Today in Training: Hudson River rollin'

Settling into the 12 mile roundtrip ride to work each day, but when I have a little extra energy at the end of the day, I'm gonna take that ball and run with it. Can't beat the sunset view on the Hudson River though!

T-Minus: 59 days

Fundraising to go: $1185
Total training miles ridden: 1034.85
Total books read since started: 26

Today in Training: BPC to Yonkers

Bit disheartened now, after calculating my route today... and only hitting 47 miles. One of those days when you think "this HAS to be close to 60" (the number of miles I'll be riding each day for 5 days in a row) I mean before I got that number, I felt it was a great day. I rode for about 5 hours and most of that was the Hudson River Greenway. The best part of the day was coming across the South County Trail system, which is BLISS. It's flat, it's shaded, there are no frost heaves (every part of my ass is appreciative of that), it's so out of the way that it's not crowded and there are no tourists on Citi Bikes wobbling in and out of your lane...just miles and miles and miles of perfect training conditions. The only downside is that you've got to get yourself to Yonkers to get on it (and that involves riding on Broadway through the Bronx as the most direct route). I actually stopped at an arbitrary point to turn around today, so in theory I could have pushed myself to 60 miles (sooner or later I'll get a working odometer). I am getting a little stronger though, last year I remember feeling like 20 miles was an unattainable goal, so at least there's that. Time to get my fundraising back into gear so if there's anyone out there who hasn't donated yet, what are you waiting for!

125th St/West Side Highway

South County Trail, Yonkers. Smooth like butter.

Kept expecting to see John Travolta strutting down the sidewalk with paint cans.

T-Minus: 61 days

Fundraising to go: $1215
Total training miles ridden: 1002.35 (woo hoo! over 1000 miles finally!)
Total books read since started: 25

Today in Training: Battery Park to Red Hook

How'd this T car end up in Red Hook?!

Slowly settling into my summer home here in Battery Park City... I love that it's so quiet and there are tree-lined bike paths everywhere... not so thrilled about the glut of wandering tourists that straggle in and out of those bike paths, but I'm working with what I've got here. Training is not going to be easy this summer: case in point, I was out for about 4 hours today and only netted about 20 miles. Took the Manhattan Bridge over to Brooklyn and headed over to Red Hook, then rode back over the Brooklyn Bridge (which I never learn, the BB bike path is never a good idea). Perfect day for a ride today—overcast but not too cool.

Taking a bite out of the Big Apple

Ain't 'fraid of no ghosts. Stumbled across the Ghostbusters Fire house today.

Back in Red Hook

I might as well get this tattooed on my leg. It ends up there after every ride anyway.

BPC is this quiet and beautiful.

T-Minus: 62 days

Fundraising to go: $1215
Total training miles ridden: 955.25 Total books read since started: 25

Today in Training: Wormtown Tour

I want it known, I had nothing to do with the missing half of this sign.

Had another day to kill in the 'Burn/The Woo, so I did as much of a tour of the Paris of the 80s as I could without hitting one of those famous 7 Hills of Worcester. (which is not easy, let me tell you)

Pride o' the Woo: Miss Worcester diner

T-Minus: 66 days

Fundraising to go: $1215
Total training miles ridden: 909.85
Total books read since started: 25 (Read quite possibly the worst book I've ever read before. Click here to find out what I thought of Miranda Beverly-Whittemore's "Bittersweet")

Today in Training: My Own Private Velodrome

Final Score: Rockets: 5, Sense of Self-Worth: 0

Back in my hometown for a few days and it is muggy as all get out here, which is the worst weather to try to ride in. Managed a few miles before I latched onto the idea of just taking it easy and riding around in circles for a while up at Rocketland...'scuse me, Lemansky park. I wonder if it looked this depressing in my formative years?

T-Minus: 67 days

Fundraising to go: $1215
Total training miles ridden: 890.85
Total books read since started: 24

Today in Training: Wolfe's Neck State Park

I woke up today in a bit of a funk... I *should* be leaving the house because I just had it deep cleaned [thank you Aaron & Ariel @ Bone Dry Cleaners!] for renters yesterday, but I'm not quite ready to make that commitment (I mean, c'mon, there's a lake outside the door and it's July and sunny...) Adding to my ennui was the fact that I've done all the projects I needed to do and packed away everything that was going with me to NY and everything that wasn't into the loft. So I gave a stab at riding at the gym, hoping that the new shoe insoles I got would make my feet feel better (they didn't...if anything they made it worse). I managed to scrape out 13 miles (which felt like no workout at all) and then promptly pulled a muscle in my back doing an easy stretch. *grumble* I threw a lobster roll at my general malaise and then just headed out in the car to see where the day would take me, and as it happened I was nearby Wolfe's Neck State Park in Freeport, which my good friend Becky recommended I visit. A cute little surprise, just what I needed to get me out of my funk. I took a leisurely 4 mile stroll around the park and reminded myself that it's not always about the bike.

