Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Chilly Hilly: My First Organized Ride and Why You Need Sleep

Sunday's weather was pretty darn great! We did do the Chilly Hilly ride, and I'm so glad. This was my first organized (paid?) ride and it was very fun. I've done lots of group rides now, with up to sixty-ish riders, but nothing like this: close to six thousand riders zooming around a very hilly island. (Oh heck, who am I kidding, everything in the Pacific Northwest is hilly, I think!) It was 33 miles and 2,675 feet in elevation gain: not the hilliest or longest ride I've done, but nothing to sniff at, either.

That's Mr. W's friend, he's not really photo-bombing us. Except he kinda was, haha.
Thoughts on the experience:
  • Gold star: I may be slow up those hills, but I didn't walk my bike up any of them. Bikes are for riding, not pushing! There were an awful lot of people walking bikes up hills, so I felt like a powerful athlete chugging along at 4 mph, hahaha.
  • I was a bit nervous about riding the ferry (specifically boarding and disembarking) with a ton of other cyclists but it was no problem. Except when the guy in front and to the side of me dropped his water bottle and people (not me) started toppling like dominoes as he stopped to pick it up, haha.
  • I had Clif Shot gel (citrus flavored) and it was yummy. And here I thought I despised all gels and their bizarre texture. Nope, this one was good. I also like/love Clif bars even though I don't like most/all any other bar I've tried. I should buy stock in the Clif company, or at least be their PR person.
  • Matt Mr. Wonderful has a lot of biking friends. Sheesh. I am friendly but have never felt the need or desire to know everyone. I have a small group of friends I would die for. Most of the rest of the people in the world are sort of blurry entities I am aware of but don't focus on too much. I have limited attention and thought capacity and I must ration it carefully!
  • Seriously, Mr. Wonderful is such a geek. Have I told you? :) This is my first up-close encounter with a  geek. I feel like Jane Goodall sometimes.
He's a much better kisser, though.
  • I would follow that bullet up with examples of geek-dom but there are just too many and some of them might make you question my sanity. I can't have you doing that while I am doing that, we might come to the same conclusion. Skeery.
  • I was REALLY slow on this ride. Why, you ask? Because I was horribly, horribly sleep deprived. Why, you ask? Because I spent the weekend at Mr. W's house. Is his bed lumpy? No. Are his pillows uncomfortable? No, not really, although I did stop and grab my own pillow from home for the second night. Loud neighbors? Nope. Mr. W. is GRABBY. 

I googled "Sleeping with Octopus" and isn't this the cutest thing ever?
A bit closer to what I meant, if you understand that I am represented by the cat.
Well, this one accurately depicts my body and the feeling of being suffocated by an octopus, anyway. ;)
  • Wow, that man cannot keep his hands to himself. We "slept" (and I use the word loosely, at least when describing my night) twisted up like a candy cane. We haven't had many actual grown-up slumber parties, I realized, after spending the whole weekend together. Will we have many more?? I sleep alone in a king-sized bed. Ahhhhh, space. 
I know how, and it's really not that hard.
  • This issue will need to be addressed, and I suspect message reinforced, before, during and after future sleepovers. I was exhausted. By Sunday night after the long ride, you couldn't distinguish between me and a walker from the Walking Dead.
So very tired.
  • Anyway, so I was exhausted and very slow, but we made it through. I would definitely do it again! Next time with plenty of sleep the night before. Mr. W. is a fun riding partner because he's a good mix of chatting and leaving me the heck alone so I can chug up this damn hill. I enjoy him so much, even though he mistakes me for a body pillow. We are having a (Mr.) wonderful time together. And will continue to do so, unless I go into complete geek-breakdown. Such strange creatures.
Questions for you, Constant Reader (to steal outright from one of my favorite authors, Stephen King):
  1. Can you sleep with someone velcroed to your body? Or do you paint a line down the middle of your bed, if partnered?
  2. Do you like Clif Gel, and if so, are there other flavors that I should try, given that I have been known to take a mouthful of Gu and spit it on the pavement? (Normally, I swallow, but will spit if it is just too darn unpalatable, hahaha.)
  3. Are you one of these social butterflies who knows everyone like Mr. W, or can you count your besties on your fingers and maybe toes?
  4. Are you, or have you ever been a geek? Do you affiliate with geeks?
  5. Do geeks deserve love, too, like real people? ;)

6 comments:

  1. 1. Dude... I make my husband sleep with a separate set of blankets because I need to be totally cocooned to sleep. No touchie! haha
    2. I've been know to spit LOL!
    3. Butterfly! I love to talk to lots and lots of people.
    4. guilty. Am one, married to one, know lots. I still participate in a monthly D&D gaming session... old skool dice and all.
    5. yes! more in fact!

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  2. 1. Not many sleepovers yet, i.e. my queen size bed is all mine, but I have told the BF that there will be a king size bed in our future. I like my space.

    2. Citrus is probably the best.

    3. I'm an extroverted introvert? The BF says I know everybody, but I really have a close few that I'd call when something important happens.

    4. YES, I'm a geek.
    &
    5. Seriously?!?! OF course. I mean,being an unreal person is difficult as is. Now you want to take love away from us? :-P

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  3. 1. DH is the ONLY person I can really truly sleep with. It was destiny, meant to be, etc. Seriously I can't even sleep with my own kids without looking like aforementioned zombie.

    2. Never tried gel and presumably never will. :)

    3. Total social butterfly and totally opposite of DH who if given the chance would go days on end without seeing or speaking another living thing.

    4 & 5. Nope, DH is the Geek and yes they deserve love too!

    And ALL of those octopus visuals are just downright creepy, thanks for giving my nightmares something to concentrate on! Just saying!

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  4. Clif has a raspberry and a chocolate (two different ones) that I like too.

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  5. 1. I can't and neither can hubby. We move around a LOT when we sleep. My husband even manages to remove his pillow case and the sheet sometimes. We do not velcro.

    2. I've never tried it, and I probably won't.

    3. My number of friends is very low, but I can masquerade as a social butterfly when there is a demand for such behavior.

    4. I would like to think I am a geek, but I am really not quite up to geek level. My son is a geek. I love geeks.

    5. Yes!

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  6. I call my husband an octopus for that exact same reason! And I hate it! I am always trying to make him move away from me. Sometimes it's a turf war. I got a king-sized bed a few years ago, but most of it just doesn't get used.

    I have lots of friends I hang out with, but just a few I would turn to in a crisis.

    I'm not a geek! Well, sometimes I've been labeled a word geek, but that's different.

    Thanks for your comment today.

    ReplyDelete