Countdown to Triathlon – 129 Days, 18.4 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 86 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

We're up for the second time tonight for feeding the baby.  While Laurel is nursing, I figured I use the down time to post the blog.  This is the most contented baby I have ever encountered.  Have a happy day, everyone.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY – "It's depressing when a butterfly passes you going up hill".

The Journey - Installment Eighty-Six

        As I struggled up that first hill, battling the wind and the hill, my cell phone rang.  I had an ear piece and microphone, so I only needed to turn the phone on to talk.  The voice on the other end was my son Hollen.  He said, “Mom, you can’t quit!”  I don’t remember the rest of the conversation other than he was reminding me of how hard I had worked for this ride, trained for eighteen months and I just couldn’t quit.  After the call ended, the phone rang again. I remember answering it with exasperation because I certainly didn’t need to be distracted from my efforts of trying to climb the hill.  The wind was blowing so hard that I couldn’t tell who was calling by their voice because of the whistling in my ears.  The person on the other end said, “QUITTNG IS NOT AN OPTION!”  I thought it was my son again. This person continued in the conversation until I asked who was calling. He said, “Richard.”  After he reminded me that I couldn’t quit, we ended the call.   I was so tired by this time and frustrated by the wind and the hill that it never occurred to me why these people would even think I might be entertaining the idea of quitting.  I had no idea that Bob had put them up to calling me because he saw how tired I was and how frustrated. Then the phone rang again.  I think I answered with an irritated tone of voice because these calls were very distracting.  It was a woman’s voice and she said, “Keep going Barb, it’s not that hard.”  That really made me mad.  “Who is this?’ I asked in a not very pleasant tone. “It’s Judy.”  She was a friend of Richard.  I remember asking, “Where are you Judy?”  She replied that she and Richard were just going into a restaurant for dinner.  I practically screamed at her, “Well then don’t tell me it’s not so hard, you don’t know!”  That was really rude of me, but then my exasperation level had reached its peak.  That should be a lesson to all of us. Never tell a person that something is not so hard if you’re not beside them doing the same thing. At the time I didn't realize she was just trying to be encouraging and helpful.

            Somehow, I made it up that first hill. I can’t remember exactly, but most likely I was going so slowly at some point that I would have had to unclick from my pedals and jump off the bike or I would have fallen over.  I had to walk up the rest of the hill, pushing my bike beside me. Bob, Terri and Tom were not in sight until I got to the top of the hill. Remember that my bike was a hybrid, not a road bike and as such was a lot heavier than the other’s bikes so riding up hills took more exertion and for me wasn’t possible to just ride up at a steady pace like the others.  At the top of the hill, I started pedaling as fast as I could down the hill’s other side in order to gain momentum get up the next hill.  I would usually pass everyone at this point until their steady climb would leave me in the dust .

Countdown to Triathlon – 130 Days, 18.5 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 85 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

We are so exhausted.  Friday night I came and stayed with Laurel and Danny; I stayed in the guest room. The next night the consensus was that I would sleep with Laurel and the baby so Danny could get some sleep.  Even though I have four children and this is the eleventh grandchild, one forgets exactly how it was with a new baby. I guess that is God's way of insuring that man continues to populate the world.  Last night we only got up twice.  What a blessing that was! What a beautiful, contented little guy he is.  Well not exactly little by new born standards, but little nonetheless. 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY – "It's just a hill - get over it!"

The Journey - Installment Eighty-Five

        As the minivans sped off, there was a minute when we felt abandoned, but we “got over it.”  We had only gone a short while when we saw, over our left shoulders, a large body of water which contained many ships.  It was the “Mothball Fleet” – the old World War II naval ship depository.  also called the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, Benicia, CA.  (see below) What surprised me was the number of vessels.  When I was girl and would travel to San Francisco with my parents, we would pass the "Mothball Fleet" and the bay was full of ships.  Now, I have to remember that the war was over in 1945 and in 1955 it had only been ten years.  I was eleven in 1955 so there were still a lot ships in the bay.

