Enchanted Trails RV Park and Trading Post to Host 50+ Games Cycling Time Trials

Cece is on her second day of complete rest.  She does not do "rest" very well.  She was getting itchy and needed to do something besides stare at the walls...so she decided to take an adventure out to Enchanted Trails RV Park and Trading Post.  This is the  site of her time trial on Saturday.  She had been past there before , but had never stopped in. 

Once there, she was greeted by a marvelous Scottish terrier named Winston and a host of happy and

friendly people.

 On historic Route 66.

She met Vickie Ashcraft the owner who had a happy disposition and did not mind answering Cece's multiple questions about the RV park and whether they had bathrooms. Of course they did!   She told Cece where the finish line would be and  how the tables and registration booths would be set up.  Cece has never been in an RV and was very curious about what an RV park is.  You would think she came from MARS, but only really from New York where she had never had that experience!  She had much to learn.

The casita part of the park housed many rooms that provided for necessities and for entertainment.  She noticed that they had many vintage things!  Here are a few!

A women in the trading post told Cece they were on 9 mile hill and Cece's eyes got as big as flying saucers!  Her first thought?  Was her route still on the 9 mile hill?  She had climbed that before...but she could not remember the details....probably she was in a coma at the time!   The woman got out a map and highlighted 9 mile hill and told her that really they were at the end of it!  WHEW!  She was gonna climb enough hills on Saturday she did not need to climb that infamous hill  too!

In the back by the RV park, she had several vintage motor homes.

 More than anything, the people she met there were friendly and willing to talk and answer any of Cece's

 questions.  She asked a man she met at the park about the Balloon Fiesta and he said that even though it is in October, they are almost booked up with just a few spots remaining.  Cece understood why...everyone was happy and friendly!  Cece is looking forward to Saturday and is glad it is being hosted by the Enchanted Trails RV Park and Trading Post! 

*****

A Wonderful Route 66 Adventure!  

Update on Loss of Bag of Sugar!

OK. So .   When Cece got on the scale this am, she was happy to see that she has lost 3 pounds of the 5  to make that bag of sugar.... that she will symbolically leave at the bottom of that horrible hill on the time trial route!

Then she started to think....hmmmmm...she had planned to take her under seat bag off...because she did not need that added weight either.  So, she took off her bag...and put it on her scale...and voila!  It is just about 1 1/2 pounds.  

In her tweaked out mind...she has now lost 4.5 of the 5 she wanted to loose.  Is she cheating Yes!  She sure is...but desperate times call for desperate measures!

Her next thought...get another tube on her back wheel...take the slime out.  We will see.

She will keep you posted!   

Getting Rid of a Bag of Sugar!

If Cece remembers correctly, a bag of sugar is 5 pounds!  Imagine carrying this bag of sugar uphill in a race.  URGH!  This is the new short term goal.  To get rid of this 5 pounds by race day..not by any drastic means...but just by keeping on what she is already doing.

There is no  more time to mess around and eat this or that not on her plan.  She must be vigilant.  Each pound she carries is to her disadvantage.

She has been training hard and having a sufferfest.... training over her threshold heart rate...because during the race it is going to go and stay there.  The antibiotics are doing their magic and she feels great and has been functioning normally...except for the work outs.

Today is a recovery spin day and Tuesday is a loose day or arms only at the gym.  Then complete rest and days off from work...don't laugh....where she plans to paint her toe nails to match her jersey...not that anyone will see that...but just to pamper herself for a short moment! 

Ahhhhh!  To be pampered!

The Mind and Body in Battle....Who Will Win Out?

7 days before the big event and Cece is out with a double ear infection and a bad sinus infection.  Of course, she blames that gust of wind that got her this past Monday (see below!)   That evening, her ear was killing her like it did when she had an ear infection as a child. Damn  wind! 

She went to the doctor and had her look in her ears, nose and throat and her Dr's favorite phrase came off the docs lips...."Oh God!"    Why does she always say that when she looks?

The Dr.  got out her prescription pad.  Cece stopped her saying, "Lets count how many days until my race.  I want to be covered until the next day."  They counted up 11 days and that is how many days worth of antibiotics she was prescribed.

Now Cece is trying to rest and stay on her training plan at the same time. Did she just say that?  Good Luck!   This is not quite so easy.  Her mind wants to train...her body and lungs do not.

What to do? 

