Loni's Life

Pictures from Wichita Falls HH100... In white sleeveless jersey was on Friday exiting the Expo The pink bandana is Saturday in pre-dawn hours waiting at the starting line. The one with my cycling helmet on is at the first and only rest-stop I took this year at Shepherd AFB. I didn't snag a photo of myself at the finish line... However, I did capture a hilarious one of my cycling partner exiting her brief but refreshing foray into the open fire hydrant as per an agreement we made early on in our cycling season, though she may argue that she was coerced.

Me: http://www.marathonfoto.com/index.cfm?RaceOID=28542009M1&LastName=HOLT&BibNumber=683&Mailing=23127 BFF/Cycling Partner http://www.marathonfoto.com/index.cfm?RaceOID=28542009M1&LastName=HARTT&BibNumber=684 Even with a 30minute stop at Shepherd AFB, I came in 3rd in females in my age group in the 25 miler (for those of us wearing chips). I had to wait about 15min for my cycling buddy to arrive @ Shepherd and then waited another 15min for her to hydrate, snack, cool-off, etc. Considering that our first foray into the HHH ride was at nearly 4 hours to the finish line with long stops at both the first rest stop, the second stop/Shepherd AFB, and several mini-stops on the side of the road in between, we've come a long way! Division: 25 mi F 40 - 44 PL No Name (Represent) 7.5 Miles MPH Total Time Back Pace 3 683 HOLT, Loni (WITT) 37:48.558 3.1 2:26:11.188 +50:35.359 10.3 WITT = We're In This Together which is our HH100 Team Name Another lesson learned this...

Lower than normal temperatures for this time of the year. Started out at 68F. Pretty much had to walk to the start line and didn't get to the start line until about 7:20. That was after Carly Patterson, US Olympic Gold Medalist gymnast sang the national anthem. Girl needs some singing lessons; she might have been hellified on the gymnastics floor; but grand singer she is not. Made it to the first breakpoint by 8am; bypassed it and kept on to Shepherd AFB. Got to Shepherd by 9; waited for my BFF/cycling partner who arrived by 9:15. Made sure that she was hydrated, cooled off, and had a snack, so we left Shepherd at 9:30 and hauled that last 4 miles into the finish by 9:45, woohoo. Grand day, though the event organizers could take some lessons from the guys and gals at Shepherd on creating some excitement at the finish line.... you feel more like a "winner" leaving Shepherd thru the gauntlet of airmen/airwomen cheering than you do at the Finish line.

Beautiful morning in Wichita Falls. It is only 68F and expected high is 90F. Planning to ride the 25 mile route.

Lance Armstong has stormed into second place in Tour de France - More Sports - SI.com Woohoo, go Lance go! And to support my fight against cancer with Lance, please consider a tax-deductible donation to my LiveStrong challenge ride coming in October in the Hill Country of Austin, Texas in Lance's back yard.

Not the best picture I know; but the best I could get with my cell phone. I was sooooooooo cold in the prison dorm room.. and really contemplated how I could steal BFF's blanket from her whilst she was sleeping.. except for she was sleeping on top of it (during naptime after lunch), and I couldn't get it without waking her... she would have given it to me, I know.. especially since Sparkie was still sending up heat waves... but I thought that would be rude to wake her up... so I put on an extra shirt, added my beach towel to my sheet to cover up with, and socks make good impromptu mittens, and wrapped my baby blanket around my head and shoulders. I probably looked like some homeless waif, but at least I had warmed up a bit. We shifted furniture around such that we could share her large blanket for the overnight.. and though I was warm, it wasn't a totally restful night as you can tell from my previous post .

Ok , now on Day 1 of Tour de Cure, we had planned to ride 50; got thru the first 21 ok ; were going to SAG ahead to the last stop before the finish line and ride the last 10 in for a total of 31.  Unfortunately, our teen navigator, missed the exit for that one and we ended up at the finish line.   By the time we got thru riding over the finish line and then locating luggage and such.. with a few sisterly snippety fits thrown in.. not big ones, just a we're both a bit hot, tired, and/or cranky and ready for some rest and air conditioning... we get checked into the room with our bikes.  I volunteer to go back out and get our luggage which convert into backpacks... and upon my first exit from the room to get luggage, I recall that I need the pass cardkey to get back into the building; so I go back in the room and give BFF the doorkey that we had left in the door and get the building pass cardkey to back in the building and happily set off to the elevator back to the 1st floor....

