iCross: May 2011

5.29.2011

Cyclemeter Cycle (Road) May 29, 2011 11:41:38 AM

Finished Cycle: May 29, 2011 3:19:28 PM
Route: New Route
Google Maps URL: http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/08f0/80a8/4c0e/23bd/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20110529-1141.kml
Shortened Google Maps URL: http://j.mp/inQv8s
Import URL: http://share.abvio.com/08f0/80a8/4c0e/23bd/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20110529-1141.kml
Ride Time: 2:14:40
Stopped Time: 1:23:10
Distance: 33.27 miles
Average: 14.82 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 35.89 miles/h
Ascent: 1836 feet
Calories: 1556

http://www.cyclemeter.com

Cyclemeter Cycle (Road) May 29, 2011 11:41:38 AM

Started Cycle: May 29, 2011 11:41:38 AM
Route: New Route
Google Maps URL: http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/08f0/80a8/4c0e/23bd/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20110529-1141.kml
Shortened Google Maps URL: http://j.mp/inQv8s
Import URL: http://share.abvio.com/08f0/80a8/4c0e/23bd/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20110529-1141.kml

http://www.cyclemeter.com

5.25.2011

Rain, Rain, and Other Things, Gone Away

Perfect, perfect, perfect.

75 degrees, sunny, gentle breeze. (Not wind. I hate wind.) On the road by 4:30; no plans for the evening except to ride and ride. Days like today are why I do it. No matter what stresses the rest of my daily life provides, nothing erases them like a ride.

God, this is sounding stupid. "La, la, la. Isn't life great? Isn't biking great?"

There are a few things in my life I'm sure of, and one of them is that when I bike I feel better. My playlist for today included a couple of podcasts of "This American Life". One was about infidelity. When I made my ride across the country four years ago, it wasn't too long after I had been dumped hard. All right, it was ten months later, but I still felt so burned that I thought about that, um, woman, quite a bit during those 3,000 miles. I'm not going to lie and say that the trip completely washed the treachery from my mind, but it helped, a lot.

I don't know if I have a real point here. My life is good. I like getting older. I like being fitter than most people my age. I like that my students think I'm 30. I like that cycling provides me both short-term and long-term benefits.

(There's something I'm not fully divulging here. A recent development in my life has once again made cycling a necessary catharsis. It's not illness, or legal trouble, or financial trouble. It's female again. But more than that I cannot say. For now.)

So, 75 degrees, sunny, gentle breeze. And a bit of a mental scrub.

Perfect, perfect, perfect.

Cyclemeter Cycle (Road) May 25, 2011 4:37:28 PM

Finished Cycle: May 25, 2011 7:26:59 PM
Route: New Route
Google Maps URL: http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/08f0/80a8/4c0e/23bd/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20110525-1637.kml
Shortened Google Maps URL: http://j.mp/ljgSxt
Import URL: http://share.abvio.com/08f0/80a8/4c0e/23bd/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20110525-1637.kml
Ride Time: 2:41:41
Stopped Time: 7:49
Distance: 38.03 miles
Average: 14.11 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 34.71 miles/h
Ascent: 1728 feet
Calories: 1764

http://www.cyclemeter.com

Cyclemeter Cycle (Road) May 25, 2011 4:37:28 PM

Started Cycle: May 25, 2011 4:37:28 PM
Route: New Route
Google Maps URL: http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/08f0/80a8/4c0e/23bd/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20110525-1637.kml
Import URL: http://share.abvio.com/08f0/80a8/4c0e/23bd/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20110525-1637.kml

http://www.cyclemeter.com

5.12.2011

Cyclemeter Cycle (Road) May 12, 2011 5:28:48 PM

Finished Cycle: May 12, 2011 8:03:34 PM
Route: New Route
Google Maps URL: http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/08f0/80a8/4c0e/23bd/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20110512-1728.kml
Shortened Google Maps URL: http://j.mp/mN6Fwy
Import URL: http://share.abvio.com/08f0/80a8/4c0e/23bd/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20110512-1728.kml
Ride Time: 2:12:57
Stopped Time: 21:49
Distance: 32.52 miles
Average: 14.68 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 36.38 miles/h
Ascent: 1579 feet
Calories: 1317

http://www.cyclemeter.com

Cyclemeter Cycle (Road) May 12, 2011 5:28:48 PM

Started Cycle: May 12, 2011 5:28:48 PM
Route: New Route
Google Maps URL: http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/08f0/80a8/4c0e/23bd/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20110512-1728.kml
Shortened Google Maps URL: http://j.mp/mN6Fwy
Import URL: http://share.abvio.com/08f0/80a8/4c0e/23bd/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20110512-1728.kml

http://www.cyclemeter.com

5.09.2011

High-Tech Day, Low-Tech Evening

Great day, starting with the fact that I have students doing amazing work with technology. We're a little over a week away from the book sale we've been preparing for all year. Our Google Docs system at school has allowed us to go 100% digital this year, including, for the first time, illustrations. Fans of the old online sales will once again be treated to about 25 new books, this year in ePub format, readable on iPads, iPhones, Kindles, etc. Can't wait to share them.

I'd been watching the sun out the window all day. Stayed after with some authors, but still had plenty of time to prep and get about 26 miles in. The Spring winds seem to be dying down. (I hate wind.) Big thanks to my friend Lauren for the Clif Bloks. I started the day with a DD sandwich, and then only had time for a banana all day. I tried the Bloks about halfway through the ride, and I finished with ease. I almost did my 40 mile route, but knew I was pushing sunlight.

About a quarter mile before home I pinched a flat. It sucks, but I didn't have to stop to change the tube or carry the bike. Could my great good luck be continuing into this trip?

Musical Notes? Headphone Hilights? Whatever.

On today's playlist, some new tunes from a connoisseur-buddy.

Jessica Lea Mayfield: Our Hearts Are Wrong

Grizzly Bear: Two Weeks

Local Natives: Who Knows Who Cares

(And more to come.)