Cycling Cathy

Digging Deeper [Training Tip]

2010-01-26T20:20:00.001-06:00

Digging Deeper [Training Tip]

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You might be in South Dakota if....

2010-01-06T08:45:00.005-06:00

You have to walk around various pieces of farm equipment to get to your morning cycling class.

Yep, its that time of the year again, the Dakota Farm Show is being held this week at the Dome in Vermillion. I wish I had a picture of the runners maneuvering around the tractors and pieces of equipment at 6am this morning....I think it would make for an interesting picture, it's just something you don't expect to see in your workout facility!

Year in Review….

2009-12-31T12:49:00.003-06:00

Reading Tez’s blog inspired me to post a year-end summary as well. It seems appropriate at this time of the year to reflect on the past year. I apologize in advance for how long this post is - you may want to stop right now.

January started off with Charlie having rotator cuff repair on his shoulder for a tear he obtained in a fall right before Thanksgiving. This was none-too-soon, since the shoulder was quite painful and it made it especially hard for Charlie to get much sleep (or me either, for that matter). We anticipated a long recovery but Charlie did amazingly well, although he wasn’t exactly following directions by his doctor and physical therapist so that made me nervous!

I spent the beginning of the year researching Bike Fridays – the folding bike made in Eugene, Oregon. Charlie loves cars and I love bikes. Since bike racks aren’t allowed on his cars (picky, picky, picky) Charlie was the one who encouraged me to purchase a Bike Friday. I ordered the New World Tourist in Power Raspberry and love my cute little bike for shorter, more leisurely rides. We took a trip to Wisconsin/ Minnesota in July and the Mustang/Bike Friday duo worked very well. So we made a short trip to the Black Hills over Labor Day wanting to do more of these excursions. I loved riding through Spearfish Canyon and Charlie loved the scenic drive. The bike is very versatile with the Schwable marathon tires – it works well on both the road and trails. We plan to go back to Sparta, Wisconsin next summer and stay at our favorite B&B there and ride the Sparta-Elroy trail some more.

I think I will remember 2009 the most for the weird weather. March was actually not bad; nice weather for the St. Patty’s Day ride in Yankton and the end of March was unseasonably warm and I did quite a bit of riding (at least for me) for that early in the year. Then came June and the Tour de Kota. I have never worn my winter riding gear so much! Fleece lined tights, full length gloves, thick wool socks, base layers of smart wool under jersey and jacket. I not only rode in all these layers, but I also slept in them! Thank goodness for the day to Pierre that at least started out sunny – one of the few times we saw the sun all week. Don’t get me wrong, I loved TDK regardless of the weather. What a great feeling to have conquered those hills along the Missouri River. And to spend 6 days with others who love biking who you can talk biking with non-stop and their eyes don’t glaze over – priceless.

The summer remained cool which made for nice riding weather. The MS 150 ride couldn’t have been better with tailwinds both days! I looked forward to fall riding, especially those October rides to see the fall colors. Instead we had the 3rd coldest October on record and the rainiest ever with precipitation on 27 of the 31 days of the month which drastically cut down my miles for the month. Then a reprieve arrived in November allowing for a few weekend rides. We won’t even talk about the weather in December with the Christmas Blizzard that will go down in history.

This past year I fell in love with a new hobby – photography! I had purchased a Nikon D60 in June 2008 right before our daughter’s wedding but had only used in the automatic settings. I started to dapple a bit with what I could do with the camera and then a fellow camera-clickin’-cyclists mentioned a 2 day photography class being held in Sioux Falls and that was the beginning of the new obsession. My motto is anything worth doing is worth over doing! I'm learning lots from both Nancy and Melissa!

Our house is being taken over by my hobbies with one room in the basement devoted to my bike on the trainer with maps, posters, and mementos on the walls from past bike rides for motivation; another room of the basement turned into a very amateur portrait studio (lights by Bomgaards!), and a spare bedroom turned into scrapbook studio.

2009 has been kind to our family for which I’m truly grateful and give thanks. May 2010 be kind to us all!

Wakonda 125th Celebration Bike Ride

2009-11-06T16:37:00.002-06:00

Officially called the Sonny Clare Bike Ride, in memory of a great community member. Sonny was a kind and gentle man who was a great supporter of school sports. But most of all, he was an inspiration to all of us as he rode his bike into his 80's.

Today a planning meeting was held with LaneHogs in attendance to help plan this bike ride that will be held on Friday, July 2nd in Wakonda. Of course, Mr. Biking Brady, an alumni of Wakonda, was there - with some great ideas! This is going to be a very fun event with a 42 mile ride, 16 mile ride, and a children's bike carnival, followed by lots of other activities in town that day. So mark your calendars and stay for the entire day - you haven't experienced life until you attend a Wakonda street dance - you can even camp in my yard!

Wakonda 125th Web Site

All things now living unite in thanksgiving!

2009-11-05T15:08:00.004-06:00

The sun is shining! Wow, what a horrible weather we had in October. I heard it was the 3rd coldest October on record and one of the cloudiest. I sure did miss riding my bike. Last year I think I rode almost every weekend in October; one weekend the LaneHogs went from Bunyan's to Bob's, another weekend Kevin, Ed, and I rode to Yankton and crossed the newly opened Discovery Bridge, as well as snuck around the barricade and rode the old Meridian Bridge. Another weekend Cindy and I rode our mountain bikes on the Turkey Creek Road just on the other side of the Missouri from Vermillion and enjoyed the beautiful fall colors.

So I'm trying to make up for some missed riding. Things are settling down at work and this week was a great opportunity for me to take some vacation time and take off both Thursday and Friday afternoon. I rode 22 miles this afternoon - it was wonderful!

I also got some riding in last weekend on both Saturday and Sunday. Riding by myself, I have my iPod bike speaker to keep me company. I've been just putting it on shuffle which makes me realize what an eclectic mix of music I have on my iPod. I have one album of hymns recorded by a minister who served for a time at Vangen Lutheran Church in Mission Hill (which is also the location of where she did the recording). Anyway, on Sunday when I was riding, the hymn "For All the Saints" was one of the songs I heard on shuffle, appropriately it was All Saints Sunday.

Today as I was riding rejoicing in the sunshine (and yes, the wind!), the hymn "Let All Things Now Living" played. "Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving to God the creator triumphantly raise." It just seemed to be the perfect song to end my ride on.

Hmmm, God speaks to me in such mysterious ways. Anyway, let all things now living unite in thanksgiving for the sunshine which will help the farmers get the crops out of the fields and makes bike riders like myself so very happy!

Is this really Columbus/Native American Day? Looks like Christmas!

2009-10-12T10:54:00.002-05:00

I was laying in bed this morning enjoying the fact that it is a holiday and an extra day off for me - yipeee! It has been a crazy busy fall and my bike riding, or getting any exercise for that matter, has completely dropped off and I feel like a big, soft marshmallow. So I promised myself that I would get out for a bike ride this afternoon.

Then I looked out the window...........

This took me completely by surprise....come on, it's only October 12th. I've never seen this much snow so early! The bike ride got scratched and replaced with some time on the elliptical and yoga class.

Happy Columbus/Native American Day everyone!

Tour de Kota Route Set - 2010

2009-09-28T07:01:00.004-05:00

From the Argus Leader (Sunday, Sep. 27, 2009), Tour de Kota Route Set:

Cyclists who participate in the sixth annual Argus Leader Tour de Kota will ride from Elk Point to Sisseton during the five-day event in June, organizers said Saturday.

For the first time, Tour de Kota officials held a party celebrating past tours and looking forward to the coming one. The yearly event is sponsored and organized by the Argus Leader.
The Tour de Kota keeps evolving and improving, Argus Leader Publisher Randell Beck told about 150 cycling enthusiasts Saturday at the Overlook Cafe in Falls Park.

"And, yes, there will be a sixth Tour de Kota," Beck said, "and a seventh and an eighth and a ninth. ... We're in it for the long haul."

The 2010 tour will run from Sunday, June 6, to Friday, June 11. It will take riders about 465 miles from Elk Point to Sisseton.

The route includes:
June 6: 82 miles from Elk Point to Tea.
June 7: Tea to Salem, 70 miles.
June 8: Salem to Arlington, 83 miles.
June 9: Arlington to Clark, 67 miles.
June 10: Clark to Webster, 63 miles.
June 11: The tour concludes with a 55-mile ride from Webster to Sisseton. An optional 100-mile route will allow riders to cross into North Dakota before returning to finish in Sisseton.

"The idea is to hit as many lakes as we can," Tour de Kota director Owen Hotvet said. "That's one of the things we wanted to feature on the course.

Tour de Kota Kickoff

2009-09-27T05:54:00.005-05:00

I love Tour de Kota and will forever be a loyal fan so I am so happy there will be a TDK in 2010! Last year the ride appeared to be in jeopardy as publicity and details of TDK 2009 were slow in getting out which contributed to fewer riders. That is in the past now and the Argus showed their support to TDK fans by hosting a TDK 2010 kickoff at Falls Park on Saturday evening. It was a wonderful event; beautiful location, free food, and TDK goodie bags! And of course it was great to see so many biking friends from near and far.

The 2010 route will go from Elk Point to Sissseton, about 465 miles. The last day the route goes from Webster to Sisseton (55 miles) with the option for a century ride.

One of the reasons TDK is near and dear to my heart is that I started riding bike the year of the first TDK in 2005. I purchased a hybrid bike that spring. My first official ride was the Sioux City Trails Ride in early May. I completed the 40 mile ride and was so amazed I could ride a bike that far! I signed up for the first day of TDK and rode 70 miles. From that point on I was hooked. I knew 1 or 2 people riding the entire week of TDK 2005 and I followed the ride closely, buying the Argus each day, reading all the TDK articles and wondering if I would ever be able to do that ride.

The next spring (2006) I purchased my Giant OCR 1 road bike and signed up for the entire week of TDK along with my daughter, Ashley. We rode from Yankton to Milbank that year and I surprised myself by completing the entire ride.

TDK 2007 I rode the entire week again with Ashley, the route was Yankton to Watertown. In 2008 I rode the first two days of TDK (Sioux Falls to Chamberlain) and then came home as we were getting ready for Ashley and Nick's wedding held that Saturday. Last year I again rode the entire week of TDK (Harrisburg to Gettysburg), a week of damp weather and cold nights in the tent, but a great experience with many scenic views along the Missouri River.

The last few years the weather hasn't been the best on TDK - I think we're due for good weather on TDK 2010!

Here are a few TDK memories........

Finish line at Watertown - me and Ashley

A little wet in Trent.

Lane Hogs in Dell Rapids - the walking wounded.

The adventures of the little Bike Friday and her sidekick

2009-09-24T21:57:00.000-05:00

The little Bike Friday has a sidekick, which happens not to be another bike, but a little red Ford Mustang convertible. These two love to travel together. Though the trunk of the Mustang is quite small, the BF folds up very neatly and fits so comfortably that you would think the two were made for each other.

The BF and Mustang managed to get two trips in this summer; the first to Wisconsin and and the a later trip to the Black Hills. As the owners, we have found the BF and Mustang happiest when they travel the same roads together. Though the Mustang has a lot of speed, he also enjoys a slow leisurely ride with lots of stops along the way to enjoy the scenery, especially when driving through such scenic areas as the Spearfish Canyon or the back roads of Wisconsin.

But the BF also likes to get out on the trail, and then the Mustang has to be content to meet up with BF at the next trail head or town. The Mustang has found the time waiting for the BF goes faster if he’s at a local watering hole such as Moonshine Gulch in Rochford making new friends.

I'm afraid these trips with the BF and her sidekick are over for this year. But the BF and sidekick will be spending long winter evenings hibernating in the garage together and reminiscing about their travels and planning future adventures for the summer of 2010!

Wildlife Photography Class and Other Weekend Happenings

2009-09-21T20:14:00.009-05:00

Take care of your teeth or they'll turn mossy!

Critiqued as "out of the box" composition - and it wasn't a compliment!

I had a great weekend; time spent learning something new and applying it, the chance to use some creativity, spending almost the entire day outside Saturday, and time with friends, it doesn't get any better!

The Tamron Wildlife Photography class held in Sioux Falls was fantastic. Friday night the workshop started with a rather intense 3 hour talk on aperature, depth of field, tonality, etc. At least it was intense for me as I hadn't really taken my camera off of the auto mode before!

Saturday morning I arrived at the zoo where we spent the entire day shooting and getting tips from the instructor, Jim Shadle, a professinal wildlife photographer. In addition, there were photographers from Harold's Photo who were also very helpful. It took me awhile to understand the histograms as we reviewed our photos but I think it has finally started to "click."

I tried out the 18-270mm Tamran lens which I purchased (early Christmas present to myself!) as well at the 70-300mm lens. I was embarrassed to bring my 30 year old tripod out of the car after some teasing about my 30 year old camera bag so I tried out a couple of tripods. As I listened to the sales rep as he gave me the pitch about the carbon composition that reduces vibration and makes the tripod very light, I was thinking to myself that he could be bike salesman! At $440 for the tripod alone, not including the head, I decided I would definitely rather spend that kind of money on carbon in a bike frame! So I brought out the 30 year old tripod which I was starting to form a new appreciation of.

Later in the afternoon and about 200 pictures later, the group went back to the Harold's Photo where the 2 photos we each submmitted were critiqued by the pro in front of the entire group. I was nervous! I think basically he thought one of my photos was "okay" but didn't like the other so much as he described it as "out of the box" thinking. Then they gave out prizes and ranked all the photos - out of the 15 people in the class my alligator phote was 5th and Nancy's macro photo of a bee on a flower was 3rd!

A great day - but long day, it was 6:30pm by the time I left Sioux Falls. When I got home I went immediately to the grand opening of our new conveince store in Wakonda; the Eagle Stop, where I met up with Charlie. There was a band and beer garden - my kind of grand opening! The festivities finished at the store around 9pm. Then 11 of us piled in to a 1976 Holiday Rambler motor home one of our friends just purchased so that we can all go out on some road trips together. Our maiden voyage was to Volin to the "Uf-ta" Norwegian celebration in Volin and then on to Gayville. Lots of laughter and fun! I'd love to use the motor home for a bike trip, it would make a great SAG wagon!

Margarita Ride & Weekend Update

2009-09-13T20:33:00.000-05:00

The Margarita Ride was held on Saturday and was once again well attended with 150 riders. The weather turned out to be perfect. Great ride, followed by a great food and margaritas shared with biking friends!

It was a busy weekend but a lots of fun. Friday evening my friends came from Watertown and we attended a mini yoga retreat followed with a delicious meal of homemade tomato soup and bread and a nice red wine. Sandy and Mary Jean spent the evening at our house, and of course, just like a slumber party, we stayed up a bit late talking!

We were up bright and early to head to Vermillion for the Margarita Ride. My first MR was 5 years ago - that is when I met Mary Jean and Sandy for the first time - they always seem to be the group having the most fun. And in the years since, my biking "family" has really grown. Now the MR seems more like a reunion of cycling friends! I rode several miles with one of the med students and she commented that I seem to know everyone. Well, that's not quite true but I have met some wonderful friends through cycling.

Following the MR post ride meal, Melissa, Nancy, Kris, Christy and I made our way down the street to Carey's. Anyone who visits Vermillion - must visit Carey's, so Melissa and I were obligated to take the out-of-towners there, it was our duty after all!

Then we visited Charlie at the car show being held on main street in conjunction with Vermillion's Ribs, Rods, and Rock & Roll activities. Some of the other cyclists were visiting the car show and I was so happy to finally introduce Charlie to the the Krueger family; Karl, Julie, and Travis. I am amazed by how Karl (at age 62) was the first and only person to complete Hell & Back and without any support! "He finished the 824-mile endurance ride in just under 93 hours -- 3 hours ahead of the cut off." And he is one of the most humblest people I know! Read more about the ride here. And Travis has had many cycling adventures also. My favorite website is crazyguyonabicycle.com where you can find some of Travis' journals, such as his trip to Glacier last year; including an encounter with a grizzly bear!

