GQ at TNT or was it the Chippendales?

OH MY! When Cece arrived this am with camera in hand, the men were all ready for their photo shoot! Some had told their co-workers about it and the women in the office requested a butt shot. Others were planning on showing some flesh.Cece is sure,. this is why her eyes are closed in this pic...she is just imagining the Chippendales TNT calendar that she could create as a fundraiser for TNT...and then she thought Aisha would probably kill her...but if we raised a lot of money for cancer research....it might be worth it....hmmmmm she is still thinking about this since the men were so forthcoming. Someone told Cece she would also have to take pics of the men on the marathon and tri teams too! She can imagine the calendar now. Aisha! Have we ever considered this? The firemen do it!

They are all soooo shy! Can you tell? And now for the women in Damian's office.......

A woman who saw these told Cece, "They needed to turn a bit more" Oh Well, next time.

We all made it to the San Felipe Casino and back in one piece, riding 54 miles. We all had some fun in the process too! Susan was our SAG person (Support vehicle ) and she was fun and silly and Cece called her the Viking Princess because she kept blowing a long "viking" horn much like they used in the World Cup Soccer matches each time they arrived at a rest stop. Thanks Sue for rescuing Cece with cold water and ice on her way south on 313. That road was a hot wind tunnel and it was hard going on the way back. The fresh water surely helped our parched throats!

Speaking of Susan our Sag person....Cece is sure there will be a bootleg video on You Tube soon! Susan turned the music up and the dancing started! . She took video of Gina, Sue and Cece dancing at the Casino rest stop. What got into these wild women? No one will know. They learned that their cleats could really add rhythm to their dancing as they boogied on down....the men just looked on in wonderment...as they danced and ate their PBJ sandwiches at the same time!

After the ride, Yun and Cece settled in for a nice lunch of a cold lemony red lentil salad,and brown rice, shrimp, vegetables and Yun's spicy hot stuff. Of course, Yun asked her famous words, "Do you need help Chop Chop?" and Cece laughed. They talked about their upcoming blogs on hate that will be on the Whos ... they hope... next week... and set limits about the points they want to make and not make.

The Icicle Sisters

Burrrr! It was cold this morning,. Sue and Cece agreed that it took at a minimum of 9-10 miles before they even got warm . Neither of them had enough clothes on! Every body part they owned was freezing! Cece did amazing things with her headband...things she never imagined she could do. Use your imagination! LOL. They agreed that they were the icicle sisters as they made their way through Corrales cursing at the incorrect temperature readings on Weather Underground! They needed fingered gloves, long pants, toe warmers and under armour...at the minimum. They had none of it. As they tried to cycle faster to get warm, Cece learned that Sue lives almost in Bernalillo and they decided that their next hill day they would climb "The Damn Road." Cece calls it that for several reasons...the pavement is rough and the hills are tough. This is the road out to the Jemez Dam.

Finally after about 10 miles, the sun rose and that was just about when they started climbing. No coyotes this morning...they were probably warm in their dens...do coyotes have dens? They were smart to stay out of the cold. They did see some rabbits and some quail.There are lots of beautiful homes in Corrales and once the sun came up a bit, a picture had to be taken.

Here is Sue all happy to greet the day. This is not from this am, but from the other day. This morning's pic had ice on it and the camera froze that early. She had on shorts and her husband's over sized high Viz windbreaker which completely swallowed her up it was so big!

The team is riding out to San Felipe's Hollywood Casino on Saturday ...about 55 miles round trip. It should be a fun flat ride. Sunday , Sue was invited to join the WRW club for a ride in Santa Fe. We could potentially ride about 110 miles this weekend, although Cece does not want to ride that much...maybe about 90. We will see.

OH! And Cece promised the men on the team that she would focus on them in the blog so people know there are actually men on this team. Stay tuned...GQ on bikes. LOL.

Here is Cece this morning playing Rudolph with a red frozen nose.Well, we better get prepared for the cold....the warm summer mornings are gone. Cece prompted Sue to get some legs and a light...and told her we might have to start riding a bit later...AND check another weather service for more accurate reporting of early morning temps.

She Loves Hills, She Loves them Not!

It is getting darker in the mornings now...and colder. Wheels down at 6:30am is pressing our luck a bit...but we have our lights and it soon gets bright enough to put on our sun glasses...but Cece is getting ahead of herself.

Tuesday is hill climbing day. But, Cece had been off her bike for 6 days due to a sinus infection and fever. She behaved well and rested. Finally on Monday, she felt well enough to do some cardio and weights and take her yoga class. Tuesday approached and she wondered if she should ride. That would mean early in the East Foothills. Burr! She could feel the cold already,. She checked Weather Underground...59 degrees with 2mph winds. Not too bad at all. OK. It was a go.

She texted Barb...who she found out was the birthday girl and asked her to suggest a ride.Do you know what she said? She said, "How About the Good Morning Legs Ride?" I am up for that one again." Cece calls this ride "Hell in Disguise." Cece rolled her eyes through the texting..."Is she trying to kill me again?" Should she be doing this hard climb with her lungs? Well, she determined to give it a try ...and by the way... she told herself,,,she would wear her favorite anti-hill climbing jersey! "She loves hills, she loves them not."

