Holy crap, we did it!!!

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here, but Andrew and I have been training since March to do a half-century bike ride. For those of you unfamiliar with biking “lingo”, a half-century is a 50-mile bike ride. This is a huge jump from last year’s longest ride of 30 miles, so we knew we had to train for it. Previous years we’ve just noodled around, adding a mile or two to our ride each weekend, but not seriously training. As a result, the 30 mile rides nearly killed us…okay, not really, but we were exhausted after them, staying in our jammies the day after those rides.

So we decided to train for this ride, and we have trained since April. Since then, I have put in nearly 950 miles between the real bike and the stationary bike in our basement. I’ve done 300 miles on the real bike alone. We started to find that 30 mile rides were no problem…much more than that was still a lot of work. We trained up to a 40 mile ride, which we did 3 weeks ago.

From the beginning, I wanted to do the entire length of the W&OD trail for our ride, but it’s only 44.5 miles long, so we had to add a little on. The plan was to take Metro to East Falls Church, which lies at mile 5 of the W&OD. From there take the trail to mile 0, then out to 44.5. The little extra getting to the Metro and getting from the Metro to the trail would take care of the extra 0.5 miles.
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Tags: bike

Bike DC

[Cross-posted on Jiggles]

This was the first time I’ve done an organized ride. We tried to do the WABA ride several years ago, but it was cancelled by damage from Hurricane Isabel. Each year since then we have had some conflict with the ride. I was excited that this year’s ride worked out for us…excited and a little nervous. I’m not exactly the fastest rider on the planet, so one of my biggest fears was that we’d get “swept up” before finishing the ride. I knew I could do the 19 miles – that’s actually a couple miles short of what our long ride should be this weekend for our training schedule…I’m just not as fast as many other riders.

I wasn’t certain about the weather, since I’d woken up a couple times in the night to hear downpours and thunder. We got up at 5:30 and checked the weather reports – one said 10% chance of rain until about 11AM when it would go up to 40-50%; another site said 90% chance for rain going up to 100% at 11AM. Hmmmm….they could not have been more different. We decided to at least head downtown, and if it was raining hard, we could always bail.

We had to be on the first Metro train out of the station in the morning so we could check in at registration. I’d been hoping to be one of the first riders out, but the 7AM train didn’t get us into DC until about 7:40. We checked in at the Registration at Freedom Plaza downtown and got going on the ride a bit before 8AM.

The route brought us right by the White House.

Then we went into Georgetown along the Whitehurst Freeway. It’s a little sad that this freeway is usually occupied by cars with drivers who probably don’t enjoy the view, because it was quite lovely. From there we crossed the Key Bridge and hopped onto the GW parkway. Part of the Parkway was closed off for the ride. It started drizzling a bit on this stretch of the ride, but it wasn’t bad. The route was a bit of a bear, though, because it was uphill, it seemed, for about 1.5 miles. Coming back down? Fun!

The next stop was a trip around the Iwo Jima memorial.

Then it was on to the Air Force Memorial. It was a huge uphill trip from the main road up, but worth it for the view. It was also my first time at this memorial.

From there it was just a few miles to the finish in Crystal City. And I didn’t get “swept up”! We arrived around 10:30AM, so 2.5 hours for 19 miles, photos, and a pit stop. Mostly I had fun – the only questionable part was that uphill on the GW Parkway, but hey, it’s in the bank, right?

You can see the rest of my pics from the ride here: Bike DC

Tags: bike

If I could have tweeted (2)

If I could have tweeted the past couple days…

Cold. Fraking cold. Cold Cold. Fraking, frak, frak, frak cold. (Tue Dec 23, 2008 – 8:32 AM)

Ahhh hot cocoa! Good for aching feet and cold, cold, cold, me. (Tue Dec 23, 2008 – 12:48 PM)

Mmmm…Roch Voisine is still very cute. Remember swooning over him in high school French class. (Wed Dec 24, 2008 – 9:36 PM)

No, I am NOT afraid to make the drive home by myself. I realize that I’m a helpless girl, but lay off already! (Wed Dec 24, 2008 – 11:54 AM)

Merry Christmas everyone! (Thu Dec 25, 2008 – 10:14 AM)

Sigh. Missing home – either one. So “not my Christmas” here. (Thu Dec 25, 2008 – 11:58 AM)

Would you be grilling @akuchling about driving “such a long way”? Or is it just that I’m a girl? So tired of this. (Thu Dec 25, 2008 – 2:25 PM)

Score one for my grandma! Asked how long my drive would be Sat., told her 10 hours, responded “oh good, that doesn’t sound too bad.” Hah! (Thu Dec 25, 2008 – 5:10 PM)

Holy crap! We spent a lot in Canada! (Fri Dec 26, 2008 – 10:12 AM)

Packing, packing, packing. Hoping to get car packed up so I’m ready to just breakfast and go tomorrow morning. (Fri Dec 26, 2008 – 10:23 AM)

Kicking back and relaxing for the evening. Just about everything is packed up for the drive tomorrow. Yay! (Fri Dec 26, 2008 – 7:03 PM)

Tags: trip report

Quiet Canadian Christmas

We’ve had a quiet Christmas. Yesterday it snowed again – third snow storm this week, I think. We’ve decided to just hunker down and enjoy being in the house. Not much to report from here – we opened presents last night, slept in this morning, and are just kicking around the house. We’ve watched the Christmas specials that I brought with me (White Christmas, A Christmas Carol (the Patrick Stewart/TNT version), and A Christmas Story). Andrew’s cousin came for a little while yesterday, and his Auntie and another cousin came for tea today. We may go into “the village” tomorrow to check out a new antique store.