      






[Since the end of World War II Suisun Bay, located approx. 25 miles northeast of San Francisco, Calif., is home of a fleet of decommissioned, stricken, or inactive ships. These ships include US Navy warships, auxiliary vessels and merchant ships. Some of the ships are held in a reduced operation status meaning that they can be re-activated within a given time in order to make them available during national emergencies. The number of ships laid-up at Suisun Bay went from 324 in 1959 to less than 70 in 2009. Due to environmental problems with several of the ships, it's now planned to withdraw all ships from Suisun Bay by 2017. Ships are removed from the fleet on a regular basis but before they are towed to Texas for scrapping, they are taken to the BAE shipyard at Potrero Hill, South San Francisco, for clean up.]

 As we proceeded toward Napa, about 20 miles away, we had gone only a short distance when I saw a snake in the road and swerved, almost knocking Tom off his bike.  I apologized profusely, but that snake had really scared me.  As I came upon it there wasn't time to ascertain whether it was alive or not; a king snake or rattler.  I just saw "snake" and panicked.  Terri had been riding ahead and perhaps didn't see it. 

        With the snake incident behind us, we continued toward our goal of arriving at the hotel in Napa before dark overtook us.  We knew it would be difficult to achieve that goal, but I was confident.  We also had "an ace in the hole," Bob.  He was riding in his truck - never beside us as that would have dangerous on the narrow roads.  He would pass us and ride ahead and wait.

        About this time, we came to some very horrible hills.  Bob disappeared for a time and had driven ahead to see how far it was to Napa and how high and how many hills we would have to navigate.  He figured I would get discourage because there were four big ones coming up.  While he pulled over, unknown to me, he called our son in Hawaii and he called Richard, the CEO his bank and told our son Hollen to call me on the cell phone and tell me not to quit.  He told Richard to wait about five minutes and tell me the same thing. 

Countdown to Triathlon – 133 Days, 19 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 84 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

 
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY – 
“When you're on the starting line of your first century, it's not wise to sit there and think, 'I've got to ride
one hundred miles.' I remember my first one, and my thought was to get to the first rest stop. I made each 
succeeding rest stop my goal. When they're about twenty-five miles apart, you don't get intimidated by what seems
an impossible distance. All you need to do is ride twenty-five miles four times."
-- Seana Hogan

Have you ever participated in “Paying it Forward?”  One of the common ways to “Pay it Forward” is to pay for someone’s coffee or fast food meal for the person in line behind you in the drive through.  In Acts 20:35 in the Bible, it reads, (quoting Jesus), “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  So here is a fun way to participate in “Paying it Forward”. 

            1.  Tell me in the comment section that you want to participate.

            2.  Email me your postal address.  My email address is barbiejoe44@gmail.com.

            3.  When you receive your gift, enjoy it.

            4.  Then post your own “Pay it Forward” on your blog.

            5.  Send three small gift items to people on your blog who wish to participate.

            6.  I will be accepting the first three participants who comment on their desire to participate.  If you would like to participate and get this little gift from me, leave a  comment saying so and realize that you are committing to send out small gifts to  three others bloggers.  The cost of the gift is not important, it is the gift of love that is.

            
Regular comments are still welcome and valued.  No one is obligated to participate in the “Paying it Forward”, but it is fun.  If you have some fun or inspirational stories that come from your “Paying it Forward” event, please forward them to me.

 

The Journey - Installment Eighty-Four

        After leaving windy Fairfield we headed toward Napa, over some really nasty hills with the wind still blowing.  Before we reached the last four terrible, and I mean terrible hills, the minivans were pulled over beside the road.  They signaled for us to pull over – us being about five or six ladies plus Tom who was a FOTF Vice President.  The drivers of the minivans told us that we done a great job riding, but that we were still twenty miles from Napa.  In order to get dinner, have devotions and announcements and have our outfits washed, we would need to load our bikes and get a ride to the hotel in Napa.  They had previously instructed us to write our names on all of our socks and riding suits and we had been given a plastic bag for our clothes.  Each night, one of the volunteers would wash our outfits and return them so that we would have clean clothes.  The riding outfits were expensive and most people only had one set.  I did purchase two sets which was really helpful on this particular day.

