TDF 2009

A few months ago we decided to cancel our Directv subscription because we really didn't watch hardly anything on TV and when we did there were usually a few channels that we would flip to and paying $50+ a month for a few channels seemed pretty stupid. Once we did have it cancelled we wondered how the heck we would get to watch any of the Tour de France...here we are a week away from the start of the tour and we still haven't figured that out yet.

However, one of the guys showed me a link for Steephill TV on the internet. This site has all the races that have happened or will be in the near future. I haven't previewed anything yet, but at least with that I'll stay in the loop. I am a little sad though, now that we have the flat screen that Tom has been wanting since forever, we won't be able to watch any racing action on it.

I wonder if we can get Directv for 3 weeks every July...hmmm....

Smilebox is FUN

Make a Smilebox postcard

June Event #3

This year Tom and I rode the Tour de Blast for the first time. Robin mentioned this ride a few months ago and we thought it would be nice to join her since Mark & Matt would be riding all the way to Johnston Ridge. It was a fun ride and there were some hills that I was not expecting - it's been a while since we last went to Mt. St. Helens so I forgot what the road was like. I liked the challenge and we had a pretty good average going to Hoffstadt Bluffs which made our overall average pretty decent, even with the wind going back to Toutle.

Robin and I turned back to return to Toutle and Tom continued on from Hoffstadt to Elk Rock which was at 3800'. Hoffstadt was at 1400' (you do the math) and according to Tom it was a grind all the way up. At one point he saw a sign that said passing lane ahead...he knew that meant it would be getting steeper! That part of the route was definitely a head-down-get-into-a-groove type of deal. I'm intrigued with the idea of riding that route next year, but we'll see when we get there. That would require some training, for sure, but I do like a challenge so it might be on my 2010 agenda of things to do. I'm so proud of Tom for doing that route, he really wanted to experience a more challenging route and it was good because he didn't have me slowing him down.

So, the ride back to Toutle wasn't exactly a breeze. There were a couple of spots that took some effort to go downhill and with my legs (near my rear end) being a little sore the effort was somewhat painful. Good ol' Robin, my partner in crime reminded me that "Pain is weakness leaving that body." Well if that is so, I think a lot of weakness left my body this morning!

I'm already looking forward to this ride for next year - I'm hoping that my muscles will be recovered by then!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Alpenrose Velodrome

Took a little bit of video with our camera, my Flip should arrive soon so future videos will be better!

Birthday Fun

Had a fun birthday yesterday....took the day off from work and spent the day with Tom. The highlight of the day was going to Alpenrose to watch the regular Thursday night races on the velodrome. I love going to check out the races there and the bikes are VERY cool!
The night starts off with a Kiddie Kilometer Race - this is one of the younger riders that rode.

All lined up and ready to roll out.

These guys are going 25+ MPH and riding this closely in a bunch!

Decaf Rules

We returned from our bike ride to this....

What a lazy little bum...oh wait, he's a CAT!

Multi-Sport Events

Today was the Blue Lake Sprint Triathlon & Duathlon - Tom and I signed up for the Sprint Du...check out my race report here

NCS

or – Northwest Cancer Specialists.

Another milestone - today I had my yearly follow-up appointment with my radiation oncologist for treatments that I went thru almost 5 years ago. Every visit has been brief, with my doc having me do little tasks for her to assess my neuros. Every visit…nothing new. This time she decided since my progress since ending treatments has been going well that this visit would be my last visit with her. I have to say that I wondered if this would be a possibility. I’m glad! She gave me a hug and I thanked her for everything and I was on my way…but not before giving Sandy, the radiation department nurse a hug. She definitely is/was one of my favorite people at that office.

It would be wishful thinking for me to want to discontinue my visits with my other two doctors, but I need to be mindful of this brain tumor thing and keep an eye on it. There is just no way to know if there is anything funky going on so the only thing I have going for peace of mind would be the MRIs I have every six months. I’ll take those and my visits with Dr. Kate and Dr. Norm.

God has been so good…I am thankful for this experience and having enough faith to trust that He would work all this out for good.

I am blessed.

Allergies and stuff

Every 6 months I visit my allergy doctor and he loads me up with samples...EVERY single time - not so much at my December visit, but when June rolls around I know that I'll be going home with all sorts of stuff. I LOVE samples! Check it out...once I run out of these babies, I'll have the prescriptions filled! I'm pretty sure that I have 5 albuterol inhalers now. I'm also pretty sure that they will be scattered around the house in no time and I won't know where they are.

I really hate allergy season.

Pioneer Century

The Pioneer Century was yesterday, June 6. This ride starts at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds in Canby and goes out thru the farms around the area.

It wasn't that great of a day for ride really, but we set out and rode anyway. I have to be honest, I did not enjoy this ride at all...from the beginning of the ride I just wasn't feeling all that great, a little sickly. I had hoped to feel better, but it just wasn't happening.

The other thing that I was confused about was which route we actually were on. At the beginning there were 3 markers and neither of us really paid attention to which one belonged to what route. We started the same as we did last year, but I think we ended up making a turn before we should have and ended up on a multiuse trail. Which was cool...but I knew it wasn't right if we were going to ride 45 miles first. We finally reach the point where the two routes split. and it turns out we were on the 55/34 routes. We went with the 34 and things were going okay, but still wasn't feeling all that great. The wind and some of the bumpy portions of the route did not help either.

At the half-way point I started to wonder if there was going to be a rest stop. After a while I started thinking maybe there wouldn't be - turned out to be about 20 miles into the route. I knew for sure at the point when we stopped that I would be done after 34 miles. I was just plain unhappy and feeling a bit cranky.

This week was a little stressful with my uncle being in the hospital and dealing with work stuff. I normally am excited to go on big organized rides, I guess I should have known - next year will be better we'll do what we signed up for! Until then we have a few other events to participate in which will be fun.

We just look at this as a training opportunity.

At the start before heading out.

Our only other shot while on the road, at the rest stop (yes it is a self-portrait)