Daily Challenge 8: Drenched

Last night there was a wind advisory. I woke up hearing the wind howl and the rain pounding down. No way I was going out in that. I'd be crazy.

Yet when 6:00 AM rolled around, I was ready to head out on the trike!

It was pouring. The wind had let up a bit. It was dark. I pushed on anyway, and rode off into the downpour. The dread of the weather is often much worse than the weather itself. Out in the stormy weather, it's actually exhilarating! Still, I didn't have much time, and it was very wet, so I limited myself to a short loop up through town. It was fun!

Daily Challenge 7: Trail

A few sprinkles today, but mostly a nice cloudy day. This time when I went out to run I went off on the undeveloped trail right from the start, and followed it up into town. It's a nice break from the paved trail, if a bit overgrown at points. It obviously gets used, since it isn't completely overgrown.

Daily Challenge 6: Proof

I went out for a quick ride this morning, just up to the post office. The proof for my book Downland arrived! I actually released this book years ago, but this is a new edition with more fixes, better formatting, and original cover art. The ride itself was cold, windy and dark, and fun!

Daily Challenge 4: Afternoon

I enjoy my early morning rides. Even the dark and the cold. It's nice, however, to get out in the afternoon when I can see the world around me. This was a good afternoon for a ride. Cold, not freezing. Cloudy, not raining. Not exactly a summer day, but still a nice change from most of my recent rides.

I weighed in today, down 2.5 pounds since the last weighing in December. That's a good way to start the year! With my surgery a couple months ago, and the recovery after, I've gained quite a few pounds. Nice to see those start coming off. I'm still a good 25 lbs heavier than I'd like to be. I've been eating better lately, much more leafy greens and vegetables, little junk food. It isn't quite primal/paleo, because I am eating some grains, pasta and bread and it isn't a raw food diet because I do have cooked foods and meat in there too. I'm taking things from both of those approaches, with an emphasis on raw plants, some meat and allowing some degree of grain-based and cooked foods.

Daily Challenge 1: Dusting

First ride of the New Year! Partly cloudy day, but cold. I bundled up and headed down the Yelm Tenino trail. I've gotten terribly out of shape and want to build back up to riding to work. That's twice as far as I rode today, each way! So I only did a quarter of what the commute takes. I can cut that distance down by 3-4 miles, depending on the route taken. It's still a good long day of riding.

I wasn't expecting it, but along the trail were areas that had obviously gotten snow yesterday. It snowed when we were in town but I didn't see it sticking anywhere. I guess it missed us!

I'm starting over with the numbering of the challenge posts. I don't know that I'll go out every day, but I'll be curious to see how many days I get in something this year!

Daily Challenge 33: Self-Portrait

Yesterday I got up and went for a morning ride on the mountain bike. It was cold outside, down to 37°F, so I dressed warmly. Too many layers! It felt okay when I left. Then I started getting warmer the farther I went. I decided that I'd turn around at the intersection with the Chehalis-Western trail and head back. When I did, I stopped and took off some of my extra layers, including my mittens and ninja face/head mask. I also unzipped my outer jacket partway to ventilate more.

I didn't have any problems as far as my surgery site. I got back, realized I hadn't taken a picture, and took a quick self-portrait. Then I used that image as a reference this morning to paint a self-portrait. The result is a bit off, but that's okay. It's all practice. You can't see the whole thing in the small pic above, but it'll appear on the December issue of Exposed Monthly: Raw Creation! That's my magazine/blog where I talk about what's going on each month, indie writing, and publishing.

It's great getting out again. Today I worked outside in the yard, so I'm not posting a challenge post.

Daily Challenge 32: First Post-Op Trike Ride

Last night I went out and installed my Down Low Glow lights on the trike. I had everything ready this morning to get back out on the trike and ride. It felt great getting out. My legs groaned a bit. After weeks of inactivity, this week I've been going out each day. I'm not pushing too hard, trying to take it easy. At first the cold cut through my layers and I thought I needed another layer, but once I warmed up it was fine. I didn't want to turn around when I did, at the 6.0 mile marker on the trail, but I figured going farther would a) take too long, and I didn't have time, and b) mean pushing too much. Still, great to get out!

Daily Challenge 28: A Walk in the Dark

This morning I took a walk in the dark, with dog. It was 29°F outside. I wore my Vivobarefoot Breatho Trail shoes this morning. With the cold and not being able to see much (I didn't take a light), that seemed safest. Just meandered around our trails for a bit, taking my time in the dark and conditions. It was a good chance to get out in the early morning. When I heal enough, I expect to do more early morning walks/runs and rides.