"I eated the purple berries!" "How'd they taste, Ralph?...Good?"

 
"Tastes...like...burning..."

The Harraseeket Trail leads to this magical view of Freeport

Whoopie Pies do make it all better.

T-Minus: 69 days

Fundraising to go: $1215
Total training miles ridden: 875.85
Total books read since started: 24 (finished Terry Tempest Williams "Refuge" yesterday...a writer I thought sure I'd fall in love with, but after reading 2 of her books on nature and health, I'm pushing her down my list of 'gotta read' authors.

Today in Training: Working out the kinks

mmmm strawberries...

Looks like I've got another batch of metatarsalgia in my foot which for those of you without WebMD, means it's a big ball of nerves that feels like you're stepping on a marble...every time you take a step. The good news is that it doesn't hurt so much when I'm riding, the bad news is the only way it clears up is if I stop riding for a few days. This is the 2nd batch I've had in a month or so, but I'm noticing the pattern that it happens when I'm in a string of days when I'm riding in sneakers (and not hard soled bike shoes). Gonna have to solve this one soon or else it's gonna be a long painful summer.

Not wanting to overdo it, I stuck to my new favorite loop: Gray->New Gloucester via Mayall Rd which takes you by one of the farms Pineland Farms uses for their produce (they also have pick-your-own strawberries and if you stop and stand on the bridge the air smells like Strawberry Shortcake ...mmmm) It's a nice easy 12 mile loop—FLAT! which I need every once in a while.

T-Minus: 71 days

Fundraising to go: $1215
Total training miles ridden: 862.35
Total books read since started: 23 (finished Walker Percy's "The Moviegoer" today. Didn't love.)

Today in Training: still hot, still too lazy to ride outside

Oh good, 27.56 miles to go.

Another gorgeous 80º+  day, another day when I'm too lazy to saddle up and hit the backroads for my mileage. But I'm still at the gym, pushing pushing pushing to get myself...somewhere.
On the plus side, I FINALLY finished John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany" which I started when I began this training madness (at 640 pages PAPERBACK...  I read on that tiny little iPod that's featured in the photo, well let's just say that's a shitton of swiping.




Picked the Cannondale up at Rainbow today and I should give it a whirl but I'd so just rather be on the dock with a beer. It's 5 o'clock somewhere... thank god it's here.

T-Minus: 72 days

Fundraising to go: $1215
Total training miles ridden: 850.15
Total books read since started: 22

Today In Training: It's too damn hot to be outside.

Okay, it's not *that* hot, but hopefully it won't be 85º with 75% humidity in September when I'm doing this ride. But then again climate-wise all bets are off so I guess I should be preparing for the worst. Instead I opted for another indoor ride while the bike I'm going to be riding for the summer (the trusty old Cannondale) was being tuned up. (turns out, you actually need to service the chain every once in awhile. Duly noted.) It also meant taking my Speedplay pedals off the bike I've been using for training (the perfunctory Marin) but not re-attaching them to the Cannondale, because I can't imagine riding in NYC clipped in. I was really hoping Speedplay was going to come through with the pedal covers I ordered 3 months ago, but alas, they seem eternally on back order.) It means that I can either ride my bike outside and inside with standard pedals or I can can ride it only indoors with the Speedplays. (or I can get a hernia every time I try change the pedals out.) So we'll see.

Been a week of limited training, with the holiday and the heat, but I managed an indoor 30 miles today. Long way to go...but rewarding myself with a Fluffernutter and a dip in the lake. Ahhhhh.....

T-Minus: 73 days

Fundraising to go: $1215 (The see me rollin', they hatin'!)
Total training miles ridden: 820.15
Total books read since started: 21

 

Today in Training: Portland to Cape E

After a few days inside on the bike, it was time to get back out in the sunshine and hit the pavement. A spur of the moment pop-in to see my bestie Annemarie down in Cape Elizabeth (plus lunch and a beer) was just what I needed to distract myself from a paltry 17 mile day before heading back to work.

