Mileage and Other Weekend Feats

Sorry, no 132 for me like the venerable Phobia. I logged 93 this weekend, but the first 43 (Saturday) were hillier than normal.

On Saturday, I left my home and rode into University City (about 12.5 miles), stopped, snacked, and continued on east to Skinker (the dividing line between St. Louis County and St. Louis City), followed it south for about two miles, and turned to the right (west) onto Clayton Road, which I took for many, many miles into west St. Louis County. Back up north to catch Clarkson/Olive, and then to Olive and Fee Fee, and finally on home (about another 2.5 miles from there). Phew.

Not a bad route - about a mile and a half to two miles on Clarkson is a bit hairy - traffic wanting to merge onto the interstate, but it's otherwise a very pleasant ride. I'm going to try it the opposite direction next week to see if I can avoid most of that ugly traffic.

Sunday - today. Edwardsville ride. Pleasant, not too hot - about 50 miles. Then, because for some insane reason, since that was not enough, my friend Susan and I decided to hit the gym for an hour and a half (yes, really) of heavy upper body weight lifting. I'll be lucky if I can type tomorrow. Yow.

Two weeks. And, remember, if you have $3 spare dollars I'm SERIOUSLY BEGGING for sponsorship for the MS 150. Begging. Pleading. Offering to arm wrestle strangers on dirty street corners. Begging.

hln

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Heather Begs (Gently)

Heather Begs (Gently)

In two short weeks (yes, indeed), I will ride my first MS 150. I have probably mentioned that "ride" is a strange word for pedal-powering a bicycle for long distances, but ride I shall.

The MS in MS 150 stands for multiple sclerosis. This is one terrible disease. When I was growing up in small Sandusky, Michigan, I lived across the street from the middle school principal. His wife suffered from multiple sclerosis. I believe at that time she was the same age as I am now. She was often too exhausted to transport herself, opting instead to use a yellow motorized wheechair of sorts to move her instead. The couple had a very young son, too.

The MS 150 raises lots of money each year to combat the disease; still, it remains among us uncured.

If you have a few spare dollars ($3.00 is 2 cents a mile; $6.00 is 4), please consider sponsoring me for my efforts for this ride. It's simple to do. Here's how.

Option 1: Go to http://https://www.nationalmssociety.org/pledge/index.asp. Type Heather into the first name box and the lovely surname "Noggle" into the last name box. Choose Missouri as the state. Submit the web form. Click on the link that bears my name when it appears. Sponsor.

Option 2: Click the "Sponsor me" link on this weblog. Click through the certificate info, and then enter your pledge.

I thank you in advance.

hln

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Weekend = Blur (in many ways)

Saturday: Near 70 miles in 95+ degree heat in the middle of Illinois. I can't remember much of Saturday after that. Did I do anything? All I remember is intense heat, being slower than every other person, and having to stop to put my poor head between my knees a few minutes before being able to resume the ride. Ewww.

Sunday: Brian returns! Oh, and 24 miles at the Grafton Ferry Ride, where Heather got disgusted while waiting too long for the ferry and made it the Grafton Back-And-Forth-From-The-Beginning-To-The-Ferry-And-Again Ride. Never hurts to improvise.

hln

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Yesterday

Yesterday

I'm afraid the cycling was limited to one day this week, mostly due to last night's party and the alcohol consumed before/during it. At 11:00 p.m. or so, the thought of a 7:30 a.m. ride was, well, banished. So, 45 miles yesterday.

Somewhere mid ride, there was a bit of excitement I would learn about at the Yellow Dog Saloon where all ride paths met with only 4 miles remaining. Had I digital camera, you would see this little excitement, but, alas, no. Supposedly (and this is third hand), a dog was chasing a kitten out in the middle of nowhere, and one of the cyclists actually wiped out to avoid hitting the kitten, who is so small she fit in my hand. A couple of good-hearted folk transported the kitten to the YD Saloon, and said kitten was scampering about the parking lot, enthralling cyclists of both genders.

Since I'm cat qualified, I held the little ball of fur above my head and pronounced her a girl. I promptly named her Shimano, which stuck, I believe.

I believe someone adopted her - no way to figure out where she belonged, and there was no identification on the kitten. What can you do?

Last night's Atari party was sparsely populated, compared to last year's. Still, we had a good time. I think more people will appear next year as again I shave the Atari logo into the back of Brian's head. We did not do that this year. As usual, Warlords was the most popular game. If our pictures turn out, I'll post one or two. UPDATE -> no need. Brian handled it for me.

Okay, that's personal enough for a while. I have a few things planned to blog, and I actually have an essay running through my mind that might make it to electronic format in the next week.

One more thing: I'm a loser, and I like it!

hln

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Stop the World! Kids Wear Bike Helmets Incorrectly!

Stop the World! Kids Wear Bike Helmets Incorrectly!

Now. If you're my age or a bit younger or older, you probably grew up riding your single, three, or ten speed, without, SHOCKER, a helmet! We're still here!

But, MSN feels the need to write a snippetly article about helmet usage by children and publish it today.

First, "children" aged 18? Um, I'd be remiss not to tell you, but those "children" can vote. I think that's a strange age for a study about children.

At any rate, here's the "state the obvious" quote of the day.

Wearing a helmet while cycling has been found to sharply cut the risk of head injuries, but wearing it improperly reduces the protective benefit, the report said.

Better even:

Parkinson urged pediatricians make a helmet fitting part of a childÂ’s regular check-up.

If we do that, then watch for the physicians' helmet certification program and associated malpractice suits.

Gah!

(Brian, I am sure, is cackling right now. I often gripe at people (usually while driving by - doing no one any good) cycling at speeds at which I believe require a helmet. He's used the word "fascist" in correlation with my ranting. Indeed.)

hln

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