer to - Under 50 RPMs = tushy out of the saddle. I'm not particularly strong standing, and need to pay extra training attention to my arms and back... especially as I still don't intend to have a full compliment of gears for TransIowa.


In the meantime - yesterday night at The Wine Bar, one of my customers asked a question about the seemingly low level of sales tax added at the bottom of his bill - when I asked the owner, she explained that tax was already built into the price of the wine, therefore the sales tax shown was just on the food, and naturally appeared low when compared to the entire check total, though "If he wants to pay more tax, tell him to vote for a Democrat"...

gotta love the political season.

P.S. She also blamed the Satellite television signal going out, on Hillary. For a brief half an hour the small tele behind the bar was blessedly free of FoxNews.

Quote of the Day.

"Yeah - well - you're built to birth children"

-D, in defense of his complaining about today's deep cleaning at the dentist - which is much greater than mine was after a similar procedure.

Who would have Thunk... he can be a real wuss.

Quote of the Day.

"Throw me a rope."

-D, when he came home and realized there was an entire flight of stairs ahead of him,

suffice to say - he is broken. This weekend was harder on him than it was on me.

The Enhancement Wars.

Topmost is how D chose to "enhance" the photo - middle is how I would have done it - if I had wanted to. And below if the photo as it came out of the camera and was used in my post yesterday... just for reference.

Grand Canyon - Woo!!!

For now - let me just say that D was charming and patient yesterday morning - and despite my persistent conspiring to stay in bed - he left me primarily alone, yet also managed to convince me to get up... I still don't entirely understand how it happened... I might comment more when I figure it out.
Anyway - this was the moon as we got in the car to leave. Note utter blackness... it was like 5:30 in the morning. The terms Cruel and Unusual come to mind, though I'm not entirely sure what I did wrong.

Part of the way up - the sun pondered waking up too... I started getting optimistic about the day's weather... what delusions.

Not far from Grand Canyon and the snow started falling... suffice to say - I was rethinking having gotten out of bed. You can't see it in the picture - but it was actually snowing as we entered the park - this is the road north to the South Rim Village.

p.s. This is published in multiple posts - because Picasa won't upload more than four pictures in each post... at least it won't let me...

Part 2.

Again - you can't see the snowflakes in the photo - but it was till snowing when we got into the South Rim Village parking lot - the clouds were really moving though - and cloud cover kept swapping out with blue skies for most of the morning

The Grand Canyon really isn't worth seeing if there aren't clouds around - storms are just so beautiful up there. There really is a canyon down there... and my D too!!!

I hid in the bathroom of the El Tovar to add my fleece tights to my layering system. And finally (like half an hour after D got started on his hike) convinced myself to get PomPom out of the car. These pictures are from the view right before you start west on Hermit's Road.

Below is another overlook along Hermit's Road - I tried to take another picture a little later (as the sun was coming up, and it was still snowing, there was a beautiful sparkling haze lying low over the rim) and discovered the batteries had died. I was devastated. The clouds kept changing and I kept wanting to take pictures... so I continued to be devastated as I rode West.

Part 3

I got to Hermit's Rest right after 9am - mine were the first footprints along the path - luckily the store had just opened and I got to buy some batteries for the camera!!!
It's also really fun to have a computer on my bicycle. I've never had one before - nor the immediate gratification of knowing exactly how fast I'm going at any moment. Also - Hermit's Rest is EXACTLY 8.0 miles from the El Tovar - which is fun.

When I got back to the Hermit's parking lot - there was a couple there, one of whom took my picture with my camera, the other one took my picture with her camera... they thought I was odd. In my hands are the huge-happy mittens I was wearing - they're rated to like negative a lot... I don't remember - they're overkill... but yesterday I loved them. I've just used them cross-country skiing before - they do complicate shifting - eating food - blowing my nose - just about everything. Which somewhat complicated the point of the ride (working on the eating and drinking)... the first hour I didn't consum Anything... not ideal

When the woman raised my camera to take the picture - she said "Smile" and then her partner burst out laughing when she realized you couldn't see if I was smiling or not - which of course I was - cause by then I was just soooo happy to have a functioning camera again!!!

Anyway - I'm also wearing my L.L. Bean boots, that are waterproofed - which were the only shoes I could think of that would keep my feet warm... they're not exactly performance wear - but they worked. I eventually need like, cycling shoes - clipless pedals - etc. But for now my day to day, casual boots left me quite content.

This is a picture of my Unintentional Snow Angel - and shows the conditions of the road. I only spun my back wheel out a few times - but it kept me in the saddle all morning - which may have contributed to a later problem with my left knee that will be spoken of later.

Eventually the sun came out for serious. Things melted nicely - till they melted too much... then it got slushy... and I got wet - more later.

Primarily I was trying to figure out why I had no problem going 16mph as long as I was still peddling, going flat or slightly uphill - but would get uneasy if I hit that speed going downhill... and tried to get over it. Though I will pretend it was the icy conditions.

Part 4.

I had left my hair down - cause it's hard to put it in my Patented Bun with a balaclava as well as neck warmer. This eventually got really warm and it occurred to me I ought to try Lynda's recommendation and put my hair in a braid.
As I neared the end - I realized I had nothing but a mechanical pencil for a hair retention device. That was not going to work very well to keep together the end of a braid... however- I did have several zip ties...

So for awhile I had perfect hair - perfect weather - perfect roads - prefect legs. This is the highlight of the day.