T-Minus: 84 days

Fundraising to go: $1265 (I love my friends! You keep me rollin'!)
Total training miles ridden: 602.85
Total books read since started: 18

View from the Casco Bay Bridge today. Not a bad day to be in Maine at all.

Today in Training: ACADIA!!

I actually tried to enhance the colors on this and it looked worse. #nofilterf'reals Sand Beach, Acadia, NP

 

 

I have never been to Acadia National Park and figured I’d probably run out of time (and weather) if I actually sat down and planned a real trip, so I just set the alarm for 6a, threw the old Terra Linda on the back of the car and headed north. It was a GAH-HOAR-JESS day—sunny, light breeze, about 68º—and perfect for riding the 20 mile Park Loop. The park is amazing and I’m definitely coming back when I have more time to take a few days.

T-Minus: 88 days

Fundraising to go: $1365 (over the halfway mark! big props from the Climate Ride rider support crew!)
Total training miles ridden: 621.51
Total books read since started: 16

From the top of Cadillac Mtn—I didn't ride up the road, but some other suckers did!

Another view from Cadillac Mtn, looking out at the Porcupine Islands and Bar Harbor (aka BAH HAHBA)

Today in Training: Gray->Raymond->Frye Island and back

Cheap thrills of Raymond, ME. Nathaniel Hawthorne's boyhood home.

Back in the (sore, sore) saddle for another 33.6 after a day off celebrating the longest day yesterday. Hopped on the bike for a trip to the ferry to visit some old friends on Frye Island.

Nice and sunny on the way there, but it became overcast on the way back. These Maine hills are good for training but killing my butt!

I may need to keep the speed boat on retainer for more quick getaways.

T-Minus: 89 days
Fundraising to go: $1365 (over the halfway mark!!! thanks everyone!)
Total training miles ridden: 602.01
Total books read since started: 15

And I mean if you haven't donated yet, what are ya waiting for, ya mug!

Today in Training: Inaugural blog post!

I figured I'd dust off the old (very old, very dusty) blog to document my journey in training for my 300 mile Climate Ride in September (for those of you unaware here's my story! and you can donate here too!) I'm getting some fairly high mileage this week but it's only because I'm back in the gym. 

Indoor training has definitely got its perks:
• I can only wear so much sunscreen—I'm turning darker than my old Finnish grandmother, I'm starting to loop around to purple.
• 2 1/2 hours on the bike is spent always in motion, as opposed to outside where you're stopping for traffic lights and fighting the wind and hills
• distraction... indoors, I can check emails, surf the web and I've also set a goal for myself to read 100 books while I'm training which makes the time go by that much faster. Today on the bike, I finished "The Cheapskate Next Door: The Surprising Secrets ofAmericans Living Happily Below Their Means" by Jeff Yeager—a fitting inspiration, because Yeager did his entire book tour by bike! This one's classified as "humor" but he really has truly practical advice for anyone who wants to easily save money. Gotta love a guy who tells everyone to go check his book out at the library. 

Miles to go before I sleep, but check back for daily updates here! 

T-Minus: 91 days
Fundraising to go: $1515
Total training miles ridden: 568.41
Total books read since started: 15

The Simplicity Connection's Top Ten Tips for Simplifying the Holidays

1.   Set limits. Be it monetary, culinary or time management, before the season gets into full swing decide how much you’re willing to put up with (and how much is really worth it!)

2.   Stop. Take some time for yourself and just be without worrying about the societal pressures of the season.

3.   Mute the TV. How many times can you hear “Every kiss begins with Kay” before losing your mind? (for me it was 2.) Why not just remove torturous jingles from the equation?

4.   Reconnect with the joy of handmade. It really is the thought that counts in this season but buying something just to cross a name off your list usually ends up with the giver overspending and the givee politely pretending they really don’t hate it. With a little bit of time and research everyone can find a creative gift project. (Start with the list on p. 76 of The Simplicity Connection!)

5.   Be practical (with gift giving). A book of stamps or a gift certificate to the vet may not be the sexiest gifts, but you know they’re more likely to be used (and appreciated) in the long run and not end up in the junk drawer with the 1990s Furby, the pogs and the Tamagotchi pets.

6.   Order online. If you still want to give capitalism a boost, reconsider the trip to the mall and let your fingers do the walking and ordering. Why truck it to a store, just so you can truck it home? If you can, choose ground shipping instead of air shipping: it’s 6 times more fuel-efficient.

