Faeries Do Exist!

At this door I left a little avatar of myself (the mouse on the railing with an umbrella), hoping that I might be allowed to come inside.

Faeries Do Exist!

I love faeries, and now I can go visit them anytime. In and around downtown the doors to faeries homes and livelihoods can be found. These doors have been documented, and you can find a map to all the locations. We haven't checked them all out yet, but it has been fun finding them, and sometimes leaving them gifts. In Sweetwaters there was a faery journal, so people who came to visit could leave messages for the faeries, or just put their thoughts, or draw some faeries. Some people even invite the faeries to live with them. I don't know if any faeries have accepted, but they are certainly more than welcome to stay with me! I can just imagine it: punked out faeries (preferably with pink spiky hair), skateboarding faeries, hippy faeries, fashionable faeries...So cool! I hope one does come stay with us! :)

The Power of Locomotion: Take 4

So I rode my bike again this morning. 40 minutes, but it was definitely a work out (my legs were shaking a little at the end of it). But 40 minutes does seem to be a barrier in riding time. I know it all the times I had to stop because of lights or traffic were taken out, my mph would be a bit better, but it'd be nice if my overall riding time decreased.

Today was a lot of fun though because for my birthday Mark had gotten my some running/biking gear, and new, fun gloves that are very bright and colorful. The new clothes definitely helped to make the riding more comfortable and enjoyable, and the new gloves are very comfortable. The last few times I rode I was getting blisters on some of my fingers, and this was definitely not the case this time.

I am a bit nervous about riding home. I'm going to try a different route home, which is a bit more hilly. Plus it will be much warmer this afternoon and it might rain, plus it will be windy. Wish me luck!

The Power of Locomotion: Take 3

From disastrous beginning to dismal end: 45 minutes. Which I guess is pretty good, given the fact that there were probably about five minutes in there where I wasn’t riding my bike, but simply trying to either reattach my belongings to my bike, or get back on my bike.

It seems that I must have been lucky on my two previous attempts at riding to work, because this morning I was my usual, klutzy, uncoordinated self. I really wanted to try to ride to work in under 40 minutes, as I wasn’t convinced that I was going at top speeds for my capabilities. What occurred first, then, to derail my goals, was I hit a huge pothole and (rather comically) watched my front bag go flying. I skidded to a stop to also find that my change of clothes had wafted out of my saddlebag and landed in a dirty heap on the ground. It wasn’t that funny at the time, but it did give me an inkling that this ride wasn’t going to be sub par.

Next, on my jaunt through the back way to Washtenaw (the way I discovered to avoid the rather dangerous highway merging) had been grated since Wednesday. This is excellent for cars; not so much for bikes. The small mounds of loose dirt, and the gravel made riding just a little treacherous. At this point, I was beginning to realize I probably wasn’t going to make the ride in under 40 mins.

Next, I came to the conclusion that cars are a menace. I was crossing the street (or rather, I was trying to cross the street) in which I had right-of-way (i.e., the “Walk” was flashing at the sidewalk) and a car that was turning right decided to turn right in front of me, and I had to come to an abrupt stop. What is almost comical about it is I was staring at the driver, trying to figure out what he was doing, and the driver was staring at me, presumably trying to figure out what I was doing, and even though it was clear that I was moving forward to cross the street, he opted to turn right right in front of me. Now, obviously getting hit by a car would not be an optimal turn of events, so I hit the brakes. But, it became clear that cars are just menacing, and either we should all by running / biking to work, or people should only be allowed to use mass transit.

The final thing that occurred did not happen very far (in time or distance) from this near miss. And this was the final straw that led me to take it easy for the rest of the ill-fated ride. The judges are still out about whether I was thrown, or whether I just let myself go (with the unconscious thought that it would hurt less), but the long and short of it is I went over a bump, lost my balance, and fell off my bike. The fall wasn’t that bad (I didn’t feel too shaken), but it was a bad jar for my shoulder and neck. That was the point is which I decided I just *might* not be able to make the return trip home this afternoon.

So, while I normally don’t like to exploit my embarrassing antics in a public domain, I thought I would share my “trials and tribulations” (as Mark is fond of saying) in my attempts to get to work under the power of my own locomotion.

Stayed tuned for next week’s episode: As temperatures rise, Christy will have to navigate her ever increasing need-for-speed with her own inabilities to keep her balance. Will she be able to cross traffic lights without getting hit? Or will the sun cause her to spontaneously combust. Find out next time on The Power of Locomotion!

Who May Enter?

Is the simple question I received regarding our MLFA contest. But the only answer I can think of is:

Two men enter, one man leaves.

Gotta love Mad Max!

The Power of Locomotion: Take 2, v2

So, on the way home from work yesterday we measured the mileage for my bike trip, and it was 5.5 miles. That is an average of 7 minutes and 45 seconds per mile, which puts me at the lowly rate of 8.25 miles/hour. This is really not that great--I should be doing at least 10mph, with a goal of 15mph when I really get into shape. I know that I do have to occasionally stop at traffic lights, and that is altering my overall speed a bit, but now I have a goal: I'd like to be able to bike to work in 30 mins, which would be 11mph. That will be hard, considering how hard I was working yesterday when biking. but I also plan on biking to AND from work when I bike from now on, so hopefully the added distance will help to increase my overall endurance and speed. Wish me luck!

The Power of Locomotion: Take 2

I rode my bike to work this morning, and I know how long it took me (40 minutes), now I just have to find out the precise distance. I altered the route just slightly because the fastest way means navigating the precarious on/off ramps for 23, which was decidedly nerve-wracking the last time I tried it. This time I went a back way through a neighborhood, which took me under the highway, and not too far out of my way distance-wise. Today's ride felt pretty good, and I was hoping that I'd be done in 40 mins max, so I met my goal! I also left a bit earlier in the morning, so there were less people out running/biking, which also made navigating the sidewalks easier.

Last Saturday Mark and I ran a 5K--my first one in about 6 years. It felt pretty good, and the fact that we were able to run the entire distance was great (we hadn't been running that far in our everyday training). Of course, now that we know we can do it, we've upped the anty, and are doing harder workouts. But it all feels good, knowing that we are slowly beating old personal bests, and creating new, harder goals.

We've Chosen Our Photographer!

We really like this person (Susan of Susan Jergens Photography). I had suggested that we meet at the wedding location because it was in-between where we were both coming from, and she suggested that she bring her camera and take a few test shots. Well, no one had made any kind of suggestion like that when we met with people, so right away we liked her enthusiasm. When we met with her, she had a fantastic, easy-going personality. She loved our venue, and said how natural we were together, and snapped some shots of us and the location as we walked around the grounds. We were impressed by her portfolio (which we had seen some of online already), and loved the fact that as part of her packages we will receive digital copies of our images as well. And then (for free!) she sent us the photos she had taken of us.

Anyway, I just loved this picture, which was taken outside near our banquet hall. I love the detail you can see in the door and stonework, but also the angle of the shot, as well as the curve of my leg. Altogether, it's one of my favorite pictures from that brief meeting with her.