Here's some pictures of the prison-like Dorm Room.   I have often wondered if I missed out on much by rooming at home the first couple of years of college; then moving out on my own;  soon to live with my the boyfriend to fiance to dear husband...  After this weekend, I am thinking I did not miss out on much... especially since today on the car ride home BFF said there are no "pet-friendly" dorm rooms.. that pets are off limits except for maybe a goldfish or something.    I was like, but I have to have a CAT for my mental well-being.   So my mind re-winds to Age 17 and I still had a young Tracer with me then.. and I just don't see that I could have done 4-years of no cat except for summers at home.    The mattresses squeaked all night and felt like you were going to fall through  the bed frame ... i mean, I know I'm a heavy gal... but come on, for this ugly institutional furniture that is supposed to last 400 years or whatever, it should at least be quiet and fe...

A couple of pictures of me in my Team Red Rider jersey. 

Oh my goodness, how quickly the monthly has flown by! Seems like it wasn't that long ago when we were getting ready to head out for the Bike MS DFW . Tomorrow we're headed to San Antonio to participate in the 2-day Tour de Cure for the American Diabetes Association. From San Antonio to Austin in 2 days, by pedal power. It will be our longest 2-day event to date. Please support the ride with your tax-deductible donation by following this link to my fundraising page.

Ok, today BFF and I had already scheduled the day out of the office for traditional post-Bike MS recovery activities including a massage and a trip to either The Cheesecake Factory or Olive Garden. Since we did pre-race dinner at Olive Garden, we opted for the recovery day lunch to be at The Cheesecake Factory after a 2-hour massage (yes, you read that right.. t-w-o.. .2, blissful {ok, mostly blissful} hours of massage therapy). My shoulders are feeling better and my glutes are as well; the rest was pretty much just relaxation. Lovely lunch at The Cheesecake Factory with our traditional fare consisting of diet coke, brown bread, splitting of Roadside Sliders Deluxe, cooked well and plain with cheese (today, we opted for Swiss) with the pickles and grilled onions on the side and hold the ketchup (ok, all of that is because I am picky) and a side of mayo for BFF. Then today, she opted for chocolate tuxedo cream cheesecake and I opted for a known yummy ~ White chocolate macadamia nut cara...

Ok , on our drive back from TMS after dropping off my jeep. In a pasture (one of many we passed on the way back to Frisco), I noticed that the cows were all clumped up in a corner.. and it's not like it was a corner where there was big food trough or anything. So I ask BFF , what's up with that? I've never seen cows all clumped up like that... ok , so I'm a City Girl. She says it's 'cause storms are a coming and that's how they do their safety in numbers thing and keep the calves in the center and safe and whatnot. Well whilst our 30 miles of riding through various countryside with horses, cows, and alpacas... I did notice that the cows were clumped up in little groups as were the horses. Even the burros or mules or donkeys or whatever that were housed in with the horses were clumped up with the horses. Storms ~ they are a coming! Alpacas... well, they must not have any sense, 'cause they were just all over the field. Today, on our drive home, the Cows...

We rode across the finish lines; secured our bikes on our conveniently parked vehicle; changed out of our bike cleats, and then headed to the Cheesy Rider tent for some team bonding and hopefully some food and snacks. They had grilled hot dogs and burgers with the fixings plus baked beans and ranch beans; plus various cookies/brownies for dessert; Quaker Oat bars; and various Frito-Lay branded chips (yum!) They had G2 Gatorade in various color and flavors, I had blue which was blueberry/pomegranate and BFF had pink which was kiwi-strawberry; they also had beer... I would have thought they would have had some other Pepsico soft-drinks, but no. My burger was more on the side of medium well than well.. and LOVE is when your BFF will trade burgers with you to let you have the more cooked burger than the sucky pink one (my BFF is the very, very BEST). As we finish up eating, we hear over the P.A. system and announcement of "Weather Alert", inclement weather moving in within t...

Ok ; day started off a bit hectic; since BFF was a bit behind her idea of the ideal schedules.. but once we got going and out with our bikes to the start line, things were better. Lessons learned: Do the bike labeling and so forth the night before. Remember to check that each other has their food wristbands (I had mine, but hadn't checked that BFF had hers; since we were each busily labeling bikes, helmets, etc.) If splitting up gear to bypass the overnight luggage check-in with Bike MS (this year we left our overnight gear in the car), then I need to remember to pack good tennis shoes in the overnight bag and my ocean sandals rather than flip flops; and BFF needs to remember to pack sweatpants or shorts and a hair brush) Take more pictures (mainly for BFF , since at least this year she remembered the camera, but then forgot to use it much) Got lined up with our Cheesy Rider team and out on the course with the agreement to bypass break 1 on 380 and meetup at break 2. We hit br...