7.   Cut calories. How many years in a row is your New Year’s resolution going to be “lose the 15 pounds I put on over the holidays?” This year, before the trays of food go out on the table, consider donating part of your meal to someone who needs the calories more than you do.

8.   Try the $100 holiday. Consider putting a cap on the amount everyone spends. (That’s not $100 a piece, that’s $100 total!) Read Bill McKibben’s Hundred Dollar Holiday for tips and inspiration on how to make it happen.

9.   Cut the waste. A quarter of American trash is generated between Thanksgiving and New Years’ Day. Why not use reusable gift boxes, bags and wrapping instead of 1-time use paper that heads straight to the landfill :30 after unwrapping?

10.   Rent a living tree. Why not try the ultimate in tree-recycling by not even cutting it down in the first place.

Doc Review: Tapped (2009)

The documentary Tapped will make you never want to drink a plastic bottle of water again. You think, a bottle of water is pure, clean and safe, when in reality, that water is barely tested for safety and the plastic bottle it comes in poses its own hazards. Truth is that municipal water supplies are often safer than bottled water (municipal supplies are tested many times A DAY. Bottled water asks the company to voluntarily test for safety, and is only 1 person at the FDA oversees billions of bottles of produced water).

Eighty million bottles of water are consumed in America every day….30 million of those end up in landfills (all of them can and should be recycled).Currently (STILL) only 11 states have deposit laws. It remains true that those states recycle more than all other states (in fact Michigan the state with the 10 cent deposit has a  97% return rate). Why aren't bottle deposit laws mandatory in every state? This is another case of allowing companies to not take responsibility for their products. Think the oil crisis is just $4 a gallon for gas? It takes  714 million gallons of oil to make just the BOTTLES we drink from every year. (that's enough to power 100,000 cars).

From extracting and manufacturing; to safety after ingestion; to the waste and health hazards of disposal, this documentary proves that every step of bottled water is an unnecessary excess.

And onward...

 
Nothing makes me happier than the fact that the world’s longest election cycle is over. And while some are trying to downplay it by saying that we’re in for 4 more years of the same (same President, same parties in control of the House and Senate) there are some small but important changes that I hope and believe will make a difference.

1) Elizabeth Warren defeating Scott Brown in Massachusetts. No one should be caught unaware of my girl-crush, but if you’re not on board with her, just watch any one of her Daily Show interviews and you’ll fall in love with her no nonsense, rational approach to fiscal responsibility. Cutting out essential programs is not going to fix the budget, but getting Congress (and ordinary Americans) to live within their means will.

2) Big money doesn’t always buy you an election. With billions spent by Romeny (and specifically the Koch Brothers) and McMahon in Connecticut, it’s nice to know that money can’t buy everything. Oh but it was nice of them to stimulate the economy like that for a while.

3) Another Independent in the Senate. Maybe it’s just me, but I like the idea of people publicly keeping themselves open to other ideas. Maine’s previous Senator (Republican Olympia Snowe) often voted outside of her party line, but her successor (Angus King) is showing up unattached to any party. Here’s hoping he and Bernie Sanders (IND-VT) start a trend.

4) Hate, fear-mongering and slander aren’t cool and women kicked ass. Tammy Duckworth winning in Illinois (after Joe Walsh repeatedly belittled her military service), Claire McCaskill besting Todd “legitimate rape” Akin in Missouri, Joe Donnelly beating Richard “pregnancy from rape is a gift from God” Mourdock.

5) Love is love. Gay marriage was finally approved in Maine and Maryland. Minnesota turned down an initiative to redefine their constitutional definition of marriage (as 1 man, 1 woman) and Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay Senator was elected in Wisconsin, beating a 4-time incumbent!

The beauty contest is over, now it’s time to do something with the prizes. I’m praying that no longer having the fear of losing a second term will allow this administration to truly move forward on the environment and financial recovery. I really have hope that progress and bold changes can happen, but only if the Republicans can drop the "I'm taking my ball and going home" mentality. Stay tuned.

If everyone grabbed a bucket...

