Water's Edge

Apparently the theme for November first's theme day is water's edge. It seems ironic, to me, given the devastation from the storm that hit the east coast.

Are we planning to try that November blog every day thing this year?

Pedestrian Activities

Walktober is winding down, and I am ready for it to be over. Our team seems to be solidly in third place, barring a last minute surge by the Hope Happy Feet Hikers. I am pretty sure that I accumulated more miles on foot than I otherwise would have this month, so that's good. Along with my Couch to 5K activities, I ended up with close to 15 miles most weeks.  And Walktober doesn't allow me to count stuff like the marathon leaf raking and lawn mowing that took place on Sunday with the COTU and OSLO.  It was cold but otherwise pretty nice.

As was yesterday, at least the first part.  The thin clouds at the top of the photo are the back edge of Hurricane Sandy backing up into Michigan yesterday morning.  It continued to roll in yesterday, and is supposed to pull out by tomorrow.  Lansing got snow overnight last night, and power outages were fairly common in the middle and the east side of the state.  Here it was mostly cold, wind and rain.  There were dire warnings of record level wave heights on the big lake for today, but according to the mid lake buoy, 21 feet was about the max.  That's a pretty good size wave, but not record breaking.  Tomorrow is my next to last C25K class, and we're still doing laps around the college track.  Two weeks from tomorrow is our final exam -- a 5K jog around downtown Holland.  Then I'll have to assess what it is that I've done, and what -- if anything -- I want to do with my new found skill set.

Duathlon?

Today's wind forecast -- gusts to 35 mph -- was pretty accurate. The fact that the temperature eventually hit 78 degrees -- surely for the last time this year -- just made it a little bit sadder. There was no way I was going to ride in that kind of wind... again. At about 8:30 this morning there was a (rather aggressive) knock on my front door, and my friend, neighbor and Walktober team mate stood there -- she had a plan. Our Walktober team needs points -- and she knows that on ride days I don't walk. SO ... her plan was that I would ride north (the wind was howling from the south) to Pine Bend where she would meet me with a Subway sandwich to split for lunch, and we would then walk from Pine Bend to Hemlock Crossing Park and back -- a duney, woodsy distance  of about 3 miles.

I didn't immediately agree to her plan, as I'd already given up on the idea of riding. Then we spent some time looking at wind forecasts on the internet, which seemed to guarantee a solid wind from the south.  Eventually I fell for the sheer quirkiness of the idea, and agreed to meet her north of the Pigeon River about 12:30.  I rode north on Lakeshore to Idlewild, with a side trip to the PSPS (where I had a nice chat with a guy who bikes out of Velo City -- road, mountain, cross and fat tire snow bikes), then up Butternut to Lakeshore again.  Then I rolled across the Pigeon River Bridge, past the power plant gazebo to Croswell, then finally east towards the WOOS.  WooHoo, by the way.

We both arrived at Pine Bend at about the same time, and I loaded Ruby into the back of Lynne's truck, along with my helmet.  A quick lunch and we hiked off into the wilderness.  There aren't many leaves still on trees back there, but some of the leaves on the ground were pretty interesting.  (Lynne's hand for scale.)

We only met two people during the entire hike to Hemlock Crossing, and the same two on our way back.  Some of the hills were a little steep, and since the trails were covered pretty deeply in fallen leaves, footing was occasionally a little bit iffy.  We stopped at a couple of overlooks along Pigeon Creek, savoring this unlikely October day.

 There were no downsides to the day that I can think of.  I logged the maximum mileage for my Walktober team and got in one more ride north of the Pigeon River.  I rode north with a 30+ mph tailwind, and got a ride back home.  It was a great way to end the season.  I looked at the radar when I got back -- Wisconsin was green (rain), Minnesota was pink (ice) and the Dakotas were blue (snow).

Bike Paths

I have a complex set of rules that would be hard to even articulate about when I ride on the road and when I ride on the bike path. I have a road biker's natural disdain for sidewalks, but for the last 6 weeks or so, I have developed a new appreciation for them. It turns out that they're nearly perfect for traveling on two feet. (Except for those pesky bikers....)

Today was day 1 of week 7 of my Couch to 5K class -- 33 minutes, around and around the college track. Tracks are boring. Bike paths, not so much.  I chatted a bit with Deb, the next oldest woman there, who is taking C25K for the third time, who believes that biking is much harder than running.  Hmmmm...  Three weeks from today we'll do a "real" 5K, with water stops and timing chips and snacks at the athletic center afterwards.  The route will be around downtown Holland, along the path through Window on the Waterfront and eventually back to the college.  I'm hoping to get a map of the route early so I can try it out before the big day.  Tomorrow is biking day, and 35 mph wind gusts are in the forecast.  Deb may be on to something.

The Hatch

An ongoing -- if undeclared -- theme of this blog has been party stores. The PSPS (Port Sheldon Party Store), the WOOS (West Olive One Stop) and on rare occasions, the Anchorage Party Store. Today's bike ride took me south towards Lake Mac, and it seemed only right to include this relatively new establishment, The Hatch. 