Daily Challenge 26: An Apple...

Today I went out for my walk during a break in the rain. At first my son came with me, also barefoot, but after a short distance out he decided it was too cold and wet and wanted to go inside. I walked him back, then retraced my steps to walk around the property.

I meandered around a bit more today. Passing our apple trees I noticed again how many had fallen to the ground. We need a better plan for dealing with the apple harvest! A few hardy apples still clung to the leafless trees, most bird-pecked and rotten, but a few good apples remained. I picked a few and munched on them while I walked.

I'm still pretty sore. Getting stronger each day!

Daily Challenge 25: Healing

Much time has passed since I last posted a daily challenge. As I'd mentioned, I started having health issues. It started as a pain on my lower right abdomen. "Pain" is almost too strong of a word. Uncomfortable, sometimes becoming painful. Annoying, but something I could ignore. Most of the time.

When I went to a master class for writers a few years ago, we played a simulation of a writer's career called "The Game." In one part of the Game you rolled dice, and sheets were consulted to determine what happened. A "life roll," something that could impact your writing (often negatively).

This is my latest life roll.

At my day job they started a wellness program. Go in for a physical, get some blood work done, and we'd all get a deduction on our premiums and a credit against our deductibles. Since the problem wasn't going away, and I hadn't had a physical in a long time, I went ahead and made the appointment.

When I first showed up the doc was so enthusiastic to see me. "Someone who is basically healthy!"

I'd gone through the standard questions with the nurse before hand. Smoke? No. Drink? No. Never? Never. Any surgeries? No. None? None.

Then I went through it again with the doc. It really gives you a good idea of what they deal with every day when they're surprised to have someone healthy, that doesn't drink or smoke!

I'd mentioned my problem, the discomfort I was feeling, and when the doc did the hernia check I got the bad news. "You've got a hernia! I'm going to refer you for a surgical consult."

I had a vague notion of what she was talking about, that's it. I did notice that after she had pressed on my abdomen that the 'discomfort' I'd been feeling had become more painful. I expected it to ebb. Instead, after the appointment, it worsened. Now it was painful. Was it just in my head, because now I knew what it was? I don't know. Maybe I'd ignored how bad it'd gotten.

I ended up back at the doctor's a few days later, seeing one of the other doctors in the group, because the pain had become quite distracting. This doc did a careful exam, ran a few other tests and confirmed the hernia diagnosis. He also showed me where it bulged when I coughed.

Nothing to do except wait for the surgery consultation a week later. That went as expected. Yep, hernia. Yep, it needed to be repaired. Another week and I went under the knife.

I'd expected pain post-op. They all told me. Without having ever undergone anything like this, I imagined I could still write and make progress on my novel while I recovered.

Right!

After the initial drugs wore off, moving became very difficult. Even getting into or out of bed became an excruciating chore. The narcotics made me all fuzzy-headed, but oddly not really sleepy. Restless, in constant pain, there was no way I was kicking off National Novel Writing month!

Talk about a life roll! Health issues, having surgery, has an impact!

With the support of my family, I gradually improved and began to better. Moving became easier. I started taking notes on the book I wanted to write. I finished an online writing workshop. I still couldn't move easily. Sitting for any length of time, walking, doing much of anything was hard.

Was hard? Is hard!

It's gotten better. I went back to work this week. Tough, very tough, to make it through a whole day at work. It's good. It gets me up doing things instead of staying in bed.

Today I decided to go for a walk around our property. It isn't far, we do have a tiny hill. And I went barefoot. I want to build back up my strength and get moving. I want to improve what I'm eating. I'm still in pain and I have to take it very easy. No pushing. I still have lifting restrictions for the next few weeks. I'm not getting better over night.

I am, however, getting better. I'm writing the book now. I'm back at work. And now I'm getting out for a walk. Running and cycling will come in time. For now it is enough to take a short walk around the place.

Day 9: 30 Days of Biking | Manke

Manke Rd

I haven't been getting out every day, but I'm trying to get out when I can. This morning I took a quick spin down to Manke road and back, just a couple miles each way, but it's amazing how much better I feel, even just riding that short distance!

Day 6: 30 Days of Biking | Need More Layers!

Partly cloudy sunrise mornings are the best as the sun paints rich colors across the sky. I've missed riding the past few days, so I didn't want to miss today too. I got ready and headed out. Brrr! I needed more layers! I felt pretty good on the ride but my hands and feet were cold, I hadn't bundled up enough against the freezing temperatures.