Following was a post MR ride at Liz and Craig - thank you, you are always such gracious hosts!

Sunday consisted of church, coffee and garden tour invitation after church, shooting a family picture (I hope they didn't expect professional results!), and then my daughter, Ashley, hosted a baby shower for a friend at our house. Sixteen guests and lots of ooohhs and ahhhhs and some bickering over whose turn it was to hold the baby!

It was a wonderful weekend.

Aebleskiver Ride 2009

2009-07-18T22:02:00.003-05:00

Another successful aebleskiver ride - but then again, it's hard to go wrong when eating and biking are involved!

I started from Wakonda at 7:30 am with Marilyn, Gregg, and Greg (aka Hooterville Mayor). These three people had to get up very early to drive from Sioux Falls to my house in Wakonda. We met up with the Vermillion riders on highway 19 just 7 miles down the road. Craig, Cindy, and Angie were herding kittens while waiting for us (see the Mayor's blog for details and photo). Kwen rode up shortly after and we the seven of us were off to Centerville where we met up with Sue, Pam, and Jack. The urge for goodies at the Centerville Bakery was overpowering me and I twisted every ones' arms and they joined me. And we had a lovely little spot in the flower garden across the street to join our treats.

A short 11 miles and we rode into Viborg. Lots of activity in town as they were celebrating Danish Days. The folks serving the aeleskiver breakfast at the Methodist Church seemed to be expecting us! Evidently someone had taken the snippet of the article on favorite bike trails/rides from the South Dakota Magazine that described my favorite route and our aebleskiver bike ride and put it in the church newsletter. Needless to say, we were treated very well and pictures were taken so we'll see if we show up in the local paper!

We left Viborg as people lined main street with their lawn chairs getting a good spot for the parade and as we left town it felt like we were part of the parade. I felt like I should have been throwing candy to the kids!

Since we had had quite a bit of nourishment we decided on the longer route back to Wakonda. This route is also all downhill....well, except for a few hills....as the Mayor says, the route was as flat as a Danish aebleskiver, not as flat as a pancake. But I think it is a very pretty route and I know it is a lot more fun going down Talmo Hill than up!

Once at my house we taste tested a few New Glarius beers - next time my husband and I go to Wisconsin we need a larger vehicle to bring back more! Lunch was punctuated with lots of biking stories and conversations about everything under the sun. Hardcore bikers such as Angie and Kwen continued on home to Vermillion and Hub City....but the rest packed up and started home in their cars.

And then it was time for a long nap for me.......a great day, thanks everyone for making the ride so much fun!

Here is part of the article from the SD Magazine:

Our Best Rides
Cyclists share their favorite routes
By John Andrews

South Dakota boasts some of the finest biking routes in the West. They include challenging, rugged trails in the heart of the Black Hills, easier paved paths through major cities and solitary country roads. Biking enthusiasts often know the best routes, so we asked eight of them to share their favorite South Dakota rides. Try them and you’ll spot deer and bald eagles on one of our last river islands, enjoy some of Sioux Falls’ best restaurants and unique shops or sample a traditional Danish breakfast (if you’re timing is good). So choose a path, strap on a helmet, pump up your tires and start exploring.

Riding for Aebleskiver and Apple Fritters

I ride a 42-mile loop on county roads that take me through Wakonda, Irene, Viborg and Centerville and cross the Vermillion River five times. I ride a lot with the Lane Hogs, a biking group from Vermillion. Usually about six or eight of us go.
The great part is there’s not much traffic. Highway 19 has a nice wide shoulder, so we can get out of the way. Drivers around here are very considerate of riders. They give us lots of room when they pass. If we’re in a dangerous spot for passing, we’ve had trucks slow down to 10 miles an hour and follow.
In the summer when it’s hot, there are plenty of chances to stop and fill water bottles or take a break. It’s also a really pretty route. It’s different in a car. You miss a lot. My favorite part is between Irene and Wakonda on the County Line road between Yankton and Clay counties. It’s very hilly there, so it can be a struggle, but the hills and valleys are very pretty.
We try to ride the loop every third Saturday of July so we can stop in Viborg for an aebleskiver breakfast during Danish Days. I like the warm cashews from the convenience store in Viborg, too. We also like riding through Centerville so we can stop for an apple fritter at the Royal Bake Shop. I've been known to call the bakery and ask them to save some apple fritters if I know we're coming through.

Cathy Logue, xx, began biking in 2005 and has completed two Tour de Kotas and the RAGBRAI (Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa). She is the coordinator of student services at the University of South Dakota’s Sanford School of Medicine in Vermillion. For information on the Lane Hogs, visit www.lanehogs.com.

Aebleskiver Ride Update - TIME CHANGE!

2009-07-13T21:47:00.004-05:00

The annual Aebleskiver Ride is on for this Saturday (July 18th)!

We will leave my house in Wakonda at 7:30am (a half hour later than originally posted).

For those riding from Vermillion, we will plan to meet on the corner of Highway 19 and 302nd Street at 8:00am. Let me know if your leaving from Vermillion and I'll give you my cell phone number so we don't miss each other on the road.

We'll have a quick stop in Centerville at the Cennex Convenience Store where Sue and friends will join us. We should be there by 8:30am. (Please note, if anyone from Sioux Falls wants to join us and 7:30 from Wakonda is too early for you, you have the option of starting and ending in Centerville.)

Then on to Viborg (10 miles from Centerville) for the Aebleskiver breakfast at the Methodist Church. The plan is to be there by 9:45am. The church ladies have been alerted but we need to make sure we don't hold them up so they miss the 10:30am parade.

Then on to Irene or if you prefer route option #2 - the scenic route which will take you past the hills near Marindahl Lake area, a herd of buffalo and a rusting tug boat on the prairie.

Final stop, my house in Wakonda for lunch and refreshments!

Here are the maps:

Aebleskiver Route; 42 miles

Aebleskiver Scenic Ride; 52 miles (no stop in Irene)

Aebleskiver Ride 2009

2009-07-04T17:01:00.005-05:00

It is time for the 4th annual Aebleskiver Ride!
Saturday, July 18th
Leave my house at 7:00am sharp. 42 mile ride through Centerville, Viborg - where we'll have an aebleskiver breakfast, Irene, and back to Wakonda where we'll have post-ride food and refreshments at my house.
Everyone welcomed!
Here is a recap of the Aebleskiver Ride 2007 recap on Biking Brady's blog.

Commuting to Work by Bike - 25 Miles Each Way

2009-07-01T10:43:00.003-05:00

First of all, I’m not a huge bike commuter, but for the last 3 years my goal has been to try to bike to work at least 5 times. Not a huge goal, but seems like the stars all have to be in perfect alignment in order for this to happen. With a little planning it is getting easier so I thought I would share how it works for me:

• Number one, I usually wait until the weather gets warm enough for the morning commute AND I have enough daylight.
• To contradict number one, it occured to me this year that there are ways around this. If it is too cold in the morning or too dark, I do have the option of riding the bike home from work. I drive to work in the morning with my bike on the bike rack and ride home. The next morning I catch a ride to work with someone. This is possible since it seems half the population of Wakonda works at USD. This year we had a snap of warm weather in March so I used that chance to ride my new Bike Friday home. I usually don’t get any commuting miles in that early!
• If I wait until there is a day when the weather forecast is perfect, the bike commute will never happen. My philosophy now is if the weather looks good in the morning, go for it. Those forecast of scattered thunderstorms are so hit and miss that I’ll take the chance and ride anyway. If it is looking stormy about the time I leave work or if the wind is gusting over 20 mph and I don’t want to deal with it, again, I call someone who works at USD and lives in Wakonda for a ride home.
• Have an extra gym bag at work with work clothes, hairdryer, make-up, etc. I am very fortunate to have a locker room in our new building with showers. But before that I would have baby wipes in my bag and they were okay for cleaning up after a morning commute. Unless I have something special going on, I skip the make-up and blow drying my hair when I get to work.
• The time goes much faster on the 1 1/2 hour commute if I have some music. I have the iHome bike speaker for my iPod that goes into a water bottle cage that I love. Or sometimes I like to listen to the news on my way to work, I have a cheap mp3 player with a radio band, I just put in one ear bud and listen to that.

My personal reasons for bike commuting:
• Besides the typical reasons of doing something good for the planet, etc., one of the main reasons I bike commute is because it is a great way to get in some decent miles of riding in on a weekday while being able to hangout with my husband in the evening.

Okay, now I’m wondering why I don’t commute more often by bike!

Tour De Kota Dog Update

2009-06-29T13:03:00.004-05:00

Remember that dog, a cross between a basset and a beagle, on the first day of TDK that seemed to show up at every rest stop on the last half of the ride? I first saw the dog between Dalesburg and Volin, a merry little hound running in the road ditches along side the riders. I thought it was odd since I ride in this area OFTEN, as we were only about 6 miles from my house at the time, and I have NEVER seen this dog. I thought I knew all the dogs by name within a 20 mile radius of Wakonda!

We get to Volin and are taking a break and the dog shows up and the same thing happens again at Mission Hill. Now we know the dog has probably wandered off far from home. We check for dog tags and there are none. Melissa being very conscientious is trying to think of what to do to get the dog back to his owner; she’s talking to the local 4-H group putting on the rest stop at Mission Hill about someone taking the dog so it doesn’t follow the riders all the way to Yankton, she’s wondering if we should call the Yankton dog pound, etc. Since the dog has no tags it made it very difficult to try to locate the owner and I was hoping the dog would tire of this game and eventually go home.

To tell you the truth I didn’t think much more about the dog until this weekend my daughter told me some friends of theirs lost their dog “Bagel,” a beagle/basset mix, when TDK came through the area. Bagel, being the hound he is, has had a history of occasionally taking off on a scent and staying away overnight. This time he was gone for a few days. But luckily this story has a happy ending, somehow the owners found out their dog was at the Yankton pound and he was safely returned home. Bagel had gone all the way to Yankton with the riders…..about a 20 mile trip for him. I’m still not sure how he connected with the riders since he lives 3 miles off of the TDK first day route, maybe he is part blood hound too! I hope Bagel’s owners get him some tags.

Tugboat and Buffalo Stampede

2009-06-27T09:32:00.006-05:00

This post was inspired by Tez’s recent posting on her blog: Bonus Spotting of the Things You See Commuting. I wasn’t commuting but I saw some interesting things on my last bike ride that I thought I would share……you can guess what these things were by the title of my post but please allow me to explain.

I took Thursday off of work for a mini-family reunion of a couple of my aunts and uncles and cousins in Norfolk. I was riding there with my cousin’s wife and aunt and uncle from Sioux Falls and they planned to pick me up around 10am. So I thought I would get in an early morning bike ride before we left!

My route took me up Talmo Hill, a descent hill just 4 miles from my house. I've noticed that anytime the local people have given a hill a name, then be forewarned, it is a descent hill. Once I turned north the route continued with a climb broken up with a few rollers, but mainly a climb for about 5 miles. Once I reached a rural water tower in the middle of no-where I knew I had reached the highest elevation in this area! The rest of the ride was a lot of rollers and then a lovely downhill ride with a good west wind to my back for the last 3 miles back home to Wakonda.

The scenery on this ride is beautiful; hills generally make for great scenery. But my “bonus spottings,” as Tez would say, were the tugboat and the buffalo.

This route goes by a graveyard for old combines, farm machinery, and other junk, but front and center is a good sized tugboat rusting in the high prairie grass. The waves of grass blowing in the wind probably give the boat the sense that it is still on the water doing it’s job!

Since I haven’t ridden this route for awhile so I was wondering if I would see the buffalo again and yes I wan't disappointed! I came down a hill and the herd was huddled in the corner of the pasture nearest to the road. As I started riding up the hill that bordered their pasture I looked over at the buffalo and there was a moment when I made direct eye contact with the largest of the herd. The next thing I know they all start stampeding along the fence line! Crazy thoughts are flying through my head; How strong is that fence? Buffalo must not like eye contact? Buffalo like to race cyclists? I was worried about the farm with the dogs, I didn’t think I had to worry about a buffalo attack??? Will dog spray stop a buffalo? I don’t think I have enough dog spray!!!

I am quite sure that was my fastest sprint up a hill. I kept looking over to see if the buffalo were coming through the fence, I’m sure they could’ve if they really wanted to. Eventually I gained speed over the adult buffalo and only the calves continued the race and I started to relax.

It definitely wasn’t a boring ride! Next winter when I'm in spin class the instructor says "sprint like your being chased by a dog!" I'll be thinking to myself "sprint like you're being chased by a herd of buffalo!"

I will definitely ride the route again but next time I’m not going to give any eye contact when I go by the buffalo.

Talmo Hill-Buffalo-NW Irene Area
Find more Bike Rides in Wakonda, South Dakota

Yoga-Bike-Yoga = Peace, Health & Happiness

2009-06-20T15:36:00.007-05:00

What a great start to the weekend! I met Mary Jean, Sandy, and Cindy in Sioux Falls on Friday afternoon and it was non-stop from that point on trying to squeeze in all of our planed activities.

After checking into our hotel we were off to the Dharma Room for a yoga class. We thoroughly enjoyed the class led by Kendra. The sun was shining and we walked around the downtown area a bit as we decided where to eat. I love downtown Sioux Falls in the summer with everyone spilling out onto the streets and the horse and carriage rides, it is fun to just sit and take it all in. We ended up at Minerva's and the salad bar made a perfect meal. After a quick change in the restroom, we departed Minerva's in our cycling attire as many diners were entering in much more formal attire!

We arrived a Fawick Park shortly before 8:00pm for the FAB Starlight Ride and met up with the other riders. My Power Raspberry was very happy to see another Bike Friday on the ride! I wish I would have gotten a picture of Gregg and me together with our Bike Friday's - hopefully the Mayor's picture turned out! The ride was very fun as you can see from the smile on our faces in the picture below. Thanks to the FAB group for being so welcoming to all of us wild and crazy women!

After the ride we joined several of the other riders at Monk's where us ladies enjoyed a wonderful glass of wine. Getting carried away and talking with my hands I managed to spill some of mine....a wine stain on my new TDK jersey, never thought I'd have to puzzle over how to remove a wine stain from a cycling jersey. I wonder if Martha Stewart has any tips on that?

It was time for us to get some sleep so we would be well rested for our Saturday morning yoga class back at the Dharma Room at 8:00am. The Saturday class was conducted by Melissa, one of the owners, and I think we all felt like a new person after leaving her class, ready to share our peace with the rest of the world!

After a trip to the Farmer's Market at Fall's Park we all parted ways.....but we vowed that we must plan to do this again!

FAB Stralight Park - Sioux Falls Bike Trail: Mary Jean, Cathy, Cindy

FAB at Falls Park

At the Dharma Room

Mary Jean & Sandy at the Farmer's Market

TDK, Day 6, Friday, June 12, 2009 – 73 miles

2009-06-16T21:37:00.006-05:00

Chamberlain to Pierre

One more day – the feeling was “I think I can do this!” A bunch of us drank coffee in the pre-dawn under the picnic shelter at our Shuttle Guy camp. After intermittent showers the evening before it was another overcast day that looked like pending rain. The coffee helped bolster me and I was ready to go off in search of breakfast. Poor Charlie was left with packing all the bags and gear in the pickup. I left quite a mess, thank goodness he loves me.

Craig and I rode over to McDonalds for some breakfast. Once on the bike my legs were screaming at me. The first 8 miles to the dam we saw no one since I convinced Craig of the WRONG route to take out of town. But once across the dam we connected with the official route for the day and continued on in the mist. I turned on my blinky light, that along with my neon yellow jacket, made me very visible to the motorists.

