I started back to work with USAA on Monday. One of the things that I've been looking forward as part of going back to work is being a bike commuter. It's part of what I believe in.
I truly believe we'd be a better society if more people got out of their cars and onto their bikes for their ride to work. I know that a lot of that has to do with the infrastructure and Tampa's is NOT bike friendly. My commute is 50th across Fowler, left on Fletcher, right on 42nd up to Bruce B. Downs (BBD). There is a nice bike lane on 50th. There's a nice lane on Fletcher. There's a nice bike lane on 42nd. Until the stop sign (don't know the cross roads.) The bike lane disappears. But it's only 200 feet or so up to BBD. There is a nice bike lane, but it's a really busy and fast street. I've got school buses going by at 50 mph, which can be pretty unsettling for a bicycle. Fortunately, it's only about 100 yards before a real bike commuter path starts that's 10 feet or so off the road. That's a nice path for a few miles, but then construction starts up and they've shut off the bike lane so I've got to take a detour and go back behind Lowe's and wait for that light. Again, I've got to say, that's a long freaking light. Maybe it goes slower since I'm out in the elements on my bike, but coming and going today seemed to take forever.
I'm about 8 miles away from work. I've got a bike lane most of the way. It's flat. It's an easy commute. I'm happy.
But there's still all the other stuff to worry about. I try to make eye contact with the driver of a car I'm approaching, but way too often they're on their cell phones or staring at their phone's screen, texting. And I know it's because that bikes aren't a big enough part of the culture; they're not trained to look out for us. I'm supposed to be a biking advocate, like Alan Snel, but I'm finding myself cursing the drivers far too often. I almost fell over on the way home. I stopped and unclipped because a car was right in the path of the bike lane and didn't have any idea I was there....but didn't get my balance and almost toppled over. I'm so glad for that save.
I left this morning a few minutes later than I'd planned (never good for a first go) but had a good ride to work. One thing I noticed though; the traffic lights lasted a LOT longer during rush hour than they did when I did the same ride at mid day. So, waiting for traffic lights or hitting traffic lights correctly can probably add or subtract 8 or so minutes from my commute.
Got to work, and had not planned properly. Couldn't find my bike lock so I spent minutes fumbling for that. Made my way to the gym and to the shower. Had 15 minutes to undress, shower, dry off, do hair and face, dress and make it to my desk. And I fought with the plumbing. I thought turning the valve on all the way would get me hot water, but it didn't seem to work. I danced in a cold water shower. Didn't take a full shower; didn't have time. Had a PTA shower. Got some hot water by turning the valve half way back to cold (???) I was so confused but had no time to ask anybody. Managed to make it to my chair right at 8 o'clock.
Ride home was sweet. Arrived home feeling refreshed. Had some freaky moments..I was threading between two lanes of traffic without a proper bike lane. Was pretending I was NYC bike messenger. Hoping folks would see me in my bright red shirt. But, you know what? I arrived home feeling great.
Will continue next week.
Night.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Last Friday of Freedom
It's official. I start back with USAA on Monday. I'm excited and scared. Some people thrive on change. I can't say that I thrive on change, but I don't shirk from it, either. I approach change with caution and some trepidation (kinda like me on an unfamiliar bike trail.) I'm never all out balls to the wall unless I know what I'm doing. I don't dive into water not knowing how deep is. (OK, enough metaphors already...I'm sure you get it.) The point is, I'm on the brink of a major life change, so I'm taking a deep breath and focusing on forward. I'm trying to be mindful and observant of what's happening to me; I'm far more self aware than I was when I first started with USAA on January 2, 1989.
This past week has been a flurry of activity. Do I spend my final days of freedom being productive or lazy? I did a little of both. Got some great rides in, cooked some fabulous meals (well, that's nothing new) hung with friends and kids and goofed off a lot. Finally joined Facebook so I now know what all the fuss is about and have played Zuma Blitz way too often. I've also been running carpool 2x in the morning and 1x in the afternoon, so I've been spending over an hour and a half a day in my car, just shuttling kids (I'll be happy to say adios to that chore, for sure.)
Was going to ride yesterday morning, but woke up in the middle of the night to thunderstorms, so I knew the ride wouldn't happen. That was OK. My legs were still recovering from riding Croom on Thursday. Riding my mountain bike in actual hills, not knowing what's coming up around the next corner. Bombing downhills. It was fun, but a lot different from Flatwoods. I felt well exercised after leaving Croom, and eating at Maw's Vittles in Brooksville capped off the experience.
Friday started out rainy, as I said. Met Nancy and we ate lunch at Latam at Centro Asturiano in Ybor City. They had a Cuban Buffet that was fabulous. We then headed over the the Restaurant Warehouse. Steve's husband owns New World Brewery and had recently joined this wholesale-for-the-restaurant-trade club. He'd warned us to wear our heavy coats in, and he was right. It's a big warehouse, very reminiscent of Sanwa on Hillsborough. I love all things food and all things restaurant related, so I had a ball touring the aisles with Nancy. When we went into the refrigerated section, even with our coats and hats and gloves, we still froze. There was a sign that they keep it between 28-32 degrees. It was damned cold. In truth, I didn't see that the prices were any better than Sanwa's on their items, and I could do better at the produce market on Hillsborough for most of the fruits and veggies, but I still had a great time.
After a busy afternoon, I headed back to Ybor to The Cuban Club. WMNF is holding it's annual book and record sale today, so volunteers were needed to get the books out and organized. We've been doing this for about 10 years now, and I've never seen so many books before. The place was overflowing with donated goodies. It was overwhelming, but many hands, etc. Tons of people make this happen, but Walter and Ray are the ones without whom it would not be possible. I'm hoping the sale was successful.
