Still Hoping to Get to Cadillac

Riding has kind of taken a back seat. I was afraid this was going to happen. Shame on me... A few weeks ago I caught a horrible summer cold (Thanks Clark's) and it really set me back. I still have a cough, but that is showing signs of leaving. I am excited that the weather cooled down; I really didn't do well with the 95+ degrees and I love the fall. So hopefully in the next few days I'll be back at it.

Mattie and I talked about it and I'm thinking I may not do the October ride (but will probably volunteer at it!), but do something the week before. We have plans to go the the Witkowski Family 'Hunting Camp' in Roscommon the last weekend in September and I think I'll ride up there as far as I can and have Matt pick me up along the way when he gets out of work. I'm still hoping to get to Cadillac though. I went through a day or two of being mad at myself for deciding not to do the event, but it happens I guess and I'm ok with the decision. Next year... next year. And like a wise woman tells me, "however far I end up riding, it's farther than I've ever been before." ;)

The Labor Day weekend was interesting for me. I kind of spent it reflecting on our summer while I reorganized two rooms in our house. (After 2.5 years, we finally have an actual office!!) I feel like we've had a summer of trying to 'make things happen.' Some we've been successful at, some we haven't.

Things we've been successful at making happen:

• Moved to a smaller, cheaper, more practical place for us.
• Developed a budget.
• Became more conscious of how and where we spend our money.
• Eat healthier.
• Eat at home more.
• Be better Christians.
• Made Matt a little more tech savvy. :)
• Spent 14 days apart and survived.
• Reluctantly bought a new car, but made the decision together.
• Not giving up on finding Mattie a meaningful job.

Not bad, right?!? I will not however, make a list of things we've been unsuccessful at making happen (you could probably guess one based on the beginning of this blog).

Another part of the weekend was the fact that I moved back to Grand Rapids exactly 5 years ago. WOW! 5 years... How different my life is.

I will ride on.

L

Remind Me Never to Do That Again

I didn't have my iPod on this ride and it was torture. The silence was deafening. It's not that I forgot it at home, it was in the other car that Mattie drove today. I really hope I don't ever do that again.

(My Nemesis)

I only went about 8 miles today. I decided I would prefer a dirt road to the gravel on the trail. It's definitely more gravel than anything. The picture makes it look better than it is. The picture is also proof that I take my cell phone with me when I ride.

(I thought we were friends!)

I think I'm going to contact the ride organizers and make sure my bike is actually ok for this. Wait, that's not good... 45 days left and I'm looking for a way out... Hmm

Looks like no biking again until at least Friday. Not enough hours in the day...

L

PS Thinking about my cousin, Amber, who is in Haiti this week. Return safely.

I'm not gonna lie...

...that was tough. I managed to do a few miles on the unpaved part of my journey on the trail this week. It was about 5 miles of being terrified. There was a lot more bugs too, which was weird. Halfway in there was a gigantic hole in the middle of it, hopefully it was just a rabbit hole. I didn't enjoy the unpaved trail while I was doing it, but later thought that it might be manageable. I had a 30 minute drive there to get nervous about it and a 30 minute drive back feeling ok about it. I spent a little time reading about century rides this week. I'm not so sure that helped. Although all the articles said it was very do-able for most people. Next step is a longer portion of the unpaved, which should happen this weekend.

One of the best parts of the week was going to the zoo with my, almost 2 years old, triplet nephews and niece. (I will refer to them as the "The Trips" from now on.) I didn't feel bad about not biking that night because I think I worked just as hard. It was super hot and lots of sweating took place while chasing them around. They were a riot though!

The Trips - 3 Little Monkeys

L