We’ve been keeping an eye on the weather to see when I should drive home. It looks like I’m still okay to head home on Saturday — the forecast is for rain and 50 degrees for a high in upstate New York. Hopefully I’ll be home Saturday night.

Tags: build-a-bear, christmas, family, trip report

Slushy and Cold Days in Montreal

After a bit of…um…schimpfing…we drove up to Montreal yesterday. Once we got onto the main highway, the roads were fairly clear. The wind was blowing, so snow swirled on the roadways, but mostly visibility was good. Montreal proper was actually worse than the highways – sloppy and slushy and slippery. But, with only one wrong turn (which actually made the directions easier), we made it to the hotel, checked in and parked in the underground garage.

On tap for the day? Shopping!

We bundled up (it was *cold*), grabbed lunch, then took the metro to Old Montreal. Jo came with us, so she could pick out a new outfit and a couple things for her friends back home. We also took in Notre Dame Cathedral in the snow — very pretty.

After a bit more shopping, finally making into a little mall (for warmth!), we settled down for hot cocoa. I also got new mittens and a hat (tuque or tuke), which helped me keep warmer.

Next stop? A Hello Kitty shop!!!! I picked up a few fun things, and we headed back to the hotel for a while. We needed to rest from the trudging around in the slush and the cold.

Finally we walked down Saint Catherine’s Street, stopping at Addition Elle – an awesome “plus sized” shop (unlike Lane Bryant, their most common fabric is *cotton*, not polyester or some crappy, shiny, wrinkle-attractor). I ended up finding a cute new winter coat, so I spent way more than I should have. Oh well – it’s so much better than the one I had.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped to press our noses against the Ogilvy’s window – dressed up for the holidays.

The morning was cold. Cold, cold. Frost-bite cold. Cold, cold, cold. (Woke up to -8 degrees F). We bundled up and went found a crepe place on St. Cate’s. Very cold breakfast — the crepes were warm, but we sat by the window, which was very, very, very cold.

Then we walked to the Canadian Centre for Architecture. We spent some time there – the special exhibit was about ways that people change and interact with their surroundings, featuring exhibits on guerrilla art and gardening, among other things. We also walked through the restored Victorian house which had been turned into a reading and meeting area (so no Victorian furniture or decor). Finally looked at the exhibit on sky lights. It didn’t take us very long — I’m glad we went once, but we don’t feel the need to go again.

Finally we met up with Andrew’s friend and his wife for lunch. We had been thinking about going to the Botanical Garden, but I didn’t feel like walking much more (I’d forgotten how tiring it is to walk in the slush and ice), and I really didn’t want to drive home in the dark. So, we headed back to the “country” and Andrew’s parents’ house.

Tags: build-a-bear, museums, trip report

If I could have tweeted (1)

Our cell phones don’t work in Canada, and Andrew’s folks are on dial-up, so I’m without Internet and without Tweets for this Christmas week. Popped on briefly from our hotel room in Montreal….

If I could have tweeted the past couple days…

Just heard @akuchling say “What dat?” by himself in the kitchen — something we picked up from Ugly Dolls merchandise. (Sun. Dec 21, 2008 – 12:51 PM)

Enough with the futzing already. (Sun, Dec 21, 2008 – 4:46 PM)

It’s totally weird to see “boxing week” ads. (Sun, Dec 21, 2008 – 7:32 PM)

So over walking in the crappy-slushy-icy sidewalks in Montreal. (Mon, Dec 22, 2008 – 1:31 PM)

Totally going to chop off all my hair when I get home. It’s getting in my way. Long enough now to donate to Locks of Love. (Mon, Dec 22, 2008 – 2:26 PM)

Yay! Found a cute new winter coat! (Mon, Dec 22, 2008 – 6:15 PM)

Settling in back at the hotel for the evening. Tired from treking around the sloppy roads. (Mon, Dec 22, 2008 – 8:00 PM)

Tags: trip report

The drive…

Given the high price of airline tickets, at least prior to Thanksgiving and into early December, we decided to drive to Montreal to visit Andrew’s family for Christmas, rather than flying. So, today we made the trek up. We had checked and re-checked weather in up-state New York to see if we would be able to make the drive or not – given that it’s December, a time of snow and blizzards in the Northern US. It appeared that the weather would hold – with the chance of storms coming the yesterday and tomorrow, but not today.

We left the house around 6:30, but stopped for breakfast at a nearby Mexican restaurant, so didn’t really get on the road until 7:30.