Three of my favorite bands were playing Friday night at New World. Headed over to New World and said hey to Devon of the Takers, who was opening, and to Matt from Have Gun, but I'm lousy at small talk with people I don't know really well, so I got a Creative Loafing, ordered a beer and pizza, and sat at the bar and tried to read in the very dim light. CL was supposed to run some ads for the book and record sale in exchange for them hanging flyers at the event. The flyers were abundant. I scanned the paper two times and did not see an ad for the book and record sale. Hmmmm. I have to say, IMHO, that New World Brewery makes the absolute best pizza. The crust is thin, the red sauce is divine and garlicky, and the toppings of mushrooms, cheese and basil just exploded with flavor. I had half of the pizza at that first sitting, two more sitting in my car later waiting to get out of the parking lot, and the last two for breakfast this morning. Absolute, sheer pizza heaven.
After I ate, folks started showing up that I knew, so I had someone to hang/chat with. Bev and Bryan. Devon started playing about 10:30 and did a good 30-40 minute set. He's from Gainesville but, as often as he plays out here, he may as well live here. I don't get out often, so it was great to see him. He's got a voice for country music, writes amazing songs, and can play a mean guitar. He's really got the chops to make it big. Hope he gets to be more than a big fish in a small pond. His former band was The Takers, and they have one record out. Don't know the whys or hows of the band break up, but as long as Devon's still playing and writing songs, it's all good.
At the set break was heading out and ran into my good buddy, Eric, a park ranger at Wilderness Park. I'd try to contact him earlier on Facebook about the show, but his internet has been down. Jarrod was there with him, another park ranger. Jarrod shared his flask with me (bourbon...like I needed anything) and it was great to see those guys out. Eric asked me who I was there with. I sorta shrugged, because I wasn't really with anyone. It's just that people I know show up at these events, so I don't feel alone. They were with two pretty young things, so I excused myself so they could concentrate on their dates. As I turned around to leave them, there was Henry and his girlfriend. For a while, when USAA was doing their great experiment about combining Policy Service and Claims into one unit, Henry had the desk across from me. We see each other occasionally at shows. He laughed when he heard I was going back to USAA. He'd moved on a few years ago.
Will Quinlan and the Diviners were absolutely top notch. There's a new bass player. They played their familiar stuff extremely well. He did a Tom Petty song. And one of the new ones he played...wow! it was just outstanding. I admit I couldn't understand the lyrics, but musically, on the first fresh listen, it was as catchy as any song I've heard. I can't wait for the new stuff to come out.
Have Gun were as totally wonderful as always. It's such a treat to see a band in top form, with the audience singing along with the songs. It was truly a special night.
Took forever to get out of the parking lot, and didn't get to bed until 2:30. Fortunately, was able to go back to bed after breakfast and stayed in bed until 2:30 in the afternoon. Woo-hoo! Felt normal Saturday night.
A new chapter begins.
This past week has been a flurry of activity. Do I spend my final days of freedom being productive or lazy? I did a little of both. Got some great rides in, cooked some fabulous meals (well, that's nothing new) hung with friends and kids and goofed off a lot. Finally joined Facebook so I now know what all the fuss is about and have played Zuma Blitz way too often. I've also been running carpool 2x in the morning and 1x in the afternoon, so I've been spending over an hour and a half a day in my car, just shuttling kids (I'll be happy to say adios to that chore, for sure.)
Was going to ride yesterday morning, but woke up in the middle of the night to thunderstorms, so I knew the ride wouldn't happen. That was OK. My legs were still recovering from riding Croom on Thursday. Riding my mountain bike in actual hills, not knowing what's coming up around the next corner. Bombing downhills. It was fun, but a lot different from Flatwoods. I felt well exercised after leaving Croom, and eating at Maw's Vittles in Brooksville capped off the experience.
Friday started out rainy, as I said. Met Nancy and we ate lunch at Latam at Centro Asturiano in Ybor City. They had a Cuban Buffet that was fabulous. We then headed over the the Restaurant Warehouse. Steve's husband owns New World Brewery and had recently joined this wholesale-for-the-restaurant-trade club. He'd warned us to wear our heavy coats in, and he was right. It's a big warehouse, very reminiscent of Sanwa on Hillsborough. I love all things food and all things restaurant related, so I had a ball touring the aisles with Nancy. When we went into the refrigerated section, even with our coats and hats and gloves, we still froze. There was a sign that they keep it between 28-32 degrees. It was damned cold. In truth, I didn't see that the prices were any better than Sanwa's on their items, and I could do better at the produce market on Hillsborough for most of the fruits and veggies, but I still had a great time.
After a busy afternoon, I headed back to Ybor to The Cuban Club. WMNF is holding it's annual book and record sale today, so volunteers were needed to get the books out and organized. We've been doing this for about 10 years now, and I've never seen so many books before. The place was overflowing with donated goodies. It was overwhelming, but many hands, etc. Tons of people make this happen, but Walter and Ray are the ones without whom it would not be possible. I'm hoping the sale was successful.
Three of my favorite bands were playing Friday night at New World. Headed over to New World and said hey to Devon of the Takers, who was opening, and to Matt from Have Gun, but I'm lousy at small talk with people I don't know really well, so I got a Creative Loafing, ordered a beer and pizza, and sat at the bar and tried to read in the very dim light. CL was supposed to run some ads for the book and record sale in exchange for them hanging flyers at the event. The flyers were abundant. I scanned the paper two times and did not see an ad for the book and record sale. Hmmmm. I have to say, IMHO, that New World Brewery makes the absolute best pizza. The crust is thin, the red sauce is divine and garlicky, and the toppings of mushrooms, cheese and basil just exploded with flavor. I had half of the pizza at that first sitting, two more sitting in my car later waiting to get out of the parking lot, and the last two for breakfast this morning. Absolute, sheer pizza heaven.