Truth be told, Cece loves a challenge and now that she is fitter the hills are a lot more manageable! But it is still very hard. Well, today, Barb and Cece discovered that they had made a mistake on the route a few weeks ago and climbed more than what was on the route...so today they followed the actual route and it was shorter and they escaped one hill that they had climbed previously. But they did not escape the worst hill!

Once again , Cece made it up to the dreaded Piedra Lisa Trail Head and it only took 2 curses this time. She was worried she would wake the neighbors who were still probably asleep at this hour, but then figured that if they lived on this hill, they must hear a lot of cursing from most who climb up it!

Once again, Cece's quick release popped open. She vowed right then and there that this was the last time she would ride with this skewer. What goes up, must come down and she did not want to risk an accident on the downhill. After the ride, she went right to her bike shop and had them install a different make skewer with a different quick release. Hopefully, this will be more safe.

Cece invited Barb for a ride in Santa Fe on Monday. OH! BTW, they are friends again after Barb told her that she had her cell phone in the ready last week to dial 911 in case the coyote bit Cece's legs! LOL. We will go with a few friends and our cycling club Women Riding Well as we journey into Galisteo and then perhaps on to Madrid. The hills should be alive!

Happy Birthday! Barb!

3 Weeks and Counting!

Cece saw the team off this am and pumped up Yun's tires (this woman thinks that tires do not need pumping!).  Everyone said that they wish Cece would pump their tires up too!  Then, she sent off the team  with well wishes.

She came home and looked at her calendar!  Only 3 more weeks until her vacation to Moab to ride the Moab Century Tour!  Wow!  It has come upon  her very quickly!  She is going with a few friends and they will ride the rolling 73 miles course.    Here are some beautiful pics of what she has in store for her ride!  The pic below is called the Stairway to  Heaven and Cece hopes it is not on her ride profile!  LOL. 

Jeff at High Desert is going to give Cece a list and locations of some of his favorite haunts in Moab..  She hopes they will include some spots for great music!  Knowing Jeff, the blues artist, they will.  Lots of pics and funny stories will be coming you way in a few weeks....in the meanwhile, the training keeps happening! 

Also, stay tuned for a ride report from Stephanie.  She has just completed her 35 mile uphill race to the sun in Hawaii.  There was 10,000 feet of elevation gain and she made it with grace...although she may tell it another way!  We will see!  Stay tuned...probably on The Two Whos.

Fingers,Coyotes and Falling Tree Limbs! OH MY!

It was Cece's pleasure to cycle with Barb early this morning! They have known each other for several years by now... Cece considers her a good friend...that is..... until this morning!

The hill that you see below is called "Blue Sky" and is deceiving! It is one of the "fingers" in Corrales.  It is a mile long climb that winds around  turning  this way and that and than it  hitches up  to a 9% grade.  Then from the left side of this pic it goes up even further to 17.5% grade. Cece took this climb out of the route due to the steep grade at the end.   But, it went back in when the first hill they climbed was no more than a little gulp of an uphill that could easily be navigated at 13mph! However, there was more to be navigated on this climb up Blue Sky than the terrain....and this is where the friendship got a little iffy!  Cece was riding uphill ahead of Barb.... which is unusual in and of itself...when all of a sudden a coyote was seen by Cece up ahead. There was no way Cece wanted that to cross her path....Cece has seen many coyotes both in the male human and canine varieties.....and she did not want it crossing her path. She was a ways off from the coyote and watched it go back into the shrubs on the side of the foothills. Cece cycled on and poured on the power because she wanted to hurry up and get up this darned hill before she started to curse. Meanwhile, Barb was way back and out of view when Cece would turn and look and wonder where she was. So now here is where the friendship gets iffy. Later, Cece asked Barb, 'Why were you so far back on that hill?" She replied, "I was going slow and hanging back to see if the coyote would jump out at you and bite at your ankles!" This is friendship? Letting her friend take a hit from a coyote? Imagine!

Anyway, with lots of grace under fire, Barb made it up the 17.5 percent grade to the top.  Cece did not even try because her heart rate was already at 168.  Enough is enough!  

After our climbing adventure was over and we were cycling back to our parked vehicles, we rode into the Flying Star parking lot.  We saw a man in a tree and one on the ground.  The one on the ground was waving furiously at us. It took us a moment to realize that  the one in the tree was just about to make the final cut in a tree limb he was cutting down.  We stopped dead in our tracks.  The man did not make the cut.  The man on the ground waved us through.  As we looked back, we heard the chain saw and heard the crack of the limb go down...a close call.  Who knew to look for that type of road hazard?

It was a brisk morning and both women wore their "sleeves" this am.  Cece thought about how quickly the temperature changes here in  New Mexico. It seems like mid to end of August comes and it is already fall-like weather.  And even though they had a coyote sighting, a tree almost fell on them and Cece was almost served up for coyote food, Barb and Cece's friendship thrived despite it all!  

Surrounded by Butterflies!