            All of us were gathered at the back of one of the vans.  As each lady moved forward and helped load her bike in the bike rack, I was starting to get anxious.  I felt that I needed to finish the ride.  God had told me to accomplish this ride and I didn’t feel that I could quit yet.  I hung back as each lady loaded her bike.  I can’t remember who all was there except I do remember Lisa, Yvonne, Terri and Tom.  I think there might have been two other ladies.  When it came time for me to get my bike loaded, I told them, “God told me to do this ride and I don’t feel I can quit yet. Besides,” I added, “My husband would be very disappointed in me if I quit.”  They replied that I would be missing dinner, devotions and getting my clothes washed and FOTF does not allow us to ride in the dark.

        I replied to them, “My husband is along with his truck. If it starts to get dark he can pick me and my bike up and take me to the hotel.”  They were not happy with this development, but I was very insistent.  At that point, Terri took her bike from the bike rack and said she was going with me.  I told her that she shouldn’t do that because she’d also miss dinner, devotions and clean clothes.  She replied to me that we are team and she was going to stay with me.  Even though I felt badly that she would miss all of the above, I was relieved to have her along.   I’m not sure at this writing if I would have been so insistent on finishing the ride if Bob had not been along as my safety net.  Tom unloaded his bike from the rack, and I’m sure he was quite disappointed to have to go with us because he could have been at the hotel in just a few minutes.  Because he was a member of the FOTF staff, he must have felt that he couldn’t let two women proceed alone, even though Bob was along.  I had the feeling that on all the bike rides until now, no one had ever thrown a monkey wrench into the works before because the staff in the minivans were not happy at all with me.  Nevertheless, Terri, Tom and myself mounted our bikes for the last section; the worst and hardest section of the day. 

I'm heading for Laurel's and Danny's house to help her with the baby and cooking, cleaning, etc.  I'll be gone about a week but will still post the blog so come back on Monday.  Grandpa Bob is staying home.  Maybe he'll get our garden planted.

♥♥♥

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

I'll continue the bike ride story tomorrow.  In the story tomorrow, you'll read about the last part of day one which was extremely difficult but God rewarded us.

Yesterday at 2:05 pm  PST our youngest daughter gave birth to our eleventh grandchild, a boy named Samuel Robert Machado, named after my husband Bod who is Robert Samuel.  Samuel weighed in at 10# 2 oz. and 20" long so it was good that she had a C-Section.  I have never seen a baby that large and one delivered in that manner.  He is so beautiful and unlike the babies born the natural way who may have squished heads and be all wrinkled when they come out after having undergone the trauma through the birthing process.  Mother and baby are doing fine, although when I talked to her this morning, she said she hadn't slept all night. " I hate to tell you Kiddo, but Monday night was probably your last good night of sleep for about 20 years.  First the baby keeps you awake, then the kids wake up during the night, then you're up waiting for kids to come home from dates."  We're thankful for such a beautiful, healthy baby and a safe delkivery.  I'll attach some photos below, but not of Laurel.  "Miss Photogenic would have a fit if she saw the picture I took of she and the baby after the birth and really have a fit if I sent it.  We thank everyone for their prayers and we don't take them for granted.

Here I am with "New Baby Samuel" (not so good of me,either.)

Birth Photo

Proud Daddy Danny

Proud Grandpa  

I got up this morning to birds pecking on the kitchen window again.  This has been going on at least two weeks and they do it continuously from daylight to dark.  What Bob first thought was cute is causing him to lose his patience.   But they are sooo cute and fluffy.  They haven't gotten on my nerves yet.

See you tomorrow

For Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Our feathered friends have been back all day, pecking the kitchen window from early morning to dark.  Bob thinks they might me wild canaries because they are so much smaller than sparrows.  We'll have to research it.

No Blog today because WE'RE HAVING A BABY!  Laurel, my baby, goes in for a C-Section tomorrow.

I'll keep you all posted.