After I ate, folks started showing up that I knew, so I had someone to hang/chat with. Bev and Bryan. Devon started playing about 10:30 and did a good 30-40 minute set. He's from Gainesville but, as often as he plays out here, he may as well live here. I don't get out often, so it was great to see him. He's got a voice for country music, writes amazing songs, and can play a mean guitar. He's really got the chops to make it big. Hope he gets to be more than a big fish in a small pond. His former band was The Takers, and they have one record out. Don't know the whys or hows of the band break up, but as long as Devon's still playing and writing songs, it's all good.
At the set break was heading out and ran into my good buddy, Eric, a park ranger at Wilderness Park. I'd try to contact him earlier on Facebook about the show, but his internet has been down. Jarrod was there with him, another park ranger. Jarrod shared his flask with me (bourbon...like I needed anything) and it was great to see those guys out. Eric asked me who I was there with. I sorta shrugged, because I wasn't really with anyone. It's just that people I know show up at these events, so I don't feel alone. They were with two pretty young things, so I excused myself so they could concentrate on their dates. As I turned around to leave them, there was Henry and his girlfriend. For a while, when USAA was doing their great experiment about combining Policy Service and Claims into one unit, Henry had the desk across from me. We see each other occasionally at shows. He laughed when he heard I was going back to USAA. He'd moved on a few years ago.
Will Quinlan and the Diviners were absolutely top notch. There's a new bass player. They played their familiar stuff extremely well. He did a Tom Petty song. And one of the new ones he played...wow! it was just outstanding. I admit I couldn't understand the lyrics, but musically, on the first fresh listen, it was as catchy as any song I've heard. I can't wait for the new stuff to come out.
Have Gun were as totally wonderful as always. It's such a treat to see a band in top form, with the audience singing along with the songs. It was truly a special night.
Took forever to get out of the parking lot, and didn't get to bed until 2:30. Fortunately, was able to go back to bed after breakfast and stayed in bed until 2:30 in the afternoon. Woo-hoo! Felt normal Saturday night.
A new chapter begins.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Transitions
Don't know how to begin this, so I'll just plunge right in.
Time for change. All these cheesy lyrics are running through my head.
For every season, Turn, Turn, Turn.....
Time to ring some changes....
And more which just escaped me.
What's happening? I no longer have a show on WMNF, and I'm going to be going back to work, to a full time job, for the first time in 10 years.
Let's begin with the WMNF stuff. I've been a programmer on and off for the past 20+ years. The Program Director decided to do significant changes to the schedule in response to our main competition, WUSF, going all Public Affairs and News during the day. After a few months of discussion, a new schedule was issued, which did not include my 9 am slot on Monday morning. There was a 3-4 pm 1 hour specialty show time slot.
Long long story short. I didn't apply for one of the 3-4 pm positions. I applied for the Morning Show or the new Afternoon Show slot form 12-3 pm. I was not chosen for either of those slots. What can I say, it sucks for me. It's hard, but also....I've just started applying for real jobs that actually pay real money (and not just the occasional positive phone/email feedback) and the hours of the real jobs would interfere with doing the volunteer radio gig. At least to start. So, it's really hard to realize that I won't be on air anymore. On the other hand, if I'd been given one of those slots, I didn't know how to tell the PD that I wouldn't be able to be full time for the next four months or so, until after my training was finished.
I've accepted one job offer and am waiting/expecting another. After ten years of being a stay at home mom, my life is going to turn upside down If I get an offer at USAA, with any luck I'll be able to ride my bike to work ( and pass the ghost bike on 30th St. every day.) I'll get to go back and be professional and help people and meet a whole bunch of new people and become more, hell, I don't know, fulfilled.
So, it's all bittersweet. No show...sucks. Going to work...good. Not being able to do both...life.
Just worried about the affect of all this on my kids. They are going to have to shoulder some more of the family burden/chores. It'll probably be good for them, but I will miss them, too. I like our lazy days around the house, listening to Myth Busters in the background.
I'll miss my days in the woods on my mountain bike. I'll be able to ride on the weekends, but it won't be the same.
I've had it good for a long time. Now it's time to help out financially around here. It's time to go back to work for a paycheck and not just for fun.
Time for change. All these cheesy lyrics are running through my head.
For every season, Turn, Turn, Turn.....
Time to ring some changes....
And more which just escaped me.
What's happening? I no longer have a show on WMNF, and I'm going to be going back to work, to a full time job, for the first time in 10 years.
Let's begin with the WMNF stuff. I've been a programmer on and off for the past 20+ years. The Program Director decided to do significant changes to the schedule in response to our main competition, WUSF, going all Public Affairs and News during the day. After a few months of discussion, a new schedule was issued, which did not include my 9 am slot on Monday morning. There was a 3-4 pm 1 hour specialty show time slot.
Long long story short. I didn't apply for one of the 3-4 pm positions. I applied for the Morning Show or the new Afternoon Show slot form 12-3 pm. I was not chosen for either of those slots. What can I say, it sucks for me. It's hard, but also....I've just started applying for real jobs that actually pay real money (and not just the occasional positive phone/email feedback) and the hours of the real jobs would interfere with doing the volunteer radio gig. At least to start. So, it's really hard to realize that I won't be on air anymore. On the other hand, if I'd been given one of those slots, I didn't know how to tell the PD that I wouldn't be able to be full time for the next four months or so, until after my training was finished.