We stopped for one picture overlooking Lake Oahe otherwise our first rest stop was at the race track where we talked with others on the ride around a small camp fire built into the center of a granite table top about bar height. I pulled out a can of Amp that I was carrying on my bike for an emergency like this – severe lack of energy.

The next several miles on highway 1804 were a bit monotonous….lots of power lines. All the rest stops until we got to Bob’s Resort (16 miles out of Gettysburg) were just stops along the road, so we skipped a few of those. At the next rest stop I visited again with the man from Portland on the Bike Friday. I was ready to slow down a bit so I told Craig to go ahead. Rumor was Biking Brady, the Mayor and Tammy were not too far ahead of us; I gave Craig my blessing to go catch them.

By the time I got to Bob’s the gang was having lunch and I arrived just in time to eat their left overs as they were full. Just 16 miles to go! And about 3 miles on the other side of Bob’s my bike computer turned over to 10,000 miles so I had to stop and take some pictures and tell my bike what a superstar she is!

One last low, but long climb and I arrived in Gettysburg at the finish line in the park greeted by my dear, sweet husband! I made it, all 453 miles of TDK 2009!

A few pictures of friends at the finish line:

Mary Jean

Gregg

Craig

Argus Leader stories:

Eyes turn to next year's ride

Nothing tastes as good as it feels

400 miles later, SUV to hit the spot

Photo Gallery

TDK, Day 5, Thursday, June 11, 2009 – 100 miles

2009-06-15T21:57:00.005-05:00

Chamberlain to Pierre

Finally, a beautiful morning! We had a good climb out of Chamberlain to get the blood pumping right away. This hill was no longer a threat after the hills we encountered the day before. And just 7 miles out we had the Chuck Wagon breakfast to look forward to. Cowboy omelet and corn bread made in a Dutch oven – absolutely delicious! I had a nice chat with the Kennedy’s from Beresford; a father and daughter riding the tour together. And I also chatted with Gregg, the Mayor, and Tammy who were also at the table – we were one big happy family chowing down on some good food!

The scenery was gorgeous as we enjoyed the rolling hills north of Chamberlain, the image is etched on my brain.

The 7 miles into Fort Thompson on the BIA road was like dodging a mine field of pot holes and road break up. I foolishly was thinking the road would flatten out north of Fort Thompson – what a joke on me! It was a steady climb until Mac’s Corner. Just a little way’s up the road from Mac’s we turned west for the 48 miles into Pierre on highway 34.

I enjoyed the stop at “The Pit Stop,” a cute little bar/restaurant that looked like it had been around for a long time; a little piece of Americana off the beaten path. As I was leaving a group of cowboys came in with a puzzled look on their faces, I’m sure they’ve never seen so many people wearing spandex before!

The road was rough but we had a tail wind to compensate so it was all good. I now felt a century would be doable. Next rest stop was at the Cattleman’s Club for a banana before heading onto Pierre. Our route took us around the Capitol and then it was time to decide whether to take the route to the camp ground or around the dam to complete a century. Easy decision on a gorgeous day; and I was off to Lake Oahe. Smooth road and a long descent to the dam after a short climb made for an easy ride. The dam was very impressive; as we have made our way up the Missouri River the dams have continued to get larger.

Charlie drove up to Pierre to join me in camp for the night and after a quick call I found out he had just arrived so I anxiously pedaled the remaining 9 miles (into the wind). Camp was along the river in Steamboat Park, what a beautiful camping site. And Charlie was a sight for sore eyes after not seeing him since Sunday!

We visited with Shuttle Guy camping mates; a few were not riding with us the final day, and enjoyed pizza and a beer. Later, and after a shower, Charlie and I, and the Brady’s and the DeVelder’s (Liz and kids were now also in camp) went to the Cattlemen’s Club. Great food and conversation and we were warm and dry as it started to rain.

The rain cleared as we went back to camp, just in time to see a spectacular sunset over the Missouri.
Argus Leader stories:
Sun reveals sun splendor

Tour ending but memories to last a life time (note the story of the man with the Bike Friday on TDK)
Photo Gallery

TDK, Day 4, Wednesday, June 10, 2009 – 78 miles

2009-06-15T06:44:00.004-05:00

Gregory to Chamberlain

A very chilly, damp, cloudy morning once again! Breakfast was in the campground and after I ate I scavenged around for some plastic bags to wrap my feet in and line my shoes. I was bundled up as much as I am when I ride on a nice winter day, so when I passed “flip-flop girl” early in the ride it just made me shiver to see her with those bare feet! Here is the story in the Argus where Biking Brady and I were both quoted: Flip flop girl enjoys letting her feet breath.
It didn’t take long to warm up as we started climbing a series of hill right out of town on Highway 47. Then we turned east on to Highway 44 and a few miles down the road I encountered one of those road signs warning drivers of the 8 ½ % grade ahead – at least it was downhill! But when you go down a long pass you know it most likely will be followed by a climb. And so it was a series of long descents and long climbs through the Snake Creek Hills. The scenery was breath taking (as well as theclimbs!) and I pulled off a couple of times to take pictures but the pictures don’t do justice to this area.After 30 miles of climbing the road leveled out and the next 48 miles were cold and dreary as we rode into a light head wind. Also, we never went through a town where we could go in someplace and sit and get warm, other than one stop at the Academy Fire Station. I started to get a bit weary and down at this point but I saw Jatham Chicoine pulling a trailer with an American flag and POW flag – I decided at that point to suck it up and quit feeling sorry for myself. I also made a mental note to dedicate this day’s ride to my cousin serving in the Air Force Guard at an undisclosed location in the “sandbox.” I do know where my cousin is the temperatures are typically 110-120 degrees. I think those guys would love a cool, damp day back home these days. I rode along and chatted with Jatham for a few minutes and thanked him for his commitment and reminding me of all the privileges we take for granted.The rest stop at Puckwana was a welcomed respite, as well as the turn west into Chamberlain where we enjoyed a tailwind for the last leg of the day. It felt good to just hang around camp for the remainder of the afternoon and evening. Mary Jean had a game of travel Scrabble going which I was content to just watch as I was too tired to think! I bundled up in several layers of clothing plus hand/foot warmers in a pair of thick wool socks and went to bed and slept very well! Argus Leader stories:
Over the hills on quiet roads
Photo Gallery

TDK, Day 3, Tuesday, June 9, 2009 – 67 miles

2009-06-14T11:08:00.006-05:00

Wagner to Gregory

I awoke to intermittent early morning showers. It cleared long enough to get ready for the day’s ride and eat breakfast put on by one of the high school groups. I headed out with Craig in a cool, wet mist to go tackle Radar Hill. It didn’t seem so bad so that gave me a confidence boost. The rain was coming down steady by the time we headed down the back side of the hill to the Fort Randall Dam. We stopped for a break at the convenience store near the dam before crossing the dam and climbing back out of the river valley. As we crossed the dam there was a little hand lettered sign that read “Welcome to West River!”

The first several miles of the day were on Highway 46 so truck traffic was heavy. After the first semi carrying an “oversized load” (part of a wind turbine) passed me on the other side of the dam where the road had little shoulder, I decided when I saw the next two come up on me from my mirror on my helmet, that I would just stop and move as far over as I could with both feet planted on the ground. A load that large just seems to want to suck you under their wheels. Yep, this is how I got my nickname “Timmy” in our group, for being the timid one. But it’s my bike and I’ll ride it the way I want to (quote from fellow MS ride team member, Willie).

Finally it was time to turn off of Highway 46 and head in to the small town of Fairfax. They had a very nice museum in an old bank building that was very elaborate with lots of marble and beautiful architecture that the city purchased for $600 after the stock market crash in 1929. At this stop Craig and I took our socks off and wrung the water out of them the best we could.
On to Bonesteel where we had a wonderful early lunch in their high school gym. They had the best pork loin sandwiches and a slice of pecan pie that restored my body and soul. Shoes and socks came off and I wrapped my feet in napkins and they were warm and dry at least for a few minutes. I also had one of those chemical pack hand/foot warmers that warmed one foot at a time.

Leaving Bonesteel we were blest with a tail wind and we were riding consistently between 21-22 mph so we pushed on several miles before taking a quick break on the outskirts of Burke then it was only 9 more miles into Gregory.

We arrived in Gregory at 12:05pm, we made good time mainly because we were tired of being cold and wet. Shuttle Guy was still setting up camp so I tried to stay out of the way and got some rags and oil out of the trailer and went to work on cleaning my bike. Riding that many miles in the rain over the last few days had kicked up a lot of road grit on to the bike. I was also a speckled mess of mud from the trucks passing.

Now it was time to get myself cleaned up. Since it was still early in the day, Craig and I decided it would be a good time to go to the Laundromat. The only problem was it was about 2 miles away on the edge of town but I talked with a nice lady at the volunteer booth and she offered to give us a ride. Laundry done, we picked up our bags and headed out to the road and walked about a quarter of a mile and a nice farmer in a pickup stopped and offered us a ride back to our camp in the park.
Since I had the hamstrings massaged the day before, I decided the quads deserved a massage, so after 20 minutes with Laura, I thought I might have hope of surviving the next day’s ride.
Although there was a lot of good food booths at the park, sitting inside somewhere dry and warm sounded more appealing, and by the looks of the steakhouse several bikers had the same idea. On the way back a stop was made at the Oscar Micheaux Museum. This was an interesting bit of South Dakota history I wasn't familiar with and enjoyed hearing the story from the museum guide. Again, the museum/theatre itself was once an ornate bank building; this one had lots of green marble counters and a cool tiled floor, complete with a beautiful flower garden on one side.
Back to camp to lounge around and enjoy the evening and the camping in the beautiful park. Some of us decided to hike up to the observation park overlooking the town. The hike up was short and well worth the view of the surrounding area.

Sonja - from the Shuttle Guy. This bra was hanging from a tree along the path up to the observation center, so of course, we needed a picture!

Argus Leader stories:

Out of the mist and into a glide

Tour runs into small town history

Photo Album

TDK, Day 2, Monday, June 8, 2009 – 59 miles

2009-06-13T13:00:00.006-05:00

Yankton to Wagner

It was a wet, cold morning around 50 degrees, and luckily at this point I didn’t know it would last most of the week, or it may have dampened my spirits. But I was happy because Craig and Kevin had suggested breakfast at HyVee where it was nice and dry AND they have a Starbucks – life is good!

The route took us out by the Lewis and Clark Lake, a beautiful ride, but I forgot how long the climb was out of the lake area. Reaching the top of the hill the Missouri Valley Cyclist had hot coffee and cocoa ready for the riders.

As I pushed on to Tabor, I seriously was wondering if it might start to snow?? and I was passed by a group of about 30 motorcyclists followed by a pickup pulling an enclosed trailer that read Chariots of Light. Evidently they are a Christian motorcycle group, they made quite an impressive site riding two abreast in neat formation down the road.I was excited about the Tabor stop as I’m very proud of my Czech heritage! I had a poppyseed kolache in memory of my Dad and had my picture taken with the Czech Queen. Later I heard that some of my friends had bought two kolaches, so they would have a plastic baggie to line their cycling shoes to help keep their feet dry and warm, very clever! It reminded me of grade school when all the kids came to school in the winter with Wonder bread wrappers lining their boots.

Pushing on to Tabor, against the cold north wind, I arrived a few minutes before Dairy Queen opened. A corn dog and raspberry sundae was an early lunch.

Avon seemed to be an uphill climb but well worth it once I arrived. This turned out to be one of the favorite pass through towns of the bikers. The town was very welcoming, kids giving away TDK tote bags full of goodies. Unfortunately we couldn’t carry the Frisbees, but I took the bag and scrunched it into my handlebar bag and found the bag to be very useful the rest of the week to hold the overflow of stuff I was accumulating. A cheddar jalapeño brat fueled my ride to the next stop at the junction of Highway 46. This rest stop was sponsored by the folks of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Dante where my Dad was baptized in 1922. The church is holding its 125th anniversary later this year and will celebrate with a polka mass, I may need to attend.

Only 9 more miles to Wagner but it seemed a bit longer as I grew weary of the northwest wind….amazing how many days the wind was out of the north in June.

But just as I entered camp which was at the Wagner school, the sun came out and it was a most welcomed sight! After a shower and a massage of the hamstrings by the wonderful Laura Brady, I was refreshed. I joined the “Watertown Ladies plus Butch;” Mary Jean, Sandy, Bonnie, Janet, and Butch at the beer garden which was in a lovely park a couple of blocks from the school. Then it was time for a pasta dinner back at camp followed by some time to relax at camp and visit with fellow Shuttle Guy campers, who like me, come back year after year.

I purposely focused very hard on NOT thinking about the hills up ahead. I saw Radar Hill in the distance as we arrived in Wagner and it looked like a wall of asphalt, little did I know it would be an easy hill in comparison to some of the others following that day and the next.

Argus Leader stories:

Hills, Chills Don't Lessen Enthusiasm

Riders Get Big Czech Embrace

Overnight Stop a Big Boost for Wagner

Photo Gallery: Yankton to Wagner

TDK, Day 1, Sunday, June 7, 2009 – 73 miles

2009-06-13T10:07:00.008-05:00

The start of TDK for me - my house! Harrisburg to Yankton was the official route for Day 1 but I rode to Beresford from Wakonda and then to Yankton.

I had made a quick trip to Harrisburg the afternoon before to pick up my registration packet and to drop off by bags with the Shuttle Guy. The first time I rode a full week of TDK (2006) I decided the ride would be a challenge enough for me without having to worry about setting up a tent, taking down the tent each day, so I went with the Shuttle Guy who provide the tent, a thick air mattress, hauls my bags, provides a camp chair, clean towel each day, coffee, and all the amenities. And since that first year I’ve never considered doing anything other than the Shuttle Guy!

The night before TDK we attended a wedding and the dance which followed in Wakonda….so I went in to TDK a little sleep deprived. I left my house at 6:10am, temp was 48 degrees with a light drizzle. About 10 minutes into the ride, I turned around and went back home for another layer of clothing and winter gloves. Back on the road at 6:35am.

I met up with Melissa on 306thSt. near the highway 19 intersection, and we rode into Beresford together. We were very wet and cold when we arrived at the Fire Station for our pancake breakfast where we met up with the other TDK riders. Thank goodness for the espresso they were also serving – it was a life saver!

At this point I have to mention, I rode 30 miles to Beresford and 26 of those miles were into a stiff northeast wind which caused to wish I would’ve woken Charlie up to have him drive me to the start of the ride so I could’ve had a tailwind for the entire ride!

After drying out for close to an hour we were back on the road and this time we had the wind to our back and it was dry – the remainder of the ride was beautiful!

On the way into Volin I chatted with Josef Linz riding TDK for the first time. I’m sure he would receive the prize for coming the furthest distance as he lives in Austria! He was mentioned in the Argus Leader in this article from June 12th. We had a nice visit, though I’ve never been to Austria, my grandmother immigrated from a small village, Tlumacov, in the Czech Republic, just 6 kilometers from Austria, which I have visited and only 45 minutes from where Josef lives.

Arriving in Volin there was a line to get into the Volin Cafe but the wait was well worth it. I had the chicken salad croissant and potato salad, yummy! Melissa and I continued together into Mission Hill where we had a chat with the friendly Mission Hill Hiller 4-H Club members and leaders, it is so nice of this group to set up a stop for TDK riders 4 out 5 years of TDK, especially since they give away homemade treats!

On to Yankton where Melissa met up with her family and where my daughter Emily picked me up. I showered at Emily’s and then we were going to go to the beer garden at the park but since it looked like rain we went to Ben’s instead where Charlie and John joined us for a Fat Tire beer. Charlie and I ate at Bonanza where we saw the Brady’s and DeVelder’s. Charlie dropped me off at camp where it was very wet and continuing to rain but my tent was nice and dry and very cozy.