Barbie Jo

Countdown to Triathlon – 139Days, 19.85 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 83 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY –

Here's two thoughts for the day about bike riding and the wind:

You never have the wind with you - either it is against you or you're having a good day.  ~Daniel Behrman, The Man Who Loved Bicycles

"If the wind is not against you, it is not blowing."

James E Starrs 

Early in the story of the bike ride, I told about riding one day with Pastor Don.  We rode about six miles out to a little community called Denair.  As we rode,  the wind was blowing furiously in our faces.  We really had to struggle to make headway.  We encouraged one another by saying that at least going home it would be at our backs.  Would you believe it?  When we rode through the town and turned back toward home, the wind changed direction and blew in our faces all the way home.  I guess it a way to prepare me for the adventure of the day I will describe below.

You'll see what the wind blowing has to do with today's story.  However, we have been getting some visitors at our kitchen window for days.  These little fellows sit all day in the Star Jasmine outside the window and peck on the window all day and even into the evening after dark.  You'd think they would bend their beaks pecking on the glass.  My husband Bob says there are tiny little bugs on the window.  I certainly can't see them and you'd think that the bugs would all have been eaten by now.  They are sooo cute, I wish I could hold them.  They are so tiny - look at them compared to the leaves.  The leaves are about the same shape and size as a bay leaf that you cook with.  I don't know what kind of birds they are - maybe sparrows.  But they peck, peck, peck constantly.

I kind of went overboard in taking pictures of them with my telephoto lense.

The Journey - Installment Eighty-Three

        After the first rest stop we just kept on pedaling in the warmth of that sunny June day. As we neared Fairfield, the wind picked up and of course it was blowing in our faces.  After about twenty more miles we arrived at our lunch rest stop at the Trinity Lutheran Church.  The volunteers had set up tables and the fixings for sandwiches.  We just told them what we wanted on our sandwiches and they fixed them for us.  We sat for a few minutes enjoying the rest from pedaling, used the restroom and then were off for the next leg of the journey – on to Napa and the wine country.

        During our rest stop, Lisa and I went into the rest room and we applied, "personal lubricant" to our bottoms and inner thighs.  We had been advised to do that by some of female volunteers so that we would not get blisters or chaff badly in those tender areas.  We really gooped it on, so much so that we emptied the container and I threw in the restroom wastebasket.  Then Lisa and I laughed and said we wondered what the church workers will think when they see this empty container in the trash.  What will they think went on in their rest rooms?  It occurs to me now that I should call that church and see if any of the ladies who were working then are still employed and explain to them.  Just as we left the restroom, giggling, one of the female employees entered to use the restroom.  She probably heard what we had said. As it turned out, that was a very good suggestion because by the third day neither Lisa or I had trouble with those areas of our bodies because of the lubricant.

        We set off on our bikes.  About ten of us came to a very busy intersection where we had to cross.  The traffic was heavy and they had no stop sign or traffic light.  We were trying to figure out how we’d ever get across the traffic when a shabbily dressed man who looked like he’d seen better days stepped out into the traffic and became our “traffic cop”.  He had seen that we were not going to be able to cross in quite a while and took it upon himself to be our hero.  He stopped all the traffic in both directions and we were able to cross the road. He looked like he either had been drinking or was high on something but we were thankful for the help.  We shouted a big thanks over our shoulders as we clicked into our pedals and took off.  After a short distance, we remembered that we had been given some booklets which told about Jesus and were supposed to give them out on journey.  We felt badly that we hadn’t thought to give one to the man. 

         By the time we rode away from Fairfield and out into the country toard the hills, the wind was really blowing.  At one point, the wind had changed direction and was blowing from the side.  It was blowing so hard that it actually moved my bike sideways while I was pedaling.  I remember talking to the Lord and saying, “Lord, we’re doing this ride for you.  Why are you making it so hard?”  I got no answer to that question but then I really wasn’t expecting one.  Later, I checked back with the local weather man and the winds were as follows:

27 mph (WSW)

31 mph Max Wind Speed

36 mph Max Gust Speed

Obviously, the gust of wind is what blew my bike sideways.  If you don't think a 35 mph wind in your face or pushing you sideways is very much, you have another thinks coming.