I've accepted one job offer and am waiting/expecting another. After ten years of being a stay at home mom, my life is going to turn upside down If I get an offer at USAA, with any luck I'll be able to ride my bike to work ( and pass the ghost bike on 30th St. every day.) I'll get to go back and be professional and help people and meet a whole bunch of new people and become more, hell, I don't know, fulfilled.
So, it's all bittersweet. No show...sucks. Going to work...good. Not being able to do both...life.
Just worried about the affect of all this on my kids. They are going to have to shoulder some more of the family burden/chores. It'll probably be good for them, but I will miss them, too. I like our lazy days around the house, listening to Myth Busters in the background.
I'll miss my days in the woods on my mountain bike. I'll be able to ride on the weekends, but it won't be the same.
I've had it good for a long time. Now it's time to help out financially around here. It's time to go back to work for a paycheck and not just for fun.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Excellent day
I'm currently reading Ruth Reichl's book, Garlic and Sapphires, The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, about her experiences as the Food Critic for the New York Times. I'm really enjoying the book. It's about some of my favorite things: food, eating out, and New York City. I highly recommend the book to anyone who likes reading about food. My paper's food section comes out on Wednesday, and I always pull it out and read the restaurant reviews with my breakfast. (Not that we can afford to eat out very often, but it's fun to vicariously live and eat through the reviews.)
And I had a chance to live fully (not vicariously) this past Thursday. It was a great and full day.
I got an email Tuesday afternoon asking if I could do the Sonic Detour on Thursday, and Justin Townes Earle (JTE) was coming in to play live. I know Nell often has bands in and she is far more comfortable than I am interviewing people, thinking off the top of her head, and in general presenting a cohesive sounding interview. Any time I have to do an interview, I'm nervous. In addition, Marcie (aka Queen of the Morning Show) had interviewed JTE and done a fabulous presentation on her show on Tuesday morning, asking questions about songs and then playing the songs they had talked about. She did such a sympathetic interview and got him to talk about his myriad problems. I didn't want to do the same thing that she did. (I can thank my friend Joyce for suggesting this...she said do something different and direct the listeners to the archives to listen to Marcie's interview.) I spent Thursday morning prepping for the interview and for the show.
It's a bittersweet time. I've been a programmer at WMNF for over 20 years, and major programming changes are coming up. My time slot is no longer there. I've had shows and lost shows and not been renewed and got passed over for slots that I thought I should have. In other words, my heart has been broken time and time again when the Program Director and I didn't see eye to eye on what I should be doing at the station. I won't go over all the history here, but suffice to say that WMNF is an important part of my life, and being a programmer at WMNF is an important part of my identity. Thank goodness it is not all. I've got a lot more parts to my life than just the station. My family is first and foremost. Next is my love for riding my mountain bike. There's lots more in me too: shopping at thrift stores, bargain shopping for groceries, cooking, gardening, growing african violets and roses. Exercise beyond riding my mountain bike. I love my road bike. I fall in and out of love with running. I've been a gym rat and miss it. Love swimming laps, too. What I'm trying to say is if I don't have a slot in the new schedule, it'll be incredibly difficult and painful but it won't the end of my world.
Knowing all this, I prepared the Sonic Detour show for this past Thursday as either an audition for a show on the new format or a swansong for what has been.
I had several themes for the show. (This may sound silly for anyone not connected to community radio, but almost all of us who do shows take what we do to heart and try to do the best we can each week) First and foremost was JTE. I also wanted to play some of my top ten songs of the year since it is that time of year. I was also gonna be playing songs from the 80's, trying to promote our New Year's Eve show. And I had to give away the CD of the week. And I wanted to throw in some Christmas stuff. That's on top of the normal DJ stuff to do: Underwriting, PSA's, cross promotions, forward promotions, priority copy, etc.
Musically, I was proud of what I played. The songs I played rock my world and I hope the listeners enjoyed them as well. The interview went well. Marcie came and sat in on it and watched and listened. She gave me a thumbs up, and if Marcie said I did a good job, well, that's that. JTE was an incredibly easy interview, very talkative. The songs he played sounded great. He did throw me for a loop, however, when he confessed to having been through rehab 13 times. How does one respond to that bomb? I stuttered something like, "Oh, well, then you can teach the class now, huh?"
I'd asked my music list, Postcard From Hell, if they had anything they wanted to know or any songs they wanted to hear. Before the interview started, I told JTE about the requests. He said, well, uh, I hadn't planned to play either one of those. (Good thing, Christchurch Woman's got an FCC violation word) I was going to come out of the news with the title cut from his CD, Harlem River Blues, before I introduced him, but he said.....no, I plan to play that one. So I played Move Over Mama at his suggestion. He played
Harlem River Blues as his first song. It's a folk/gospel song. I've had the damn song in my head for the past month. I get up at night and it's there, reverberating in my brain. He slowed it down just a tad, and the result was wonderful:
Lord, I'm goin' uptown to the Harlem River to drown
Dirty water gonna cover me over and I'm not gonna make a sound
The other songs he played sounded fabulous, too.
After the show, I hustled down to New World Brewery (NWB) to eat before heading out for the shows. I love pizza and NWB makes the best pizza ever. My husband doesn't like pizza, so if I get a chance to eat at NWB I take it. I phoned in my order and headed down.
I walked in with a copy of the new Creative Loafing under my arm. Steve Bird, NWB owner and husband of my bestest biking buddy, Nancy, greeted me and asked, "Did you see page 19?" I said I hadn't read it yet. I sat down and opened the paper. It was a restaurant review of NWB, and the paper awarded them 3 1/2 stars. Steve was giddy from excitement. It was an extremely complimentary, glowing review, which the reviewer is not known for giving. I thought it was quite a coincidence, since I'm reading the book about restaurant reviews now. I promised Steve that I'd loan him my copy once I finished.