Argus Leader stories from Day 1:

Tail Winds Make All Things Possible

Party Rolls with Laughs and Treats

Photo Gallery

Spandex Not Required - Wednesday Night Group Ride

2009-06-05T06:59:00.002-05:00

We had a good turn out for the Wednesday evening group ride that I posted as an easy paced "spandex not required" ride. Purpose of the ride: socializing and to promote bicycle love! The route was a flat 30 mile loop along the Bluff Road, through Meckling, and back to Vermillion on the Timber Road. It was a beautiful evening, about 70 degrees and a light wind out of the north.

I was very pleased to have 14 riders show up! Perhaps the promised post-ride social at R-Pizza helped to get people out for the ride....whatever the reason, I think I can say a good time was had by all. Biking Brady has more on the ride here.

I'm off for a week of biking on Tour de Kota starting Sunday. I have 890 training miles going into the ride - hope I'm ready!

Bike Touring Diaries

2009-05-31T20:17:00.008-05:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I love to read the diaries of folks doing cross country tours by bike. CrazyGuyonaBicycle is one of my favorite sites. I was chatting with CDV while on a ride about this addiction of mine and he told me that our fellow MS Bike Ride team member, Travis, is currently doing a tour in the southwest and is posting on CrazyGuyonaBicycle. I was so excited to read the diary of someone I actually know! And then later the same day, we met and road with the Biking Beans, a couple who are traveling cross country that were passing through the area. They also have a website of their adventures!

In general I like to read the travel diaries of anyone touring the US, but especially those who are passing through South Dakota. Here are some of the diaries I'm currently following:

Travis' American Southwest Tour - Travis whose whole family rides the MS Ride with Team Road Kill each year

Biker Beans - The couple on a recumbent tandem who came through Vermillion last week on their way to the west coast.

Real Geeks Ride - Don't know these people personally, not traveling through SD, just very entertaining reading!

My First Tour of the US - Another guy who passed through our area of the state recently.

A little less than 150 miles in last 4 days.....

2009-05-31T16:22:00.006-05:00

Thursday evening - 40 miles - Wakonda to Bluff Road east until I met up with Cindy and Evie, rode with them to Meckling and turned around and headed back to Wakonda. A beautiful evening, the winds were actually calm! A rarity here in South Dakota!

Friday afternoon - 23 miles - Wakonda to county line road to Volin to Bluff Road up "Turkey Hill" and back home. Another gorgeous day for a ride.

Saturday - 67 miles - Bunyan's (Vermillion, SD) to Bob's (Martinsberg, NE) Ride. Going to Bob's was way too easy! Going back to Vermillion against the northwest wind was more of a challenge but it helped to have great company; Marilyn and Colleen.

Sunday morning - 16 miles - Four miles east of Wakonda, 4 smiles south, 4 miles west, 4 miles north. A short ride before church.

Not sure I'm ready for Tour de Kota, but ready or not it starts next Sunday!

2009-05-26T20:42:00.002-05:00

"There is no limit, no boundaries to when and where you can commune with God. It doesn't have to be in church all the time." Sister Madonna Buder

I saw this story on the ABC Nightly News and loved Sister Madonna's quote. This is a 78 year old nun doing triathalons. A priest suggested she try running for spiritual enrichment and she was a natural runner. She was 47 at the time and now also swims and bikes.

I tried to explain to a non-biking friend how spiritual a solo bike ride can be for me; admiring the beauty of God's creation, reflecting on all the blessings that have been given to me, and letting worries slip away while spinning the pedals. She didn't get it, but Sister Madonna would understand completely.

Couple Riding Cross Country on a Recumbent Tandem

2009-05-25T19:36:00.003-05:00

It has been a busy weekend and I was anxious to get some riding in. I left home at 11:00 am hoping to get in 60-70 miles but didn't really have a particular route in mind. Since the wind was from the southeast and blowing pretty good at 17 mph with gusts up to 22 mph I headed for Vermillion via the Bluff Road which gives some protection from the wind. After a break at a convenience store I decided to ride to the Vermillion-Newcastle Bridge before heading back home. I rode across the bridge just so when Charlie asked where I rode to I could tell him "Nebraska." It always seems to sound more impressive when you say you road to another state!

On the way back I met CDV. Since CDV was out for an "easy paced" ride, I rode along in hopes I could keep up. We went back to the bridge and turned back to Vermillion when Kevin called Craig and said Kathy R. rode up from Sioux City with a couple do a cross country ride on a recumbent tangent and they were now at Kevin's planning to ride to Yankton where they would spend the night. So we rode to Kevin's where we had a nice visit with Dave and Heather. I live vicariously through the adventures of other cyclists who have done cross country rides by reading their journals on CrazyGuyonaBicycle.com; one of my favorite web sites! This was my first opportunity to talk with someone doing a cross country tour in the midst of their tour. After discussing the best way to get to Yankton due to road construction, we all headed out of Vermillion on the Bluff Road; Dave and Heather, Kathy, Kevin, CDV, and myself. CDV had things to do and turned around and went home and I rode with the group for a total of about 15 miles before I turned off and headed home to Wakonda.

What started off as a solo ride turned out to be a very fun group ride. Dave and Heather may have been complete strangers but it is amazing how when you meet others who share a passion for biking they don't feel like strangers at all!

I'll definitely be watching Heather and Dave's adventure on their blog: BikingBeans! Stay tuned for pictures from Kathy and undoubtedly more stories from Kevin!

Look for story on favorite bike trails/routes

2009-05-21T19:30:00.000-05:00

in an upcoming issue of the South Dakota Magazine. I was contacted by a writer for the magazine regarding my favorite trail to ride in the state. I explained that I do very little mountain biking. Mainly my biking is done on a road bike on local roads near Wakonda so I was surprised he still wanted a brief interview to talk about my favorite route. Several others, including Biking Brady, were interviewed as well.

We've been subscribing to the South Dakota Magazine for the last several years and its one of the few magazines I read from cover to cover. I loved the article earlier this year on the 1804 Highway (Native American Scenic ByWay) between Pierre and Lower Brule. This is a route I rode solo in 2007 with Charlie providing SAG support. I thought about choosing this route for the article - but went with a route closer to home and more familiar to me.

You'll have to wait until it comes out in print to find out my favorite route but I will give you a hint, its my favorite in part because of the food - no surprise there!

From cold to steamy hot in 48 hours....must be South Dakota

2009-05-19T13:14:00.004-05:00

Tour de Kota is less than 3 weeks ago and I need to step up my training.....seriously, this is it! The problem is a full time job and weather that doesn't cooperate with my schedule.

For instance, last Saturday I had the morning and early afternoon open and was hoping to get in a long ride. First of all Saturday morning started off unseasonably cold and then the wind blew 100 mph, or what seemed like a 100 mph. However, it was a great morning for sitting in the coffee shop with a group of girl friends to brainstorm some ideas on how to get more women involed in our biking group - the Lady Lane Hogs! We did eventually bundle up and head out for a ride but 10 miles was our limit due to time constraints and WIND!

Next bike ride was Monday. I had about an hour and half between work and meetings to sneak in a ride so I opted to make the most of my time and challenge myself on "Frog Creek Hill." It should be called "Feels Like My Heart is about to Explode Hill."

So on Saturday's ride it was about 48 degrees - I wore thermo-fleece lined tights over my cycling shorts, a base layer of smartwool on top under my jersey, a jacket, thick smart wool socks and cycling shoes, and a headband to cover my ears. I was NOT overly warm.....at all.

On Monday's ride it was 90 degrees - I wore cycling short, sleeveless jersey, cycling sandals. And when I got to that really steep part of Frog Creek Hill where there is no breeze no matter how hard the wind is blowing, I thought I was going to have heat stroke.

Determined to get some riding time in, I rode my bike to work today. The radio reported the winds to be 5 mph from the south......I can tell you if the radio announcer had been on a bike, he would've realized that was no 5 mph wind! I got a ride home with a neighbor - seemed to me to be too windy to ride even with the wind to my back!

Typical South Dakota weather, I should be use to it. And it will be a good reminder to be prepared and bring clothing for both hot and cold (and rainy) weather on TDK....and to train for some wind!

Training has officially started for Tour de Kota 2009

2009-05-03T21:32:00.003-05:00

March mileage = 188
April mileage = 132
May = 115

Total miles for 2009 = 435

I'm off to a good start for May, I've ridden every day so far this month (okay, so it's only the 3rd of May).

Friday was a 21 mile total, 11 miles out from Vermillion on the Buff Road and turned around and came back. Rode with some potential new recruits for Team Road Kill for the MS Ride in August. For some this was their longest ride to date and from the smiles on their faces, I would say they are hooked.

Saturday I left Wakonda and rode to Highway 19 and then turned south and headed towards Vermillion until I met up with Craig, Joe, and Kwen, and then turned and rode with the group. We ate lunch at the Centerville Cafe and then Kwen headed back to Hub City and Craig, Joe, and I continued on to Viborg, Irene, and after the suffer fest of hills on the "county line" made it to Wakonda where the ride ended for me with 58 miles logged in. Craig and Joe had another 24 miles to get back home to Vermillion. Thanks guys for letting me draft the whole entire ride! I need to start riding with the group more to work on my speed.....I've gotten so SLOW! I think it has something to do with turning 50....or at least maybe I can blame it on that.

Today (Sunday) I took off without much of a plan....probably not a good idea as I meandered around and the ride was longer and hillier than what I intended. I ended up with 35 miles.

In between bike rides the weekend consisted of spending time with family, attending a surprise birthday party, church, and yard work. It's wonderful to be able to be out enjoying the great outdoors. Life is good!

Tour de Kota 2009

2009-04-22T21:17:00.004-05:00

I volunteered to help with TDK by talking with some of the local cyclists who live in the pass through towns on the TDK route for the first day in hopes of getting these communities excited about TDK coming through, as well as, to talk with these communities about what cyclists' needs and wants are. Mainly what I did was talk with a few people and put together some contacts and Maggie from the Argus did the rest.

It has been encouraging to see how excited these communities are to have TDK coming through. The Beresford group especially is enthusiastic about TDK and I'm so impressed with their plans; from a pancake breakfast (as well as many other breakfast options) to entertainment, bike parking, and my personal favorite - espressos, lattes, etc., will be brewed up fresh for the riders! All of this will be served in their new fire station (which is huge!).

The next stop will be Hub City, home of Dalesburg Lutheran Church and their cycling pastor who will have a blessing of the bikes and a drop in outdoor church service. And of course, you know those church ladies will make sure no one leaves hungry. Look for some of the parishioners to be in their traditional Swedish dress to promote their MidSummer Festival.

Volin will be ready with sandwiches, macaroni salad, snacks, granola, and pies, pies, pies!

Mission Hill will have the same 4-H club (the Mission Hill Hillers) that has been part of TDK four out of five years. They will be out to once again greet the riders and offer water refills and free cookies and bars. How very generous of them, the leader says the kids were disappointed when they were NOT able to do this last year when the TDK route went north from Sioux Falls.

I'm proud to live in this little corner of the state and can hardly wait for TDK 2009!

Perfect night for a bike ride

2009-04-21T21:49:00.000-05:00

After supper I had time for a quick bike ride before dark and cranked out 14.5 miles. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and I enjoyed the time to just spend some time thinking over the events of the day. I was especially tickled thinking about a story Charlie shared with me.

Charlie was at the school with a bus to pick up the 5th grade class for a field trip. Arriving a bit early he spent a few minutes chatting with the first grade teacher on recess duty. She told Charlie "hey, our class had a discussion about your wife today." Interesting...why would the first grade class be talking about me? The discussion was about being green, conserving resources, etc. The teacher mentioned that biking plays a big role in saving the environment. At that point one of the first graders exclaimed "Cathy L. rides her bike a lot!" Now I expected that this comment came from one of our great nieces and nephews (we have 58 of them - there must be one in this class?) but it came from a little boy who I don't even know but evidently he knows me!

I must admit, I ride my bike primarily for enjoyment! But I do get in about 250 commuting miles a year so I guess it all helps. I think sometimes we are setting examples even when we're not aware that we are. This reminds me of when I stopped in Volin for pie one day while on a bike ride and a little girl ran up to me and said "you're a good lady because you are wearing a helmet!"

The other moral of this story is that if you live in a small town and are the only person who owns a road bike (and maybe a few other bikes, but who's counting), you stick out!

Miles to date for 2009

2009-04-15T19:22:00.000-05:00

I feel like I haven't been out riding as much as I should be for this time of year but then I compared my mileage to last year at this time.

Total miles for 2009 = 174

Bike Friday (the Power Raspberry!) New World Tourist = 190 miles
Giant OCR 1 = 84 miles

Total miles for 2008 at of the end of April = 81

So I'm ahead of last year's mileage but I'm still antsy to get out and get some miles in. I'm trying to ride more hills by taking more trips from Wakonda to Irene via the County Line Road in hopes of preparing myself for Tour deKota in June. I rode 30 miles on Monday night taking the hilly route and for me, keeping it at a 14.7 mph average wasn't bad. Two hours in the saddle without a break is enough for me.

Now due to other obligations my next chance for a ride won't be until Sunday. I wonder if the weather will cooperate? I would love to get in a longer ride. So far my longest ride has been 32 miles.

And I'm trying to work on some riding skills - making myself get out of the saddle on the hills and not braking going down hill (yep, I'm a Timmy!).

I want to ride! I have my Bike Friday in the trunk of my car along with my cycling gear.......just in case I can squeeze in a ride anytime, I'll be ready!

Last ride.....

2009-04-05T09:47:00.000-05:00

on the trainer, yipppeeee!!! I decided this morning this would be my last ride inside on the trainer. It's Palm Sunday but we didn't have church due to the spring snow storm that blew in last night, so that allowed me to get a ride in this morning. From the pictures it probably looks like I should keep my bike (my Giant OCR1, silver with the lovely pink stripe!) on the trainer but the weather forecast is calling for temps in the 50's and 60's later in the week. I have Good Friday off from work and I think it's time for me to let my road bike experience the feel of the open road again! She may be feeling a little neglected caged up in the basement while the Bike Friday Power Raspberry (NWT) has been getting all the attention.

My hubby is going to switch out the back tire I put on for the trainer - hopefully the Gators have a few more miles in them - and I'll polish her up and we'll be ready once the spring weather decides to return! (I'm not in to snow and ice biking like some of my more hearty cycling friends!)

A good weekend all around.....

2009-03-29T18:55:00.000-05:00

I worked a little late Friday then picked up pizza for supper and headed home for a relaxing evening of doing absolutely nothing!

Saturday morning I started off the day with 30 minutes on the bike on the trainer and then some housework and laundry. After lunch I got in a little scrap booking and a short 5 mile bike ride around town. It was a little chilly for a longer ride for me. Charlie and I went out for an early supper at Mona Lisa's. We hadn't been there for awhile and I don't know why because it is so good! I had the balsamic steak linguini with gorgonzola cheese - the same thing I always have but I hate to try anything different as this is so good. We then went to a benefit concert put on by the 1st and 2nd year med students. The musical talent was very impressive! And the pair of MC's did great stand up comedy between the musical numbers.

When we got home we had a surprise - the "grand-dog" was here for a visit. Daughter and son-in-law were in town at some friends and they (and Maggie) spent the night with us.

Sunday morning we had a nice visit with the daughter and son-in-law. I took off for a bike ride in the afternoon while Charlie did some more detailing on his Torino and then he came to Yankton and ran a couple of errands and picked me up at the lake. I got in a 32 mile ride - and not many miles against the wind so it was most enjoyable! We then went for a walk behind the old hospital, monastery, along the bluff. Charlie had never seen the monastery cemetery back there and the path with the stations of the cross. We enjoyed the view of the river and the leisurely walk.