Countdown to Triathlon – 142 Days, 20.28 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 82 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.  ~Anne Bradstreet

        In California, spring is here.  Many of the fruit and flowering trees have already dropped their blooms and are leafing out.  For those of you back east (and I hear you're getting another storm this weekend) take heart.  Spring is on the way.  I remember the year I went to West Virginia in May. I had enjoyed the wonderful spring here with all the flowers, tulips, daffodills and flowering trees.  Then they were gone.  When I arrived in West Virginia, they were just having spring and I got a double dose of spring that year.  It was wonderful.  Below are the last of our spring flowers.  I post them not to be boasting but to give those of you who are still in the cold weather, hope.  Spring is coming.  Our spri;ng flowers are just about finished.  The camelias have only a few late blooms hanging on.

The Journey - Installment Eighty-Two




Come back on Monday to read about the next leg of the bike ride - Dixon to Napa.  Also, for those praying readers, please keep my daughter Laurel in prayer.  She is scheduled to have a C-Section at 1:30 on Monday.  She had wanted to deliver naturally, but the doctor is concerned about natural delivery because she thinks the baby is gong to be quite large.  Have a great weekend everybody.

GOD PROVIDES ME WITH ANOTHER GIFT

       

        A turning point for me for the entire bike ride occurred several miles from the first rest stop. My knees hurt so much by this time that tears were running down my face.  As people passed me they would ask, “Are you all right?”  I answered each one that I was fine, although they could probably see the tears.  I silently called out to God and cried, “Lord, how am I going to ride to San Francisco when I’m in so much pain now and haven’t even gotten to Dixon?” Just then, Terri rode up beside me and asked me if I was okay.  I broke down and told her that I hurt so badly that I didn’t know if I could continue.  She had me pull over across the road and we stopped under the shade of a large tree. She said, “You know, I used to ride with a friend who had trouble with her knees.  We raised her seat and she had no more problems.”  I was very skeptical because I had knee trouble before I ever started riding the bike so the initial pain was not due to bike riding.  In fact, bike riding is supposed to be good for knees.  Terri again pulled out her tools and raised my seat.  It really was a gift from God and Terri because I was able to finish the ride.  Of course my knees still hurt but as we pulled into the church parking lot we had arrived at our first rest stop.  One of the riders or volunteers there at the rest stop there gave me an 800 mg. Tylenol which cut the pain in my knees so that I could bear it.  At this time, my husband Bob was riding in his pickup as he would throughout the three day ride either behind us or passing us, driving up ahead then pulling off the road, waiting for us. 

            Churches along our route were kind enough to offer us their facilities to use the rest room and set up tables for snacks and drinks.  We would take a short break and then get back on our bikes for the next leg of the journey.  Our next stop would be in about twenty miles at Fairfield and would be our lunch stop.

Here I am pulling into a rest stop out in the farming community of Dixon at the Dixon Community Church, about 25 miles from our starting point.

     








At the rest stops we would use the restrooms, get a snack and drinks and some would use the time to tweak their bikes or make any adjustments. 




My recollection of parts of the ride when we rode in the countryside was that I just kept pedaling.  Quitting was not an option.  I just kept pedaling – pushing the one pedal, pulling up on the other as my son Hollen had taught me to do. Making circles with my feet, again and again and again.  At least half of the time I would be riding alone and at this writing cannot remember what sort of thoughts went through my mind as mile after mile past behind me.  






Come back Monday to read about the next leg of the bike ride - Dixon to Napa.  For those of my readers who pray, please pray for our daughter Laurel.  She is now scheduled for a C-Section on Monday at 1:30.  Her due date is April 12th but the doctor is concerned because babies add a half to one pound per week in the last couple of weeks and the doctor already thinks the baby is going to be large.  Her doctor doesn't want to risk Laurel going through natural child birth as Laurel would like to do.  We would appreciate prayers.

Have a great weekend everyone.  And for Laurel and Danny, after this weekend their lives will never be the same again, as those of us with children know.  Blessings to all of you.