Bev got there are we devoured the pizza I had ordered. And friends started showing up. First, Mike Fisher, (former WMNF DJ) then John Palmer (current WMNF DJ) and friends of his. Then Nancy Bird arrived with some SWAMPers, Jason and Ron and Gruff. They were planning next week's Christmas ride. It was fun hanging out, but I needed to head over to The Bunker. Will Quinlan, my favorite local musician and one of my favorite musicians from anywhere, was playing a solo set.
Amy Snider, who does the Tuesday Sonic Detour, hosts a free singer songwriter night every Thursday at the Bunker. This was the first time I've made it. More 'MNFers were there: Patty was doing sound, then the entire news department showed up. Will started at 9 and did an excellent half hour solo set. He really is an amazing talent. He played Diviner's stuff, did a Uncle Tupelo cover for Amy, and did some of his side project, The Holy Slow Train.
Almost everyone who was at the Bunker walked down the street to the Crowbar for the JTE show. There was a nice crowd, and we got to see the last few songs of one of the openers, Caitlyn Rose. The first person I ran into was Bryan Childs, who has an excellent blog at http://ninebullets.net/
He's into the same type music I am, but even more so. I can say that he and his wife are DINKS, so he's got time. He's also a mountain biker. He does a monthly podcast and blogs extensively about music. He might be getting a show on WMNF with the new schedule, which would be cool as hell.
Kamran was DJing between sets. After Caitlyn Rose played, the first song he played was Mumford & Sons, followed by Slobberbone, followed by cool song after cool song. I told him that it could be me doing the DJing.
OK, it just occurred to me that this entry could turn into all the friends I saw on Thursday night, so I'll just skip that part and get to the show.
JTE came on about 10:45, just him and his guitar. (OK, details will get fuzzy because by this time I'd had a few) The first few songs were just him and his guitar, and that big, noisy room was paying attention. You could have heard a pin drop. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand. He did an excellent job of seeming to make eye contact, but he was looking over our heads. But he would scan the crowd from one side to the other and back again. He brought his band out, a cute woman playing upright bass and a fiddle player, and just ripped it up. They made their way through most of the new record and some of the older stuff. The between song banter was great, too. Justin told charming, disarmingly honest and funny stories about his father and mother, his father's drug addiction, his drug and alcohol addiction, Townes Van Zandt, and anything else that came to mind. It all seemed fresh. Sometimes I'll interview someone at the station and they'll tell a great story. When I see their show, they tell the exact same story. Not JTE. All new material, from Marcie's interview to the interview I did to what he said on stage. I guess he's a born storyteller.
There were some sound issues, for a while his vocals were getting lost, but the sound guy fixed that fairly quickly.
He brought out Caitlyn and her band to join them on Harlem River Blues, the title cut to his new record. The recorded version is a bluesy, gospel send up, and the version they did just killed. He then sent the band away and did an a cappella version of Randy Newman's Louisiana 1927. It's a song about the horrible flood in the 20's. It's been covered a zillion times, but became an anthem after Katrina:
What has happened down here is the wind have changed
Clouds roll in from the north and it started to rain
Rained real hard and rained for a real long time
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline
The river rose all day
The river rose all night
Some people got lost in the flood
Some people got away alright
The river have busted through cleard down to Plaquemines
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangelne
CHORUS
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tyrin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
President Coolidge came down in a railroad train
With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand
The President say, "Little fat man isn't it a shame what the river has
done
To this poor crackers land."
CHORUS
Just Justin and his voice. It was an amazing musical moment. Again, not a sound could be heard except from the voice from the stage.I felt privileged to be there to witness the magic.
He brought the band out for another song or two and after a few encores, it was over. It was truly a magical musical evening.
I will admit that Justin Townes Earle's first two releases didn't do much for me, but I totally love his latest. After seeing him live, I am going to revisit those first two CDs. There's a lot more there, I just need to spend the time to find it. He is as brilliant as his father.
I don't go out and see live music much anymore. It used to be a necessary element to nurture my soul. It still nurtures my soul. I guess I'm more selective about what/who I choose to lose sleep over. I'm glad I made the choice to see this show.
And to run into everyone. Who haven't I mentioned? Joyce, Dot, Andrew, John M., Miss Julie, Beth, Roxanne. And those two cute ever so young girls who were superfans. The ones I had to drill and make sure that they knew that the song he just sang was a Replacements cover.
And I had a chance to live fully (not vicariously) this past Thursday. It was a great and full day.
I got an email Tuesday afternoon asking if I could do the Sonic Detour on Thursday, and Justin Townes Earle (JTE) was coming in to play live. I know Nell often has bands in and she is far more comfortable than I am interviewing people, thinking off the top of her head, and in general presenting a cohesive sounding interview. Any time I have to do an interview, I'm nervous. In addition, Marcie (aka Queen of the Morning Show) had interviewed JTE and done a fabulous presentation on her show on Tuesday morning, asking questions about songs and then playing the songs they had talked about. She did such a sympathetic interview and got him to talk about his myriad problems. I didn't want to do the same thing that she did. (I can thank my friend Joyce for suggesting this...she said do something different and direct the listeners to the archives to listen to Marcie's interview.) I spent Thursday morning prepping for the interview and for the show.
It's a bittersweet time. I've been a programmer at WMNF for over 20 years, and major programming changes are coming up. My time slot is no longer there. I've had shows and lost shows and not been renewed and got passed over for slots that I thought I should have. In other words, my heart has been broken time and time again when the Program Director and I didn't see eye to eye on what I should be doing at the station. I won't go over all the history here, but suffice to say that WMNF is an important part of my life, and being a programmer at WMNF is an important part of my identity. Thank goodness it is not all. I've got a lot more parts to my life than just the station. My family is first and foremost. Next is my love for riding my mountain bike. There's lots more in me too: shopping at thrift stores, bargain shopping for groceries, cooking, gardening, growing african violets and roses. Exercise beyond riding my mountain bike. I love my road bike. I fall in and out of love with running. I've been a gym rat and miss it. Love swimming laps, too. What I'm trying to say is if I don't have a slot in the new schedule, it'll be incredibly difficult and painful but it won't the end of my world.