When I was riding my bike along this path earlier in the afternoon - just as I entered the courtyard behind the chapel and monastery the bells started ringing. It seemed just like a scene out of the Sound of Music!

March Milestones

2009-03-21T17:42:00.000-05:00

I have ridden my bike more this March than I ever have before. Beautiful weather, earlier switch to daylights savings time, and a new bike = more riding. I know this weather won't last forever so I've tried to take advantage of it! I'm finding new ways to sneak in short rides. For example, I store the Bike Friday in the trunk of my car, along with my cycling clothes and gear, and I'm ready to go for a quick ride over my lunch!

March stats so far:

10 bike rides
9 of these in the past week (3/14-3/21)
got a ride to work on Friday, rode the bike home (24 mile commute) with a nice south wind to my back for majority of the ride
155 miles total so far for the month
Lots of vitamin D

Priceless!

I'm sorry to my spin class instructors.....

2009-03-19T21:49:00.001-05:00

but I will skip class to ride outside any chance I have. I will be back in class, this weather won't last forever, but while the weather is nice, I must ride outside. With 7 rides outside the past 6 days, I've come to realize how burned out I am on spin class. No fault of our great instructors (Cactus Eyed Joe and Biking Brady) it's just that I've been doing this routine for almost 5 years and it is the room and the bikes that torture me. I hope we get our new wellness center at USD, along with new equipment - it is most needed!

I broke the news today ....

2009-03-19T20:41:00.000-05:00

To my LBS owner that is.......yes, with encouragement and support from Ride Vermillion I broke the news to my LBS owner that I purchased my first bike that didn't come from his shop. He took the news well but stared down the little power raspberry for a full minute without saying a word, but then went to work adjusting my front brake for me. Glad that is behind me!

Then it was off for a ride with the Bike Friday tucked in the pace line behind Ride Vermillion and Biking Brady who very kindly slowed the ride way down in order for me to keep up. I set them loose at Burbank and enjoyed the return trip to Vermillion with a tail wind. Was that wind really only 9 mph? It sure felt a bit stronger than that!

St. Patty's Day Ride - Yankton

2009-03-15T11:33:00.000-05:00

Saturday - March 14th - A beautiful day for a bike ride! Temp was in the low 50's but it felt cooler with the SSW 18 mph wind (with gusts up to 30 mph!). The route went from Yankton to Lewis and Clark Lake, across the damn, and then a short run on the Nebraska side of the river, across the Discovery Bridge and back to Yankton for a total of about 15 miles. The ride concluded with meeting up at Ben's for beverages and drawings for door prizes.

I rode the Bike Friday and the little power raspberry had some zip! It was a perfect bike for this ride - the Marathon Schwalbe's were good on the bike trial and the sand & gravel on the roads.

I tried putting some pictures into a video - hopefully this will work. I stopped to take pictures of all the geese on the lake, looked like a zillion of them - you can't see them very well, they're off in the distance in a spot of open water on the lake, but they are the talk of the town in Yankton. Here is a link to some photos from the Press & Dakotan site: http://spotted.yankton.net/galleries/index.php?id=348303

Bike Friday Ride

2009-03-05T21:04:00.000-06:00

After a short ride around town and an adjustment to my saddle height, I hit the open road for a 16 mile ride. It was sweet....the bike feels like it was made for me. Wait a minute, it was made for me! It's a very comfortable ride. It's a touring style bike so it's heavier and not a bike I'll use to try to keep up with the speedy Gonzales Lane Hogs - you know who I mean! But racing is not the purpose of this bike and so far I'm very impressed by my little bike and anxious to take it out again. I'm hoping to show it off on the St. Patrick's Day ride in Yankton on the 14th - hopefully we won't need studded tires for that ride the way the forecast sounds for next week!

Bike Friday Test Ride

2009-03-01T16:57:00.000-06:00

It warmed up to a balmy 9 degrees and the roads started to clear enough in patches to take the new Bike Friday out for a test ride - a short test ride - as all my biking buddies know I'm a "timmy" when it comes to biking in cold weather!

Even though it was a short ride I am very impressed with my new bike. Amazingly with only 26" wheels it doesn't seem that different of a ride. With only one more week until daylights savings time, I'm hoping to start riding the Bike Friday on a regular basis soon.

I'm also very impressed with the fold and unfolding of the bike. Just two quick releases and we had it folded in less than 2 minutes and the same for unfolding. Charlie and I were a little nervous about the folded bike fitting in the trunk of the Mustang as the trunk opening is quite narrow but the bike folds quite compactly and it went in with room to spare. That called for a little happy dance in the garage. I'm quite sure we will not even have to fold the bike to get it in the trunk of the Torino!

It was a good day....coffee with friends after church, brunch in Yankton where we saw Melissa and Nick. Charlie wanted to drive across the new Discovery Bridge so that was at good excuse to stop and get some Fat Tire beer while we were across the border in Nebraska. Then home and a very short bike ride. Life is good.

The Bike Friday has arrived and is assembled!

2009-02-25T22:12:00.000-06:00

Murphy's Law for a new bike purchase: After weeks of eager anticipation, the bike will be shipped the day your calendar is the fullest! The bike arrived at 3:05pm in Wakonda via UPS. Assembly commenced after other obligations were fulfilled at 8:45pm (that's ashes,not grease on the forehead). Bike assembled in less than an hour. I can hardly wait to take it for a ride! With the weather forecast it may be a few days. I might have to ride circles in my basement in the mean time!

Two quick releases and the bike folds up - this will allow Charlie and I to combine our hobbies and enjoy them together when we take our car-bike trips this summer!

Bike Friday on it's way!

2009-02-24T17:49:00.000-06:00

My Bike Friday is on it's way and due to arrive tomorrow (Wednesday). It is being shipped UPS and according to the tracking report will arrive on schedule. I was so hoping it might get here early so I could take it out for a ride today. Oh, well. And tomorrow is a busy day since I volunteered to stay after work to meet with an undergrad group, and it's Ash Wednesday. So I'll probably be up late tomorrow night supervising Charlie as he assembles my bike for me! Pictures will be posted soon!!

Update on Charlie's recovery

2009-02-18T19:57:00.000-06:00

I'm happy to report a little more than 3 weeks post-op, Charlie's recovery from the rotator cuff surgery is going well. The physical therapist says he is ahead of schedule - which he finds to be more common with those folks who are self-employed! He is still in a sling and hasn't gone to back to work full time but does manage to keep a some hours at the shop with his nephew helping out some. Life is slowly returning back to normal for him (and me!).

Not much new.....

2009-02-15T14:04:00.000-06:00

Not much cycling news to report on in my life.....the past week I went to spin class 4 times, with instructors; Kevin, Joe, and Holly. Two noon classes, one evening, and one 6:00am class. I also rode my trainer twice and did yoga once. I'm trying to rev up my metabolism, my body just wants to hibernate this time of year.
I am happy to see that the ShuttleGuy and the Maui Showers are both officially listed on the Argus Leader's Tour de Kota site, I have everything I need now to make it a great ride.
Otherwise, I'm still here, looking forward to the Bike Swap next Sunday in Sioux Falls as a chance to talk with some other cyclists. And after that, hopefully it will be only another couple of weeks before the Bike Friday arrives!

Tour deKota 2009

2009-02-08T20:48:00.000-06:00

I'm signed up for TDK 2009! There is a discount if you sign up before Feb. 15th. Sign up and join me!

More about the new bike

2009-02-03T23:56:00.000-06:00

I ordered my Bike Friday a couple of weeks ago and hopefully it will be here in about a month. The company is in Eugene, Oregon and the bikes are built specific to the buyer. First of all you spend quite a bit of time talking with your sale's rep about what type of riding you want to do with your Bike Friday; commuting, touring, mountain biking, etc. Then they help you determine what model will fit your needs.

Peter is my sales rep and he suggested the New World Tourist. This will be more of a touring style bike. Here is a review by a New World Tourist owner at his blog site; The Lazy Randonneur.

I spent a lot of time on the phone over a two week period asking questions - the first was how can a Bike Friday with 20" wheels be comparable to bikes with standard size wheels? It all has to do with the gearing (so I'm told, but don't completely understand). My other concern was with frequent folding of the bike that the derailleurs would become damaged. To help prevent this problem I order a dual drive SRAM internal rear hub. This eliminates the front derailleur. The down side is that the rear tire does not have a quick release and you need to carry a 15mm wrench to change the rear tire. I ordered the Schwalbe Marathon tires which I'm told are more puncture resistant.

The last step before ordering the bike was taking several measurements from my road bike along with my inseam measurement. I can hardly wait to get the bike and see how it rides!

Final decision to make was what color - drum roll please....the color is POWER RASPBERRY!

January Exercise Summary

2009-02-02T19:53:00.000-06:00

My January summary from my Sweat 365 tracker:

You exercised 12 times on 11 days, for 6.6 hours.
You cycled 9 times on 9 days, for 5.2 hours.
You ran 2 times on 2 days, for 0.9 hours.
You did strength training 1 times on 1 days, for 0.5 hours.

There is definitely room for improvement, I might have overdone the rest days!

PS - I found the results posted for the Frostbite 2 mile fun run this past Saturday - my time was 21:10 and I came in 57th place, side-by-side with my daughter. She was so sweet to run with her old Mom (she even carried my jacket for me the last quarter of a mile!).

Cycling Intervention

2009-02-02T19:33:00.000-06:00

I went to the noon spin class today that Biking Brady teaches, it's nice to see the class full! It was an interesting group - looking around I realized half of the group were counselors or students working on their counseling degree. I think they've heard of Biking Brady's obsession with cycling and they're planning an intervention for him that will surely involve a 12 step program.

Just kidding Kevin, your obsession with cycling is an inspiration!

Announcement - I'm Getting a New Bike!

2009-02-01T17:28:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I ordered a Bike Friday! I've been thinking of getting one for about a year now so when Double G forwarded an email to me announcing a Bike Friday Inauguration Sale that was all it took to spark my interest in looking into a Bike Friday more seriously.

When I casually mentioned this to Charlie he was very excited. Charlie is not a biker, his passion is cars, especially classic cars. But he has one rule - no bike racks are allowed on his babies. So we've talked about how we could spend time together both enjoying our different hobbies if I had a folding bike that we could put in the trunk of the car. So when I told Charlie about the sale he encouraged me to order a Bike Friday saying he wanted me to get one last summer, what a guy! I'm looking forward to doing a little traveling this summer and riding some new routes with my own personal SAG!!

That is the main reason why I want a folding bike.....more details later!

I ran a race without intending to run a race!

2009-01-31T22:21:00.000-06:00

Ashley asked if I would like to WALK the 2 mile route of the Frostbite Four Race in Beresford today (Saturday). Since the forecast was calling for above normal temps I thought, "why not."

I love to watch the serious runners...they all have a sleek runner's body and just seem so self disciplined. The music was blaring and there was a lot of energy as we registered at the gym. There was a record number of people registered with a total of 394. Most were running the 4 mile route and about 150 were running or walking the 2 mile route. They loaded us up on school buses and took us south out of town so we would have the wind to our backs.

Ashley and I started out running but then kept on running. I kept thinking I'll run to the next farm house and then walk, but then I thought I still had a little more in me, and kept on running. I am NOT a runner and had not trained at all for this event, so I was quite surprised that I was able to run the whole thing. For most people it would be no big deal, but for me it was. I have ran only one other race in my entire life and that was the Wakonda Centennial 1 mile Fun Run in 1985!

I wish I would have looked at our time as we crossed the finish line - but at the time I was just trying not to puke.

Regardless of how I did on time, I had a lot of fun. The puking feeling didn't last long!

After the winners were announced and door prizes given out there was a chili feed at the golf course club house/community center. I saw a few "bikers" there; Chad and Kwen. Hope I'll be seeing them both within the next couple of months on a bike ride. Days like today helps to make the winter go a bit faster!

RAGBRAI 2009 Route Announced

2009-01-29T16:33:00.000-06:00

Drum roll please.....the RAGBRAI route has been announced! Last year was my first RAGBRAI and though I was really glad I had the RAGBRAI experience, I knew it wasn't a ride that I felt I needed to do every year. I think I'm kind of strange, but I prefer Tour deKota.

My main complaint with RAGBRAI was that it is just too long, with the travel to the starting point and the travel home, it really takes up 2 consecutive weekends. And then the Pedal the Plains MS Bike Ride is held the following weekend. I guess I just feel a little guilty leaving my non-cycling spouse home for three weekends in a row.

Riding a few days of RAGBRAI would be ideal. And this year, I need to be at work the Wednesday of RAGBRAI week (we've been warned well in advance to be present that day for a pre-accreditation 'run-through') so I know riding the entire week is not possible anyway.

No decision has been made yet, but I am contemplating riding the first few days from Council Bluffs to Indianola. It would be worth returning to RAGBRAI for the food alone! Pasafari, Peace Coffee, Farm Boys, Mr. Porkchop, Beekman's Ice Cream, etc. We'll see what develops! (I'm definitely planning on riding Tour deKota.)

Here is a little teaser about the route from Des Moines Register:

Start training, people: This year’s RAGBRAI is going to be just as hilly as it was last year.

The 37th Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, from July 19 to 25, cuts a 442-mile route through the southern half of the state, with overnight stops in Council Bluffs, Red Oak, Greenfield, Indianola, Chariton, Ottumwa, Mt. Pleasant and Burlington.

“You go south and people just assume it’s going to be really hilly, but this year will be pretty close to last year,” said RAGBRAI director T.J. Juskiewicz. “It’s the sixth-shortest route of all time, and it’ll be an extremely scenic adventure.

Home and Healing

2009-01-27T13:32:00.000-06:00

Charlie had rotator cuff repair surgery on Monday morning in Sioux Falls. It was all done through the arthroscope - just 4 small incisions. The surgeon said the tear was quite large but with the help of several and sutures, the tendon was repaired nicely. We even got to see pictures!

Charlie woke up right away with severe pain because unfortunately the nerve block didn't work - although his ear was very numb - the block didn't seem to do much of anything to the shoulder and arm. It took awhile then to get the pain under control but between the oral meds and the IV meds (which I 'kind of' demanded - in a nice way, of course) we finally got on top of it and Charlie was dismissed later in the afternoon.

Today he is looking more perky, but with his right arm and shoulder immobilized, I have him completely under my control!

Tour de Kota 2009

2009-01-20T19:59:00.000-06:00

I was happy to receive an email this afternoon from the Argus Leader announcing registration is open for TDK 2009! I have to admit I was a little concerned that TDK might not happen this year. A friend of mine had contacted Tym Allison, the manager of the Shuttle Guy camping service, to ask if they would be supporting TDK this year and Tym said he had heard rumor TDK had been canceled! That made me a little nervous but now with the official email sent to former registrants I think it safe to say there will be a TDK 2009.

The route is from Harrisburg to Yankton to Wagner to Gregory to Chamberlain to Pierre to Gettysburg. I would imagine that this TDK route will have the more climbing than any of the previous routes. Let the hill training begin; that will be on the trainer and spin class for me until we get some temps in the 50's.

I hope lots of Lane Hogs plan to sign up for TDK so we can show off more of our awesome karoke talents!

Sweat Fest

2009-01-19T15:52:00.000-06:00

I did the Carmichael Time Trial workout on the trainer today. It was definitely a good workout. One of those workouts where after I'm done I have a little cough for about half hour because I've opened up some aveoli deep in my lungs that haven't used for awhile! The workout was an hour long so I'm patting myself on the back for finishing it. I normally ride my trainer 30-45 minutes max at a time.

