Countdown to Triathlon – 213 Days, 30.4 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 43 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -

Philippians 2:14-15
Do everything without complaining or arguing,
New International Version of the Bible

Definition of Grumbler

1. Noun. A person given to excessive complaints and crying and whining.

Exact synonyms: Bellyacher, Complainer, Crybaby, Moaner, Sniveller, Squawker, Whiner

Oh boy!  Was that ever me in those days.  I'm not doing that now.  I may not like all the exercise, but I am definitely not complaining and grumbling.  I learned my lesson.

The Journey - Installment Forty-Three

        Hollen lived in Ewa Beach, Hawaii and his house was right on the beach.  The view was stunning each day, all day long.  I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect place to stay and visit with my son, his wife Morena, and baby Kaleo.  Kaleo was only about three and a half months old and it was so nice to get acquainted with him since we lived so far away and wouldn’t get to see much of him as he grew. Hollen, Kaleo and I rode every morning on the bike trails, streets and sidewalks.  It was hot and the humidity made it so much more difficult to ride.  I was discouraged because at first we were not riding very far and I felt as if I were riding at my maximum and wondered how I would be able to ride 220 miles in three days.  Knowing how far I had to ride in June made it seem as if I were not training at all.  I really hated riding each day and I knew that I needed an attitude correction and couldn’t seem to change my attitude myself.  I began to sing under my breath because I didn’t wish to expend any more air than necessary.  The song that I sang over and over was Change My Heart O Lord. The words go something like this – at least this is how I sang the song:

Change my heart O Lord,

Make it ever true.

Change my hear O Lord,

Make it ever new.

You are the potter,

I am the clay.

Mold me and make me,

This is what I pray.

As I rode and sang under my breath, I just kept imagining myself as a huge lump of wet clay and picturing the Lord molding that clay, (me) to His own purpose.  I have always struggled with the verses of Romans 9:20-21 which say:

               : But who are you O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?”  Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same  lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? "

           My parents taught me to always strive to be the best I could be.  By my way of thinking, the best always meant that I should not be that lowly pot for common use but rather I should be used for noble purposes.  Of course, that way of thinking occurred before I became a Christian. But even after loving the Lord for many years, I still did not understand the significance of this verse nor how I could let the potter mold me to become what He wanted me to become; not what I wanted.  I wanted to be able to let go and let God shape me, but I just didn’t know how to go about doing that.  So sing I did.  Every day I prayed that God would change my heart and attitude and make me joyful in my preparations for the bike ride.  I wanted to be riding with joy in my heart, with gratitude that God had chosen me to participate in this ride instead of riding each day with a sense of dread.  But each afternoon about four o’clock I would begin to think about the next morning’s ride with my son, “my torturer.”   I prayed constantly for a change in my outlook, but nothing was happening to change my bad attitude.  

Countdown to Triathlon – 214 Days, 30.5 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 42 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

We had a very busy week last week selling our car and buying a new one.  Below is a picture of Bob and I at Geweke Toyota in Lodi where we had excellent help with our purchase.  I'm giving them some free advertising here.  Buying a car is normally very repugnant to me but this company was great and made the adventure pleasant.  Bob says it's my last car but what if I am still driving in 30 years (age 96) I won't want to be driving a 30 year old car.  "96" and still driving - that's a scary thought.  LOOK OUT FOR THE LITTLE OLD LADY IN THE CORVETTE!  Yes, I think my next car will be a Corvette.  Just kidding!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -

      

If you worried about falling off the bike, you’d never get on.
~Lance Armstrong quotes (American Cyclist, b.1971)

 

 The Journey - Installment Forty-Two

(Not us.  Just wanted to show you what it looks like)

On the third day after my arrival in Honolulu, we set out with two bikes, my new water backpack full of water on my back, a  baby carrier that hitches to the bicycle, and the baby. (The correct word is not baby carrier, I just noticed on the internet - it is bike trailer.) Hollen pulled the baby and it reminded me of those people in China who pull tourists riding in carts with their bicycles.  No way I could do that.  That was my first day for clip- less pedals and the backpack.  Rather than let me get used to them for a day or so on the flat land, Hollen took me up the road by Diamond Head.  We left Waikiki behind us as we climbed an enormous hill.  I thought that I would have a heart attack and of course I was terrified of falling.  Wearing clip-less pedals in akin to having someone making your feet prisoners by tying your feet to the pedals with rope.  We got to the top of the hill and rode around the residential area where we saw many beautiful homes, AND HILLS!  At one point, I was trying to ride up a hill and going so slowly that I just fell over before I could get my feet out of the clips.

        As I lay on my back in the street, a man who had seen me fall, drove up beside me in his car and rolled down his window to ask if I was hurt.  I told him that I was okay, just a little skinned up.  Hollen unclipped my feet and pulled the bike off  from on top of me and helped me up.  The man commented that it is sure tough the first day in clip-less pedals.  He knew exactly what had happened - that I hadn't been fast enough to unclip my feet before losing my balance.    Hollen has such a sense of humor and laughs hysterically.  When he knew that I wasn’t injured other than skinned legs and arms, he commented that I looked like a turtle on its back and perhaps we should wrap tires around me like the Michelin Man.  I wasn’t amused.  But again, God provided protection because I could have been hurt badly without the water backpack, which was filled with water and broke my fall. I had never worn it before that day but then I had never worn the clip-less petals before either.