Knowing all this, I prepared the Sonic Detour show for this past Thursday as either an audition for a show on the new format or a swansong for what has been.
I had several themes for the show. (This may sound silly for anyone not connected to community radio, but almost all of us who do shows take what we do to heart and try to do the best we can each week) First and foremost was JTE. I also wanted to play some of my top ten songs of the year since it is that time of year. I was also gonna be playing songs from the 80's, trying to promote our New Year's Eve show. And I had to give away the CD of the week. And I wanted to throw in some Christmas stuff. That's on top of the normal DJ stuff to do: Underwriting, PSA's, cross promotions, forward promotions, priority copy, etc.
Musically, I was proud of what I played. The songs I played rock my world and I hope the listeners enjoyed them as well. The interview went well. Marcie came and sat in on it and watched and listened. She gave me a thumbs up, and if Marcie said I did a good job, well, that's that. JTE was an incredibly easy interview, very talkative. The songs he played sounded great. He did throw me for a loop, however, when he confessed to having been through rehab 13 times. How does one respond to that bomb? I stuttered something like, "Oh, well, then you can teach the class now, huh?"
I'd asked my music list, Postcard From Hell, if they had anything they wanted to know or any songs they wanted to hear. Before the interview started, I told JTE about the requests. He said, well, uh, I hadn't planned to play either one of those. (Good thing, Christchurch Woman's got an FCC violation word) I was going to come out of the news with the title cut from his CD, Harlem River Blues, before I introduced him, but he said.....no, I plan to play that one. So I played Move Over Mama at his suggestion. He played
Harlem River Blues as his first song. It's a folk/gospel song. I've had the damn song in my head for the past month. I get up at night and it's there, reverberating in my brain. He slowed it down just a tad, and the result was wonderful:
Lord, I'm goin' uptown to the Harlem River to drown
Dirty water gonna cover me over and I'm not gonna make a sound
The other songs he played sounded fabulous, too.
After the show, I hustled down to New World Brewery (NWB) to eat before heading out for the shows. I love pizza and NWB makes the best pizza ever. My husband doesn't like pizza, so if I get a chance to eat at NWB I take it. I phoned in my order and headed down.
I walked in with a copy of the new Creative Loafing under my arm. Steve Bird, NWB owner and husband of my bestest biking buddy, Nancy, greeted me and asked, "Did you see page 19?" I said I hadn't read it yet. I sat down and opened the paper. It was a restaurant review of NWB, and the paper awarded them 3 1/2 stars. Steve was giddy from excitement. It was an extremely complimentary, glowing review, which the reviewer is not known for giving. I thought it was quite a coincidence, since I'm reading the book about restaurant reviews now. I promised Steve that I'd loan him my copy once I finished.
Bev got there are we devoured the pizza I had ordered. And friends started showing up. First, Mike Fisher, (former WMNF DJ) then John Palmer (current WMNF DJ) and friends of his. Then Nancy Bird arrived with some SWAMPers, Jason and Ron and Gruff. They were planning next week's Christmas ride. It was fun hanging out, but I needed to head over to The Bunker. Will Quinlan, my favorite local musician and one of my favorite musicians from anywhere, was playing a solo set.
Amy Snider, who does the Tuesday Sonic Detour, hosts a free singer songwriter night every Thursday at the Bunker. This was the first time I've made it. More 'MNFers were there: Patty was doing sound, then the entire news department showed up. Will started at 9 and did an excellent half hour solo set. He really is an amazing talent. He played Diviner's stuff, did a Uncle Tupelo cover for Amy, and did some of his side project, The Holy Slow Train.
Almost everyone who was at the Bunker walked down the street to the Crowbar for the JTE show. There was a nice crowd, and we got to see the last few songs of one of the openers, Caitlyn Rose. The first person I ran into was Bryan Childs, who has an excellent blog at http://ninebullets.net/
He's into the same type music I am, but even more so. I can say that he and his wife are DINKS, so he's got time. He's also a mountain biker. He does a monthly podcast and blogs extensively about music. He might be getting a show on WMNF with the new schedule, which would be cool as hell.
Kamran was DJing between sets. After Caitlyn Rose played, the first song he played was Mumford & Sons, followed by Slobberbone, followed by cool song after cool song. I told him that it could be me doing the DJing.
OK, it just occurred to me that this entry could turn into all the friends I saw on Thursday night, so I'll just skip that part and get to the show.
JTE came on about 10:45, just him and his guitar. (OK, details will get fuzzy because by this time I'd had a few) The first few songs were just him and his guitar, and that big, noisy room was paying attention. You could have heard a pin drop. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand. He did an excellent job of seeming to make eye contact, but he was looking over our heads. But he would scan the crowd from one side to the other and back again. He brought his band out, a cute woman playing upright bass and a fiddle player, and just ripped it up. They made their way through most of the new record and some of the older stuff. The between song banter was great, too. Justin told charming, disarmingly honest and funny stories about his father and mother, his father's drug addiction, his drug and alcohol addiction, Townes Van Zandt, and anything else that came to mind. It all seemed fresh. Sometimes I'll interview someone at the station and they'll tell a great story. When I see their show, they tell the exact same story. Not JTE. All new material, from Marcie's interview to the interview I did to what he said on stage. I guess he's a born storyteller.
