Lucky Buckeyes!
Miles logged Saturday: 20
Miles logged today: 40
Total Miles logged thus far: 950.5 (holy crap i'm so close to the 1000 mark!!!!)
Okay so admittedly I was supposed to ride with the Lincoln and Omaha group this Saturday, but I didn't. I would have loved to. And, if I hadn't had a major surgery in the middle of my training that prohibited me from getting my necessary amount of saddle time that would have provided me with the ability to go faster than a slug, then I totally would have gone.
But alas, I didn't.
The course was a super hilly one. I knew because the last time I was on it I did it with my breaks on..
It's been hard since my surgery because I missed out on so much of the group fun because it was like I got so behind that I couldn't possibly ride with the rest of them who were already twice as fast as me to begin with.
I didn't go on Saturday's ride because I knew that I would just get 1000% pissed off because I'd be behind everyone and people would be waiting for me or something dumb which would just piss me off more. So, because I was quickly losing touch on why I enjoy bicycling anyway, I opted not to stress myself out.
Did i go the 80 miles I was supposed to?
No.
Do I care? Not really. I know I can complete this race. It was never about coming in first. As a matter of fact if I come in anything above last place in this thing I will be SHOCKED.
But today I went out for a ride, and for the first time in a long time I decided not to give a rats arse about how fast I was going or how far. And for the first time in a long time, I really enjoyed the ride.
I saw some strange things, too! Including two separate men walking around with metal detectors! Who uses those anymore, anyway??
I also saw a black squirrel! I haven't seen one of those for years! Nor have I ever seen one in the city limits of Lincoln!
Here's the funny part though. I've gone on this particular path of the trail many times in the last few weeks and always I pass this one area where I thought a bunch of fruit had dropped from a tree.
Now, when I ride over the top of fruit it usually just smashes and I don't know the difference on my mighty perch. BUT! As I was going by this particular area with what I thought was fruit on the trail having dropped from the tree above...I noticed something different.
And i realized it JUST before I was about to hit one of them.
BUCKEYES!!!!
Now, let me take you back a bit. When I was a little kid and my parents would take me to the farmer's market, I was OBSESSED with lucky buckeyes. This was largely due to the fact that the first time my mom let me pick one out of one of the vendor's baskets and purchased it for me, I walked maybe 100 feet and found a $20 bill. Oh man, I was SOLD. I thought they were the answer to all my monetary pre-teen troubles! (I didn't have allowance after all, I had to be creative!) And by-and-large those buckeyes did come in handy! I was ALWAYS finding money in vending machines, newspaper machines and just lying on the ground. It was insanity.
Back to present day:
I screeched to a halt just before I was about to hit one of them!
This picture really doesn't do justice...they were ALL over.
CLEARLY these buckeyes had to be lucky because poor, clutzy, accident-prone-on-a-bicycle me did not in fact hit them and fall to her ultimate demise.
Here's the cool part about buckeyes...they come in these crazy potato-like pods!
Maybe I am the only one who thinks this is cool because I'm a huge nerd and all....but the rest of you are going to have to suffer through this demonstration because i think it's wicked cool.
So here's what they look like in their pokey pods:
Notice the potato like qualities. Here...i've taken it upon myself to photograph an actual poatato to prove my point.
Anyway, the next few photos feature the buckeyes at various states of undress. So avert your eyes if you must...
Here we demonstrate how the pod peels back off in thirds. Look how they fit perfectly into their little pod places!!
There can be one, two, or even three buckeyes to a pod!! WHOA!
WAIT A MINUTE! THat one had FOUR! Double whoa! (yes, I am a dork)
I even took the liberty to take an artsy shot. I call this one Yin & Yang. Come on...you'd have to be a total square to not think this one's cool!!!
I might have gotten a smidgen carried away with my buckeye scavanging. But look! They're SHINY!!!
Anyway. I thought they were super cool!
You're probably asking yourself, "What does this have to do with Cycling, Sawatzki?"
Absolutely nothing. (Just like what war is good for!
)
But! It was a super cool diversion on my bike ride!
My bike race is in less than two weeks now! Oh man!
AND more importantly, my bike gets shipped off on Wednesday! Yes, THIS wednesday! I'm thinking about renting a bike just so I can get over the 1000 mile mark before my race!
More to come on those details.