Hmm .. the yummy pot-roast from last night talked back most of the night with signs of indigestion and heartburn. By the time I made it to the hair salon at 9am, it was talking back with a vengance .. i.e. I was puking up my toenails. (I really cannot see why people would turn bulimic, because puking is just no fun). Told the stylist that the puffy dandelion Einstein bob cut she gave me just wasn't working and we needed to do something about it... so it's quite a bit shorter now.. and still not sure that I am totally pleased with the results. Now, after a wash and towel/air dry, it sits flat on the sides and looks nice but sticks straight up in the front... will have to play with it and some mousse or something in the next few days. Pictures forthcoming in other posts. Get done at the stylist and head home to take a nap and let the tummy rest for a while.. temp was running around 99.4 to 99.6. BFF calls since we were to go get mani / pedi done before heading out fo...

The most powerful of all, Zeus(Greek)/Jupiter(Roman)was god of the sky and the king of Olympus. His temper affected the weather, and he threw thunderbolts when he was unhappy. Well, we would like to ask Zeus, Jupiter, God, and whomever else may control the weather to please bless us with decent weather for Bike MS weekend. I can deal with the rain, though it is not my favorite... but really would prefer that Zeus/Jupiter be happy enough to keep his thunderbolts to himself!

Surprise Spring Changes... Spring = New Beginnings, changes and updates... so today, I took the plunge and got a bigtime haircut and am donating my shorn locks to Locks of Love . No pictures yet, but so far, I am liking it.. we'll have to see how it goes after I do the wash & dry thing at home. Somehow, hair stylists have some magic mojo and can make your hair do all kinds of things that you (or at least I) have little to no hope of re-creating at home. So, for Bike MS weekend... next week... I won't have to fuss with a ponytail or the extra heat built up in my helmet due to all my long hair.. since now it is short. It also counts as one of my Twenty Wishes to work with a charity for children (along with Stitches from the Heart , The Preemie Project , Project Linus , and Ronald McDonald House Dallas ).

Mamma C's post on Organization = More time reminded me that I need to go on a seek and find mission to locate my Polar cycling computer/heart rate monitor. You see, normally it has a home in my CamelBak pocket since I always use my CamelBak when riding. However, in January I packed my CamelBak to take on the trip to Kauai since I thought we might be hiking. In the packing process, I offloaded my heart rate strap and cycling computer because a) they are pricey and b) I didn't want to lose them in Kauai and c) I didn't want to run into any issues via airport security. I put them in a "safe place"meaning away from Mocha and where I would (reasonably) remember (hahahhahahhahhaa). Fast forward a few months... happily get geared up for outdoor cycling... and look in the CamelBak pocket... hmm.. where is my cycling computer (panic attack, that sucker is expensive)... aah, it must be in my cycling backpack... you see, I've gotten so much better at this organization...

A long hot soak in the bathtub with bubbles and my back is feeling as good as new. It was a bit stiff from yesterday's ride. I dropped off my bike for the safety inspection and an annual tune-up. I also picked up a new helmet that fits better than my current one. and new for 2009 I'm adding a handlebar mirror to my bike. Last year M picked up mirrors that go on our helmets; i think she lost hers on the road on the first day of MS and while mine fared a little better.. all I could manage to see out of the stupid thing was my left eye; clouds in the sky; or the yellow stripes on the road... it didn't help me at all to see traffic or bikers behind me.

Ok, I was in a try-something-new mode I guess when BFF and I went to The Cheesecake Factory after our training ride yesterday. I ordered KAHLUA COCOA COFFEE CHEESECAKE Layers of Rich Brownie, Kahlua Cheesecake, Creamy Chocolate Mousse and Chocolate Ganache. Ok, so I was sold on the Brownie, Chocolate Mousse, and Chocolate Ganache (I really miss Olive Garden's old cheesecake dessert-- Cheesecake covered in Chocolate Ganache)... and though I'm not a coffee drinker, sometimes a mild coffee flavoring is sometimes ok. So our cheesecakes finally arrive and I take a big forkfull of mine (Note to self: next time when trying a somewhat foreign cheesecake, eat a tiny bite only!) and am immediately immersed in overwhelming coffee flavor. Ewww... I mean seriously, it seemed like I was at Kauai Coffee in the tasting room and nibbling roasted beans fresh out of the roaster. It was kind of like having the chocolate covered roasted beans... which though I like a few, I don't like m...