It would have been much safer and I would have had fewer bloody legs, elbows, etc. if I had been the Michelin Man.

Countdown to Triathlon – 215 Days, 30.85 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 41 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -

No matter how one may think himself accomplished, when he sets out to learn a new language, science, or the bicycle, he has entered a new realm as truly as if he were a child newly born into the world.  ~Frances Willard, How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle

The Journey - Installment Forty-One

By March, it became apparent that the June ride was looming in the very near future.  It was no longer a year away; an event which until now had no sense of urgency.    As much as I knew I should be riding longer distances and faster speeds each day, I seemed to pull back and my riding habits began to wane.  A trip had been planned to visit our son Hollen, his wife Morena and our newest grand baby that had been born on December 28^th.  At the last moment, Bob informed me that he could not get away from the office and that he would not be traveling with me.  I almost cancelled the trip, but at the very last minute decided to go forward with my plans. That decision turned out to be the right one, because in retrospect, if I had not gone to Hawaii and gotten training from my son, I would never have been able to complete even the first day of the bike ride.

Upon checking with bike shops in Hawaii, I found that the cost of renting a bicycle for two weeks was more than the cost of taking my own bike.  Besides, the bikes available to be rented in Hawaii would be too tall and I needed the training on my own bike.   Before leaving I had the bike partially torn down and crated for shipment to Hawaii.  I purchased clip-less pedals and biking shoes to take to Hawaii where I knew that Hollen could install them for me upon my arrival.

            The first couple of days were spent visiting with Hollen, Morena and the baby.  Hollen spent the afternoon of the second day putting my bike together and showing me how to change a tire, and other mechanical chores.  I really did try to listen, but I think that most of what Hollen tried to teach me about fixing flats and other mechanical problems probably were wasted on me.  Hollen and Morena presented me with a tool pouch for the bike along with a patching kit and a great fold-up tool which contains most of the tools I would need for emergency repairs.  It was a good idea, but I couldn’t imagine that I would actually do repairs myself.  Knowing my mechanical skills, it seemed unlikely. 

Countdown to Triathlon – 216 Days, 30.85 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 40 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -

"This I do know beyond any reasonable doubt. Regardless of what you are doing, if you pump long enough, hard enough and enthusiastically enough, sooner or later the effort will bring forth the reward."
Zig Ziglar





Pump those pedals - pump - pump - pump!
















The Journey - Installment Forty

       Once again, God provided help by way of a kind person, Richard, who was my husband’s CEO at the bank where Bob worked.  I had been out riding earlier a particular day and felt as if I could barely make the bike move.  There was a slight wind in my face, but I still felt that after all this time, I should have been able to ride faster and farther than I was able to ride on that day. I pedaled with all my strength but it seemed that I couldn’t build up much speed and the pedaling got harder with each mile as I headed back to the house.  After I got home from the ride, feeling very dejected,  the phone rang and it was Richard.  I told him how discouraged I was because I had ridden such a terrible ride that day and that forward progress seemed so difficult.  He asked me when I had last checked the air in my tires.  I replied, "Checked the air in my tires?  I never have."   He asked me if I had a tire gauge, which I did have, and he told me he would wait on the phone while I checked the air pressure.  The pressure was about 17 pounds; the tires indicated that I needed 75 pounds.  Even to me, I realized that it was a “no brainer” why I hadn’t been riding well that day.  He told me that he checked his bike tires every day that he rides. I just assumed the problem was with me and let it get me down.  Here was the hand of God again from an unexpected source, lifting me up. 

Countdown to Triathlon – 219 Days, 31.28 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 39 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -

If we are to complete a challenge, we certainly cannot say, "Our get-up-and go, got-up-and- went!   Our get-up and go has to get-up and GO!"  Cold, rain, bad weather or not!!!

Quote from me - Barbie Jo

The Journey - Installment Thirty-Nine

GREEN FOR "GO, GO, GO!"

      2002

THE YEAR OF THE BIKE RIDE ARRIVES -

or now I really have to get serious about this!

         After the first of the year I noticed that my outdoor bike riding was not occurring as much as it should.  I did go to the gym more often to keep exercising and spoke with some cyclists who convinced me that I needed toe clips in order to get the most from my pedaling.  I purchased the clips and began riding with Don using great caution because I was scared to death that I would fall and not be able to get my toes out of the clips.  That was a very real fear so that whenever I came to a place where I even thought I might have to slow down, I would jerk my feet back and remove them from the clips.  There were several close calls, but I began to master the fine art of toe clips.

