goals

I think it's important to set goals.  Awhile back, I set a few big ones:

*Finish PhD
*Take cross-country bike trip
*Write a book
*Make fitness (exercise) video(s)
*Open a wellness center

Some of these have happened, some are yet to come, but I'm not going to lose sight of these goals.  I started this blog around the time I set the above goals.  There were many thoughts in my head and multiple directions I thought my life could go, but I know I want to help people in a broad sense.  I know I was born to teach and be a leader.  Even if I try to deny these paths, I am redirected back to them.

I want to promote a blog that I read, because it's full of good (thoughtful) content.  It's called Voices in Echo and the writing is on topics related to wellness, education and science.  The author Mike writes nearly weekly posts about the news.  He is widely-read and open-minded.  If you enjoy reading my blog, you might also enjoy reading his.  Did I mention Mike is my husband?

One fitness video I want to make is a spin workout.  Surely I could make something more engaging than this:



For me, when I get centered on "burning fat" with my workouts, they aren't fun anymore.  When you see fitness gurus that look like all they do is workout, it's hard to relate to them.  Also, riding a stationary bike is a challenge because you lose sight of where you could have gone if you were on a real bike and traveling forward, up, and down some hills.  I know you can feel the endorphins from getting your heart rate up, but where's the sense of accomplishment looking back at the monster hill you just climbed?  Or looking forward to the COWABUNGA downhill you're now able to cruise down!

Notorius RBG

"We do not have a proud track record of flattering female ambition or strength. Short a handful of super-heroines—Wonder Woman, and some characters usually most effectively embodied by Angelina Jolie—we have rarely been able to put a positive spin on the kinds of women who present an intellectual, economic, professional, or political threat to entrenched male power. Throughout history, we have acknowledged male strength, especially in its seniority, as serious and authoritative. Older women, on the other hand, have existed mostly as nanas, bubbes! Those sturdy, ambitious souls who also staked claims to public eminence were cast as problematic; tough ladies who no longer slide easily into Lycra are ball-busters, nut-crackers, and bitches." ~ Rebecca Traister

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118641/ruth-bader-ginsburg-memes-how-internet-fell-love-her

And I love this video...law students and female MCs.  A rare and refreshing combination!  If you don't know, now you know.

Lycra doesn't last forever

Today I aimed to solve a very important problem: the full moon view through my cycling shorts!  My husband in his infinite wisdom handed me a couple hundred dollars and told me to buy some lycra for my birthday in 2009.  I bought a couple jerseys and 3 pairs of cycling shorts.  Two of them were Performance Ultra shorts and the third is only meant to be worn under another pair of shorts (in other words, it was see-through the day I bought it).

I've been wearing skirts and dresses over my cycling shorts for about a year now, embarassed at knowing that my goods are on display if I don't.  Like these suspecting (or unsuspecting women).

At least these women have underwear on.  I've tried wearing panties under cycling shorts but it kind of defeats the purpose of having a comfy chamois when you get your knickers in a bunch between your tush and the cycling shorts.  It's been suggested that you have your shorts inspected by a cycling friend once at the beginning of every season.  Hilarious (but a good idea)!

I bought a UC Riverside kit in 2012.  To my dismay, the thread is unraveling in the leg area.  I will attempt to mend it and continue to rock those bibs.  They are my most comfortable chamois.  I don't wear them often, partly because they have a white panel and I would hate to see them covered in grease.  I reserve these bibs for special (long/technical) rides.

Independence Day Ride 2013

I've already got two new pairs of yoga pants so I can get my Zumba and running on.  Bought them at Target. Both have 'secret pockets' for your ID and a house key.  They are both from a Champion line of athletic wear called C9.

Now I have bought two new pairs of cycling shorts.  Bought them online through Nashbar.

Hopefully these will last another 5 years. They are called Women's Vineyard Shorts and have a gelpad chamois.  And while we're on the delightful topic of chamois... I tried chamois butter for the first time.  It seemed like a good idea for our Independence Day Ride to be free from chafing.  I used it both days and it relieved the feeling of needing to adjust my toosh to the saddle.  You know that moment where you're squirming around trying to find just the right position?  Well I didn't have to do that.  Everthing just slid right into place.  I even used it as aftersun lotion.  If it's soothing to my bum, why shouldn't it be soothing on my arms, right?