It has all of the hallmarks of an authentic party store. Live bait, lottery tickets, pizza by the slice, fresh ? donuts, hard liquor and Bud Lite.  (I checked, there were no pigs.)  In case you're curious about where the name comes from, if you circle around the back of the building, this is what you'll find.  Most, but not all, of the slips are empty this time of year, reasonably enough.

I made the round trip to the Hatch on foot last Friday, from the bottom of the hill and returning to the bottom of the same hill, and it was nearly exactly 3 miles -- a bit shy of 5K.  It does have a pretty significant hill on the return trip, though.   (Well, both ways actually, but I don't mind the one that goes down towards the lake.)  So if you're ever here, and are in need of a lottery ticket (or live bait), it can be acquired on a trip taking no more than 45 minutes, plus warm up and cool down.  No gas required.

JRA

First, the weather report. When I left the house it was 52, with a SSW wind at 16, gusting to 26. When I returned it was no warmer, but the winds had kicked up 10 mph -- WSW at 26, gusting to 36. Gino wrote a ride report yesterday that pretty much covers it, except that my ride was shorter.

Riding in wind like that really is an art of sorts, the key being to hide from the wind as much as possible.  I got as far south and west as the Macatawa Campgrounds where I took the picture of the red tree last weekend.  This is a close up of the leaves, which have faded a bit since then. I think it is a sassafras.

Not much activity to report on in the State Park area.  I had the universe pretty much to myself for most of the ride.  Tunnel Park was the same -- the tunnel is beginning to fill with windswept sand, and there's no one around to complain.

There was some brief excitement this morning when what looked like a gray (but may have been a red) fox took refuge under our deck for a short time.  Did you know that gray foxes can climb trees?  It didn't stay around long enough for me to get a picture of it, nor did it climb any trees.  Since I started this post with a "first", I suppose I need a last.  Maybe I can just do a "to be continued...."

LBSCBS

It was a really nice October day here -- warm enough to ride, the sun delivered as much warmth as it could for this time of year and the winds were manageable. Plus I was out on my bike -- all good things.  Here's a photo that represents the actual state of the leaf color here better than the one I posted yesterday.

In spite of having all of these good things align on a day when I was free to enjoy them, I spent the afternoon suffering from what I can only describe as Low Blood Sugar Cranky Butt Syndrome.  (It's almost a real thing -- but if you look it up, use LBSCBD -- the person who coined the phrase calls it a disorder.  I prefer syndrome.)  My legs didn't have much life to them today -- likely a result of the substantial non biking miles I've put on them lately, and thus my ride was shorter than planned.   Hence the Cranky Butt Syndrome.  Even with low energy levels, I'm glad I got to spend some time on my bike, with the wheels whistling through the fallen leaves.  This season is a short one.

Week 5, Day 3

OSLO and the COTU were here yesterday, and we found enough of a break in the dreary weather for an inland walk to Tunnel Park. Lynne came with us for most of it, and continued on when we headed back. Walktober miles.  OSLO and I had plans to finish clearing out her closet at the other house, and the COTU make good minions for carrying things up and down stairs. (My legs still hurt from Friday's 5K.  DOMS.  Delayed onset muscle soreness.  It's a real thing.  You can look it up.)  We were successful in the closet cleaning, but now there's a load of stuff in my truck that needs to go to Goodwill.  Still, progress.

Today was day 3 of week 5 in the C25K schedule.  It was a shorter circuit than the one on Friday -- instead of a full 5K, it was about 3K.  The assignment was to avoid walking breaks completely, for either 25 minutes or 2 miles.  Two miles is clearly the further of those two at my current speed, so I set out with that as my goal, but was willing to accept 25 minutes without a walk break as success.  I started out slowly, and eased off as I got further into it.  The first half mile is always the hardest -- I remember from the early years of biking that I always needed a few warm up miles to work out the kinks, so no surprise, really.  The two miles went by fairly quickly -- it isn't really that far -- and I forgot to stop and walk when I got to the two mile mark, though I did check my watch.  So I'm calling it a success.  Typically my routes all start and stop from the bottom of the Idlewood hill, the rest is warm up and cool down.  The great flatlands rider is amazingly consistent.  Even on two feet, I plan my routes to avoid hills. 

A Completely Unnecessary Post

My break from regular biking continues. I'm surprised at how little it bothers me -- I think I may have needed a break. A 12 month season is too long for an old woman. Without regular bike rides, the trick for me is to find a way to stay active, get enough exercise and stay sane. Oh, and find something to blog about. The underlying theme for this blog has always been biking, and that well is dry at the moment.  If you don't ride, you don't blog, or something such.  Maybe I can adapt to changing circumstances.  We'll see.

I did ride twice this week, though together they barely added up to one decent length ride. This photo is from a ride on Tuesday --  it looks pretty decent out. My bike log says that the wind was from the SSW at 26, gusting to 37....  37. Thirty-seven. Thirty g-d seven. Ruby and I were blown off the road on two occasions, while riding west on Lakewood.  The last time I was blown sideways off a road on a bike I was riding along the Waitemata Harbor in Auckland.  That day was the day I formulated the Auckland Rule -- If you don't ride in the wind, you don't ride.  Since then a corollary has been promulgated -- "if you aren't going to be able to keep your bicycle upright in a cross wind it is OK to not ride in the wind."  (artistic credit to Mr. MooHoo.)