      

           By the end of January,  I was riding alone because Don had come down with a very bad cold. I rode 22 miles one winter afternoon and was so blessed by the beautiful scenery of rolling hills and a view of the snow covered Sierra Nevada Mountains in the background.  Clouds were threatening rain by the time I reached home and just as I dismounted from my bike it began to rain.  I thanked our Heavenly Father for once more watching over me and holding the rain back until I had reached home.  But even after such a beautiful day of riding and blessings, discouragement crept in again. My Bible study ladies and my church had all been praying for the Lord to find someone for me to ride and train with.  Don had not been able to ride because of health problems and I felt that I needed someone as a riding partner.   I had to continually remind myself and repeat the motto of my journey:  THE POWER BEHIND ME IS GREATER THAN THE TASK AHEAD OF ME.

January 13, 2011 - I need to reinstate the above motto in my training for the triathlon.  This is exactly the same time of year as the above installment and I'm facing the same challenges, except I have to add swimming and running/walking. 

And away we go.........................................

See you all on Monday.

 

Countdown to Triathlon1 – 220 Days, 31.4 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 38 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -  Let Down

This could have been me, but it wasn't.  I don't have long blond hair and I'm not that thin (or at all).   However, after a week of being away, no bike riding and all of the excitement of New York City for five days, it was a bit of a let down to come back to Hughson, CA.  I was back to the drapery shop, back to cooking dinners, washing clothes, cleaning house and back on the bike.

I've been gone all day today so I have to hurry to get in my excising.  It will be dark in about an hour and a half.  (Jan. 12, 2011)


The Journey - Installment Thirty-Eight
        When I returned home from New York there was an email waiting for me from the man who had been the former editor of the bicycling magazine.  I was truly surprised that the Prevention Magazine editor had remembered to give him my email address and that he would actually contact me.  He gave me his phone number and invited me to call. On the phone I described my needs and my dilemma since I needed a bike that would be suitable for the June ride but one that I could also ride on the canal banks.  He strongly recommended that I purchase a road bike.  I carefully considered his advice and prayed about the purchase because I knew I was blessed by our son and daughter-in-law to get the opportunity to buy a new bicycle and I didn’t want to make a mistake.

        After checking the Internet for bicycles and visiting several bike stores in the area, I decided which bicycle I would buy.  The bike is a hybrid, which means it is a cross between a mountain bike and a road bike.  I felt that it would allow me to ride either on the canal banks or, after changing to road tires I could also train on the roadways.  I was a little nervous about making the final decision, but when I rode with Don the next time, I mentioned to him what my plans were for the purchase.  I told him the bicycle came from a small company in Marin County (San Francisco area) and that the bike store had told me they had great results and good service from the Marin Bike Company.  As I mentioned the name of the bicycle company, I happened to look over at the bike that Don was borrowing from Mike.  There, written on the frame was “Marin”.  I had been riding at least three days a week next to Don and I never even noticed what brand name bike he was riding.  This was definitely a sign for me that God was giving me the go-ahead.  Some might say that subconsciously I had seen this name on the bike every time I rode.  But I know myself.  When I don’t notice something, I really don’t notice it even if it could reach out and bite me.  When I saw “Marin” written on Mike’s bike, it was if I had never seen it before. 

 December 23^rd I drove to the bicycle store to pick up my new bicycle. I called Hollen and Morena to thank them again for the bike.  Hollen asked me if I had ridden it yet and I replied that I didn’t have time because I was preparing for the Christmas festivities.  He chided me to at least go out and take a ten-minute spin.  I decided that I could take a quick ride to the corner and back.  Since I was only going a short distance, a quarter mile, I did not put on my helmet or gloves.  When I got to the corner, I swung out into the road to make a U-turn.  The next thing I knew, I was face down on the road.  The new bike had bucked me off!  I skinned up my hands and bruised my knees, elbows and hip.  So much for a quickie ride.  That taught me a lesson about leaving the helmet and gloves at home. At least now I didn’t need to worry about falling and scratching my new bike.  I had already broken it in.

 

Countdown to Triathlon - 221Days, 31.5 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 37 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -  Two quotes from two famous comedians about the Statue of Liberty

I have a wonderful make-up crew. They're the same people restoring the Statue of Liberty. Bob Hope The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying, 'Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses.' She's got a baseball bat and yelling, 'You want a piece of me?' Robin Williams

The Journey - Installment Thirty-Seven

    As part of our trip to Ground Zero, we also walked to the water's edge to view the Statue of Liberty.  It was quite a distance away as you'll see in the below photo. 

Patti must have taken most of the pictures because once again she's not in the photo.  This was as close as we got to the Statue.

Here's the Statue up close (not actually my picture). 

  


Little Italy decorated for Christmas


























           In the late afternoon we went back to the hotel, changed clothes and  took Cindy to dinner for her birthday, which would be the next day.  Here we are at dinner - all three of us.

     Time Square

The wording on the sign was moving. Notice at the top advertising the 2001 New York City Marathon.

Our mother had generously purchased tickets to see Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theatre which we all enjoyed enormously.

        We spent one more night at the Plaza then the next morning, Patti flew to Minnesota and I took the train with Cindy back to Washington D.C. and on to her home.  The next day I flew to Sacramento ending a great four day trip to New York City.  I saw how a marathon worked and what were the results of  intense training .  It was time to get back on the bike and get ready for my own challenge.  Cindy had accomplished her goal and a huge "Congratulations" was due for accomplishing the New York City Marathon.