I also have the Spinnerval 30 Minute Time Saver DVD. The Carmichael workout starts out with (after the warm up) sprinting intervals; 5 minutes on and 5 minutes off X3, as opposed to the shorter Spinnerval intervals that are a minute on and a minute off X12. One thing I liked about the Carmichael work out was that during the 5 minutes off they put in clips of Lance Armstrong and they interview the people doing the workout about the benefits they see from this particular workout. So you get a little "inspiration/motivation" along with the workout.

The best things in life are free!

2009-01-18T21:52:00.000-06:00

We spent the weekend in Sioux Falls with three other couples. It was a nice get away with good food, good drinks, good conversation with good friends.

Anyway, we spent most of our time downtown since that is where we were staying. We were browsing in the used bookstore and I found a box of books with a sign stating they were free, help yourself. Not expecting to find anything too interesting, I decided to see what I may find that no one else apparently wanted, and guess what I found? A new Carmichael Train Right; Time Trial DVD, brand new, still in the cellophane wrapper. I felt like I hit the jack pot!

I'll be trying it out tomorrow on the trainer - trying to burn off at least a few of the calories (the Puget Sound crepe at Minervas, the blue burger and malt at the Diner, etc., etc., etc.) consumed the last couple of days!

What a week....is it over yet?

2009-01-15T20:06:00.000-06:00

This has been the longest week I've experienced in a long time ... snow storm ... dangerously cold temperatures ... and the sadness that blankets the school with the sudden death of a highly respected professor ... he left us much too soon.

Have you ridden your bike on South Dakota Highway 1806?

2009-01-10T11:15:00.000-06:00

If you have, run out and get the January/February issue of South Dakota Magazine! There is an article on "A River Road Called 1806" with awesome pictures. The picture above is of the Big Bend Dam that I took from my ride on this highway on Labor Day 2007. I started in Fort Pierre, riding from north to south, for a total of 80 miles, not quite making it all the way to Chamberlain.

The article focuses on the 59 mile stretch of this highway - now named the Native American Scenic Byway - between Fort Pierre and Lower Brule.

Writer Bernie Hunhoff states: "The 59-mile route between Fort Pierre and Lower Brule is slowly but surely gaining popularity - not for travel amenities (nary a single store or rest stop along the way) but rather for its extreme lack of commerciality."

This is the understatment of the year and why it would be difficult to do this ride unsupported - I was fortunate to have my husband SAG for me. The cooler full of cold drinks and snacks was most definitely a neccessity. And having Charlie to change my flat tire for me was priceless - what a guy!

We went out for supper with friends last night for supper (at the Pit of course!), and we were talking about this article and Charlie and I were reliving how we enjoyed our journey along this route. One of our friends said he really wanted to take a road trip there next summer. But somehow I just don't think it will be the same experience as we had.

Charlie had a lot of wait time to take out the binoculars and take in the scenery. And I most definitely experienced the scenery up close by bike. At times it was a bit too close. For example, since the morning started out very cool with temps around 50 degrees, I saw several snakes curled up on the road trying to absorb the heat of morning sun. A couple of snakes sure looked like they could have been rattle snakes but I decided it was best to just assume they were and not get too close!

At another point of the ride I kept hearing an odd noise, like chattering. Finally as I really started to look around, I noticed it was the prairie dogs, large numbers of them, standing upright on their haunches next to their boroughs.

Another aspect of this route not truly appreciated by car are the long climbs but likewise the ecstasy of the long descents!

I know several of my biking buddies have ridden the entire 1806 highway between Chamberlain and Pierre on the inaugural Tour deKota route in 2005. And I look forward to riding this route with them on TDK 2009. But I'm kind of glad to have done this ride alone. The Mayor would probably call my experience "the church of the bike," I found it to be a very spiritual experience. You're alone with a lot of time to think and reflect and commune with nature - I know this is the stuff that restores me!

If I haven't bored you completely here is a link to my photos on flicker and a web page I put together about this ride.

My Woman Cave

2009-01-08T18:46:00.000-06:00

Welcome to my world! You've heard of the corner of the basement that the man of the house claims - well, I claim this corner of the basement for myself. Our basement has always been a scary part of our house. When our girls were young we even turned our basement into a "haunted house" and opened it up to all the kids in town. So I'm quite proud to have my 1921 basement look this good! It makes it a little easier (just a little) to go down to the dungeon for a workout.

Here is my Christmas present, an iPod speaker for my bike. It is so cool! It fits in my water bottle holder on my bike and has a little remote that mounts on the handle bars. If it looks familiar, it is because I am copying Tez. Ever since I saw this on her blog I've wanted one!

I could've had a V8!

2009-01-03T11:36:00.000-06:00

Remember that commercial? I've been saying something like that to myself since New Years "I could've gone on the Spoke-n-Sport New Years Day Ride!" I saw he TV coverage on KDLT and from the blog reports (Cycle SD, Hooterville Mayor) it sounds like a good time was had by all!

The trainer is already getting old. I hope we have some nice weather on upcoming weekends (it's not very nice this weekend in southeast South Dakota with the freezing drizzle we're getting). I'm a cold weather wimp but a chilly ride outside would be a nice change from the trainer.

Going to spin class with other people is also a nice break from the trainer. We have limited spin classes being held over the holiday break but Killer Kevin has a class on Monday over the noon hour and I plan to be there!

Review of Goals for 2008

2008-12-30T20:12:00.000-06:00

Tez is talking about resolutions and setting goals for 2009. I’ve been thinking about this as another year is quickly coming to an end. Last year I set some pretty lofty goals for myself:

1. To approach the big 5-0 as gracefully as possible and at my personal best fitness level.
2. To put 3,000 miles on my road bike.
3. Compete in a local Senior Games Bike Race.
4. Improve my time in the USD Intramural Bike Race.
5. Ride four century rides (TDK, MS Pedal the Plains Bike Ride, and two self-supported century rides).

And here is how I did on reaching these goals:

1. To approach the big 5-0 as gracefully as possible and at my personal best fitness level.
This is really two goals in one! First of all, I approached my birthday with a lot of kicking and screaming and by running away for a few days, so I don’t know if that was so graceful. Secondly, I did quite a bit of back sliding this fall and definitely was not at my personal best fitness level.

2. To put 3,000 miles on my road bike.
My mileage for the year on the road bike was 2,608; about 400 miles short of my goal.

3. Compete in a local Senior Games Bike Race.
I had intentions of tying out the Senior Games Race in Yankton but ended up that was our town wide rummage sale day. My daughter and I had a rummage sale with the proceeds going to our fund raising for the MS bike ride. Also, I have to admit that I just hate sprinting and racing.

4. Improve my time in the USD Inramural Bike Race.
This didn’t happen either, my time for the 14 mile course was about a minute more.

5. Ride four century rides (TDK, MS Pedal the Plains Bike Ride, and two self-supported century rides).
I rode my first century of the year with CDV on the first day of summer (June 21). My next century was on the MS Bike Ride on August 1st. And the following weekend on August 8th I rode a century by myself. That was it, no century completed on TDK as that was the horrible windy day from H***!

So there it is – number of goals met for 2008 – a big fat ZERO.

Oh well, it was still a great year and riding the full week of RAGBRAI was an accomplishment that I’m happy about. I was very nervous going into it but it turned out to be a great experience and now I know I can handle riding in a large group.

I’m not setting any goals or making any resolutions for 2009 – I plan to just enjoy the ride. I got to ride with several different people on a variety of rides last summer; Tour deKota, RAGBRAI, MS Bike Ride Pedal the Plains, Margarita Ride, and several Lane Hog rides as well as a few with the Biking Vikings fromViborg. I’m looking forward to more of the same in 2009!

Surgery Date

2008-12-29T19:56:00.000-06:00

Charlie finally has a date set for his rotator cuff surgery: Monday, January 26th was the earliest he could get. But the good news is the other things they found in his pre-op physical: an incomplete right bundle branch block on the EKG and a heart murmur, which lead to an echocardiogram, turned out to be benign. No abnormalities on the echocardiogram so all systems are a GO for surgery!

Trip Report - Part 2

2008-12-26T10:54:00.000-06:00

Saturday, Dec. 20th

I was up at sunrise still in the pursuit of finding shells and enjoying the sunrise and the birds. The beach was nearly deserted and remained that way throughout the day. Charlie and I concluded it was a weird feeling to be in this beautiful spot and have it almost all to ourselves! The waitresses at breakfast shared that the resort was very slow but would be nearly full by Christmas.
We decided to take a drive around the island and check out Bowman Beach just down the road 3 miles which was suppose to be “THE” beach for shelling. However, it seemed like there wasn’t the variety of shells that we had right outside the door of our resort. But it’s always good to explore all the beaches!

We were walking barefoot along the beach in the soft white sand thinking about everyone back home waiting out the blizzard. Glad we missed at least one snow storm this winter!

We then drove on to Captiva Island, this is where we had stayed in 1991 and so we saw some of the familiar restaurants; the Mucky Duck, the Bubble Room, etc. We visited the Chapel by the Sea and its little cemetery which was quite different with the graves decorated with shells, flip flops, etc.

Then it was back to our resort and out to the beach to find what sea shell treasures I might find with the low tide. I LOVE SEA SHELLS, if you haven’t figured that out by now.
We made a quick trip to the historical village of Sanibel and visited the museum there and got a bit of history of the island.

It was a lazy day of relaxing and having some wine while watching the sunset on the beach. Then off to dinner at the restaurant at the resort again.

Sunday, Dec. 21st

Again, I was up at sunrise. I’m definitely enjoy the morning time and walking the beach, watching the sunrise and the antics of the birds as they were chased by the waves breaking on the beach.

After some shelling and a leisurely breakfast (at our resort – the food was awesome and the coffee ever flowing!), we were off to 11:00am church service for the interdenominational service at the quaint little Chapel by the Sea on Captiva. The church is maintained by a regular congregation but obviously they have many visitors each week. They ask everyone to wear a name tag with your name and where you are from. Most were Midwesterners like us escaping the snow and cold. Since the church is small, they also offer seating outside on colorful fold up chairs. The minister does the greeting outside – and the rest of the service she performed from inside but the pulpit has a window right to the side so she can turn and speak to the people seated outside through the open window – it was very unique!

We ate lunch at a nearby bistro where we had grouper and mai-mai. We sat outside enjoying lunch under the palms on the first day of winter.

Next we were off to check out the beach on the far end of Captiva. This beach was busy and not many shells but the water was more a clear Caribbean blue color.

Back to our resort for a little more beach time (can’t miss low tide and the shells the tide brings in!) and then we were off across the causeway to Fort Myers on the mainland. There was only one thing that Charlie wanted to see and that was to visit the winter homes of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison in Fort Myers. The two men were friends and neighbors with estates right next to each other. We toured the property and museum, sat by the dock and watched another glorious sunset, and then toured the property a second time as the Christmas lights came one, illuminating the houses, gardens, palm trees, dock, etc.

Arriving back on Sanibel we ate at a shrimp house but it was loud and noisy, and we found we really liked the restaurant back at our little resort better! Afterwards we drove through the live nativity at a local church on Sanibel. Christmas is so different on Sanibel with the decorated palm trees and pink flamingo but the reason for the season remains the same.

Monday, Dec. 22nd

One last morning to enjoy the island and the routine was the same; walk the beach, drink coffee, and relax! With one slight variation, we finally got out on the bikes and rode some of the 25 miles of asphalt bike path. Charlie wasn’t sure how the shoulder would take the bike ride (darn town rotator cuff) but it actually went very well and we enjoyed a leisurely ride a very flat ride at 24 feet above sea level!

We had a late big breakfast at our resort, packed up, and headed to the airport early around 1:30pm, even though our flight didn’t leave until 5:30pm. We took our time, checked the rental car back in, and checked on any earlier flights out but as expected everything was full. We ate at Chili’s and hung out and read until our flight left. A smooth flight into Minneapolis and then we had almost a 3 hour layover which turned into a 5 hour layover due to crew issues, de-icing, etc. Finally, we arrived in Sioux Falls a little before 2:00am. Burr, it was a shock to come back to the cold, even though it was a heat wave compared to the previous week with a temp of 17 degrees! Arrived home at 3:00am and had a few hours sleep before both of us went to work the next day……a little sleepy, but the trip was so worth it!

What I Learned This Christmas

2008-12-25T19:26:00.000-06:00

5. I prefer sand and sea shells to snow.

4. Family is worth trading in the sand and sea shells for snow.

3. I miss our dog Molly but thank goodness for a "grand dog" who comes to visit and stays a few days with us.

2. I vow to never eat oysters again. I must have some type of allergy to oysters that causes vomiting to start within an hour after eating. Fortunately no one else was affected by the oyster stew - it must just be me!

1. I am incredibly blest (regardless of an intolerance to oysters - it's an easy food to avoid).

Trip Report - Part 1

2008-12-25T16:28:00.001-06:00

Here are the complete pictures of our trip: http://charlieandcathy.shutterfly.com/

Thursday, Dec. 18th and Friday, Dec. 19th

My 50th birthday! And I was surprised to find my office decorated and posters around the building announcing my birthday. I hadn’t seen this sneaky side of Arica before! The day went well; our last day of class for the semester.

With reports of snow in the forecast we decided to take no chances and went up to Sioux Falls in the evening and spent the night to make sure we didn’t miss our 6:40am flight. Essentially we started our mini-vacation a day early! After securing a room for the night we were off to the famous Monk’s – our first visit and hopefully not last to this fine establishment. The selection of beers was mind boggling but once we decided it was very relaxing to sip our brew cozying up to the fireplace. While in the big city we decided to take in dinner and a movie. At Ruby Tuesdays we had a great meal and coincidently got a free desert (they didn’t even know it was my birthday!). Then it was off to the movie, we enjoyed Four Christmases very much.

Back to the resort and we set the alarm for 3:30am! I had called our travel agent and it looked like there was some availability on the earlier 5:00am flight so we decided to try for it. We were able to get seats all the way through to Minneapolis and then Fort Myers where we arrived at 11:30am. I think it was a blessing that we got the earlier flights as Minneapolis canceled many of the flights later that day due to snow.

Hard to believe we could escape sub-zero wind chill temps and arrive in Florida where it was 79 degrees in such a short time. Even with luggage pick up, car rental pick up, and a quick stop at Wally World for wine, beer, lawn chairs, snacks, and the 30 minute drive over the cause way to Sanibel Island, we were on the beach by 2:00pm!

Our last trip to Sanibel was in 1991 and we were impressed to find it as beautiful as ever. There was no evidence of damage from hurricane Charlie in 2004 except that Captiva Island (a tiny island directly to the north of Sanibel) had been cut in two requiring a small bridge to connect the two halves.

Right away we were out walking the beach and I started my collection of sea shells. By that time it was happy hour at the pool bar where we had a drink before going to dinner at the little restaurant at our resort.

We were very pleased with our resort and decided if we ever go back we would definitely stay there again. It was a smaller complex and the staff was very friendly and treated us like family. The rooms were very clean and newly remodeled and had everything you could want – refrigerator, microwave, coffee pot, etc. There was a nice pool, pool bar, tennis courts, and even a little hut with a sink for washing up your sea shells! They also rented bikes at the bargain price of $5 for 2 hours or $10 a day – nothing fancy, just a single speed Jamis “Taxi” but they appeared new and were well kept. The restaurant at the resort was especially nice; small and cozy with great service and surprisingly reasonable prices. The food was excellent! We had steaks, crab cakes, lamb (not all at the same time!) and it was all very good.

I'll be riding bike this weekend....

2008-12-14T17:50:00.002-06:00

I am so looking forward to our trip to Sanibel Island for a few days, a birthday gift from my super-fantastic husband! There are very few places I care to visit more than once but ever since we went to Captiva Island (just north of Sanibel Island) in 1991, I have always wanted to go back.