I will close with this list of things I look for in excercise clothing:
*REFLECTORS
*Bright Colors

Based on my previous posts about bras and lycra, I wanted to mention the buzz about Nike's new line of sports bras.  Will they live up to the hype?  Will they have reflectors and bright colors?  In my size?

References:
http://www.blokespost.com/bicycles/check-your-mates-cycle-knicks-day/5268
http://nikeinc.com/news/the-right-fit-and-the-right-support-the-nike-pro-bra-collection
Album of my 'best ride' photos
https://plus.google.com/photos/114038315072081187656/albums/5779170335416490209?authkey=CPGH_ZP43MXotgE

Independence Day Ride Report

Mile 1

Mile 25

Mile 55

Mile 64

Mile 82

Mile 92

Things we learned from this trip:

*** REAPPLY SUNSCREEN ***  And/or buy lightweight armwarmers with high SPF and don't imagine it's better to have a sleeveless jersey.  It's not worth the extra sun exposure.  When the words "We should probably put on sunscreen," are uttered from your mouth, THEN DO IT!!!  Talking about sun protection does not translate into applying sun protection.  Bring a lightweight sun hat.  With a wide brim for poolside recovery time.  I took in more sun on Day 1 hanging out on the balcony.  Could have been prevented.

The first 55 miles we went ~10 mph.  The last 25 miles we went ~ 5 mph.  We thought we might make it to Oceanside, but we decided to end the southward-bound leg at San Clemente.  There were more hills through the last part of our ride and I had one moment of blinding pain in the legs up a hill.  But more than our legs, my arms were absolutely sunburned and I would not have wanted to go further.  I mean, someday I will want to go further, but just not on this trip.  We waited a good 2.5 hours for our train, but I took a 25 minute nap in the shade while listening to the waves.  Totally chill.

Resist the tempation to eat at McDonalds.  It sounds like a good idea but it is not.  We started from a McDonalds.  I ate eggs with salt and pepper and a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast on Day 1.  Beware of 7-11 Sugar-Free Slurpee.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  Sometime after the McDonalds and the Slurpee, I started to have GI distress on Day 1.  Maybe it was too much heat and humidity.  Maybe the electrolyte/water/carb balance wasn't right.  We stopped at McDonalds on Day 2 also, in Dana Point.  I felt my stomach/small intestine tie up into knots and had trouble breathing both days after eating at McDonalds.  Just sayin'.

Booking your hotel at the last minute is either brilliant or really stupid.  We had a sickening suite atop Hotel Irvine on the 14th (top) floor.  The suite had 2 bigscreen TVs, 3 sliding glass doors, a dinnertable for 6 people, 2 balconies, 2 entrances... need I go on?  We arrived just as all the fireworks displays were all around us.  Amazing.  Traveling with 3 adults made it hard to choose a hotel and we wanted one room with two beds.  Seems like all the normal rooms were taken so we got a sweet suite for the price of a regular room.  But we had to ride 8 miles away from our coast route to get to it.  And 8 miles back to the coast in the morning.

Staying on the PCH is fine as long as you aren't in a hurry.  Through Laguna and Dana Point there was hella traffic.  This is why we got our orange safety flags.  But still, we might have considered taking a parallel route.  Stopping at all lights is a must but be prepared for how much this traffic and the hills will slow you down in terms of reaching a certain distance in a particular amount of time.

Consider buying a disposable camera.  I didn't take nearly as many photos as I thought.  Almost all of them are posted here.  We saw so much gorgeousness but it's all in my head now.  The camera I have is on its last leg.  The battery compartment keeps popping open, causing me to have to reset the date and time before taking a picture.  Not cool when you're wanting to snap a photo quickly.

Something happened when charging my Garmin overnight at the hotel so it didn't work in the morning.  Of course, it's working fine now, but I felt naked without it on Day 2.  I guess the message here is don't count on your technology and bring a backup camera (or a disposable one) and a backup watch.  I would have been a bit more relaxed knowing what time it was at all points along the route on Day 2.  And it didn't help that all of us kept asking "What time is it?"  It just kept reminding me that my Garmin mysteriously would not turn on.  And that bummed me out.

I LOVE my new cupholder.  I hardly even used my regular water bottle.  It was much easier not to have to lean down to grab and replace a traditional bicycle water bottle.  Much easier to fill a to-go cup with ice and water and then drink it through a straw.  I had some fizzy electrolyte tablets that I didn't want to put in a water bottle and the cupholder/disposable cup system was good for that.  Although it tasted kind of yucky in warm water.  The panniers worked out great, too.  Made us look like more serious long-distance cyclists.