There were some sound issues, for a while his vocals were getting lost, but the sound guy fixed that fairly quickly.
He brought out Caitlyn and her band to join them on Harlem River Blues, the title cut to his new record. The recorded version is a bluesy, gospel send up, and the version they did just killed. He then sent the band away and did an a cappella version of Randy Newman's Louisiana 1927. It's a song about the horrible flood in the 20's. It's been covered a zillion times, but became an anthem after Katrina:
What has happened down here is the wind have changed
Clouds roll in from the north and it started to rain
Rained real hard and rained for a real long time
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline
The river rose all day
The river rose all night
Some people got lost in the flood
Some people got away alright
The river have busted through cleard down to Plaquemines
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangelne
CHORUS
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tyrin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
President Coolidge came down in a railroad train
With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand
The President say, "Little fat man isn't it a shame what the river has
done
To this poor crackers land."
CHORUS
Just Justin and his voice. It was an amazing musical moment. Again, not a sound could be heard except from the voice from the stage.I felt privileged to be there to witness the magic.
He brought the band out for another song or two and after a few encores, it was over. It was truly a magical musical evening.
I will admit that Justin Townes Earle's first two releases didn't do much for me, but I totally love his latest. After seeing him live, I am going to revisit those first two CDs. There's a lot more there, I just need to spend the time to find it. He is as brilliant as his father.
I don't go out and see live music much anymore. It used to be a necessary element to nurture my soul. It still nurtures my soul. I guess I'm more selective about what/who I choose to lose sleep over. I'm glad I made the choice to see this show.
And to run into everyone. Who haven't I mentioned? Joyce, Dot, Andrew, John M., Miss Julie, Beth, Roxanne. And those two cute ever so young girls who were superfans. The ones I had to drill and make sure that they knew that the song he just sang was a Replacements cover.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Road ride
I started riding bikes as a roadie. And a safe roadie. All of my rides consisted of driving my car up to Flatwoods and doing the seven mile loop. As many times as I could. Which is usually only 2 or maybe 3 because I get bored to death. And I get distracted. And uncomfortable in my seat. So I squirm and sigh and I haven't been having that much fun. That's why I spend so much of my time on my mountain bike.
I've ridden a few times on the actual road, and I've always been scared to death. Is that next car that comes up behind me going to be the one that causes my death? And this was years ago, before the spate of what I'm calling roadkill of cyclists in the Bay Area over the past few months. Nine people on bicycles have died in the past four months. Nine.
But some folks I know from my mountain bike club also do road riding in the hills north of here around San Antonio. I've been pestering them about tagging along, and yesterday was the first time that schedules worked. It was Becky and Sally and me. This was Becky's third time up there and Sally's second. We did spend some time at stop signs looking at maps trying to figure out which way to go but we did find our way back to the cars.
I was worried, worried, worried about keeping up. I can't hang right on someone's back tire in the woods and I can't do it on the road, either. Even if they are parting the wind/air for me. I'd end up back 20 feet or so behind Becky and Sally. I had on a deep red jersey, so I called myself the little red caboose.
I've read some things about driver road rage against cyclists, but we didn't see any of that at all. Most drivers swerved all the way over into the other lane and gave us tons of room. In fact, that earlier fear about imminent death never crossed my mind. Really. Guess I was too preoccupied worrying about keeping up and not wimping out.
We'd not talked about the planned ride beforehand, but when we were unloading our bikes and getting set up, Becky said, "I really want to get in 40 miles today!" I almost choked. But I had sorta invited myself along to this ride, so what could I do? I've done a 50 mile road ride before, on the Withalacoochee Trail, but that's all flat. And we stopped every 10 miles and ate, either our bars or lunch or ice cream. I didn't know if I could make a 40 mile hilly ride. And after climbing Happy Hill and burning my legs and lungs and still not having 10 miles invested yet in the ride, I was kinda getting worried. Would I be able to make the ride or would I be a total nut sack?
I was able to hang with Sally and Becky, but barely. They are both stronger riders than I am. They both have been riding longer than I have as well. I'd drop back and catch up when I could. But then we discovered something funny. On the downhills, all things being equal, I was faster than them. We'd all worked like hell getting up a hill, and I was at the end. We'd crest and go down the other side, gloriously flying down with the sense of power and freedom and a funny thing happened. Going downhill, I was faster than they were. I'm thinking it's because I weigh more than they do and am closer to the ground, but I was just flying downhill. It was wonderful.
In the end, we did a little over 31 miles, not 40. I probably could have made the 40 if I'd had more fuel, but I was really, really glad to stop. I felt amazing and strong. I didn't have one moment of boredom. I was amazed at the hills and the gorgeous scenery. My bike felt good, not uncomfortable at all. And I can't wait to do it again.
I've ridden a few times on the actual road, and I've always been scared to death. Is that next car that comes up behind me going to be the one that causes my death? And this was years ago, before the spate of what I'm calling roadkill of cyclists in the Bay Area over the past few months. Nine people on bicycles have died in the past four months. Nine.
But some folks I know from my mountain bike club also do road riding in the hills north of here around San Antonio. I've been pestering them about tagging along, and yesterday was the first time that schedules worked. It was Becky and Sally and me. This was Becky's third time up there and Sally's second. We did spend some time at stop signs looking at maps trying to figure out which way to go but we did find our way back to the cars.
I was worried, worried, worried about keeping up. I can't hang right on someone's back tire in the woods and I can't do it on the road, either. Even if they are parting the wind/air for me. I'd end up back 20 feet or so behind Becky and Sally. I had on a deep red jersey, so I called myself the little red caboose.
