Mmm. I'm feeling fairly content right now.
This morning was daylights savings (a fact I was not reminded of until about 11:00 PM last night while out to dinner with friends for a birthday) so I got a bit less sleep than I would have liked to.
This made my car-packing a little comical this morning. Today was the Purim carnival at Santa Monica Synagogue, so I didn't have to teach so much as supervise. Additional perks included free pizza and hamentashen and 1/2-hour early dismissal. In light of all of this, I had decided that today would be a great day for a post-teaching bike ride with my co-teacher Daniel. Which brings me back to the car-packing. Overtired Dustys should really refrain from attempting to stuff bikes into small cars.
Either way, I got both myself and my bike to Santa Monica in one piece, did the Purim thing, and then Daniel and I rode down to the water and over to Manhattan Beach and back. Daniel hasn't really ridden all that recently, so we took it a bit slower than I usually would, but as a result I'm not in pain! After yesterday's hills, it was really nice to just chill out and dodge pedestrians for a bit.
Total: 30.44 miles!
That's three days of biking in a row - FINALLY! Truth be told, I'm mostly just preparing for when Kate comes to visit. I don't anticipate much EXERcise while she's visiting, she's not huge on movement for the sake of movement. Which is okay with me as long as I prepare for it.
Sunday
Saturday
03.07.09
Well. Today was supposed to be my try-out-a-route-in-my-1992-"Touring the Los Angeles Area by Bicycle"-book-day, and try I did. Unfortunately, I missed a turn somewhere 15ish miles in and ended up coming back via a totally different route...which was actually okay because the route went straight up and down mountains. That's maybe a bit of an exaggeration but truly, there were some HUGE, LONG, WINDY ups. My body is legit tired and it wasn't even that long of a ride! Great reminder that I need to start doing this more regularly though.
Also, I was graced by the sight of roadkill skunks not once but twice. Yum. And by yum I mean gross.
Total movement: 26.37 miles via bike (Coldwater to Sunset to Sepulveda, basically)
Also, I was graced by the sight of roadkill skunks not once but twice. Yum. And by yum I mean gross.
Total movement: 26.37 miles via bike (Coldwater to Sunset to Sepulveda, basically)
Friday
03.06.09
Well. After three days of letting my body recuperate from its short but angry 'fever-and-headache-and-sore-throat-and STOP OVERWORKING YOURSELF' stint, I decided enough is enough and went on a bike ride this morning. My thought process went like this: "If I bike down Coldwater Canyon and then eventually turn L and then eventually turn L again, I'll end up back in my world!" Right. Not exactly.
Things I learned today:
1. Laurel Canyon, which I previously thought ran parallel to Coldwater Canyon, in fact CROSSES Coldwater Canyon.
2. Van Nuys Blvd. is a LONG street. Not straight, but long. And it was the only street I recognized while minorly confused out in the boonies of San Fernando.
3. When you go on a bike ride at 8:30 AM, don't expect any bike shops to be open to help with directions - they aren't open until 10:00 AM. Duh.
All in all it was actually a really fun ride - I got to explore a new part of the Valley (though a different part than I thought I was exploring, go figure) and there are some nice quiet streets if you go out far enough.
Route: Coldwater toward Magnolia, L on Glenoaks, L on Maclay, L on Laurel Canyon, R on Van Nuys, L on Woodman aaaall the way back to L on Riverside.
Totals: 23.57 miles for the mornin + regular 8.3 mile work jaunt.
Things I learned today:
1. Laurel Canyon, which I previously thought ran parallel to Coldwater Canyon, in fact CROSSES Coldwater Canyon.
2. Van Nuys Blvd. is a LONG street. Not straight, but long. And it was the only street I recognized while minorly confused out in the boonies of San Fernando.
3. When you go on a bike ride at 8:30 AM, don't expect any bike shops to be open to help with directions - they aren't open until 10:00 AM. Duh.
All in all it was actually a really fun ride - I got to explore a new part of the Valley (though a different part than I thought I was exploring, go figure) and there are some nice quiet streets if you go out far enough.
Route: Coldwater toward Magnolia, L on Glenoaks, L on Maclay, L on Laurel Canyon, R on Van Nuys, L on Woodman aaaall the way back to L on Riverside.
Totals: 23.57 miles for the mornin + regular 8.3 mile work jaunt.
Tuesday
03.03.09
Hoping to get back into the swing of things now that it's March, I went on a 4 mile run last night which was quite pleasant, except that then I woke up this morning with a sore throat and REALLY don't want to get sick so I'm going to not bike in to work today which makes me a little sad because I was kind of excited to start biking in regularly again. However, I MAY ask David if I can stay at his house on Thursday night and bike on Friday morning - I teach in Santa Monica on Thursday afternoons and this Friday is our 4th and 5th grade family shabbat so I'd just have to drive straight back to Santa Monica. And on a Friday afternoon? Yeuch. Plus, maybe I can trick him into helping me with my taxes....
Anyhow:
2/24/09: forgot to mention it, 8.3 mile bike - work commute
3/2/09: 4 mile run (riverside to woodman to magnolia to hazeltine back to riverside and home again home again jiggity jig.)
Anyhow:
2/24/09: forgot to mention it, 8.3 mile bike - work commute
3/2/09: 4 mile run (riverside to woodman to magnolia to hazeltine back to riverside and home again home again jiggity jig.)
