My first mountain bike ride

I've ridden old dirt roads. I've ridden loose gravel roads. How hard can mountain biking be, right?? Boy was I in for a rude awakening! I guess one can't fully appreciate the skill it takes to ride in the woods until you experience it yourself. And I for one do NOT have the skill.

My husband is a MTB'er at heart. He was an avid and great rider pre-me days when he lived in Maine. We have talked about doing it but both love road riding so it was just conversation in passing. Now that winter is creeping in, and road riding is on hiatus until spring (except for weekends) we decided to give it a go. Bill (my hubby) has an older Parkpre mountain bike that's just my size. So we cleaned it up, got new tires etc, and hit the trails.

HolyMackeral! Do I SUCK at it!!!! And its so scary!! There were drop offs and rocks and rolling hills.... the rolling hills I can sort of handle as long as they weren't steep desents, but most of the single track trail was down the side of a steep hill and I kept envisioning myself losing balance and careening down the "mountain". I managed to stay mostly vertical (only because I walked about 2 of the 7 mile trail) but I did kind of fall once when my back tire got too close to a tree stump and I was stressed from a series of rolling hills I had just cleared (a miracle) so I freaked and wobbled and went down. Jammbed my thumb. Still hurts like the devil but that was my only fall.

Right now my husband is so PUMPED to be mountain biking again and I am scared to death to get back out there. We are going to try an "easier" trail next time but this one was supposed to be simple enough. I am attaching a link of a rider on a trail similar to the one we were on. There are (I think) 4 "FATS" trails; the one we were on is called the "Skinny Loop". This guy in the video is doing the "Brown Wave" trail. The guy is a daredevil in my book so needless to say I took the trail considerably slower. It gives you the general idea..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoWyd_tUnBE
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Random Thought

In a way, crosswords do harm by cluttering up the mind with an aimless heap of unusual words selected purely for mechanical exigencies and having no well-proportioned relation to the needs of graceful discourse. ~H. P. Lovecraft

Sadly, I love crosswords......

Naive Wisdom - a poem

Broken promises lie scattered at my feet; an aching fills my empty heart.
Hopes which once were firmly grasped, lies have ripped apart.

Unanswered questions invade my mind; seeking answers never to find.
I close my eyes in anxious vain: never to trust again.

Naivete begets wisdom.

What is it with the color pink???? I hate the color pink! Or at least, I thought it did. I have always been the kind of gal who wears black and brown and blue, and various shades in between. I have been known to have some other earthy colors in my wardrobe, such as burnt orange, but pink was never one of them. It's a sissy color! A color for bimbos and girls who add 2 + 2 and come up with 5.

But in the last year or so, pink has kinda been speaking to me. So much so that I traded in an orange gym bag for a pink one. Did you hear me??? PINK! Its a soft pink, baby pink if you will, and sooo cute! Reebok brand with gray accents. And I have some dark pink wicking shirts, bordering the color of fuschia, and they don't clash with the bag.

I can't believe I am gushing about a pink gym bag...... I need therapy.

I suppose before I get too far into this blog thing, I should explain what the whole “Bianchi Girl” thing is all about (for those of you who care to know). As you can see from my links, a Bianchi is an Italian made bike. When I first started cycling. I was riding a Giant OCR Limited. A very nice bike, but not fully fitted for me and not fully the “wow” factor.

As I got more into cycling, and knowledgeable of what I wanted and liked, I kind of gravitated to the Bianchi. I loved the look, the design, the quality; and though it’s a fairly common bike in the cycling world, its not one you see everyday. I tried to fight the desire for one. Convinced myself I could. But then my dearest hubby graced me with my very own custom fit, full carbon 2006 Bianchi 928, handmade in Italy.

Where the “Bianchi Girl” parts comes in is a little more jealousy based.

A local female rider whom I have never met rides a Bianchi as well. Not the 928, but a Bianchi nonetheless. And she is a strong rider. And she is fit, and lean, and cute, and rides with the confidence of a pro. I refer to her as Bianchi Girl. She has set the standard I want to achieve so that one day (hopefully soon) I too will be worthy of the Bianchi Girl title. And then I will lay waste to her and she can eat my dust!!

WASHED HANDS - a poem of youth

Lollipop kisses (sticky sweet) impress their nectar upon your whiskered cheek:
Your hand absently wiped away their adolescent aftertaste.

Despondent arms; outstretched for a reassuring (pretentious) hug
Grasp only the stale air of your indifference breathed upon my naively upturned face:
Smothered in incognizance.

Does it mystify?

That I have excommunicated myself from your well rehearsed pleasantries?

Your hypocritical attempts to condone justification of your displaced loyalty

simply compounds the situation.

Your bed is not mine to lie in; your rules no longer mine to follow.

Perhaps now you will be the one to recite fairytales on feather-filled pillows

as silent tears cascade down self erected barricades, puddling by your cheek...

Pray you never hear the lone hoot owl as he waits impatiently by your grave...

The Y offers spin classes. Being as bike riding is next to nil for me lately (due to cold weather and daylight savings) I decided to join in. WOW. Big difference from road riding.

Riding outdoors you are able to coast and sight see; to smell the wonderful scents of nature; to marvel in the beauty of life. You can feel your flesh, heated from the exertion of the ride, cooling from the wind caressing your skin as you pedal carefree along.....

Spinning doesn't come close to that. With spinning you get to feel the sweat pour down every crevice of your body as you continuously pedal, not daring to stop or let up too much as someone might notice and consider you weak, a wannabe cyclist. And the coach shouts to crank it up a notch, get that heartbeat up, push your limits. And so you push, and your legs feel like they are going to explode, so you stand and pedal because that is supposed to relieve some of the agony. But I'm guessing that only works on a real ride because all it does for me is intensify the ache. And just when you are about to give in to the wannabe stigma, the coach yells to slow it down. Take it easy on yourself so you can regroup, recharge. Yes, Margaret, there is a God, and he/she's spinning too.

I'm going to go pass out now.....

Random Thought

(compliments of T.N.N)

Some people are like Slinkies...
Not really good for anything but they still bring a smile to your face when
you push them down a flight of stairs.