Post Office Stop

I headed up to the Post Office to mail a bill (to the one place that still doesn't do e-bills) and check the P.O. box. I'd considered a longer loop but the cold drove me back down the trail to home. It looks like it'll be a great day later, but I'll be off at work.

Maybe tomorrow afternoon I can get out for a longer ride!

Timber Land

On Monday I couldn't take it any longer — I needed to get out on my bike and ride! One big question: could I actually get to work on my bike or not?

See back in the middle of January we got a big snow storm.

Snow!

It looked real pretty at first. By the time it was done we had around 14" of snow on the ground. Then the storm turned into an ice storm that coated everything with a quarter of an inch of ice. Trees bent, bent and snapped! The sound of branches and trees breaking was constant. Some of those trees in that picture are now broken in half, most have tons of branches stripped off. Lots of damage.

So back to the biking, the roads are mostly clear by now although the branches and tree trunks still clog many of the shoulders. And I didn't know if the Parks folks had been out to clear the trail system yet. Even if they were working on it, I figured they might not have gotten finished yet.

I decided to go for it anyway and ride to work!

I left early, around 6:30 AM to give myself plenty of time in case I encountered any obstacles. It felt great to get back on the bike, riding off into the dark morning before the sun rise. My helmet headlight illuminated the road ahead. Debris from the storm littered the side of the road but since there wasn't a shoulder it was mostly off the road and didn't interfere. That lasted until I reached the Yelm-Tenino trail. As soon as I got there I encountered my first tree across my path, necessitating a stop to make my way around it.

It wasn't the first. That first stretch of trail had me questioning the wisdom of continuing. It wasn't only trees, but branches ranging from twigs to big branches several inches thick. We're talking piles and piles of branches under any tree overhanging the path. And then, of course, whole trees across the path. Some I could ride around going off the trail but others meant stopping to find a path around, over, or under!

I went down the Chehalis-Western trail and finally stopped counting trees down at two dozen. I didn't count all the rest of the debris. I could see signs that conditions had been even worse, but other trail users had dragged some material off the trail. The 29er tires helped rolling through piles of branches, or going off the trail at times.

Trees down

In some cases my only option was to carry the bike up and over trees in the path because of growth on each side of the trail.

All of this made for an interesting commute but despite the obstacle course I made fairly good time. The storm caused so much destruction, it's really too bad.

Tree Split

Whole trees that are just split apart. Some look like they got stomped on by a giant. You can look at groups of trees and see where they all got their tops broken off. It's going to be a massive effort to clean all of this up. There's already been a lot of work to get the roads somewhat clear, but it's not done yet.

Riding down Old Hwy 99 I was pleased that the shoulder was pretty much clear, giving me a good path for the last stretch to work. I felt tired after ~18 miles, but also energized by the ride.

That evening, when I headed home I just felt tired. I also discovered that the other side of Old Hwy 99 wasn't nearly as clear on my way back. Several times I encountered stretches were I had to dismount and navigate trees and massive debris piles that extended across the shoulder almost into traffic. I don't feel safe riding out in traffic at dusk and night fall when I'm dealing with lots of commuters doing 50+ MPH. The shoulder is usually fine, but in this case it made it very difficult.

Eventually I made it up to Waldrick which lacks shoulders but the speed limit is lower and the lack of shoulders meant that the road at least was clear of debris. I did get chased by dogs at one house which has been a problem before, but otherwise the cars gave me plenty of room. Unfortunately a few other things made the ride home less enjoyable.

For one thing, my batteries were getting lower and the headlight automatically switched to a lower setting that made it a harder to see. Add to that it was getting darker, it was cloudy and raining. Not the best of conditions. Plus by that point I felt pretty worn out. I haven't been riding to work enough. The stationary bike helps, but in the past couple weeks I hadn't done that much either, and even when I have ridden it I've only been doing a half-hour to forty-five minutes. It took me an hour and twenty-seven minutes to get to work. Given conditions, the trees, my fatigue and the fact that the ride home is more uphill (a little) I had figured that the ride home might take two hours.

That was pretty accurate.

So not a fast ride at all. Even as I slogged home, however, I couldn't help but enjoy parts of the ride. Riding along the trail at night is fun. I stopped at one point and listened to coyotes howling, crying, and yipping off in the darkness, a whole chorus of canine celebration. What the fallen trees added in slowing my pace, they also broke up my pace and added interest to the ride. Especially riding home when I had to stay very alert to potential obstacles.

The big question in my mind remains, how do people get in shape to do things like the Tour Divide where they're riding 150 miles each day? I was tired after my commute and it was only ~35 miles. I guess you just need to ride longer and longer, but it's hard. Hard to fit that into everything else. Riding today took over three hours. That's hard to fit in with everything else.

