Just a Quick Note

I rode my bike today. I actually found a reason to ride it. I wanted to ride it yesterday, but resisted. Today, the bike won and I loved it. My new goal is to learn how to ride fast and for a longer period of time. I am going to drop hammers all over this town.

Post-TRAM Reflections

I’m back in DC, and feeling reflective, as usual. I think that I, like Andrea, am in a bit of a post-TRAM funk. I miss being on vacation, of course, but mostly miss my friends and family and the cornfields of Minnesota and my bike and the whole TRAM scene. I figure that a little blog closure might be in order. 

First, I need to say that the best part of this whole TRAM experience has been how great my family has been throughout, and how excited they were. Examples of super-sweet things my parents did for me: they gave me tons of biking tips, found me a tent (which mom practiced setting up and then taught me), mailed me necessary gear like gloves and an air pump, hosted all my friends in their house on TRAM Sunday, and came to visit me on several nights, offering MUCH encouragement. They were simply amazing. My sister was also great, sending me the most stupendous and useful care package of all time, and generally offering her support throughout the process. She’s also expressed interest in getting involved next year—doing rest stop support or something like that. YEAH, sister!! And the greatest part was that my family (especially my mom!), and Jeff’s family, really helped remind me of why we rode TRAM in the first place, and I was thankful to be able to keep that in my mind all week. 

Second, the main reason the week was a total blast was because my riding companions—Andrea, Min, Jeff, and Aunt Donna—and Aunt Diane, our support driver, are some of the most entertaining and wonderful people on the planet. They are also endlessly positive, which is critical. Or, better yet, when they are NOT feeling positive, they are willing to joke good-naturedly about our shared trials and tribulations. Seriously, you guys are the BEST. And I need to give special thanks to Donna and Diane for coming out of TRAM retirement to share many of their lessons learned with us. Donna says we’re veterans now and can do it on our own from now on, but who would ever want to?? My aunties are SO FUN. 

Finally, I am thrilled to report that I’m now officially hooked on biking. I mean it. My bike is in Minnesota waiting to be broken into tiny pieces again and then shipped to me (thanks, Bryan and Dad!!), and I already can’t wait to get it back. I’m starting to look at longer, hillier routes around DC to tackle in upcoming weekends, and wondering if I should try to put skinnier/lighter wheels and tires on my beloved Surly, and looking at stuff online to figure out how I can learn to get better at climbing hills, and trying to find a cycling club around here. And of course I’m already planning for next year’s TRAM—which I signed up for last Thursday night! Watch out, everybody, because I’m going to start recruiting for a team in January. Start tuning up your bikes, people, and definitely invest in some spandex!  

Thanks, everyone, for all your support and encouragement. I could not be happier with my first TRAM. See you in 2010!

Home Sweet Home...

But I actually kind of miss the whole TRAM thing. I miss my friends already. I miss the scenery. I miss the burn in my legs and the rubbed raw feeling of certain lady parts. I miss being able to say, "On your left." And I miss the whole feeling of the TRAM community. I will write more about the last week when I get a chance, but for now, just know that I'm getting teary-eyed thinking of the great people I spent the last week with. Steff, Mindy, Jeff, Donna, and Diane: you guys made my week. Thank you for being Super-Friends. By the way, I still haven't had a gin and tonic.

300 Miles Down, 0 to Go

We did it, y'all, we did it.

 

Exhaustion is setting in, so rather that draft a series of eloquent paragraphs, I think I'll leave you with some context-free quotes from Mindy.  You should be able to get a feel for what kind of day I had.  So in no particular order, here's what I heard from Mindy while out on the road today:

 

- "My diaper is wet."

 

- "How many more miles left?"

 

- "I thought you said there weren't any more hills."

 

- "Shut your mouth!"

 

- "Now how many more miles left?"

 

- "No, I did not just fart!  That was a skunk."

 

- "Did you forget about me back there, Lance?"

 

- "This has been pretty awesome."

 

- "Now how many more miles left?"

 

- "We did it!"

 

And before I sign off, I do want to give a special "shout out" to the five amazing women who shared the TRAM experience with me.  Andrea, Diane, Donna, Mindy, and Steff: thanks for letting me join your sorority...and thanks for limiting your conversations about menstrual cycles to just one.  :-)  I know I'll remember this week for the rest of my life.

