Tour de Kota 2009

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

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

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.....

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.....

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!