As Cece and Emira cycled south from Bernalillo all they could see when looking right or left were hundreds of butterflies! Emira kept noticing how many there were....they must have loved the beautiful green fields on either side of 313. Cece is getting ahead of herself though!

Emira is Cece's new friend from Bosnia. She is a PhD Candidate and is writing her dissertation when she is not dreaming big thoughts...and then Cece finds out the next day, that she has carried them out! Emira cycles all around campus and has never owned a car...so she is used to cycling everywhere. When they met and rode together a few weeks ago, Cece invited her to join the team...and so she did much to Cece's delight. When they met yesterday to get situated for the ride today, before Cece hit the tree, she was excited to make a new beginning. Now Cece is her mentor! They are happy women...but this pic was taken before the climbs into Placitas and beyond! Emira rides a mountain bike and she has never ridden long distances, so she was very brave and stubborn too.....to undertake a ride with lots of climbing and 45 miles of road. Cece told her her strategy while hill climbing...to imagine the worst pain you can remember and compare the climb to that. Some how it helps to put things into perspective.
As they cycled up,Emira kept apologizing to Cece that she was going too slow. She felt like she was holding people up. Cece decided that she would have to fine Emira...and charge her $5.00 every time she said "Sorry" and Cece could have made a fortune...but then...she thought about collecting that money and just re-depositing into Emira's Leukemia Lymphoma fundraising account...she might still do this, if the sorrys continue....she is going to keep a tab !
Emira is riding a mountain bike. It is hard to push that thing uphill and to keep up with the lighter bikes. She did a fantastic job despite all this and made it up each hill. At the top of one hill, Cece prompted Clyde to tell Emira if when Cece had started cycling ...if she could have made it up the hills that Emira had . Clyde's response, "Maybe Walking!" And that is true! So, Emira gets kudos for sticking out a hard day on her first day as a team member!

Cece met Keith and cycled with him again a bit, and he told her a funny joke, which he commanded her not to put on the blog...so it is not. Sandy is tenacious and strong and spotted this "Go Fast sign" as the perfect location for a photo op.

Cece needs to get more men in these pics. Luckily we had Clyde this week...the others were well on their way...before she could take a pic. She will work on that next week!

Now Cece is off to repair her car and her tires after the fateful tree attack at the Frontier restaurant yesterday. But that's another long story!

Meet Two Very Interesting People!

When a married man meets you at 6am , at his front door, in his bathrobe, you know it is time to take stock. What day is it? What time is it? Why is he not in spandex? Cece was unloading her bike, putting on her front tire, when Keith appeared. He was unsure if she was coming. He hurriedly got ready. His very kind wife Martha came out in her robe and kept Cece company.... and soon off they went!

Keith wanted to do some climbing and when he heard that Cece was not in a rush, grand plans started to form! They warmed their legs up before starting to climb and went by Tingley and then to the Hispanic Cultural Center and then back to warm up. Tingley is so beautiful in the early morning light!
Cece, Keith and Martha do not know each other very well. As a matter of fact, this was their first real time spent together. Keith and Cece had a bonding moment climbing Oak Flats last week when they both contemplated whether they were actually in hell, but that was the extent of their knowledge of each other! And so, as they cycled, they got to know each other a bit.

Cece always laughs when she discovers just who is that person under that cycling helmet? You never know. Later, over a wonderful breakfast of cheese, thick sliced fresh bread , yogurt and french pressed coffee....all of which Cece enjoyed tremendously, Keith handed her 8 business cards. Seriously folks! These just confirmed the enthusiastic conversation they had while cycling almost 30 miles together!

She had no idea she was cycling with the past president of the local and National Boards of the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, an Internationally known Motivational Speaker with big cooperate clients, a wine connoisseur and wine taster/master licensed corkman..... a professor of English literature, a coffee snob (Cece is too) a published author of soon to be 2 books and a travel cruise organizer for cancer survivors and wine makers. Yes, there is much more, but that is the synopsis! No grass goes under this man's .....or his wife's feet!


Meet Martha, Keith's wife! This is a woman with abundant joy! They have been married for 25 years and Cece could tell that they are a great team as they speak and organize around the world! Cece loves to hear the stories from married couples of how they met, their first date and then how it happened that they got married...and as they both told the tale, and giggled and giggled and interrupted each other's stories with more and more anecdotes, it was clear that they had that deep love that lasts and lasts. Sometimes, in Cece's opinion, a man like Keith can over power the woman, but not Martha! She runs a large EBAY business, is a Barter and Trade Broker and organizes "FunRaising" on cruise ships. Not sure how many business cards she has...but probably at least 8! She holds her own in every way. If you are interested in a wine tasting cruise or a cancer survivor cruise click the link.

Martha agreed to be a guest blogger on October 1st on The Two Whos .

The Whos have joined thousands of Women bloggers across the world to set aside October 1st to talk about cancer in women on their blogs. Martha will be the featured blogger.Check out the Army of Women and sign up to work towards fighting cancer.



And Finally, meet the most playful fun loving basset hound! Cece loves basset hounds. Cece had a wonderful morning full of excitement at meeting new friends who graciously invited her into their home. They are strangers no more!