Fall is Here

Fall Trail

The rain let up today, the temperature wasn't that cold, so it turned out to be a nice morning for a commute. With all the rain and storms we've had recently there's a lot of Douglas fir needles, branches and leaves down on the trail. It felt great getting out and riding to work.

Tree Down

Near the lake there was a tree down across the trail (sorry for the blurry picture). I'd was able to go around the tree without any problem. It looked like the Parks folks had been cleaning up this portion of the trail and I think the tree fell when other brush was removed. By the time I came back in the afternoon the tree was already cleaned up and gone.

I'm trying to get out more, build up more mileage but I feel like I'm making slow progress. I need to get out riding more days than I've been doing and I want to build up more distance. This weekend I'm thinking of doing another library ride and head down to Olympia, but we'll see.

Highway Commute

Highway 507

This morning I decided to take the highway instead of the bike trail. There's a few reasons for that:

• More hills! I'm working on my mileage but the Yelm-Tenino trail is a converted railway trail so the grade and hills are mild. There aren't any huge hills on the stretch of the highway either, but it's a bit more hilly than the trail. That's a good thing.
• More traffic! I'd rather not ride with cars around, honestly, but since cars aren't going to vanish and my new commute (switching to a new position and a ~17.3 mi commute) will involve more riding on roads, I need to feel more comfortable with the traffic.
• More visible! I think it's important for drivers to see more cyclists on the roads. The trail is nice, but we shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that cyclists must ride the trail. By being out on the highway it reminds drivers that there are other folks on the roads. Maybe that helps.

Right after I took the blurry picture above (sorry, my phone takes terrible pictures), the rain started. A few drops became many drops and then before long I was soaked. I was wearing bike shorts and a jersey, messenger bag over my shoulder. Helmet, of course. My work clothes were in a handlebar bag. I'd actually put on my fenders this morning in anticipation of the chance of rain. The forecast only said 30%, but clearly we hit that! 

The wind blew, the temperature was cool to cold and felt colder with the rain. I'm sure this might sound odd to some, but I had fun! It was a great ride speeding along the highway with cars zipping past and the rain pouring down. The Marlin took the hills pretty easily. The wide shoulder gave me plenty of room but I also kept an eye on approaching cars with my helmet mirror. The dim conditions emphasized what a difference headlights make! Cars with their lights off were much harder to see. I had my rear blinker on but I hadn't taken batteries for my headlights. I need to start doing that because it wasn't nearly as light as I would have liked and even with my screaming yellow jersey I would have felt better with a headlight.

After work I decided to take the trail back home instead of recreating the morning's ride along the highway. I felt tired and wanted to take it easier without the added stress of cars passing. But I do plan to do much more street riding in the days ahead. I'm already making plans for my next library rides!

When a Tree Falls

Tree Down Across Trail

Thursday I took a rest day and didn't ride after all, but I headed back out to work on the trike yesterday. I still felt a little tired but actually made good time. About a mile before trail's end I came across a tree down across the trail. A dog walker on the other side and I looked at moving it off the trail but there was no way. I was able to get around the end riding through the brush alongside the trail. Later, after work, the county parks folks had already cleared it away! It made me think how quickly these trails would disappear without someone to maintain them.

This week has already set new mileage records for me. I'm tired this morning, I pushed harder yesterday, but at the moment I still think I'm going to ride. Probably slowly. Or I might change my mind. I guess I'll know after I see how the morning goes.

Yelm Prairie Line Trail

Yelm Bound

This morning I rode down the Yelm-Tenino Trail all the way to Yelm and then went across the street and headed down the Yelm Prairie Line Trail, just as far as the trail head and parking at 1st. Turned around there and rode back. It was a nice cool morning, mostly sunny with scattered clouds. I felt strong and the ride went well. Before I left I realigned my boom which took care of the chain-dropping problem I had yesterday. I still need to tweak the brakes a bit to get them right, but they work so that's good. Lots of bunnies out today!


As rides go this isn't a particularly challenging or lengthy ride, but that's okay. I'm working on getting out each day to ride or run. It's easy on a beautiful day like today. What's more of a challenge is running or riding in the rain, cold, etc. I need to get used to adverse conditions. As part of that my assumption these days is that I'm going out. The weather doesn't matter. Usually once I'm out in the rain I don't mind it at all, it's just overcoming that mental barrier first.

Yelm Prairie Line Trail Head

In any case, a good way to start the day!