We Finished!

Here we are post-TRAM!! Jeff and Steff's moms are with us - our inspiration to bike 300 miles!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Rest stop 3

Our LAST rest stop!!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Last rest stop, last day! 10.7 to go. Happy faces all around.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Day 5: Rest stop 1

Jeff and I are at the 1st rest stop, about an hour behind the rest of the crew. It's all hills again today, but we're not doing so bad! 13 miles down, 35 to go... Jeff just said "we could do that in our sleep". Uh huh.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Dispatch From Tent City, Night Four

I am writing in the dark, from my tent, trying to avoid the weird neighbor guy next door who keeps trying to engage me in exceedingly awkward and tricky political conversations. Tonight Andrea the Hammer and I checked out the announcements and watched the team competition like the diligent TRAM participants we are, and now I am crashing early instead of going to find the cool kids to hang out. I am tiiiiiired. I think I have already almost nodded off eleven times while writing this. I do not think I would be the life of the party right about now.

SO, I haven't blogged much because my phone keeps dying but have had an amazing time. I do not think tomorrow's ride will be easy (actually, let's get real: my legs might fall off half way up the first hill, people) but I also think that will make it much more rewarding to finish. I am hoping that adrenaline will help out tomorrow, or if not that, then I may have my Aunt Diane (our awesome support driver) funnel handfuls of Advil into my mouth at rest stops. And I am sure that Hammer and my Aunt Donna--tomorrow's riding partners--will help me get through by being the charming, thought-provoking, hill-charging, occasionally-foul-mouthed ladies they usually are. (By the way, the Aunties need more shout outs when I blog more from home. They were SO GREAT all week and I could not have done this without them.)

Alrighty, I need to sign off so I can get up at 5:15 and put on those godforsaken bike shorts one last time in the morning. Will write more when I have finally conquered TRAM and have regained my ability to think straight!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Day 4: Hills, hills, hills

Today was maybe even worse than yesterday. Sure, it was "only" 45 miles and yesterday was 71, but to say that today was "a bit hilly" would be a wild understatement. It was hill after hill with no end in sight. Jeff is naturally a very positive person, but today he resorted to flat out LYING because there really was very little to be positive about: "this next hill looks really easy" or "this is the last hill for a while" (only if "a while" meant "for the next 30 seconds").

The final straw for me was when I was huffing and puffing up the eleventy-millionth hill right behind a woman. Halfway up she let one rip! That was actually pretty good motivation for me to "drop the hammer" as Andrea says. That means I went a little faster than 6 mph up that hill to avoid being in the direct Path of Flatulence.

I hope this doesn't give Jeff any ideas on how to motivate me to go faster.

In other news, I took a THREE hour nap this afternoon. I hope I can sleep tonight!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Note to Self - #2

Every time you go down a hill, you're going to eventually have to come up said hill.

Stupid physics.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Day 4 @ the starting line!

45 miles to do today, which should feel like a breeze after the 71 yesterday!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

A sea of bikes

This is the bike corral in St Peter.

I'm tired.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Note to Self

If I ever come across a pair of WHITE bike shorts on sale, don't buy them.

Especially if said shorts look like they could become transparent once you start to sweat.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

TRAM Scenery

Corn and soybean fields. That's pretty much all we've seen. It's pretty, but every now and then it might be nice to see a potato field or something. The only other real diversity is seeing (and smelling) the occasional turkey farm. I choose corn and soybeans instead.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

My view

Jeff's backside.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

St. George Welcomed Us with Polka!.jpg

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Ode to Joy

We were just informed that -- due to road work -- our route this morning will be a few miles longer, requiring us to clock 71 miles today.

I've never been a fan of Wednesdays.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Scared to fall asleep

After seeing our motel digs, Andrea and Steff brought up various movie titles that the structure conjured up for them. These movie titles included things like "Motel Murders!", "Gruesome Deaths in Redwood Falls Motels" and "You'll Never Get Out Alive". I'd like to think that any place that has an Einstein bobblehead as its only piece of decor would be pretty safe. Jovial, even. But now I'm not so sure. Thanks, ladies!

With that, good night. In 10 hours (we hope) we'll be off on our longest ride of the week: 67.5 miles!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Tonight's musical entertainment: Hick Town Mafia

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry