So I've been cyberstalking the Riverside Bicycle Club (http://www.riversidebicycleclub.com/)ever since I moved to So. Cal. but had never attended an event because I didn't have anyone to go with. For me, critical social situations require help (backup) and a wingman can certainly diffuse a stressful first meeting. I finally found my in! Tyler and Sam had already been on several rides with RBC and invited us to join them today. Dave, Tyler, Sam and I rode from our apartment to the Mission Inn (4 mi) and then participated in a ride through Riverside (21 mi) and rode back home (4 mi). It was awesome!
The view from my handlebars... A glimpse into the mind of a working mom.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Riverside Bicycle Club
So I've been cyberstalking the Riverside Bicycle Club (http://www.riversidebicycleclub.com/)ever since I moved to So. Cal. but had never attended an event because I didn't have anyone to go with. For me, critical social situations require help (backup) and a wingman can certainly diffuse a stressful first meeting. I finally found my in! Tyler and Sam had already been on several rides with RBC and invited us to join them today. Dave, Tyler, Sam and I rode from our apartment to the Mission Inn (4 mi) and then participated in a ride through Riverside (21 mi) and rode back home (4 mi). It was awesome!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
The Riverside Raincross 5K Run/Walk was exhilarating
!!! I was lucky enough to be able to run the whole time and finish right at 37:00 minutes:seconds. The course was dynamic, somewhat hilly, and very scenic. It has been so long (~Jan 2008) since I've run for any straight distance, I forgot how exciting it can be to run 5K. It's like the perfect distance to be a bit aggressive throughout. I was pacing myself until about the last 1/2 mile and people who had already finished the race began turning around and walking the course backwards, telling those of us who were unfamiliar with the layout that we should start sprinting. As soon as I knew there was only one uphill, one downhill and a turn left, I started kicking it into gear. I think that's how I got the real runner's high when I was done. Putting one foot in front of another isn't so different from pushing down on pedals one after the other, right?
After picking up my free orange slices donated by Gless Ranch, http://www.glessranch.com/, (incidentally that's where Mike and I got the oranges for table decorations at our wedding reception) and free "Dasani plus Vitamin Enhanced Flavored Water Beverage," I started walking the course backwards like the others had done, giving encouragement/direction to those who were still in the race. It was definitely a positive environment. In all the confusion, I had a hard time finding my dear husband Mike and our dear friend Homero. I did get to talk to some of the ladies who I saw running at a very fast pace toward the beginning of the race. One of the young (high school age) ones finished the entire race in 24 minutes! The older (mom age) ones finished in 30 minutes. I thanked them for their inspiring pace and enthusiasm and complimented them on their cute matching team outfits! They recommended I try some of the other 5K races down by the beach, since I seemed so enthusiastic about this one.
My friend and training teammate Andrew told me about a tool called Map My Ride. It seems like a great place to post your routes for the purposes of sharing good (and bad) routes for everyone's safety and enjoyment. Also there is an iPhone app so cyclists can download routes directly to their portable devices to prevent wrong turns. So I started inputting data from some of our recent adventures into the program and it puts out all kinds of encouraging stats like these (http://www.mapmyride.com/user/464890608312/) to keep me motivated.
Total Workouts in 2009: 11
Total Distance: 91.70 mi.
Total Burned: 4,128 (kcal)
Gas Saved: 5.09 gallons
Money Saved: $17.73
Carbon Offset: 98.6 lbs. of CO2
But it also forced me to confront some discouraging stats like...
Highest Education: Masters Degree
Occupation: Student
Employment Status: Full-Time
Income: $20,000 to $30,000
Have Kids: No Kids
Like if I'm not going to be able to work out now when I'm still in school and have no kids, how am I going to do it later on? And why am I still in school? And how come I make so little money? And when am I going to have those kids? And will I be able to reach my next level of education successfully? The balance between work/play has been difficult for me to regulate and I am still learning how to manage these aspects of my life in order to maximize my productivity and satisfaction both at work and at home. C'est la vie!
And these downright depressing facts...
Weight: 175
Waistline: 24"
Resting Heart Rate: 66 beats per minute
Body Mass Index: 32
I mean it is easy to get caught up in these numbers, right? If you spend your life striving for a target weight, aren't you wasting your life doing nothing but counting things? When is a person able to enjoy life? So usually I aim to be happy and not to worry about numbers like these. Sometimes though, I allow myself to not think of them at all. Perhaps I needed to be reminded of the true situation, not filtered through the lens of my genetic background excuses and not in the context of the people I see around me who are also obese, but from a quantitative medical perspective, I am currently doing damage to my internal organs by carrying this much extra weight around.
For some reason, I just don't like telling people my weight. But I decided that in the interests of being a real athlete here I have to be honest about the facts. I am considered obese right now with a body mass index of 32. Even if I lose 12 pounds, I'm still overweight. For me to get my BMI down into the vicinity of the high end of "normal weight," I would have to get down to my old welterweight of 135. I only remembering weighing this for a very short time when I was running 5K's several times per week with my then-boyfriend who was in Cross Country, and dancing 6 days per week both ballet and my high school dance team. I thought of this XCxboyf on my run today after I passed the 1 mile mark and realized I was holding a bunch of tension in my neck and arms and poorly regulating my breathing. Once I smiled and remembered what he showed me over 12 years ago, I felt my lungs open up and my stride improve. Incidentally, to become "underweight" I would have to drop down to a weight of 100 pounds. That's crazy!
!!! I was lucky enough to be able to run the whole time and finish right at 37:00 minutes:seconds. The course was dynamic, somewhat hilly, and very scenic. It has been so long (~Jan 2008) since I've run for any straight distance, I forgot how exciting it can be to run 5K. It's like the perfect distance to be a bit aggressive throughout. I was pacing myself until about the last 1/2 mile and people who had already finished the race began turning around and walking the course backwards, telling those of us who were unfamiliar with the layout that we should start sprinting. As soon as I knew there was only one uphill, one downhill and a turn left, I started kicking it into gear. I think that's how I got the real runner's high when I was done. Putting one foot in front of another isn't so different from pushing down on pedals one after the other, right?After picking up my free orange slices donated by Gless Ranch, http://www.glessranch.com/, (incidentally that's where Mike and I got the oranges for table decorations at our wedding reception) and free "Dasani plus Vitamin Enhanced Flavored Water Beverage," I started walking the course backwards like the others had done, giving encouragement/direction to those who were still in the race. It was definitely a positive environment. In all the confusion, I had a hard time finding my dear husband Mike and our dear friend Homero. I did get to talk to some of the ladies who I saw running at a very fast pace toward the beginning of the race. One of the young (high school age) ones finished the entire race in 24 minutes! The older (mom age) ones finished in 30 minutes. I thanked them for their inspiring pace and enthusiasm and complimented them on their cute matching team outfits! They recommended I try some of the other 5K races down by the beach, since I seemed so enthusiastic about this one.
My friend and training teammate Andrew told me about a tool called Map My Ride. It seems like a great place to post your routes for the purposes of sharing good (and bad) routes for everyone's safety and enjoyment. Also there is an iPhone app so cyclists can download routes directly to their portable devices to prevent wrong turns. So I started inputting data from some of our recent adventures into the program and it puts out all kinds of encouraging stats like these (http://www.mapmyride.com/user/464890608312/) to keep me motivated.
Total Workouts in 2009: 11
Total Distance: 91.70 mi.
Total Burned: 4,128 (kcal)
Gas Saved: 5.09 gallons
Money Saved: $17.73
Carbon Offset: 98.6 lbs. of CO2
But it also forced me to confront some discouraging stats like...
Highest Education: Masters Degree
Occupation: Student
Employment Status: Full-Time
Income: $20,000 to $30,000
Have Kids: No Kids
Like if I'm not going to be able to work out now when I'm still in school and have no kids, how am I going to do it later on? And why am I still in school? And how come I make so little money? And when am I going to have those kids? And will I be able to reach my next level of education successfully? The balance between work/play has been difficult for me to regulate and I am still learning how to manage these aspects of my life in order to maximize my productivity and satisfaction both at work and at home. C'est la vie!
And these downright depressing facts...
Weight: 175
Waistline: 24"
Resting Heart Rate: 66 beats per minute
Body Mass Index: 32
I mean it is easy to get caught up in these numbers, right? If you spend your life striving for a target weight, aren't you wasting your life doing nothing but counting things? When is a person able to enjoy life? So usually I aim to be happy and not to worry about numbers like these. Sometimes though, I allow myself to not think of them at all. Perhaps I needed to be reminded of the true situation, not filtered through the lens of my genetic background excuses and not in the context of the people I see around me who are also obese, but from a quantitative medical perspective, I am currently doing damage to my internal organs by carrying this much extra weight around.
For some reason, I just don't like telling people my weight. But I decided that in the interests of being a real athlete here I have to be honest about the facts. I am considered obese right now with a body mass index of 32. Even if I lose 12 pounds, I'm still overweight. For me to get my BMI down into the vicinity of the high end of "normal weight," I would have to get down to my old welterweight of 135. I only remembering weighing this for a very short time when I was running 5K's several times per week with my then-boyfriend who was in Cross Country, and dancing 6 days per week both ballet and my high school dance team. I thought of this XCxboyf on my run today after I passed the 1 mile mark and realized I was holding a bunch of tension in my neck and arms and poorly regulating my breathing. Once I smiled and remembered what he showed me over 12 years ago, I felt my lungs open up and my stride improve. Incidentally, to become "underweight" I would have to drop down to a weight of 100 pounds. That's crazy!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Weekend plans
This weekend I plan to do some cleaning. I'm in the middle of cleaning my desk at school and also my husband and I are trying to stick to a schedule of chores to maintain a clean house. I'm really trying to make the effort to stay on top of everything going on in my life right now, but I feel I'm slipping on several fronts. I guess that's why they say, "You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time." This leads me to ask, "Who is most important to keep pleased?"
Another thing I would like to do this weekend is enter and finish a 5K race. There's one here in Riverside at Fairmount park and I figure it will be good cross-training. I've been telling people that I plan to run it and getting mixed responses. Some say, "Sweet!" and some say, "Have you been training for it?" I guess I figure that 5K "fun runs" have been designed so that anyone can finish them, regardless of their state of training. Plus I heard a story on NPR about a guy who was studying computer science who was trapped in his apartment building and burned 90% of his body. Part of his recovery involved training for and running in a 5K. If he can do it, so can I. See: http://thestory.org/sidebars/manoj-and-sharon-s-5k-race/
Finally, I'm going to The Bicycle Lounge (http://thebicyclelounge.com/) for the first time to put new shifter cables on my Bridgestone. This was my very first "big girl bike" that I got as a birthday present when I turned 13 (it was assumed I had stopped growing). I've had it ever since, through high school at Omaha North High, college at University of Nebraska at Kearney, graduate school at Arizona State University, and while I was teaching at the community colleges in Maricopa County. I used to commute to ASU but it was only 2 miles each way, then I communted to Scottsdale community college which was 11 miles each way, and finally I used it to commute to UCR which was less than 2 miles each way. It's seen better days, for sure, but with regular maintenance it has held up pretty well. According to an internet bike guru (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/) the Bridgestone team pioneered the design of the first generation mountain bikes by adding steeper frame angles and shorter chain stays, making them more maneuverable and nimble than the older designs, and considerably better climbers. In the '80s this design was considered "radical" but it proved itself on the trail, and was copied by everybody a few years later. This Bridgestone design still is the standard for rigid frame MTBs. Why not put a little love into the old MB and see what she is still capable of?
Another thing I would like to do this weekend is enter and finish a 5K race. There's one here in Riverside at Fairmount park and I figure it will be good cross-training. I've been telling people that I plan to run it and getting mixed responses. Some say, "Sweet!" and some say, "Have you been training for it?" I guess I figure that 5K "fun runs" have been designed so that anyone can finish them, regardless of their state of training. Plus I heard a story on NPR about a guy who was studying computer science who was trapped in his apartment building and burned 90% of his body. Part of his recovery involved training for and running in a 5K. If he can do it, so can I. See: http://thestory.org/sidebars/manoj-and-sharon-s-5k-race/
Finally, I'm going to The Bicycle Lounge (http://thebicyclelounge.com/) for the first time to put new shifter cables on my Bridgestone. This was my very first "big girl bike" that I got as a birthday present when I turned 13 (it was assumed I had stopped growing). I've had it ever since, through high school at Omaha North High, college at University of Nebraska at Kearney, graduate school at Arizona State University, and while I was teaching at the community colleges in Maricopa County. I used to commute to ASU but it was only 2 miles each way, then I communted to Scottsdale community college which was 11 miles each way, and finally I used it to commute to UCR which was less than 2 miles each way. It's seen better days, for sure, but with regular maintenance it has held up pretty well. According to an internet bike guru (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/) the Bridgestone team pioneered the design of the first generation mountain bikes by adding steeper frame angles and shorter chain stays, making them more maneuverable and nimble than the older designs, and considerably better climbers. In the '80s this design was considered "radical" but it proved itself on the trail, and was copied by everybody a few years later. This Bridgestone design still is the standard for rigid frame MTBs. Why not put a little love into the old MB and see what she is still capable of?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Why drop the B-bomb?
Well, I debated the name of this blog for quite some time, but I wanted biking to be in there and I have a soft spot in my heart for alliteration. First I did some on-bike brainstorming. I've been thinking about this for the past two rides at least (the Midnight Ridazz Salton Sea 2009 last weekend and then again on Riverside Ridazz Tuesday Ceilings). First, I checked to see if the domain names I had thought about were free. I realized "Bitch on a Bike" was unclaimed, although my other idea "Biking for Boobies" was already in use by some motorcyclists (but good for them!).
What really pushed me to type the phrase "Bitch on a Bike" into the Title field was that after I used the Google feature to obtain a profile of definitions for the word bitch (type in to the search field "define: bitch" to see what I mean). The original definition I had in mind was that a bitch is a person (usually but not necessarily a woman) who is thoroughly disliked. I used that *hate* and contrasted it with my love for females of the canine species, since I am the proud owner of 2 bitches (both mutts) and they are thoroughly liked by just about everyone.
The cool thing is that it can also refer to in general an unpleasant difficulty, as in "this problem is a real bitch." That relates to getting through graduate school. Additionally, bitching is a synonym for complaining, which as you will see, I tend to do quite a bit of. When things make me passionate or polarized, I blog about them. Awesomer still is that Bitch (or bitch) is a nonprofit, independent, quarterly magazine published in Portland, Oregon, that describes itself as a "Feminist response to pop culture." I might just have to start subscribing to that. And finally, to really put me over the edge, if one says "That was bitchin' " with the proper tone of voice, it means excellent!
What really pushed me to type the phrase "Bitch on a Bike" into the Title field was that after I used the Google feature to obtain a profile of definitions for the word bitch (type in to the search field "define: bitch" to see what I mean). The original definition I had in mind was that a bitch is a person (usually but not necessarily a woman) who is thoroughly disliked. I used that *hate* and contrasted it with my love for females of the canine species, since I am the proud owner of 2 bitches (both mutts) and they are thoroughly liked by just about everyone.
The cool thing is that it can also refer to in general an unpleasant difficulty, as in "this problem is a real bitch." That relates to getting through graduate school. Additionally, bitching is a synonym for complaining, which as you will see, I tend to do quite a bit of. When things make me passionate or polarized, I blog about them. Awesomer still is that Bitch (or bitch) is a nonprofit, independent, quarterly magazine published in Portland, Oregon, that describes itself as a "Feminist response to pop culture." I might just have to start subscribing to that. And finally, to really put me over the edge, if one says "That was bitchin' " with the proper tone of voice, it means excellent!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The Inagural Blog Post
Welcome to my blog! I've been blogging since before they even called it that. I decided to start this blog through the Google clan as a way to establish myself formally in the blogosphere. I want to swim in the common waters of everymanblogger to see how it feels. Hopefully, I will be able to build some new connections and contacts through this medium.
I'm training for a cross-country bicycle ride. My goal is to take this ride after I graduate from University of California, Riverside with as a Doctor of Philosophy in chemistry. I have been an avid cyclist since the early 1980s. My most cherished memory is being buckled in behind my Dad flying through Elmwood Park in Omaha, Nebraska, stretching my arms out, tossing back my head, feeling truly free. I've been chasing that feeling ever since.
In addition to my interest in social networking and my plans to conquer North America on a bike, this blog is devoted to the daily events in the life of a graduate student. I do science. I've always asked, "Why?" Not only "Why is the sky blue?" but also "Why does that paint peel off the wall? What happens if I mix these two substances together and add energy?" My natural curiosity and passion for pursuing knowledge through experience has caused me to pursue the path to professional scientist.
I'm training for a cross-country bicycle ride. My goal is to take this ride after I graduate from University of California, Riverside with as a Doctor of Philosophy in chemistry. I have been an avid cyclist since the early 1980s. My most cherished memory is being buckled in behind my Dad flying through Elmwood Park in Omaha, Nebraska, stretching my arms out, tossing back my head, feeling truly free. I've been chasing that feeling ever since.
In addition to my interest in social networking and my plans to conquer North America on a bike, this blog is devoted to the daily events in the life of a graduate student. I do science. I've always asked, "Why?" Not only "Why is the sky blue?" but also "Why does that paint peel off the wall? What happens if I mix these two substances together and add energy?" My natural curiosity and passion for pursuing knowledge through experience has caused me to pursue the path to professional scientist.