Monday
02.23.09
Sad. It's actually been over two weeks since I moved. Shame on me! To be fair, I've been out of town and doing lots of worky thingys and kind of didn't have time. Still, I should probably have found some time, cuz it only takes three seconds to get out of the habit and so much longer to get back into it.
I am pleased to say, however, that I DID move this weekend - Sarah and Angie were in town for my birthday (yahoo!!) and we went on a legit hike. Well, not Dave-legit, but most other people legit. It was slow but steady uphill 1 1/2 hours and then back down; we're estimating around 6 miles, but it for sure could have been more or less. All I know is that when we were done we were tired and muddy and I felt SO much better than I had in weeks.
And! For the first time in over two weeks, I actually had time to bike to work! Yay!
So: 2/21/09 = 6 mile hike
2/23/09 = 8.3 mile bike
I am pleased to say, however, that I DID move this weekend - Sarah and Angie were in town for my birthday (yahoo!!) and we went on a legit hike. Well, not Dave-legit, but most other people legit. It was slow but steady uphill 1 1/2 hours and then back down; we're estimating around 6 miles, but it for sure could have been more or less. All I know is that when we were done we were tired and muddy and I felt SO much better than I had in weeks.
And! For the first time in over two weeks, I actually had time to bike to work! Yay!
So: 2/21/09 = 6 mile hike
2/23/09 = 8.3 mile bike
Saturday
technically 02.07.09
I am POOPED, but if I don't document this now I may forget to and I am too damn proud of myself to not document it:
On Thursday I biked my Carp route backwards in the rain. Not literally backwards, obviously - I just mean I started in Carp rather than in IV. It was pouring the entire time, took a full hour for me to regain feeling in my feet afterwords (no exageration, it was legitimately frightening), and I averaged something like 14.5 mph, which is ridiculously normal considering the circumstances.
01.05.09: total miles biked = 50.36
Booyah.
On Thursday I biked my Carp route backwards in the rain. Not literally backwards, obviously - I just mean I started in Carp rather than in IV. It was pouring the entire time, took a full hour for me to regain feeling in my feet afterwords (no exageration, it was legitimately frightening), and I averaged something like 14.5 mph, which is ridiculously normal considering the circumstances.
01.05.09: total miles biked = 50.36
Booyah.
Tuesday
02.03.09
This month sucks. I need Hermione's turn-back-time doo-hickey from Harry Potter, there are not currently enough hours in the day.
So after my non-biking weekend that was supposed to be bike-FILLED, I decided that it was NECESSARY that I bike to work this week. Which I have done. And while it is good that I have been riding, I'm thinking maybe the powers that be are trying to tell me something:
1. Yesterday's bike ride was uneventful except that as I was leaving the house in the morning I noticed that the front of my rear bike light had fallen off. It still worked so I didn't worry too much about it. There's daylight in the morning.
Then I got back to my bike in the evening after it was dark and a new piece was missing from my bike light - the battery. Which mean that I no longer have front OR rear bike lights. Pretty much my mother's nightmare.
I then called her and told her that my birthday present should be bike lights, for my safety and her sanity.
2. On the way to work this morning I fell. I was moving from the street onto the sidewalk to avoid a large number of angry about-to-get-on-the-405 cars and I moved over to get onto the sidewalk and there was a little lip in the pavement and my wheel got caught in the groove and down I went. I fell away from traffic and I wasn't moving fast, but I also haven't fallen off of a bike in awhile, so it was kind of lame. I have a nice battle wound on my right side-thigh. Yummy.
Tomorrow I have to drive to work because it's SB day, but I'm taking my bike with me, staying at Kristen's tomorrow night, and doing an SB ride on Thursday morning before heading back to LA. Maybe not the smartest decision time-wise (as I don't HAVE any time) but I've been craving a Carp ride so screw it, sometimes you just have to itch a scratch. Scratch an itch?
02/02/09: 8.3 m bike
02/03/09: 8.3 m bike
So after my non-biking weekend that was supposed to be bike-FILLED, I decided that it was NECESSARY that I bike to work this week. Which I have done. And while it is good that I have been riding, I'm thinking maybe the powers that be are trying to tell me something:
1. Yesterday's bike ride was uneventful except that as I was leaving the house in the morning I noticed that the front of my rear bike light had fallen off. It still worked so I didn't worry too much about it. There's daylight in the morning.
Then I got back to my bike in the evening after it was dark and a new piece was missing from my bike light - the battery. Which mean that I no longer have front OR rear bike lights. Pretty much my mother's nightmare.
I then called her and told her that my birthday present should be bike lights, for my safety and her sanity.
2. On the way to work this morning I fell. I was moving from the street onto the sidewalk to avoid a large number of angry about-to-get-on-the-405 cars and I moved over to get onto the sidewalk and there was a little lip in the pavement and my wheel got caught in the groove and down I went. I fell away from traffic and I wasn't moving fast, but I also haven't fallen off of a bike in awhile, so it was kind of lame. I have a nice battle wound on my right side-thigh. Yummy.
Tomorrow I have to drive to work because it's SB day, but I'm taking my bike with me, staying at Kristen's tomorrow night, and doing an SB ride on Thursday morning before heading back to LA. Maybe not the smartest decision time-wise (as I don't HAVE any time) but I've been craving a Carp ride so screw it, sometimes you just have to itch a scratch. Scratch an itch?
02/02/09: 8.3 m bike
02/03/09: 8.3 m bike
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