mothadventures

We're almost ready to go!

I did a 55 (yup, fifty-five) mile ride on Saturday. Yes, with hills! A mix of bikepaths and roads, trying as much as I could to re-create the Trek terrain, minus Mister Stinky Hill. It was...a challenge. By the ride timer it took a little over five hours, but by the clock it took more like eight. And I was *wasted* on Sunday and Monday. But I did it!

And you know why you need to wear a bike helmet in fall? To protect you from falling acorns. Lots of those on the Minuteman this past weekend.

No more long rides now -- it's time to do the last minute prep things. My bike just got tuned up (thank you thank you, Guy!) and I'll do just a short ride today ("short" meaning around 10 miles). I'm getting everything ready to pack, and watching the weather forecast.

Speaking of the weather...WHO is in charge of weather? Current forecast of rain both Saturday and Sunday! Not a deluge, but still!

Jennifer has worked really hard on her knee rehab, but is not going to be up to a full Trek. She's got another appointment on Thursday (talk about last minute!) but right now it looks like the best option might be for her to ride the flat parts of Friday's ride, and then not ride on Saturday or Sunday. (Knee braces and rain...not a good mix). She may even just use my bike for Friday...although I don't have clip-in pedals like hers does, but we'll see.

I don't know how much I'll see of Carl when I'm on the bike -- if he's feeling good, he'll probably ride FAST in the rain to get out of it quicker! And if he's under the weather, he (understandably!) may not ride much. But at least I'll get to see him in camp.

I think I'd better go add the Uno deck to my packing.....

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Susan's 2009 trek page can be reached if you click here , Jennifer's if you click here , the MOTH Brigade team page if you click here , the general 2009 Trek page if you click here . My report on the 3 days of the 2008 trek can be read at http://mothadventures.livejournal.com/21241.html -- just go forward to read about each day.

It's been a rough couple of weeks of training.  Oh, there have been some fun spots -- I've had the RickSycle out on the Ayer rail trail twice with Jennifer, doing between 11 and 16 miles.   Jennifer still hopes she can ride solo, at least some of Trek -- she'd rather we didn't have to take the RickSycle to the AEBT, but we'll know more after we see how she does this weekend.  

While the RickSycle has been fun on the flat, my individual training on real long rides has had some difficult spots.

It's not that I'm not doing rides -- but they aren't going as well as usual.   On recent rides I've blown tires,  hit heavy traffic (bad air),  had to detour around road construction, been just too tired to go on, and run into other physical limits.       On one particularly bad day I caught myself thinking "can I even ride AEBT like this?  Maybe I'm going to let everyone down."

Then I thought about that some more.   AEBT is not about speed or riding every mile.  It's about doing the best I can.   I know I'll never be the fastest or strongest rider.   Or even the highest fundraiser.   But I can be an example of hanging in there and doing as much as possible.  If I have to get swept past the hills of Truro, well, OK.   I'm not going to let negativity keep me from riding and doing my best!    I'm giving myself permission to ride, as much as I can, however I have to do it.

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Susan's 2009 trek page can be reached if you   <a href="https://www.mrsnv.com/evt/e01/part.jsp?acct=8013166482&register_id=0&id=2210"> click here </a> , Jennifer's if you  <a href="http://www.mrsnv.com/evt/e01/part.jsp?acct=8013166483&register_id=0&id=2210"> click here </a> ,   the MOTH Brigade team page if you  <a href="http://www.mrsnv.com/evt/e01/team.jsp?id=2210&tid=32713"> click here </a>  ,  the general 2009 Trek page if you <a href="http://www.mrsnv.com/evt/home.jsp?id=2210"> click here </a> .     My report on the 3 days of the 2008 trek can be read at    <a href="http://mothadventures.livejournal.com/21241.html">   http://mothadventures.livejournal.com/21241.html </a> -- just go forward to read about each day.

This year it really, truly is an Autumn Escape. Most years Trek would have started by now -- instead we've got two weeks to go.

TWO WEEKS?????

I'm not ready! And it's getting colder out there! Now, I'd rather ride in cool weather than hot; I overheat easily over about 80 degrees. But the recent weather has been a bit too far into the "cool" range for me, mostly because I have to take extra care with my asthma during strenuous activity in the cold. [And me a volunteer ski patroller in the winter!]

One way to baby my lungs is with a hot drink during a ride. Hot drinks on a bicycle? Well, yes! Enter the FlyLady water bottle. Flylady ( www.flylady.net ) talks about these as a cold water bottle. But they work great for HOT drinks too -- and fit in my bicycle water bottle holder! How about that? They easily keep tea hot for a 40+ mile ride. (Today I'm only aiming for 30-ish).



Hopefully Trek won't be TOO cold...but now I'm ready for it.



