Thursday, June 24, 2010
Nothing Says Bike & Build Like Hay Bale Pictures
The other day we had a lovely ride into Beloit, KS. It was sunny but not too hot; the clouds looked like they came straight out of a painting; and there was barely any headwind...for half of the ride. A lot of the Bike & Builders stumbled upon some perfect looking hay bales and decided to take pictures. Lindsay and I stayed on the ground and were the lone photographers but we got some very nice pictures to share with you. I realize that I need to have a photoshoot of myself so you can all be reminded of my good looks. I promise that I will con Lindsay into doing one soon.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
God Bless the Midwest!
Hola Rabid Readers!
I'm back on a computer and here to give you some updates. We are now in Greenville, IL after making our way through Ohio and Indiana. It's amazing to think that we're already this far into the United States after a few short weeks. Lindsay is finding that biking is becoming a bit easier. Today Zach pointed out that her average at the beginning was 11 mph and today was a whopping 15 mph. Quite the improvement for such a small girl and amateur cyclist.
This week's rides haven't been extremely horrible. A few of them had pretty strong headwinds and made Lindsay feel like she was going 2 mph. The last two rides have been rough only because one of her fingers on her left hand has gone numb. Take in mind that this is also coupled with her numb big toe. Hopefully both will go back to normal soon. Her legs are getting stronger everyday but they're continually sore and/tired from all the work and no rest.
The days have melded and I've lost track of time. Most days are the same. Wake up between 5 and 6 a.m., get ready, bike, arrive at the host site and devour as much food as possible. We've been to very lovely towns including Portsmouth, OH; Georgetown, OH, Cincinnati, OH; Columbus, IN; Bloomington, IN; Terre Haute, IN; and Effingham, IL. I must say that the Midwest has been treating us very nicely. We've been eating like kings! Lindsay is finding out that her high school appetite is back and better than ever. Last week she ate 20 chicken McNuggets in one sitting. A few days later she ate nearly 4 plates at a Thai buffet for her afternoon snack and proceeded to eat dinner a mere 3 hours later. Perhaps she won't be losing the weight she thought she would.
Some recent highlights from the trip include seeing Zach's family in Cincinnati, Lindsay writing 5 of her 20 gazillion thank you postcards, getting care packages from Show and Abigail, finding out that you can buy 50 chicken McNuggets for 10 bucks and generally just biking across the country. Some lows to tell you about: having a numb finger and big toe, eating to the point of feeling like she wants to puke and Lindsay's Havaiana's falling apart this morning.
Lindsay has some shoutouts she'd like me to include. A big thank you to Zach's mom for getting her the sweet Nike hat. It looked like it had been to war and back after just one ride. A hello to Tails (Zach's brother's dog). She hopes that you can both move on from the incident that occurred in Cincinnati. A big congrats to all her work people who got to get a sneak peek of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and got a FREE Ipod Touch. Jealous. And another big thank you to Auntie Malu from promising to get me new flip flops after the debacle this morning.
I know I've been truly awful at blogging and my posts are often without many details. I've come to discover that my little otter memory isn't big enough to recall all the adventures I've been having. I will try to become better about keeping you all in the big loop I call life. And now....PICTURE TIME!
The days have melded and I've lost track of time. Most days are the same. Wake up between 5 and 6 a.m., get ready, bike, arrive at the host site and devour as much food as possible. We've been to very lovely towns including Portsmouth, OH; Georgetown, OH, Cincinnati, OH; Columbus, IN; Bloomington, IN; Terre Haute, IN; and Effingham, IL. I must say that the Midwest has been treating us very nicely. We've been eating like kings! Lindsay is finding out that her high school appetite is back and better than ever. Last week she ate 20 chicken McNuggets in one sitting. A few days later she ate nearly 4 plates at a Thai buffet for her afternoon snack and proceeded to eat dinner a mere 3 hours later. Perhaps she won't be losing the weight she thought she would.
Some recent highlights from the trip include seeing Zach's family in Cincinnati, Lindsay writing 5 of her 20 gazillion thank you postcards, getting care packages from Show and Abigail, finding out that you can buy 50 chicken McNuggets for 10 bucks and generally just biking across the country. Some lows to tell you about: having a numb finger and big toe, eating to the point of feeling like she wants to puke and Lindsay's Havaiana's falling apart this morning.
Lindsay has some shoutouts she'd like me to include. A big thank you to Zach's mom for getting her the sweet Nike hat. It looked like it had been to war and back after just one ride. A hello to Tails (Zach's brother's dog). She hopes that you can both move on from the incident that occurred in Cincinnati. A big congrats to all her work people who got to get a sneak peek of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and got a FREE Ipod Touch. Jealous. And another big thank you to Auntie Malu from promising to get me new flip flops after the debacle this morning.
