Back on the exercise bike

So about a month ago I was at home and had some time before a woodturning lesson. I decided that I need some footage of my bike to put into my videos. I thought some video of the chain going around the sprocket, the tires, breaks, pedals that kind of stock footage would be good. I mounted the video camera on a stick and went for a ride around the neighborhood. I was on the other street and either hit a rock or just lost my balance. (I am going with the rock) and down I went. I got some road rash on my knee, elbow and hand. My bike and the video camera were fine. I rushed home to get cleaned up and proceeded to teach my lesson about halfway through the lesson I reached for a tool and my shoulder hurt. When I finished up the lesson I went in and made a doctors appt. He recommended physical therapy. The tendon in my knee has been bothering me as well. So we are working on the knee and shoulder. I have been doing the pt for a few weeks now. Last weekend I did the Tour de Cure. We rode 129 miles over 2 days. So Monday morning I go in and the first thing they do is put me on the exercise bike. I was like "Really you want me to ride? I just spent all weekend on a bike. My butt is still sore." Anyway I did 2 miles on the bike and could fell it in my legs. The good news is my knee is feeling much better, now if I can just improve my shoulder I will be very happy.

Tour De cure Bike ride

This weekend we did the Tour de Cure bike ride to benefit Diabetes. It was a very nice weekend. On Saturday we rode 68 miles and Sunday we did 60 miles. The ride Saturday was through rural Florida lots of farmland. It was a nice side of Florida we don't often see. We rode south all the way into Crescent Beach and then turned north to St. Augustine. The tour put on a dinner Saturday complete with a band. Tami and I had dinner and then went for a walk on the beach. After the beach we decided to go for a swim in the pool. I slept good Saturday night and Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then walked over to the starting area. They had a bike check area where we picked up our bikes. Then we were off for 60 more miles. The tour had rest stops set up with snacks and food at each one. We had 3 bridges to cross including the bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. The police had blocked the traffic to the bridge so we were able to just ride across in the roadway. After St. Augustine we headed north on A1A up to Ponte Vedra. Then we turned west and headed into Nocotee. There we crossed over the Intercoastal Waterway Bridge. This was the biggest bridge. It is a chore to ride up this bridge but I hit 34mph on the way down. Then we were back on country roads and the temperature was getting in the mid 80's with no shade and a head wind it made for some tough riding. I was happy to be done with the ride and would do it again.

The oddest thing seen on the road was today. We were riding by a lake and someone had thrown a fish in the road. It was probably a 3 pounder. Yesterday I was 1/2 mile from the finish and 2 girls on beach cruisers turned off the sidewalk and almost crashed into me. It was pretty close. At the finish in St. Augustine they had a giant block of ice that you could rest your legs on. This felt so good....

It was a very nice weekend. I got more sun then I wanted. But a lot of money was raised. We had fun doing it. There were a ton of volunteers that were very helpful and put on a great event. The rest stops were well manned with helpful people and I could tell they were hot, but they were doing a great job taking care of the riders. I want to personally thank every volunteer. You helped make this a great event!!!

Radishes

This is part of our container garden. We have 4 different kinds of peppers planted and some spices. Nothing major but I think we should be able to harvest some peppers. In fact I was noticing my bell peppers are already starting to bloom.

So last night my friend Marilyn and I were out riding bikes on the Baldwin Rail trail. We were about 17 miles into our ride when I hear my phone ring. I slow down and pull it out of my pocket and see it is the house number. I answer it and ask what is wrong. Ethan (my 10 year old) Says nothing is wrong. So then I ask him what he needs. He asks if I can stop at the store and buy some radish seeds. I said "What, I am in the middle of my ride." He says "Oh, how bout when you are on your way home you could stop at the store." I told him we could talk about it when I got home.
Today I was out and stopped buy Lowes and bought some radish seeds and we got them planted. Ethan is convinced they will have sprouted by tomorrow morning. I hope he won't be too disappointed when it takes a few days to see results and a month or so before we get some radishes. The question now is if he will eat more then one....

Grocery shopping by bike

Untitled by emorymc at Garmin Connect - Details

Samantha and I did something not to many people do now a days. We rode our bicycles up to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I have been trying to get out and do some of my errands by bike. My bank is close enough as well. I got a few miles in and got to enjoy some really nice weather and spent some time with my daughter. Doesn't get much better then that.

Untitled by emorymc at Garmin Connect - Details

Untitled by emorymc at Garmin Connect - Details

Apple Ipad

Today Samantha and I went to the Apple store to look at the Apple Ipad. It was my second time going to the store to check it out. They are very fun to play with but, I am going to wait and see how they develop. It isn't different enough from my laptop to warrant spending the money they are selling those things for. Some of my concerns are; it is smaller than my laptop. I would like it to have a usb port (So I could sync my Garmin 310 xt ) A DVD player would also be nice, not that I watch too many movies on my computer. It would help keep the kids occupied in the car while on trips. We already own a stack of movies. I still like having them on the disc as compared to taking up space on my computer.

Some of the cool things about it are; the size makes it pretty portable. The screen has a beautiful picture. The book reader looks like a very good feature. I would like to check out some magazines. I am sure there are tons of apps available with more coming. Hopefully that will drive the price of those down a bit. I hear the battery life is about 10 hours so that is good. It is also very easy to figure out. If you have used an iphone or itouch it is like using one of those with a giant screen.

I would love to have one but can't justify the price at this point since it is between what my phone does and my laptop. At this point I would rather upgrade my laptop. Apple is selling tons of the ipads, I'm just not ready for one yet.

Back on the Bike

Last week I took a pretty hard fall off my bike. I took a few days off from working out. Yesterday I was feeling better and it was such a nice day. After dinner I went for a bike ride. I rode a few miles up to the Starbucks and had a hot chocolate then rode over to the grocery store and picked up a few things we needed. Today I had to go to the bank, So I decided to ride up there. It only takes about 10 minutes to ride each way. The only bad part was I got to the bank and reached in my pocket for my deposit and realized I had left it at home. I was good and rode home got my deposit and rode back. So I was able to get in a a little extra time on the bike. The weather is very nice today. The wind was at my back on the way home both times. I have been trying to do as many of my errands on the bike. It saves a it of gas but it is always good to be out on the bike. Now it they just had a bike lane I would be set.