Right Around the Corner...

So the STP is right around the corner and I'm sure most of you have been loosing sleep wondering how I am preparing for it...and at the same time you're probably pretty sick of the depressing earthquake post.

I am going to be going off on several different tangents here, so bear with me.

This first pic is of the 5am sunrise I took yesterday morning before I left for a ride to Olympia. Pretty, huh?


I have treated myself to some new goodies for my bike. These are my crazy pedals:


And some new shoes to go with my new pedals


I also treated myself to a new seat. Yes, I realize it is cheetah print with a butterfly on it, no need to laugh. It is great because it is designed just for a woman (don't make me explain any more than that.)
By the way, Erin, yes- that is the same seat that I returned when you were with me. I acutally changed my mind and decided it WAS worth the money, and bought it again. How 'bout me being indecisive, huh? Oh, and by the way, I heard Forever in Blue Jeans yesterday and I had the urge to go bust out a couple miles ;)



A few weeks ago I told Dale that for the STP I wanted to have matching shirts or something to make us stand out. Well, I didn't have to say much more, he not only quickly came up with one design, but two. This first one is the one we will wear at the half way point at the riders' camp. Now, let me just say, If you don't watch LOST (specifically season 2), this shirt will make no sense to you, and it will be too hard for me to explain. By the way, what are you doing not watching LOST??? It's the best. Go rent season 1 right now!
This is the front of the shirt:


And here is the back. The 101 stands for the half-way point in miles.




These are the shirts we will wear at the after-party in Portland. Dale is a big fan of the movie American Flyers, and if you are up on your 1985 cycling movies or are fluent in latin, then this will make sense to you.


I have decided to try and loose 5 pounds in the 6 weeks before the STP. Before I go any further, let me just say that in recent years I have found more peace with my body. I am 31 and have had 2 babies and I am far from perfect. I hover somewhere between hearty and scrawny. But I have decided to be thankful for what my body is instead of being critical of what my body isn't. Now, with that said, I want to try and drop a few lbs so I can ride like lightening, ha. Logic would say it should be pretty easy. It should just fall right off with how much I have been riding. So this past week, I have worked super hard. I rode my bike 130 miles (really...that's 2 Olympia runs, 45 miles on the CWT, and a handful of rides on the trainer) and was totally strict with what I ate. I drank tons of water, did all the stuff that usually works...and when I weighed myself on Saturday on the to-the-tenth digital scale...I had lost .2 lbs. Not 2 lbs, but .2 lbs. WTF??? Do I have to ride 200 miles in one week? Just eat lettuce?? I know, I am building muscle, blah blah blah, but it is SO frustrating!!

I'll wrap it up here. I have a piece of celery to go eat.