For the most part, the weather held – there was no snow on the groun in DC or Maryland. A small dusting had taken hold in New Jersey, but nothing on the road – it had probably snowed a few days earlier. By the time we hit New York, there was ground-covering snow. It started to become clear that snow had fallen within the past 24 hours in New York – the roads were clear, for the most part, but we ended up passing several snow plows.

Snow started falling, but just a little, as we were passing through the Adairondacs. Traffic had died down by that point, and we were driving a bit slower.

The real trouble came when we stopped for dinner in Plattsburgh – when we got off the highway, the roads were clearly not as well cleared. The first light we went through, I had a bit of trouble getting the car going and going straight. We slided around for a while, then settled on Applebees – only one of two restaurants we saw.

The border crossing went well, but apparently the Canadians don’t know how to clear their roads as well as the Americans — at least in Quebec. The roads instantly became more snowy and I was a bit more nervous driving on them. It didn’t help that we got off the main road rather quickly. The side roads had maybe had a plow, but not for a while and they were slippery.

But, I drove slowing and carefully, and we made it to Andrew’s parents by 7PM, in one piece.

Tags: trip report

The Police in Concert

This has been a summer of shows for me – The Lion King, Indigo Girls, the NSO’s “Broadway Rocks”, and the NSO’s “Dial H for Hitchcock”. But the highlight for me so far has been The Police. (Followed very closely by The Lion King.) I’ll try to write up the other concerts here later, but I want to say a bit about The Police before it fades too much.

I originally bought 2 tickets for The Police’s concert in Pittsburgh. I wasn’t sure who would go with me to the concert, but suspecting that I would drag along poor Andrew. Then I remembered that my aunt Maggie and I sang loudly to The Police on a drive down to the Keys one summer, so decided to invite her. No sooner did I get the words “I have two tickets to The Police in Pittsburgh,” than Maggie was saying, “I’ll go.”

Skipping ahead over our road trip (we totally got “Pixburghed”), and our fun for half a day in Pittsburgh (we really, really go “Pixburghed”), we made our way to the concert venue relatively early. We figured that we’d rather get there early and twittle our thumbs than get stuck in traffic or parking.

The venue, The Post-Gazette Pavillion, was rather nice. It’s an outdoor venue, and there are several food and drink vendors set up in a couple of cul-de-sacs on either side of the stage and lawn. (Maggie indulged in a glass of wine and a beer; I stuck with a smoothie).

The concert itself was awesome! I heard later that the earlier concerts a year ago were a bit…er…well, not terribly good. But, this one was great – they seemed to have pulled it together over the intervening year. They played both Maggie’s and my favorite songs (“Wrapped around your finger” and “Don’t stand so close to me”).

Sadly, our seats were behind tall-boy and big-haired-girl, but there were large screens, so we could see most of what was going on. And, they sat down during Maggie’s favorite song, so we stayed standing and were able to see every minute of it.

As with any moment like this – one that you’d always hoped would come, but not sure it would – it ended too soon. Our trip back to the hotel was another little adventure, but I’ll have to decide later if it merits a blog post…let’s just say that this was the one time that having an airport hotel did not make it easier to find (hee hee hee).

Tags: music

Regrouping

I know things have been quiet around here lately. I was hoping that after I defended that I would magically find a new fount of energy which would result in a flurry of activity both in my life and in my blog. Truth is, I’m tired. I’ve been tired for months, and I have a feeling that it’s going to take an equal amount of time to recover.

We did take a long weekend in Myrtle beach a couple weeks ago, and I have to say that it did wonders for my morale. For the first time in a long time, I can say that I was truly happy. I went into sensory overload in the Build a Dino Store there, but a good kind of sensory overload. We played loads of mini-golf, and also played in the ocean.

(All of my Myrtle Beach trips are here.)

We haven’t gotten on our bikes this year yet, and that’s probably going to wait until mid-June, after I get back from a meeting in St. Louis. I haven’t gotten into my scrapbooking yet, though hopefully that will pick up this weekend. I have had loads of ideas for blog posts (pink? in a John Deere store??), but lose interest by the time I get to a computer. I promise that I’m coming back, and I’m getting less tired and more happy every day, but I have a feeling that its going to be a while before “My Silly Life” is terribly active again.

I’m trying, though.

Tags: build-a-bear, trip report

ZooLights

We went to the National Zoo last night to check out the ZooLights event.

I primarily wanted to go to see the lights, but there were also a bunch of family-oriented activities going on all evening. Sadly, the marshmallow roasting was cancelled for the evening (not sure why), but they had cookie decorating and several of the buildings were open (small mammals, big apes and reptile discovery).

It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but it was exactly what was advertised, so I wasn’t disappointed. There were bunches of lights displays, all in the shapes of different zoo animals. A few of the displays “moved”, like a soaring eagle landing on a nest and a leaping frog.

Naturally there was also a gift shop open – I found a very cute pair of giraffe slippers for myself (I didn’t have any shopping left to do for anyone else, so naturally I *had* to get something for me).

I’m not sure we’d go every year, but it certainly was fun the one time. Maybe in a couple years we’ll try again…assuming we still live in the area.

All of my pictures from the event are in this Flickr set.

Tags: zoo