 I’ve been reading a book about World War II lately (“December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World by Craig Shirley) and it’s interesting to compare the 1940s mentality of disaster with today’s. In the 40s, Americans were told to ration items (gas, sugar, steel, panty hose…) in order to support the war effort. They were told to participate in black out drills so the enemy couldn’t discern targets (like, what? The Johnson’s lawn jockey? But I digress…). They were told to carpool, plant victory gardens, to ‘use it up, make it do or do without’. They raced to get to recruitment centers and were upset when they were deemed unfit for service because they were too old or too married. These were the hardships of the 40s, but the thing is, Americans did them all. And willingly. Its an interesting comparison to today, where we have all these luxuries that we take for granted and no one asks us to cut back or go without (Could you imagine George W. Bush asking Americans to cut back on sugar after 9/11? LOLOLOLROFLROFLROFL…sorry, I lost the plot there for a minute…I’m back). I just wonder how many Americans will take a moment this week and say ‘no latte for me today, I’m making a donation to the Red Cross instead.’ If everyone grabbed a bucket, the water would be gone from the flood zone. (pick any flood zone you want, it doesn’t have to be the one Sandy caused, because there will be another flood next year. In Iowa, in Nashville, in New Orleans, in Manila…somewhere.) And I can guarantee you that pick 2 flood victims and the one with the more simplified life is coping a lot better than the one who can’t charge their iPhone to play Angry Birds or order take out or watch Netflix.

Cabin Dispatch: Who doesn't love the dump?

Oh the dump! How I love the dump. It’s the mark of a true Mainer is how much you love the dump. And well, we don’t really call it the “dump” anymore; it has a nice euphemistic name called “Transfer Station”. How lovely. As in “I am transferring my crap to the dump.” But it’s so much more than a hole in the ground where everyone drops their dirty diapers and cat litter. Turn to the right, and that’s where you can drop off everything that is recyclable: glass, plastic, paper. Give the nice man a few dollars and they’ll let you drop off 3 cubic yards of lawn clipping and leaves. Head west-ish and there’s the wood pile (“No pressure treated wood in the wood pile” the marquee exclaims.) Head around the building and there’s old windows, toilets, and a “take or leave” pile all for free! We’re nothing but resourceful up here. And all for the low price of $5 a year. What? $5??? (In California, my sewer and trash bill is at least $26… per MONTH.) Politics aside, all Mainers can agree on one thing, we love the dump. (though some of us haven’t grasped the concept of bottle deposit yet! Nickels! Everywhere beside the road!)

Yard waste goes here...

Old windows go here...

Paper recycling all packed up and ready to go.

Stop pressuring the wood!

Welcome to the New Normal

 While I’m certainly glad everyone is taking Hurricane Sandy seriously, it poses a bigger question… how prepared are we? There’s little doubt that this storm will cause billions in damages, but if we’re already in a pit of budget despair, how will we be able to make up for new crises? The coffers are empty. We have no cautious plan of recovery. On an individual level, simplicity is the only way we can prepare for disasters. How ready are you to live without electricity? Or running water? or have to go without Twitter/Facebook/Instagram for a day or two? Training yourself to manage these tests in times of sunshine makes dealing with them in times of crisis less of an inconvenience. Yes, extreme weather events suck; they never seem to get our memos, but we are the ones to blame for the climate crisis. We are the ones who haven’t erred on the side of caution with our coal and oil consumption. We have no one to blame but ourselves, so now we just have to sit back and wait to see the outcome.

Pinterest Roundup

Time for another edition of Pinterest Roundup, let's see what those crazy designers on the interwebs have come up with this week!
 

Replenish is a cleaning product company that is rethinking how they sell their products. Instead of shipping cleansers that are 90% water to retailers, they sell a reusable spray top and an active ingredient bottom that clicks on, that includes 3 refills. When your 3 environmentally safe refills are empty, unclick the bottom and attach a full new one.

There’s some backlash for this one (“What if the barista sneezes and doesn’t wash his hands!!!”), well if you’re thinking like that, maybe you shouldn’t  leave the house. Here, this is just a more sustainable and creative solution to one-use plastic knives.

 

Another concept design winner (but sadly not available yet) is the Off Door Handle—going out? As you get to your door, built into the door handle is a switch that either turns out all your lights, shuts your gas off, or shuts down all plugs and the gas. No need to go running around unplugging or shutting off power strips, one switch and it’s a full power down.

I never could figure out how people could hold themselves up on a bike with a toddler strapped to the back (I have enough trouble remaining upright with my backpack on), but the Bike-Stroller is like a reverse tricycle—mom/dad gets a workout, baby gets a ride (yes, they both should be wearing helmets.) Probably not a good street ride, but around the track or on suburban sidewalks, this seems genius.

The key to my decorating secret (because I know you were wondering) is dual function and modularity. If one product has 2 useful functions and is able to be easily moved, it goes on the list immediately. The Fold-Out Ottoman bed is just that. Closed up, it hides a single guest bed under the cover of a foot rest. What will they think of next!