Wind. Okay, any other excuses?  Well, earlier this week our local weather guy forecast a plague of locusts.  Seriously, the weather has been that bad.  Cold, cold, cold for October.  I "walked" yesterday,  Day 2  of week 5 of my Couch to 5k (C25K) schedule.  It was 35 degrees when I left the house.  I have the gear for it, it turns out.  Most of it says Pearl Izumi on it, so strictly speaking it is biking gear, but it works for what I am almost willing to begin to call jogging.  (The end result is a 5k, where did you think this was leading?)  I did the full 5K distance yesterday, most of it using a motion that strongly resembles jogging.  But slower.  I did take two short walking breaks, but barring injury, I think that's where I'm going with this.  Call it cross training.  Or temporary insanity works, too.

It's raining today, but there was what looked like a break around noon and I went for it.  I biked along the route that I jogged yesterday, and took a few photos to document it, and to check that the distance was actually 3.1 miles.  On the nose.  There's a path under the power lines along 168th that I'm tempted to explore on foot at some point.  I've found a couple of semi concealed paths on my pedestrian routes.

Today's ride was cut short near the State Park when the rains began again.  I made it home safely, but with slightly less than double digits on my computer for the day -- something that rarely happens. My gear choices kept me warm and dry, but the Elite is a sad mess.  Tomorrow looks like more rain, with thunder, and Monday is Day 3 of Week 5, of the C25K thing-y.  A 25 minute jog, no walking breaks.  Maybe I'll be able to find something in that to blog about.

Walktober

Biking season isn't exactly over, but I have only biked twice in the past week. It is fortunate that I reached my primary mileage goal in September this year. In other years I've geared up and ridden in cold, wind and blustery weather conditions. (I do have the right gear for cold weather riding, as you probably know.) This year I've switched my exercise routine rather than freeze on my bike. This past week I've grabbed my stopwatch and/or pedometer and headed out the door for a walk 6 times, including this afternoon with the COTU.   We walked about 2 miles, got off the mountain, and did an inspection of the new playground equipment at Tunnel Park since we were close by.

Notice that TJ also has neon colors on his shoes. The girl insisted on wearing her boots, and we harassed her about slowing us down.  TJ likes to throw in some running and jogging in the middle of our power walks -- there's just no substitute for youth.  Except for days like today though, walking doesn't seem like an especially bloggable activity.  My walking routes aren't as varied as my biking routes, for openers.  Also I don't often carry a camera with me.  Which is kind of a shame, because there have been a number of deer sightings this week.

Walking looks like it will remain a primary exercise for me this month.  I started a new program through the college Wellness Program -- remember my water aerobics class?  Well, in September I started a new and different class -- a drier, though not necessarily warmer one.  It's called C2 5K.  (Couch to 5K.)  By the end of week 10 we're theoretically going to be power walking/jogging/running 5K.  Or 3.1 miles for Americans.  We're almost half way through it, and about half the class is still showing up every Wednesday.  (I'm about mid pack -- last week I got lapped by one woman, and lapped another, and opened up a small lead on the other three.  We use the college track.)  The Walktober label came from a second Hope Wellness program, where 4 of my former colleagues -- knowing I'm taking the C2 5K class, and thus assuming I could be depended on to walk/jog/run regularly -- asked me to join their walking team.  We agree to walk for at least 30 minutes, 5 times a week, through all of October.  Teams accumulate points, based on how much they walk, and prizes are awarded at the end of the month.  Can't let the team down.  (We're currently in 3rd place.)  Our team motto is, "when you get to a fork in the road, take it."  Apparently, I am doing just that.

The Real Ride to the PSPS

There was a tongue-in-cheek ride report on another blog last Saturday, a witty sham description of the ride to the Port Sheldon Party Store. Complete with photos.  My goal for my ride today was to document the real deal, taking the same route, photographing the same locations, that sort of thing.

I got off to a rocky start when I discovered that 168th street was closed for tree trimming work from Riley to New Holland.  I had to detour east as far as 152nd -- it was an inefficient detour, but I'd forgotten that 160th was also closed for construction.  The extra miles took me through blueberry country, and it's always fun to check out the reddening of the leaves on those bushes -- each variety of blue is a little different color.

I finally worked my way back to New Holland Street, and succeeded in my quest for a picture along that stretch between 168th and 164th.  It's not as orange as the Minnesota version, but close enough.  Trees close to the lake give up their green more slowly than their inland cousins.

And last, but not least, the less frequently photographed back side of the PSPS.  No high tension power lines, but the essence of parking lot is the same in both versions.  I took Lakeshore on the return leg to avoid the road closures that plagued my ride out there.  My legs are now pleasantly tired, and my brain is quiet.  Mission accomplished.