This is a view of the El Tovar Hotal, with the South Rim Village - from Hermit's Road. There's a long climb as you leave the Rim Village going West, it bends around Garden Creek (the canyon the top of Bright Angel Trail descends) and you end up across from and above the village. Which provides lovely views... anyway - I'm going to comment something about the South Rim Village architecture later.
Going back down the long hill - they try to take all the fun out of things.

Part More.

Once I went back through the Village and started out East toward Desert View and The Watchtower, something that may or may not be my IT band on my left knee started getting very upset. I thought - "Oh, I'll just go ten miles and turn around" - after 7 or so miles I was more like - "Dude, I need to turn around Now".
And so I did - and so my ride was just a bit over 37 miles. And when I put my bicycle back in the car it still hurt and I limped around for awhile. It wasn't great. But after sitting around, was quite subtle. I'll be investigating this further... can't be falling apart at the forty mile mark - that is no good.

The other bit that wasn't fun - was the melting snow on the sides of the Desert View road as the day went on. There was no way to avoid it, on the fairly narrow road - which allowed my wheels to spray a large quantity of it all over the place - including my back.

This is the back of my pants (luckily I brought jeans to change into later) - the spray soaked through my semi-water-resistant pants (shown), my thick fleece tights, and my cycling shorts... from the bottom of my pack to my bike seat was all soaking wet with sludgy ice water. Luckily this small problem only materialized toward the end of my ride - I didn't realize how wet I was until I went to change. So no complaints. (Though it makes me think about how to handle a similar situation where I'd then have to manage riding through the night in that condition).

I read till D got back - and then we ate a wonderful plate of Navajo Nachos - they use tortilla chips made out of Navajo flatbread - just look how thick they are!!!

D's funny ensemble (he did not change his clothes when he got back) incited two different people to come up and talk to us in the Lounge. One then described a "secret" trail to us, after I inadvertently implied that D might be a more experienced Grand Canyon hiker than said stranger. It was fascinating. Chips Yummy.

Almost ready to go.

I managed over 2,000 calories today!!! Thanks to my special friend Samoa Ice Cream!!!

Where did my special friend go??? Come back!!! I want more!!!

Revamped PomPom from her disturbed state - post Bike Camp Lynda. Deraullier fixed and reattached. Little milage computer installed. Top of the handlebars got wrapped, my current road bike saddle replaced an old saddle of D's that I was trying and disliked, water bottle cages added - and last, but most definitely not least - the zip ties holding the rear brake cable along the top tube got replaced with electrical tape (as the edges of the zip tie closures would occasionally contact my leg and irritated me to no end... maybe I could have just repositioned them... but the electrical tap was in my hand from doing the handlebars - so that's the way it all went down).

She's happy and ready to go for our ride tomorrow. D was even nice enough to swap my front tire for a Nanoraptor, along with providing much needed technical and moral support - and generally tolerating my belligerence... cause what's the point "wrenching" on your bike (as D says) without getting a bit belligerent!!! At least I didn't break anything :)

Oh - and look at how well my Top Cap coordinates!!! Or I should say - look how well everything else coordinates with my Top Cap - as it was there first... wonder where I ever could have gotten such a cute thing!!!

(The frame has these subtle little sun burst logos that are red in the center, then the top cap was added, then the disc brakes have little circular red adjustment knobs - so red accessories just came naturally when I went to choose water bottle cages from the huge variety at the LBS... even though red isn't exactly my favorite color... plus I think it compliments her name - Pomegranate).

Like a Rattlesnake.

The most surprising thing from recording everything I consume this past week, is about fluid intake.

I was talking to D and he equated me to a Rattlesnake. Apparently Rattlesnakes don't drink water - they get all their fluids from the prey they consume.

I drink maybe two classes of water a day. Days I really work out - I might get in three. And except for about half a glass of soda on the nights when I serve, and maybe a beer or glass of wine ever other weekend - water is all I drink. I always knew I didn't take in a lot of fluids - but figured it all added up to more than I realized - except it actually adds up to less than I realized.

Two days ago I had a particularly momentous gym experience - not only did I finally get over 5 miles in 30 minutes on the elliptical (I can't use treadmills, all the up and down jostling makes my stomach hurt)... I also drank Almost all the water in my water bottle in the hour and a half I was there (which never happens). I use a bike bottle at the gym - so that amounts to like... 12 ounces of water!!! And I felt fine!!!


I've always had issues drinking water. I really have to remind myself to drink when I do any physical activity. I drink way less water than D (even when doing long, hot canyoneering routes)... and usually drinking water while really active will give me a stomach ache, as I end up with a lot of water and nothing else sloshing around my stomach...

this is something I obviously need to change - so I make a real point to drink water now when I'm working out... try to get my system used to processing water while also moving. Tomorrow D's doing a Rim Cubed at the Grand Canyon - and I'm hopefully going to ride from the South Rim Village, out to Hermit's Rest (the west end of the road that follows the South Rim), back through the village and out to the Watchtower (the east end of said road) then return to the village to sit in the El Tovar Lounge reading Vanity Fair and eating a plate of the best nachos around - till D stumbles back in (depending on if he's late... that might be another opportunity to have a drink that isn't Water...).

At this point - I'd like to do an aside about the great Nachos - and the deliciously thick yet crisp chips they have at the El Tovar Lounge and nowhere else... but I'll refrain.

Point being - this will be a long ride (around 75 miles)... and I'm going to be pushing myself to drink as much water as I can... and testing a few other food strategies... and clothing strategies... (temps being 20-36 degrees, cloudy and with a slight chance of snow... nothing to the crazy snow bikers out there - but good enough for TransIowa Training). So I'll be keeping track of the maximum quantity of water I can drink in so much time before my stomach cries foul.

Ya know - if I can keep my water from freezing...


details.