My top 3 reasons why I love this place:

Sea shells - they have the 3rd best shelling beaches in THE WORLD! I love sea shells, I don't know why, but growing up I always thought about how much fun it would be to walk the beach and pick up shells.

Beautiful sunsets - especially nice to view while sipping a glass of wine at the Mucky Duck on Captiva Island.

25 miles of bike trail -need I say more?

Maggie's ready for Christmas!

2008-12-13T23:28:00.000-06:00

The girls came over today and we did our Christmas baking. The grand-dog, Maggie (a blue tick beagle) got to come and spend the day also. I bought this hat and collar for her on clearance last year so I had to have a picture of her in it - doesn't she look cute!

Not the news we wanted to hear

2008-12-10T18:42:00.001-06:00

Two weeks ago Charlie took a tumble jumping out of the back of his back up - and no, he wasn't drinking! He landed on the asphalt on his right shoulder and must have taken the blow all on the shoulder since he didn't hurt his head, neck, back, or anything else. It was quite painful especially for the first few days but then did seem to improve quite a bit. Oddly, it hurts mostly at night when he, make that we!, are trying to sleep.

After two weeks, mainly because of the pain at night and sleep deprivation, Charlie agreed to go to the doctor. Of course, I have connections and in this area he knows well enough to just do as I say! After a call to my orthopod office nurse friend, we got Charlie lined up to see an orthopedist this past Tuesday morning. Nothing showed up on the x-ray of course so the doctor ordered an MRI. Luckily, due to a cancellation, he was able to have it done right away. And instead of going back a week later for the results of the MRI, the nurse worked Charlie in so he got his MRI results the same day. Yep the MRI showed what we kind of expected, he did a good job on his rotator cuff; tearing both the supraspinatus and the subscapularis.

Now we're trying to figure out the best time within the next couple of months for this self-employed mechanic and bus contractor to have the surgery followed by 6 weeks off from work. Kind of a bummer - but we're so thankful it is something that can be fixed! I'm sure there are a lot of people out there with a lot worse problems who would gladly trade places with Charlie.

Girls night out

2008-12-09T20:40:00.001-06:00

My dear sweet daughters treated me to a pedicure as an early birthday present. It was very relaxing and rejuvinating for feet tired out from all the shopping, baking, and decorating! The best part of course was spending time with my girls.

I needed this on Sunday

2008-12-08T21:10:00.000-06:00

I was all set to bake cookies Sunday afternoon but there was a slight problem - our electricity was out for 4 hours. Not sure what the problem was but sounds like everyone who is supplied by the Irene substation was affected. As luck would have it, we are one of three houses in Wakonda supplied by the Irene substation, so while the rest of the town had power we didn't.

Looks like I bought my Kurt trainer one year too soon. If I would have waited, I could have a trainer that generates and stores enough energy to "power a small appliance." I wonder how much pedaling I would have had to do to get my Christmas cookies baked?

It's a small, small world......

2008-12-07T20:39:00.000-06:00

Or at least in South Dakota, it seems like a very small world.

We attended an organ concert at the St. Patrick's Catholic Church that was held to commemorate the completion of a restoration project that has been going on for a few years now on the church organ built in 1906. One of the guest organists was a lady who had grown up in the Volin-Irene area and started playing the organ at the Zion Church in that area. I chatted with her and told her my grandparents had attended that church. We had a nice visit and somehow we discovered that we both liked biking. Her and her husband bike together. Someone asked how far they ride and she told us that for their 51st wedding anniversary this year they rode 51 miles. What a neat couple!

Then I was chatting with another gal - and she was talking about the Vangen Church's organ restoration project where she plays the organ. That turned into a conversation about how we each knew Tez - this gal said she use to play ball with Tez. Stupid me, never asked what kind of ball they played together. I guess I'll have to check with Tez......

This Old House & It's a Wonderful Life!

2008-12-04T23:01:00.000-06:00

I've been immersed in home improvement projects involving finishing the door project, basement cleaning, painting, etc. Although there is always an unending list of projects when you live in a house built in 1921 much has been accomplished - its a good feeling!

Now its time to enjoy some holiday activities! And what better way than to attend opening night of the play "It's a Wonderful Life." This is Charlie's and my all time favorite holiday movie so we could hardly wait to see the play. Our youngest daughter bought the tickets and joined us for supper at Minerva's before we all went to the play. The play is a musical and follows the movie pretty closely. Charlie nudged me during the part when George and Mary are first married and Mary works on the old house to "make it a home." After 25 years, I'm still working on this old house!

I highly recommend the play, I think it is one of the best productions the Lewis & Clark Theatre company have put on. It's guaranteed to put you in the Christmas spirit!

Cardiovascular Assessment

2008-11-27T08:44:00.000-06:00

Charlie and I went to the Heart Hospital on Tuesday morning for our appointments for a cardiovascular risk assessment. They call the program Planet Heart.

The assessment includes all of the following for only $50:
Calcium Score CT – a CT (computerized tomography) of your heart
Blood pressure
BMI (body mass index)
Cholesterol and blood sugar check

I expected my risk factors were low and I passed with flying colors. My calcium score was zero - that made me extremely happy and a little proud since the nurse made a bid deal of the score. She said in her line of work it's refreshing to see a perfect score! The CT scan was an interesting experience - ever see the movie Contact with Jodi Foster? I felt like I was about to take flight into a series of wormholes when the CT spun around me!

In the past my HDL (good cholesterol) has been a little low but I finally have it up to where it should be, most likely a result of exercising which is the most effective in raising your HDL.

Mainly I made the appointment to get Charlie to go. And although his overall assessment wasn't serious (he was relieved they didn't admit him!), it did indicate moderate risk of cardiovascular disease. His blood pressure and total cholesterol were a little elevated. A calcium score of 27 is still relatively low but it did bump him into the moderate risk category. WebMD explains the calcium score CT.

He is frustrated because getting 30 minutes of exercise that raises your heart rate several times a week was emphasized and he doesn't understand why this is so important, especially since he works long hours in a physically demanding job. I'll get back to cooking more healthy foods and try to have left overs he likes that he can eat for lunch rather than eating at the cafe (heart attack menu) every day.

He'll make an appointment to see an internist and get a check up to see what the doctor advises. With his dad dying of a stroke at age 68 and a brother who recently had a heart attack, this news is a little frightening. But I told him I'm going to take care of him to keep him around for a long time!

I don't dare tell him that he could reduce his risk factors substantially by riding bike with me (lets just say he doesn't share the love of biking) - but hopefully next summer we'll get back to riding our hybrid bikes together more often.

PS - If you're interested in a cardiovascular risk assessment, make sure to go to the Avera Heart Hospital. Not that other place in Sioux Falls. Like Forest Gump would say: "That's all I'm going to say about that."

I'm drained.....

2008-11-23T17:00:00.000-06:00

It's been a weekend of sitting vigil with my husband's dying aunt (age 92) who passed away peacefully around noon today - she was the last of the 7 sibilings on Charlie's dad's side of the family. With limited family left, Charlie was his aunt's power of attorney. Now we're in the midst of making funeral arrangements.

On a brighter note, I sure had a great time at the biker gathering held at the Pit on Saturday night; Lanehogs and FAB members together having good food and fellowship! And I discovered the Pit serves a few more choices in beer than I was aware of! We may have to make this a monthly event!

Bicycling Blogger Convention

2008-11-19T19:14:00.000-06:00

This is the location (the famous Pit in Wakonda) of the Bicycling Blogger Convention to be held this Saturday. The following bloggers are expected to be in attendance: Tez, Biking Brady, CDV, Hammer, Ed+Pat, and myself.

Come and join us! We'll be arriving around 5:15pm for a little happy hour before we enjoy our 'gourmet food on paper plates.' Need not be a blogger to attend. A few biking stories are sure to be told.

In case you need further enticement, I called chef Torey and got the run down on the specials for this weekend:

Sirloin steak with a Gorgonzola cream sauce, dirty jack mashed potatoes, seafood salad.

Black beans and rice with shrimp and toast and salad.

Steak sandwich with a horseradish/mustard sauce and choice of potato or salad.

See you there!

My personal trainer

2008-11-17T22:00:00.000-06:00

Today I made the pledge to ramp up my exercise for the next 4 weeks. It's too early to train for Tour deKota or any other summer bike rides, so to keep up my motivation to workout I'm going to take my winter training one month at a time.

My personal trainer is Little Cindy Lou Who. She really isn't a personal trainer but she could be, she's a great motivator. I rolled out of bed this morning at 5:30am, drove to Vermillion and was on the track of the Dome at 6:15am. I was still asleep with my hair sticking out like the Grinch, with an attitude to match the Grinch's. Luckily Cindy takes it all in stride and proceeded to lead me through our workout. We walked to warm up, walked the steps of the Dome, ran a few laps, went to the weight room and did some lunges, followed by the elliptical. Morning exercise is the way to go for me....roll out of bed and get started before having time to make any excuses!

AND I also went to yoga at noon - I'm on a roll, at least for this first day of my 4-week program!

Weekend Recap

2008-11-16T20:38:00.000-06:00

The fun part of the weekend:

Get together with co-workers Friday after work.
Saturday trip to Sioux Falls with five friends. Main purpose of the trip was to visit our favorite kitchen store; Maxwell's Supply. Lunch at Spezia's followed by shopping. Then supper at the Tea Steakhouse where our husbands met us. A great day!

The NOT so fun part of the weekend:

Sunday afternoon I continued to work on refinishing a door, along with the door frame and trim. To make a long story short, have you ever had a home improvement project that just seemed destined to suck up your money, time, and energy? It's just a door, but we found out how expensive a solid wood door is, especially when it is an odd size. The joys of living in an 80+ year old house. After a special order we finally got the door in July. My husband stained and applied 3 layers of polyurethane and had the carpenter install the new door only to discover the stain did not match the rest of our woodwork at all. I can't complain or blame him, he was working hard on the project while I was gone having fun on RAGBRAI. Finally last weekend I started on refinishing the door. All was going as well as can be expected when your dealing with a stinky mess of zip strip, stain, etc., until I went to put the third coat of polyurethane on the door today and a piece "chipped" off and I decided to start all over again. UUUGGHHHH! I think the problem was I had picked up a water based polyurethane instead of the oil based. The worst part is over, I got everything stripped, sanded, and stained. Now to get some good polyurethane and put this never ending project behind me!
PS - Reason for replacing the door? It is the door between our entry way and kitchen and it was badly scratched up from our beagle Molly who is now in doggy heaven chasing rabbits.

Have you gotten your flu vaccine?

2008-11-13T21:46:00.000-06:00

Other hobbies besides biking……

2008-11-09T20:08:00.000-06:00

One of my winter hobbies includes reading. I started a local book club, we get together once a month to discuss a book and try a new bottle of wine. Last month the book was the Glass Castle and the wine was the White Nun. Both were excellent! This month we’re reading “Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven” by Fannie Flagg – a very upbeat, fun novel.

Some members of our reading group are reading an extra novel to discuss this month as part of the One Book South Dakota. The book is “The Master Butchers Singing Club” by Louise Erdrich. I would highly recommend it. I just finished it today and can hardly wait for the book discussion we’ll have at the Irene Library on Nov. 17th with an English prof from Mount Mary.

I’ve read a few novels about immigrants to the US but I think this book is one that will really stick with me. Although it is fiction it is set in historical fact. I was very much into genealogy after my father had his stroke in 1991 and spurred by the opportunity to visit the Czech Republic in 1994 when I had the opportunity to see the villages that my grandmother (Marie Vitek from Tlumocov) and grandfather (Josef Vitek from Veprikov) had immigrated from in 1910 and 1913 respectively. My sister and I spent time with my father’s first cousins and their families in both villages. It was so amazing, an experience that will stay with me for a life time.
The “The Master Butchers Singing Club” gave me more insight/perspective on what it might have been like for my grandfather, who emigrated from Czechoslovakia prior to WWI to avoid inscription (or to avoid becoming cannon fodder), who then sent a son to fight in WWII.

Sunday Blues

2008-11-09T15:17:00.000-06:00

Its been a great weekend. Fine dining at the "Pit" on Friday night with friends. Last night we celebrated my husband's birthday at the Black Steer with our daughters, son-in-law, and the boyfriend. Went to church this morning, coffee afterwards where we get to catch up with everyone, and a great roast beef church dinner followed. I haven't cooked a meal all weekend - I'm loving it!

But I still have the Sunday blues. My husband took the bike rack off my car and is now changing out the back tire on my bike, replacing my gator skin with a cheap tire I use on the trainer. So like CDV my road bike is going on the trainer. It is so darn depressing! Winter has arrived.

Thursday Night TV

2008-11-06T20:22:00.000-06:00

Went to spin class after work - hard to believe last week I was riding outside at this time! Got home just as it was starting to snow. A good night to curl up with a blanket and watch some TV. The hard thing is finding anything worth watching on TV. I'm fed up with Grey's Anatomy so I was flipping through the stations and was glad to see there was a new Dakota Life on public TV. And Hammer was the producer of one of the segments - great job Melissa! Tonight's segment isn't archived yet but you can check out her segment on geocaching here.

Thank you public TV for saving me from Grey's Anatomy!

2008 Biking Miles

2008-11-05T18:23:00.000-06:00

Road Bike Miles
April - 81
May - 427
June - 427 (2 days of TDK)
July - 767 (7 days of RAGBRAI)
August - 491
September - 224
October - 116
November - 75

Total 2008 = 2,608
Total 2007 = 2,724

Centrury Rides 2008 = 3
Centrury Rides 2007 = 4

Commuting Miles 2008 = 269
Commuting Miles 2007 = 220

Mountain Bike Miles Total 2008 = about 15?

November 2nd Ride

2008-11-02T16:02:00.000-06:00

My mileage for this past week:

Wed., Oct. 29, 10 miles
Thur., Oct. 30, 32 miles
Sat., Nov. 1, 50 miles
Sun., Nov. 2, 25 miles

The great weather has allowed me to ride more than I normally would be this time of year. I can tell I'm out of biking shape, I didn't have much zip today. I should have taken advantage of the 70+ degree temps and went for a longer ride but my legs said 25 miles was enough!

My route today was along the Bluff Road to Volin and back to Wakonda via the County Line road, hitting all the hills I avoided on yesterday's ride!

November 1st Ride

2008-11-02T08:21:00.000-06:00

I certainly do appreciate the extra hour we gained this weekend - it's been hectic as usual! Friday night oldest daughter came to visit bringing along our grand-dog, Maggie. Ashley's husband is on a hunting trip with his Dad so she came to spend some time with us. We ordered food to go from our local establishment (The Pit) and had supper at home to be around to hand out candy for the trick or treaters. After eating I left my husband in charge of the trick or treaters and I talked Ashley into going to Vermillion with me where I helped judge the med student Halloween party. As usual, there were many creative costumes making our job very difficult!

Ashley stayed overnight and Saturday morning we went to an "Uppercase Living" party - basically its "word-art" for your walls. These parties are an excuse to get together and get caught up with friends over coffee.

Around noon Ashley left to go meet up Emily to go shopping. I got ready to go on a bike ride. I knew Ann and Little Cindy Lou Who might want to go on a Saturday afternoon ride but I didn't really want to make another trip to Vermillion in the car. So I decided to go out on my own and ride to Meckling and maybe I would connect with the Yankton, Sioux City, and Sioux Falls riders who were riding from Sioux City to Yankton.

I started out sometime around 12:45pm. Upon arriving in Meckling I made some calls to Biking Brady and then Rick (the organizer of the ride) and found out Biking Brady & CDV had gone ahead to get back for a volleyball game and the rest of the group was taking a break at Whimps in Burbank. We decided to meet at Pros. I pressed on to Vermillion where I met up with the group just a couple of minutes behind them.