I will leave you with a pick from last weeks 76 mile ride:
Miles logged today: 40
Total Miles logged thus far: 950.5 (holy crap i'm so close to the 1000 mark!!!!)
Okay so admittedly I was supposed to ride with the Lincoln and Omaha group this Saturday, but I didn't. I would have loved to. And, if I hadn't had a major surgery in the middle of my training that prohibited me from getting my necessary amount of saddle time that would have provided me with the ability to go faster than a slug, then I totally would have gone.
But alas, I didn't.
The course was a super hilly one. I knew because the last time I was on it I did it with my breaks on..
It's been hard since my surgery because I missed out on so much of the group fun because it was like I got so behind that I couldn't possibly ride with the rest of them who were already twice as fast as me to begin with.
I didn't go on Saturday's ride because I knew that I would just get 1000% pissed off because I'd be behind everyone and people would be waiting for me or something dumb which would just piss me off more. So, because I was quickly losing touch on why I enjoy bicycling anyway, I opted not to stress myself out.
Did i go the 80 miles I was supposed to?
No.
Do I care? Not really. I know I can complete this race. It was never about coming in first. As a matter of fact if I come in anything above last place in this thing I will be SHOCKED.
But today I went out for a ride, and for the first time in a long time I decided not to give a rats arse about how fast I was going or how far. And for the first time in a long time, I really enjoyed the ride.
I saw some strange things, too! Including two separate men walking around with metal detectors! Who uses those anymore, anyway??
I also saw a black squirrel! I haven't seen one of those for years! Nor have I ever seen one in the city limits of Lincoln!
Here's the funny part though. I've gone on this particular path of the trail many times in the last few weeks and always I pass this one area where I thought a bunch of fruit had dropped from a tree.
Now, when I ride over the top of fruit it usually just smashes and I don't know the difference on my mighty perch. BUT! As I was going by this particular area with what I thought was fruit on the trail having dropped from the tree above...I noticed something different.
And i realized it JUST before I was about to hit one of them.
BUCKEYES!!!!
Now, let me take you back a bit. When I was a little kid and my parents would take me to the farmer's market, I was OBSESSED with lucky buckeyes. This was largely due to the fact that the first time my mom let me pick one out of one of the vendor's baskets and purchased it for me, I walked maybe 100 feet and found a $20 bill. Oh man, I was SOLD. I thought they were the answer to all my monetary pre-teen troubles! (I didn't have allowance after all, I had to be creative!) And by-and-large those buckeyes did come in handy! I was ALWAYS finding money in vending machines, newspaper machines and just lying on the ground. It was insanity.
Back to present day:
I screeched to a halt just before I was about to hit one of them!
This picture really doesn't do justice...they were ALL over.
CLEARLY these buckeyes had to be lucky because poor, clutzy, accident-prone-on-a-bicycle me did not in fact hit them and fall to her ultimate demise.
Here's the cool part about buckeyes...they come in these crazy potato-like pods!
Maybe I am the only one who thinks this is cool because I'm a huge nerd and all....but the rest of you are going to have to suffer through this demonstration because i think it's wicked cool.
So here's what they look like in their pokey pods:
Notice the potato like qualities. Here...i've taken it upon myself to photograph an actual poatato to prove my point.
Anyway, the next few photos feature the buckeyes at various states of undress. So avert your eyes if you must...
Here we demonstrate how the pod peels back off in thirds. Look how they fit perfectly into their little pod places!!
There can be one, two, or even three buckeyes to a pod!! WHOA!
WAIT A MINUTE! THat one had FOUR! Double whoa! (yes, I am a dork)
I even took the liberty to take an artsy shot. I call this one Yin & Yang. Come on...you'd have to be a total square to not think this one's cool!!!
I might have gotten a smidgen carried away with my buckeye scavanging. But look! They're SHINY!!!
Anyway. I thought they were super cool!
You're probably asking yourself, "What does this have to do with Cycling, Sawatzki?"
Absolutely nothing. (Just like what war is good for!
) But! It was a super cool diversion on my bike ride!
My bike race is in less than two weeks now! Oh man!
AND more importantly, my bike gets shipped off on Wednesday! Yes, THIS wednesday! I'm thinking about renting a bike just so I can get over the 1000 mile mark before my race!
More to come on those details.
I will leave you with a pick from last weeks 76 mile ride:
Comments