Independence Day Ride

I'd like to spend indepedence day on my bicycle.  We are planning to ride a century: from Glendale to Oceanside.  On DAY 1 we plan to take the same route we did on Christmas Eve through Pasadena, down the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel River trail and along the ocean to Newport Beach.  As you can see, all the climbing is at the beginning to get through Pasadena.  The weather is supposed to be 68 degrees F at 7am when we leave McDonalds on Brand Blvd in Glendale.  It's supposed to be 78 degrees by 10am.  It is forecast to be 85 degrees by 1pm in Santa Fe Springs.  In Cerritos, it may be 82 degrees at 3pm.  It should be 77 degrees in Seal Beach around 5pm.  We're expecting sunset at 8:08pm at which time it will be 71 degrees in Huntington Beach.  I honestly don't know when we'll arrive in Newport Beach.  These times and temps are approximate, of course.

1) water stop at Jack-in-the-Box on York Blvd. (7 miles)
2) water stop at 7-11 on Hellman and San Gabriel Blvd (15 miles)
3) water stop at Santa Fe Springs Park (27 miles)
4) lunch at Liberty Park (33 miles)
5) water stop at Alamitos Bay (42 miles), maybe plug in phone @ a coffee shop?
6) water stop at PCH and Goldenwest (50 miles)

On DAY 2, the second leg of the trip will be a new route for us, heading down the Pacific Coast Highway and through Camp Pendleton to Oceanside.  The good thing is that we can stop at San Clemente if we're too tired to go through Camp Pendleton.  The forecasted high temperature in Dana Point for Saturday (7/5) is 78 degrees F.  The high in San Clemente is predicted to be 81 degrees.  Camp Pendleton is expected to reach a high of 77 degrees between noon and 1pm.

There are Metrolink stations are as follows and times are provided for weekend train #667

Oceanside, 5:30pm
San Clemente Pier, 5:51pm
San Clemente, 5:53pm
This will get us back to LA Union Station by 7:50pm and we might have to ride back to Glendale from there unless we wait at LA Union Station until 8:55pm to catch train #271.

Just like for Death Valley, I wanted to make a packing list here to get physically and mentally prepared for the journey.  Death Valley was critical because it was supposed to be cold, in the 30s or 40s at night, so I had to bring lots of warm clothes.  Also, DV is in the middle of nowhere so we had to bring in all our food.  This trip is different since it's summer, we're going to be in the city, and we're not bringing a car.  We got flags for our bikes since we plan to ride down PCH during the day on Saturday.  I thought it would be safer.  And why am I always on my period when I plan for a century ride?  Is it the universe reminding me that I am a strong woman, yet still a mortal that has to deal with this (female) body?

Routeslips are posted here for Glendale to Newport Beach and Newport Beach to Oceanside.

Highlighted items need to be purchased

Gels/Gus/Blocks/Bars

Fruit

PB&J Sandwich

Salt bagels

Garmin

Garmin charging cable

Phone

Phone charging cable

Camera

Camera charging cable

Swimsuit

Flip flops

Cycling shoes

Sunglasses, Sunglass case

Bibs (cycling shorts)

Sports bra

Jersey(s)

Socks

Warmup pants/Jacket (my adidas)

Helmet, Gloves

Armwarmers?, Kneewarmers?

Bandana and/or hat

SPF Lipbalm, Sunscreen

Contact lenses (case, solution)

Toothpaste/toothbrush

First Aid Kit (Bandaids, Gauze, Tape, anti-inflammatories, scissors, tweezers)

Tampons, Pads

Body Glide

Chamois Creme

Bike (obviously)

Lights (+extra batteries)

Water bottles

Cupholder

Flags

Panniers

Bungee cord

Routeslip, Binder clip, Maps

Pen (for writing)

House key(s)

Ca$h, Insurance Card, ATM card

Tire Pump

Tools (Spare tubes, Allen wrenches, Tire irons, Screwdriver, Patch kit, Zip ties)

Bike lock(s), Bike lock key(s)

Chain lube, WD-40

A rag for cleaning, Wet wipes

Sewing kit

Earplugs

Ziploc bags

Spare rack nuts and bolts

Duct Tape

Toilet paper

Matches

References:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?page_id=31730
http://www.thirdwave-websites.com/bike/bike-trip-packing-list.cfm
http://www.greenvillespinners.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=296060&module_id=63532