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Susan's 2009 trek page can be reached if you click here , Jennifer's if you click here , the MOTH Brigade team page if you click here , the general 2009 Trek page if you click here . My report on the 3 days of the 2008 trek can be read at http://mothadventures.livejournal.com/21241.html -- just go forward to read about each day.

Sometimes what we do with one specific benefit in mind may turn out to have many other good results.

I started riding Trek to help raise funds and awareness of lung disease, spurred on by my father's fight with it. Another benefit turned out to be learning just how much I could do, even though I have asthma.

However, I didn't expect Jennifer's busted kneecap to have unexpected benefits! I don't *want* to ride Trek alone. Carl is a great teammate and I'm looking forward to seeing him in camp over the weekend, but he rides much faster than me so I don't see him on the route much. Jennifer and I tend to be closer together in speed. She's hoping she can ride her bike on at least some of Trek, but I wanted to hedge our bets so I started looking at side-by-side tandem recumbents (aka "Sociables"). I wanted it to have independent gearing and pedaling for each rider, so we might be able to ride together but she could coast to rest her knee when needed.

That lead me to the RickSycle ( http://www.ricksycle.com , be aware first page has sound). I was able to work with the company to get my feet on one on a trial basis, and we were even able to get Jennifer riding on it -- bad leg and all!




The unexpected benefit comes from what else I did with the RickSycle. I have a friend who has MS and hasn't been able to ride a bicycle for over twenty years. I rode it over to her house and we got her feet strapped into the passenger side pedals, and she was able to ride! Not just as a passenger, she actually helped propel the RickSycle uphill. We foresee some nice foliage rides on the Minuteman this fall.

I don't know if we'll use the RickSycle on Trek or not; but I wouldn't have found it if not for Trek. So, doing a good thing for the ALA leads to another example of serendipity ...

Hey, maybe I should offer rides on the RickSycle for donations to the ride! Anyone interested?


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Susan's 2009 trek page can be reached if you click here , Jennifer's if you click here , the MOTH Brigade team page if you click here , the general 2009 Trek page if you click here . My report on the 3 days of the 2008 trek can be read at http://mothadventures.livejournal.com/21241.html -- just go forward to read about each day.

I was quite late heading out for today's ride (I'm self-employed and was wayyy behind on my paperwork) so I just headed out on the Minuteman bikeway. I knew I'd still be on the way home in the dark, but wasn't worried as I have a red rear light, a good front headlight, and a helmet light.

However, I didn't quite think about what all the rain we had last week meant. It meant...bugs. Lots of bugs. All starting to fly about as the sun goes down. I have discovered a new motivation for riding faster -- to get away from the bugs! And it wasn't even mosquitos, mostly little gnat-like things. Ick. Taste BAD.

The earlier sunset seems to be catching lots of people by surprise -- there were a lot of folks on the trail without lights, many didn't even have reflective clothing, and I don't think they were expecting it to be so dark, so soon. Guess summer is really drawing to a close; the late Labor Day this year is a bit deceptive.


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Susan's 2009 trek page can be reached if you click here , Jennifer's if you click here , the MOTH Brigade team page if you click here , the general 2009 Trek page if you click here . My report on the 3 days of the 2008 trek can be read at http://mothadventures.livejournal.com/21241.html -- just go forward to read about each day.

Yes, I was right on with my prediction in my prior post: we're the first team for the 2009 Autumn Escape Bike Trek that has had each individual member get to the $1000 mark. GO MOTH BRIGADE!

There's some amazing fundraising going on, though -- at three members this year, we're the smallest team in the top seven, but the Moosecycles only have four people and are $2500 ahead of us.

One month to go.....


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Susan's 2009 trek page can be reached if you click here , Jennifer's if you click here , the MOTH Brigade team page if you click here , the general 2009 Trek page if you click here . My report on the 3 days of the 2008 trek can be read at http://mothadventures.livejournal.com/21241.html -- just go forward to read about each day.

Okay. I *know* the students are back (hard to miss when Sean and I, driving past a rental truck on Storrow Drive a few days ago, were yelling at the driver "You're too tall! The bridge!" -- yes, he stopped before he hit it). I expect moving vans and the like, and am not even thinking about riding inbound on the Charles River bikepath.

But most students don't have cars. Where are all the extra cars coming from? Traffic has gotten horrible -- so much so that I changed yesterday's planned ride so I could get off the street as much as possible.

But riding a bike around Greater Boston gives you a picture of urban life that you just don't see otherwise. And it helps that my bike tends to make people smile. I passed older couples out walking together, parents teaching children to ride their first bikes, people fishing along the banks of the Charles in Watertown, a young girl pushing grandmother's grocery cart, even though it was much taller than she was...and everybody seemed to be enjoying a pleasant urban evening.