I know I've been truly awful at blogging and my posts are often without many details. I've come to discover that my little otter memory isn't big enough to recall all the adventures I've been having. I will try to become better about keeping you all in the big loop I call life. And now....PICTURE TIME!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Updating Through the Pain
I finally have internet access this week and it's about time! We've been traveling through a few sketchy parts of Virginia and West Virginia. Cell phone service has been on and off and internet has been pretty much nonexistent. Thankfully Lindsay was able to finagle a Macbook from her new friend Sarah. She's a true gem that one. It's almost 10 p.m. here in Huntington, WV (proud home of Marshall's Thundering Herd) which means that I am quickly falling asleep so I'll try to keep this post short and syrupy sweet.
This past week has been full of early mornings. 5:00 or 5:30 a.m. wake up calls, breakfast and then we're out the door and on the road. We've also been racking up around 80 mile days. Lindsay's been learning how to correctly ride her bike. Hip Watch 2010 can officially be resolved. Her hip is doing well and everything is pretty much back to normal despite some brief pain and soreness while on the bike. On the other hand, her left leg is still suffering. The ligament or tendon or whatever it is behind her knee is incredibly sore and her knee is scraped up from a little tumble she took while on a short break. She's pulling through and I'm proud of how scrappy she is.
The riding has been tough but somewhat bearable. Lindsay's still getting used to the physical toll all this riding is taking on her. She pretty much takes her time with all the rides but is getting better and stronger with each day. I will admit, I felt really bad for her as she had to climb hill after hill and mountain after mountain! The group has already rode over the Appalachians and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Usually she's one of the last to get to the host site which has meant we've been caught in about 3 storms so far. She got drenched, I got drenched, her camera got drenched and her Blackberry got drenched. Luckily her blackberry weathered the storm and is still operational! There have been a lot of ups and downs but it's been quite the experience.
What really has Lindsay down is the chaffing she's been experiencing. In all of her nearly 24 years, she's never has the chance to meet chaffing. Now they are nemesis and are currently battling each other for dominion of her poor bottom. She's got a whole routine down to try to appease the problem--a spritz or two of Bactine, slathering of Neosporin and a nice handful of Gold Bond powder. We have clearly moved on to Saddle Sores Watch of 2010 now. I won't scare you off with pictures mainly because I'm too frightened and appalled to even take a peek.
Aside from all old people physical problems, things are going swimmingly. Lindsay and I are making friends with the fellow riders. I have a few friends my size. Jen Carboni brought her suction cup monkey and there's also a lucky pig. We've had a couple of good times so far.
So there's a quick little update. We're all doing fine. Zach is cruising along despite some knee pain and the group is bonding swimmingly. Now for some pictures....
This past week has been full of early mornings. 5:00 or 5:30 a.m. wake up calls, breakfast and then we're out the door and on the road. We've also been racking up around 80 mile days. Lindsay's been learning how to correctly ride her bike. Hip Watch 2010 can officially be resolved. Her hip is doing well and everything is pretty much back to normal despite some brief pain and soreness while on the bike. On the other hand, her left leg is still suffering. The ligament or tendon or whatever it is behind her knee is incredibly sore and her knee is scraped up from a little tumble she took while on a short break. She's pulling through and I'm proud of how scrappy she is.
The riding has been tough but somewhat bearable. Lindsay's still getting used to the physical toll all this riding is taking on her. She pretty much takes her time with all the rides but is getting better and stronger with each day. I will admit, I felt really bad for her as she had to climb hill after hill and mountain after mountain! The group has already rode over the Appalachians and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Usually she's one of the last to get to the host site which has meant we've been caught in about 3 storms so far. She got drenched, I got drenched, her camera got drenched and her Blackberry got drenched. Luckily her blackberry weathered the storm and is still operational! There have been a lot of ups and downs but it's been quite the experience.
What really has Lindsay down is the chaffing she's been experiencing. In all of her nearly 24 years, she's never has the chance to meet chaffing. Now they are nemesis and are currently battling each other for dominion of her poor bottom. She's got a whole routine down to try to appease the problem--a spritz or two of Bactine, slathering of Neosporin and a nice handful of Gold Bond powder. We have clearly moved on to Saddle Sores Watch of 2010 now. I won't scare you off with pictures mainly because I'm too frightened and appalled to even take a peek.
Aside from all old people physical problems, things are going swimmingly. Lindsay and I are making friends with the fellow riders. I have a few friends my size. Jen Carboni brought her suction cup monkey and there's also a lucky pig. We've had a couple of good times so far.
So there's a quick little update. We're all doing fine. Zach is cruising along despite some knee pain and the group is bonding swimmingly. Now for some pictures....
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