Cece is bargaining with herself.    She negotiated with herself...her mind is hemming and hawing.  OK> agreed.  She will rest most of the day in bed and try to sleep...sleep...sleep  Then later in the afternoon she will get up and start moving around a bit....then early evening she will train indoors  and do the Spinervals DVD called time trialapalooza....80 minutes of push, push push!  Tomorrow if she is feeling better, she might ride the actual route...we will see how the battle of the mind and body plays out.

For now...nighty nite!  Cece will be dreaming and visualizing the route.......

The Wind Got Hold of Me!

Cece has been cycling now for quite a few  years.  She has ridden in many different weather conditions and those of you that read this blog, know that she does not like the wind.  Even though the cyclist's mantra is "The wind is your training partner" Cece avoids it like the plague if she can.

She had checked the weather Underground for her forecast in the Northeast Heights as she took her bike to work today to climb the difficult (for Cece)  Elena Gallegos hill.It is a category 3 climb...so says Map My Ride.  Once outside, she remarked out loud what a perfect day it was.  No wind, moderate temps...a wonderful day to ride.

She began her ride and a few miles later her climb up to the top of Elena.  We are fortunate in Albuquerque to have much land that is designated Open Space and the Elena Gallegos area is one of them.     Click on
 the clicky thingy and scroll down and you will see a  brief slide show of the area.  It is starkly beautiful.  This is the high desert and once at the top, you can look west and see the city from way above it all!

Training is challenging and so was this climb.She was grateful she was not wearing a heart rate monitor because she would have been scared at her numbers...but she was pleased she made it up.  Then the fun part.  The reward for climbing up...is the down.  Weeee!  Weee! We Weee!

Cece wanted to get a few more miles under her belt and decided to go north on  Tramway and then back  south to where she had started from.  When she made the turn to go south, she noticed a horrible head wind was developing.  Where did this come from?  She told herself this is Albuquerque and this is the box.  She was going south into a headwind that had a sheer to it from the west.  But really it was no problem.

But, she had spoken too soon.  Shortly, a gust of wind caught her ,seemingly out of the blue, and took hold of her and her bike.  Time stood still...it was like she was pedaling, but was going no where.  All of a sudden, her bike began to wobble and she was beginning to be pushed into the highway.  This was not good.  Nothing like this had ever happened before.  She thought back to the most horrible wind day she had ever experienced...that day on Frost road with the team....but this was worse. because she found she could not control her bike!

It took only a moment to decide to unclip and stop her bike.  She stopped and held on tight.  The gust passed.  She took a few breaths...looked behind her at the quickly flowing traffic and said a silent prayer
of thanks. 

After a moment, she got back on her bike again, wondering where the wind had gone too.  There was a gentle breeze that was wonderfully pleasant, but no monster wind that made her immobile!  Whew!

Another great adventurous day on the bike!

Poetry by the Mile

When Cece got off her bike the other day after having done her time trial route, she got real silly and started to write some free verse poetry!

Here is her  poem:

I set my goal

I must have been crazy

to cut 21 minutes off

my previous time trial pace.

            *
With 2 weeks to go

I am 1/2 way there

             *
 If only I could

loose the horrible hill

and the fat butt baggage

             *
My hips don't want to

Climb uphill!

Here are what some of her wonderful friends wrote back to her ...also in free verse:

The stress and strain that we go through

burns calories extraordinaire

and let's one know (as the pedals go)

that life sometimes ain't fair.



But, what counts most when the chips are down,

won't be our weighted buttocks,

but the heart and love and the sparkle shown,

for our friends and those who love us.


And another:
Be your own best friend,

forget about your rear end.

This is My Fantasyl...except on 2 Wheels!

Cece is training for a time trial on May 12trh.  She was just telling a friend yesterday at the gym that she wished she could just train...and do nothing else...but we both laughed and said, "Well, that is not how life is for either of us.  Today she saw this Nike commercial which is her fantasy moment...except she would be on 2 wheels!

Well, the good news is that she cut her time down a full ten minutes from her previous effort...including
increasing her avg. MPH by 2.2 mph....but the sad news is that is about  half as much change as she had wanted to see!   It is great and wonderful news...but it does not meet the goal she set for herself.  She knew it would be difficult to get that much change...but she will continue to try to get a few less minutes under her belt in the next 2.5 weeks.

Meanwhile, her weight is holding.  She will work on that also.  She will consider having a talk with her boss and telling her she needs to train more and see how that goes.