We had lunch at Pros (along with a few adult beverages as CDV & Biking Brady would say). I tried to call Little Cindy Lou Who and CDV to see if they wanted to join me so I wouldn't be the only LaneHog on this leg of the ride but no answers from either of them at the time. Later when I completed my ride, CDV called to check in and to make sure this LaneHog didn't go missing - they're always watching out for me and I appreciate it!

After quite a long break (full of biking stories, including how Rick rode 26 miles with Lance Armstrong on RAGBRAI 2006!) we rolled out around 4:00pm. We took Timber Road to Highway 50 to Gayville. Wow - I haven't pushed myself that hard for a long while, nor ridden in that big of a group (9 riders total). I dug in and kept up with 21 mph pace of the group most of the way to Gayville and then the other two women riders and myself eased up a bit and let the men go ahead and try to kill each other with their pace!

We parted ways at Gayville and I headed for home (Wakonda) but realized my legs were feeling fried. As I approached Volin I thought of 2 things: 1.) how much I was dreading the last 8 hilly miles home; 2.) how good a beer at Mac's Pub would taste. I called my dear, sweet husband and offered to buy him supper at Mac's if he would meet me there and bring my car so I could load the bike on th bike rack. He accepted the offer and I rode around Volin to top my mileage off at 50 just as he arrived. The beer and good food was the perfect way to top off a great ride on a beautiful November day!

Commuted home from work by bike......

2008-10-30T20:04:00.000-05:00

It was great! This time of year the days are too short and the mornings too chilly to make my 24 mile commute by bike (I try to do this on average 5-6 times during the summer). Last night on a bike ride, where I do my best thinking, I got the idea to bring my bike with me to work and then ride my bike home. I had some comp time coming and left work around 3:15pm. It was so nice I decided to add a few miles on (miles with hills!), for a total of 32 miles.

No offense to Holly, but today's ride was so much better than Thursday night spin class!

Tomorrow I'll ride to work with a friend and drive my car home.....hopefully I won't get a ticket for leaving it in the lot overnight!

Late Afternoon Ride

2008-10-29T19:31:00.000-05:00

I got in a quick ride after work - what a gorgeous day! I chased my shadow for 10 miles - I never caught it, it always managed to stay slightly ahead of me. Obviously it was on a mountain bike as it was riding on the edge of the cornfields!

It was perfect weather for riding and for the farmers. Lots of farmers were out harvesting their corn. As dusk was quickly approaching, my ride looked like a scene out of a Terry Redlin print. I made it home safely before it got too dark and I was clearly seen - hard to NOT see me with my blinky light and neon yelllow jacket!

Positive Addiction

2008-10-28T20:03:00.000-05:00

I just re-read the book “Positive Addition” by William Glasser, MD. Here is the synopsis of the book taken from the back cover of the paperback edition that I have:

“A hallmark of Dr. Glasser’s work is his insistence that people can change themselves and improve their lives. It is possible, he says, to become ‘addicted’ to positive behavior – for instance running or meditating, or some other activity performed for a specific period each day. These positive addictions – contrary to negative addictions to drugs, alcohol, smoking, or even overeating or excessive caffeine —can strengthen a person so he or she can overcome such negative addictions and lead a more integrated and rewarding life.”

My problem is my withdrawal from riding and not replacing it often enough with other forms of exercise to maintain my positive addiction. Instead I’m back sliding into the negative addictions of overeating AND excessive caffeine (as evidenced by the grande skinny latte with an extra shot of expresso habit I’ve been falling into).

This book reminds me of why I need to get back to my positive addiction of regular and consistent exercise when I am unable to ride. Glasser’s research was done primarily with runners and people who meditated on a daily basis, including those who practiced yoga with meditation (now I have a better understanding of how Catus-Eyed Joe got addicted to yoga). But I think all cyclists can relate to the experience of positive addiction described by personal antidotes of the runner’s quoted in the book – just replace the running terms with cycling terms and see if you agree.

“…the rhythm of running/cycling at a high cadence is a strong element. Sometimes problems get solved while I am running/cycling …but it’s not a figuring out process. More of a sudden flash of insight that comes when you are least trying to find an answer. I think worrying and running/cycling are impossible to do at the same time.”

“Everybody should run/ride a bike. It would drown hates, aggression, make people happier, create a greater sense of self-worth. ….If everybody ran/rode a bike, the revolution would be accomplished, the automobile eliminated, idiotic luxuries and compulsions abolished, proper priorities established, the environment saved, classes of racism ended.”

I liked this picture!

2008-10-27T19:51:00.000-05:00

My newest method for cleaning my bike and chain

2008-10-27T13:06:00.000-05:00

Since last Sunday might sweet husband sagged for Cindy and I as we rode the Nebraska hills, this Sunday was payback time. I was a good wife and helped wash all the mud and grime off the school buses that accumulated after the wet week we had last week.

With two people it went rather quickly – I ran the pressure washer and Charlie did the scrubbing. And I found a new way to get a bike chain and cassette dazzlingly clean in no time flat. I brought my mountain bike in and sprayed it down with a degreaser and then took the pressure washer and with the bike propped against a wheel of the bus, I could hit the stream of water just right on the chain and got the pedals spinning backwards at a ridiculously high speed. I then took the air hose and dried off all the components and oiled the chain. I have never seen such a clean chain!

I’m anxious to take the bike out for a little spin. Last time I rode it I was having problems with it not wanting to go into the small chain ring but I could see there was quite a bit of mud around the derailleur so I’m sure that was the problem. It looks like a brand new bike now and I hope it rides like one too. Hopefully this is an “approved” method of cleaning the bike chain and cassette - I guess someone will let me know if it isn't.

Pictures from Saturday's Ride

2008-10-25T17:13:00.000-05:00

I met Biking Brady and Ed in Gayville and rode with them to Yankton where we had lunch at HyVee - great salad bar - we actually ate some healthy foods!

Biking Brady's front tire went flat while we were eating lunch - luckily he is a quick change artist!

Since we were in Yankton we had to take the opportunity to ride across the retired Meridean Bridge as well as the new Discovery Bridge. It is amazing how narrow the old bridge is - I don't see how semis and some farm equipment could fit.

We had to go around the road block to ride across the old bridge. Mike at the bike shop said that they don't want people on it as they are saying it is "unsafe." It was safe for vehicles up until a couple of weeks but evidently it is now unsafe for pedestrians and bikes.

I have to agree - I don't think the top deck was safe for riding - especially with the gusty west wind today. I'm a timmy (ask Ed or Biking Brady for the definition) and didn't try out the upper deck of the old bridge but the boys of course rode it to check out the view.

Finding Motivation

2008-10-23T20:19:00.000-05:00

As the days get shorter and temperatures fall my riding outdoors drops off dramatically. So it's back to spin class and whatever else I can do to try to maintain my fitness level. And of course I always have the elusive hope of improving upon my fitness level and riding faster and stronger next summer!

But it's a long time before next summer - that's a lot of time in spin class pedaling like crazy and going nowhere. Today was a dreary rainy day, it would have been a great night to skip spin class and come home and curl up with some hot chocolate, a blanket and a book. But I dragged myself to the Dome and on my way to the locker room I passed the Campus Rec bulletin board where I saw our cycling team picture (Team Warfarin) for the intramural race and it made me smile. That was a fun day! It also reminded me of why I keep working at trying to ride stronger. Our team was made up of Cindy and I and two med students and this old lady wants to ride with our students for as long as I can. This year I was the last one to finish from our team but I didn't care, it was an honor for me to be a part of the team. Last year I passed one of the students - and this year she passed me - good for her! It gives me a reason to push myself and get ready for next year's cycling season!

This time of year you have to look for motivation where ever you can find it.

Mountain Bike Ride

2008-10-19T19:45:00.000-05:00

I fulfilled my wish to get a mountain bike ride in this year on Turkey Creek Road. The best part was I got to ride with my friend, the ultimate road biker and mountain biker extraordinaire, Little Cindy Lou! AND our ride was fully supported by my awesomely sweet husband!

Perfect weather (no wind, temp around 70 degrees) and the great company made for a great ride. The hills were challenging. My great-great grandparents homesteaded near this area, south of Maskell, and my grandmother always talked about the Nebraska hills. After today's ride I have a greater appreciation for those Nebraska hills!

Our SAG picked us up near Newcastle and we loaded the bikes and rode to Ponca where we met up with Biking Brady and Dan at the state park. A local photographer from Vermillion had made arrangements with Biking Brady to take some mountain biking shots for his portofolio. I was the only one who he had to take a photo of pushing my bike up the trail - I'm definitely not an off the road rider!

After the photo shoot, Little Cindy Lou gave me mountain biking lessons and rode the trail with me. I learned a lot and she gave me the confidence to give the trail a try - my skills are very lacking at this point - but it was fun! Thanks to Little Cindy Lou and my hubby for all of his patience hauling around and sagging for two women today!

For more pics go to this page.

The Most Interesting Papmpered Chef Party Ever

2008-10-18T16:09:00.000-05:00

Upon awakening this morning I thought I had experienced a really bizarre dream, followed immediately by the realization that that was no dream, I was simply recalling the events of the Pampered Chef party from the night before!

Here is the story: Oldest daughter, Ashley, now a married lady of 4 months, hosts her first Pampered Chef party. The consultant is a life-long friend.

Setting the stage of the story: My best friend, Cathy (yes, we're both Cathy - that is why I went by Cathy Jo all through school), and youngest daughter, Emily, and I all go together to the party. On the way over Emily is lamenting over her lack of cooking abilities and how frustrating this is for her (and her boyfriend).

Arriving at the scene: The party is in full swing, lots of family, friends, and Ashley's co-workers are there. I just get a Margarita when Emily tells me to come and look at the consultant's hand - I'm thinking she's engaged and excitedly go to check out the ring - bummer, no ring, but blood gushing from her index finger - yuck!
Yep, she sliced it wide open with the apple corer. Looked like she needed stitches to me but I have my nieces who are also nurses check it out and they concur. Three of us are nurses but we also have a strong genetic predisposition for fainting that we had to overcome. Ashley is very sensitive to blood and she has turned green and is laying on the couch. As Ashley's husband said - it was a weird scene: Ashley is green on the couch, the nurses are tending to the patient, and then there's a bunch of women laughing, talking, and drinking Margaritas - plus 3 little girls running around the house chasing the dog, just to add some more chaos to the mix.

So we get the consultant's boyfriend and he takes her to the clinic but she is feeling so badly about not doing her cooking demonstration. No need to worry, we tell her, we'll run the show for her. Emily and Cathy do the cooking and I just try to keep up with the dishes and keeping every one's Margarita glasses full. Emily who said she couldn't cook did a mighty fine job with Cathy's help. And biking buddy Holly, who happened to be a former Pampered Chef consultant, joined in and helped also. Ashley chatted with her guests and did the other consultant duties with books and order forms, etc.

In the end it all turned out good - everyone got fed and of course, most didn't care what was going on in the kitchen as we kept the Margarita's flowing! The consultant was treated - they cut the flap off since the flap wasn't wide enough to stitch together without the tissue becoming necrotic - so it will be slow healing. Watch out for the Pampered Chef apple wedger - it also wedges tissue!

Nothing New or Exciting Here

2008-10-14T17:24:00.000-05:00

Last week my husband's brother and his wife stayed with us for 6 nights - they arrived with bad colds but I wasn't worried as my husband and I usually don't catch a cold very often. Well, the killer cold caught up with both of us this weekend so it was a pretty laid back weekend. We went to a funeral and church on Sunday - those were our outings - aren't we Mr. & Mrs. Excitement!

Today it was back to work. The med school hosted a huge interdisciplinary (now the newest terminology is interprofessional) event for all health affairs students - all 296 of them. It was chaos, but organized chaos. Some students rode bikes to the med school - good for them! A few didn't read the signs posted on every door about not chaining bikes to signs, handrails, posts, or basically anything other than the bike rack in the back - bad for them. We were tipped off by staff with windows facing the front of the building that Public Safety had came over during the afternoon and cut the bike locks off and confiscated the bikes. Some of the students missing bikes thought they had been stolen so they were relieved to know where they could find their bikes - but basically none of these students were happy campers. But this leaves me wondering, how many bikes has Public Safety confiscated that go unclaimed? Would some students not report missing their Huffy bike? And we would have never known ourselves if someone hadn't happened to have noticed.

Change of Season and Back to Spin Class

2008-10-09T21:28:00.000-05:00

Essentially there are only two seasons for me; biking season and spin class/trainer season. Biking season is quickly wrapping up for me with shorter days and eventually the colder temperatures will catch up with us. I'm the first to admit I am a wimp when it comes to winter riding. When temperatures dip below 50 degrees I get too cold riding outside and its just easier at that point to go down the basement and ride my bike on the trainer.

Tonight was my first night back to spin class for several months. Holly was the instructor and after about a 15 minute warm-up, I worked hard. The remaining 45 minutes of the class I burned 469 calories, average heart rate was 164 (96%) and my max heart rate was 184 (106%). I think was trying to push myself a little harder so I wouldn't feel so guilty for dropping out of the Boot Camp exercise class, all the running was just too hard on these old joints.

I've had plenty of excuses for not exercising lately but its time to get back with the program! As I told Holly, tonight's class is my first official training for Tour deKota 2009! I'll be there.....hope you are too!

PS - To Kevin and Joe, I can't come to Tuesday spin classes this semester - that's my day in Sioux Falls. I'm really not trying to avoid you (even though Kevin is the evil spin instructor).

Bunyan's to Bob's Fall Color Ride

2008-10-05T18:08:00.000-05:00

I really wanted to go on this ride as this time of year you never know how many more (if any) group rides there will be. It wasn't easy to get away for the ride with my husband's brother and sister-in-law staying with us and plans to have a family get together that evening to celebrate belatedly our daughter's birthday. But any way, it worked out and I got to join the fun.

Cindy, Joe, and I took the road route - it was a good choice! Not too hilly and new smooth as silk asphalt road for much of the way. The only down side was the wind but I tucked in behind Joe and Cindy and it wasn't too bad from where I was!

We pulled into Martinsberg shortly before 1:30 pm. It had warmed up nicely and the Sam Adams Oktoberfest went down nicely! Of course, there wasn't any shortage of food either.

I gladly accepted a ride back with Pat to Vermillion. Here is a picture of Pat & Ed. Ed is a hard core biker and doesn't let anything stop him from riding. Since his cycling shoes didn't fit his mountain bike clips Ed ended up riding all the way to Martinsberg on his mountain bike on the killer gravel route in flip-flops (with socks). Note his feet in the picture.

I wanted a picture in front of Bob's but we had to wait for some people on motorcycles to finish taking their pictures first. I asked if we could take our pictures on one of the motorcycles and the owner gave us permission.

As we were taking the picture the owner of the motorcycle said something to the effect of "I think anyone who rides the type of bike you folks ride needs therapy." My reply was "My bike is my therapy!" I wish I would have also told him "Real bikers wear spandex!"

Touching Heaven

2008-10-01T21:21:00.000-05:00

Have you seen this Jon Crane painting?

Here is the description that goes with the print: Country church near Wakonda and Volin in Easern South Dakota. Same church as in "Prairie Prelude."

Here is my personal description: Church that my grandparents attended, located just 2 miles from their farm. The church was central in the lives of Grandma and Grandpa and they were two of the kindest, gentlest people who have ever lived. In later years they sold the farm and moved to Vermillion and are buried there in the company of many, many family members. But I love to ride my bike by this church that reminds me so much of Grandma and Grandpa.

Maybe we should have Tour deChurches ride and visit all the country churches; Zion, Trondheim, Pleasant Valley, Vangen, Dalesburg. Bring your fork, maybe there will be a potluck dinner!

Happy Birthday to our baby girl - Ashley!

2008-09-27T16:31:00.000-05:00

We love you!
Mom & Dad