Team in Training

TNT Buddy Ride
Originally uploaded by jenworth.

See that photo?

It's weird for me to look at it. If you'd told me not long ago that I'd be on a road bike cycling in the rain, I would have told you were nuts. A road bike?! No way! Give me a mountain bike any day. Riding in the rain? Hiking is one thing, but skinny tires on wet pavement? Pavement, period? All of those things surprise me.

So why the hell am I doing this?

I joined Team in Training, an endurance sports training program which raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
I'm training for "The World's Most Beautiful Bike Ride", AKA the Tahoe Century. It's as the name suggests, a 100 mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe.

I haven't ridden a road bike since an accident in 1988, when I was living and riding in NYC and my skinny tire went down into a drainage grating. Un-fun. But I decided to conquer this fear and raise money for a good cause. Both of those are good reasons, but in a way, my primary reason was to honor my friend Mary who lost her husband, John, to leukemia a couple years ago. John was a wonderful man, and to see the family go through what they did was heartwrenching. Cancer can touch any person, any family, and I wanted to help, in some small way, from another family having to go through what Mary has.

So I got a road bike (Thank you, REI employee discount!) and joined Team in Training (TNT).

You'll be hearing more about this on my blog, for sure. The ride is June 5, 2005. For those of you close to me, you'll probably be hit up to sponsor me. But for now, enjoy the photo above. This was our "buddy ride" this morning; it was a 19 mile ride out along the Carquinez Strait. Some of the ride was in the rain.

If I hadn't ridden with the group, I would have blown off riding today because of the weather, but somehow riding with a bunch of people I don't know, but we constitute a team, I had the energy to do it...and enjoy it!

I'm looking forward to a good season of riding, re-learning cycling, meeting new people and raising money for a great cause.
Stay tuned for the adventures....

Whiplash

skihomewood
Originally uploaded by jenworth.

Just got back from a really great trip to Tahoe.

Except I've got whiplash and it hurts to hold my head up. (Caught a heel edge going pretty fast and did a back-flip and landed on the back of my head. OUCH!)

Two more days of boardin' fun. Four days this year, six days total on a board, ever. Feel like it's getting more comfortable, but sometimes the heel edge eludes me.

It's a lot of fun when it's good and it's ridiculously painful when it's not. I'm sportin' some new color, and it ain't ink. It's black-and-blue. I've got some pretty sexy knees right about now.

We drove the longer way to Tahoe, through Coloma down Highway 49, to Placerville, then out Highway 50 to South Lake. Drove around the lake, stopped briefly at a casino on the Nevada side.

Can I just complain how much slot machines suck now? They are too confusing, overly computerfied, and they don't even spit out your winnings in change....there's a fake "tinkle, tinkle" sound of falling change. What a rip! You get a credit to take to the cashier. It sucked. I played two bucks and it was completely ungratifying.

The weather gave us a couple inches of nice dry powder the first day. Our second day was nicer weather. Homewood is great, not too crowded and very mellow.

Oh! My biggest snowboarding accomplishment? At the end of the day, I got off the lift THREE, count 'em, three, times without crashing! That's huge, usually my getting off the lift is somewhat of a comical spectacle of uncoordination. Ride the stomp pad, baby, and it's all good.

I'm rambling. Maybe I have a head injury to go with my whiplash?

A sign...

Saw this Signage
Originally uploaded by jenworth.

When we finished our hike, we saw this sign.

Who was I to ignore the reminder?

Another week, another hike

Larkspur Hike
Originally uploaded by jenworth.

This week's photo and hike brought to you courtesy of the "Hiking in Marin" book. Found this nice 4 mile hike in Baltimore Canyon. Lots of redwoods, a small water fall, and a great view at the top. A sweet hike.

Update on life:

Ugh. The dogs. Milo seemed all better, back to his feisty self and over 100 pounds again. Unfortunately, tests show the pseudomonus bacteria still residing in his kidneys. Back on antibiotics.

Luna's not well, either. She's been incontinent here and there, low energy and not herself. Urine tests show something slightly suspicious, so she's off for blood tests tomorrow.

My lucrative soul-selling-ad-gig has dried up, and so has the resulting money. This detail leaves me an extra bit stressed about the dogs illnesses because not only are my Little Guys not well, the money to pay for all the tests, meds, etc. is just not there right now.

It'll work out. Somehow. I'm not ruling out a life of crime....