And hey, the good weather meant that finally my legs got tired on a ride before my lungs did! Maybe I can pull Trek off after all. I'm heading out for another ride this morning, and will meet Jennifer for lunch -- she's doing PT this morning, which is her current version of training for Trek.

And a big thank you to everyone who has donated so far. Jennifer and I are both over the magic $1000 mark and won't have to carry our suitcases, and Carl is not far behind at $985. I think we might be the first team to get each individual member over $1000 in pledges!

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Susan's 2009 trek page can be reached if you click here , Jennifer's if you click here , the MOTH Brigade team page if you click here , the general 2009 Trek page if you click here . My report on the 3 days of the 2008 trek can be read at http://mothadventures.livejournal.com/21241.html -- just go forward to read about each day.

Actually, that's not quite fair. It's not that NObody came -- we did have customers and met some really nice people, many of whom had seen Jennifer's picture *on the front page* of Friday's Sentinel and Enterprise. (That publicity, and the listing the Leominster Champ gave us, meant that we really had to proceed with the sale on the announced date.)

We had over 400 square feet of dry sales area -- a garage, a BIG portable garage (thank you, Harvey!) and another 10x10 shelter for checkout. We had merchandise, including many items donated by friends for us to sell to benefit the team and the ALA.

Unfortunately, it rained all day, even though it was NOT windy and we were able to run the sale just fine. So we didn't get many drive-by customers. We just didn't sell as much as we hoped to. Proceeds look like about $100, but some things that did not sell at the sale generated some interest and may sell soon. (Not soon enough to help us all make the $1000 mark this week, though!)

*I* think Jennifer busted her kneecap so I would have to be the one climbing in and out of the car into the pouring rain at 6AM to put up signs, and again at 3PM to take them down. (At least I had the sense to wear a swimsuit, biking skort, and water sandals -- my standard "ride-in-the-rain" outfit.)

Jennifer just laughs at me when I say that, and points out that getting rained on for both yard sales must mean that Trek will be dry. If she's right, then the other AEBT riders will owe us a thank you...a BIG one.


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Susan's 2009 trek page can be reached if you click here , Jennifer's if you click here , the MOTH Brigade team page if you click here , the general 2009 Trek page if you click here . My report on the 3 days of the 2008 trek can be read at http://mothadventures.livejournal.com/21241.html -- just go forward to read about each day.

As near as I can tell, the weather guys all agree that Danny is not going to be a direct hit on New England....

However, Saturday is still going to be wet! Danny's winds should not make it as far inland as Leominster...so we're going to have the sale anyway. Clothing, soft goods, and books will be in the garage: many other items in a large outdoor shelter.

Sale is from 9 to 2 unless it becomes unsafe to leave the shelter up.

But I'm beginning to wonder if we could raise funds for the team by selling our services as weather predictors. No matter what the forecast is, if we schedule a team fundraising event...it rains. (See the entry for our first yard sale of the year at: http://mothadventures.livejournal.com/23092.html )

Sure, we're used to riding in the rain -- look at last year's report on the ride, in the links below -- but it does put a damper on fundraising! And I don't think Jennifer's supposed to get her knee splint wet yet, anyway.

Please come buy things -- or just donate at the links below!

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Susan's 2009 trek page can be reached if you click here , Jennifer's if you click here , the MOTH Brigade team page if you click here , the general 2009 Trek page if you click here . My report on the 3 days of the 2008 trek can be read at http://mothadventures.livejournal.com/21241.html -- just go forward to read about each day.

One way Jennifer raises money for the AEBT is to collect returnable cans and bottles from her office and friends, then cash them in and put the proceeds towards her fundraising. It may be only five cents each, but it starts to add up over time.

I didn't think she'd be able to collect the office cans, but she's figured out how: she's using a rollator (rolling walker with a seat and hand brakes just like bicycle brakes!) and has been able to bag the cans and hang them off of the handles to get them to her car.

And she's also determined that the yard sale should go on! Scheduled for Saturday, August 29th ,in Leominster, MA, at 41 Merriam Parkway, from 9AM to 2PM. The sale will be rain or shine, just like Trek -- we have a rain shelter and a garage to use. Lots of great stuff, including some very nice women's clothing. All proceeds go toward sponsoring MOTH Brigade members in the Autumn Escape Bike Trek.

Come buy stuff -- or just pledge money! Jennifer's page is at: http://mrsnv.com/evt/e01/part.jsp?id=2210&acct=8013166483&rid=0 , mine is at: http://mrsnv.com/evt/e01/part.jsp?id=2210&acct=8013166482&rid=0.


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My 2009 trek page can be reached if you click here , the MOTH Brigade team page if you click here , the general 2009 Trek page if you click here . My report on the 3 days of the 2008 trek can be read at http://mothadventures.livejournal.com/21241.html -- just go forward to read about each day.