Avoiding Dehydration and More!

Cece has pretty much recovered from her heat exhaustion when she stupidly rode a long ride in 103 heat on the bosque!  Here is a link that a friend sent so that you can avoid getting dehydrated in the heat and so that this does not happen to you!  This is advice from a doctor.

 But so many other interesting things happened before her mishap that she did not want to forget  them.

She met her friend Daniel who works for the city keeping the bosque beautiful.  He sweeps the  trail so that cyclists do not get goat heads in their tires.  He takes the cotton out of the wet land so that flies do not breed  in it and also recirculates the water so it is fresh.  He helps people who get flats and also makes lots of friends in the process.

So he and Cece had a nice reunion and again we  met at the bottom of a hill....and Cece joked that once again she had to struggle up it....although this time it was quite easy.

She was also stopped by the Sheriff and asked is she had ID!  This was a first!   Stopped on a bicycle? When Cece was asked, she stuck out her ankle and showed him her Road ID and explained it to him.  She also told him she has her phone, state ID, her insurance cards and her AAA card and car insurance with her...in case she needs to be towed back! After all this, he gave her a reflective ankle bracelet that would function as ANOTHER ID!  Go Figure!

He explained that they are increasing their patrols and just asking people to be vigilant and to be their eyes and ears given the restrictions on the bosque.  Both Daniel and the Sheriff mentioned that they would not be surprised if there was a bosque fire soon....but both asked Cece to keep her eyes open and call 911 immediately if she sees anything.  They are  having increased patrols and are asking people to assist them  when they are out and about.

Look Who Got the Hot Single Dad Award!

It's Troy Jacobson!  The man Cece loves to hate!  He is the Spinervals Coach whose DVDs Cece uses to train indoors.  He is also the Ironman Coach  and a coach at Lifetime Fitness!    You can check out his blog on the side bar called "Life of an Endurance Coach."

The Pain of Suffering From A Loss.

Cece does not usually watch the NBA  finals. She much prefers college basketball.  But this year, she got caught up in the back story of the HEAT...particularly the story of Lebron James as told by Magic Johnson in a pre-game show.

Magic said, "Last year after losing in the finals, Lebron James stayed in the house all summer because he was disappointed by his own performance.  This year , he is so determined to win because he does not want to feel that pain and suffering again."

After the HEAT won the NBA championship, Wayne Wade said, "We had to go through all that pain and suffering to get where we are today."

What happens when we are disappointed  in ourselves?  We could be disappointed in our athletic performance or job performance or a multitude of things.  Lebron did not come out of the house for months. Cece often puts on weight.  Others get depressed or beat themselves up. Some surrender and quit.   What happens to the psyche when we have trained and trained or practiced and practiced and planned for success..... and we fail to reach our goal?

Cece has been thinking of this a lot lately.  She loves to watch the Olympic Track and  Field events and as a matter of fact has a friend who is attempting to qualify.  She envisions the starting line and all those elite athletes waiting to hear the gun.....they have all worked so hard  and dreamed  so big!  They have  trained for this very moment.....but the reality is  that only one person will win.

How do all those other athletes, that did not win, handle the defeat?  What do they say to themselves?  Do they try again in the next 4 years?  Train harder?  Try new training methods?  Get a new coach? Or do they give up?

For Cece, she has had to readjust her goals as she transitions from an endurance cyclist to a sprinter!  "Rome was not built in one day" is her new motto!  She has plenty of time to develop her skills.  She does not need to hurry or push too much.

She has a competition coming up toward the end of July.  She is doing what she can to improve her skills, and lose more weight.  It is a road race.  She has never been in a road race....but she has watched plenty of them in the Tour!  She will keep training, will talk to a few friends about the road racing strategy and then come race day, she will just do the best she can and see if she can come out the other end.

A 120 Pound Biker Chick Passed Me!

A 120 pound biker chick on a 48 inch frame passed me while I was thinking I was riding fast!  I was riding 18.1mph.  Very fast for me! 

If you are  going to pass me , you had better leave me in the dust, because  if you don't,  I am going to catch  you and sit on your wheel and play "You're the rabbit." 

She passed me and then I sat on  her wheel for a while going 20+ mph.  Then  I told her "You be the rabbit" and I will try to catch you.  This is my fast day and it will be good for me."  

Up she amped it  to 22.4 mph and she kept that pace for quite a while.  Soon I started to ask myself, "How long can she keep up this pace?"  because I was not sure I could  keep up this pace...but as if to read my mind,  she said "I can't keep this pace up."  I told her don't worry.  Just ride your own ride."  She slowed down and we rode together talking.

Turns out her name was Kristen....with a "K" and an "en."  I had to check because the spelling of Kristen was always an issue in my house..... given that is my sister's name.

This Kristen was a NYer from Jamestown NY... now living in Germany.  She is here in ABQ  to run a 5K in the Cherry Garcia Race....and she is planning on winning in her age group...which was 45.  She has had hip and back issues due to over training that she has finally recovered from.  She made it a point to tell me that she is "competitive here in the States, but in Germany they are animals and I cannot even place in the top three there,.  Usually I place about 6th in my age group."

So, we had a nice talk as we rode along and then I told her that I was going to turn around shortly.  I told her about the bosque trail and how far it went , what land marks to look for etc.

As for me, I rode an average of 15.9 miles per hour , which I was very pleased with.  I think  having a rabbit helps me and I thought that when I get to the State Championships, I will have many rabbits to chase!