I've read some things about driver road rage against cyclists, but we didn't see any of that at all. Most drivers swerved all the way over into the other lane and gave us tons of room. In fact, that earlier fear about imminent death never crossed my mind. Really. Guess I was too preoccupied worrying about keeping up and not wimping out.
We'd not talked about the planned ride beforehand, but when we were unloading our bikes and getting set up, Becky said, "I really want to get in 40 miles today!" I almost choked. But I had sorta invited myself along to this ride, so what could I do? I've done a 50 mile road ride before, on the Withalacoochee Trail, but that's all flat. And we stopped every 10 miles and ate, either our bars or lunch or ice cream. I didn't know if I could make a 40 mile hilly ride. And after climbing Happy Hill and burning my legs and lungs and still not having 10 miles invested yet in the ride, I was kinda getting worried. Would I be able to make the ride or would I be a total nut sack?
I was able to hang with Sally and Becky, but barely. They are both stronger riders than I am. They both have been riding longer than I have as well. I'd drop back and catch up when I could. But then we discovered something funny. On the downhills, all things being equal, I was faster than them. We'd all worked like hell getting up a hill, and I was at the end. We'd crest and go down the other side, gloriously flying down with the sense of power and freedom and a funny thing happened. Going downhill, I was faster than they were. I'm thinking it's because I weigh more than they do and am closer to the ground, but I was just flying downhill. It was wonderful.
In the end, we did a little over 31 miles, not 40. I probably could have made the 40 if I'd had more fuel, but I was really, really glad to stop. I felt amazing and strong. I didn't have one moment of boredom. I was amazed at the hills and the gorgeous scenery. My bike felt good, not uncomfortable at all. And I can't wait to do it again.
Friday, November 19, 2010
What's been going on
When I started this little blog, I was burning to write. What happened? I'm not sure.
Life, I guess.
I was up in NC for a lot of the summer and could not post anything. I tried to write something on my phone, but either I'm not smart enough or it isn't. (Probably me.)
And I'm new to this blogging thing. I'm not quite sure what to share and what not to share. Obviously, I'm writing about me and my experiences, but sometimes things happen that I really don't want to share with the entire world and I'm not sure how to proceed without oversharing, so instead I write nothing.
Trying to get back into it. Or, I'll post when I can.
Just want to say, though, that I've had two really good rides the past two days.
I got the notice yesterday morning that SWFTMUD (or whatever it's called) will be closing parts of the Wilderness Park Trails for the next month to build fire roads. My park, my park. Parts will be open, but I won't be able to do the entire loop during the week. Really, that shouldn't be a problem. You can take either half of the park (either Flatwoods side or Hole in the Fence side) and with doubling back--doing trails both ways-- get a 20 mile ride in. But I just had to get a full ride in.
Yesterday afternoon, Wednesday, I set out to get as much out of the park as I could. I'd ridden the previous day with my friend Bev. She's a roadie, and we've had a few off road rides. It's been a while since she's been in the woods, and she found the roots as intimidating as I did when I first started. She was exclaiming over the same roots/parts of the trail that used to give me fits. It was funny to hear her go "Oh, my!" to the same sections that used to stop me or fell me. It was slow going, but I used to be that slow, too. I'm delighted to show her the trails. But I was ready for more of a challenge the next day.
On Tuesday, with Bev, I'd taken her on the double track by the trail called Panther while I took Panther. I fell, hard, on Panther when I first started and have been a wimp (nut sack) about it ever since. I've been working on conquering it for the past year or so. I got it from North to South a while ago, but have not been able to navigate one portion the other way. It's a sketchy left turn, through tight trees over big roots. There's a couple ways to do it and I usually end up unclipping and walking over it. I did that Tuesday.
But Wednesday I'd had enough. I made myself do it. And damn if I didn't.
On Tuesday, I kept looking for the hard part that felled me, hurt me. I went over it without a problem. It was no longer a problem.
On Wednesday, I kept looking for it too, and again, it was no problem. Yay! I've made progress.
I was with Bev on Tuesday, but Wednesday it was just me and my headphones. I tried to make sure it's not too loud, so I can hear what's around me. I love the sound of the woods, but I love riding with my tunes more.
Over on the Morris Bridge/HITF side, I made myself do Indian. Another of the trails labled 'Very Difficult Trail' which isn't actually very difficult but parts of it are, so (IMHO) the label is deserved. I've made it both ways, successfully, but it's been awhile because it's been closed due to it being wet. But last time I tried it, there were a lot of sandy parts which made it not so much fun. There's a stair climb toward the start that I had to put a foot down for last time. Yesterday I nailed it. I made it through the whole trail. The progress I'm making is so slow. I'm so careful 'cause I don't want to hurt myself, but if I can say it, I'm proud of my progress.
Today, me and Nancy met at Boyette. Didn't have a perfect day. Had to walk over some stupid palmettos in the middle of the trail (which I should be able to go over but when I see them my brain sends an immediate signal to my index fingers to jump on the brakes) and I fell one time 'cause I'd slowed too much in one of the stupid tight turns they have in the Quadrants and ran into another big palmetto root without enough speed and had to clip out and walk a few times on Golfcart and realized that I'm not actually riding some of the trails but coasting because I'm so tight and tense and nervous because they're so narrow and had to walk some more through Wood Trails because even though it's labeled easy that have stupid big palmettos in the middle of the trails but all in all I had a great ride. And that's all that matters.
Spent great girlfriend time, the importance of which cannot be overstated. Got 18 miles in of riding more challenging than I'm used to. So another great day on the bike.
It's a great time of year to ride in Florida. I'm making myself take the day off, but am planning a hilly road ride for tomorrow. Woo hoo.
Life, I guess.
I was up in NC for a lot of the summer and could not post anything. I tried to write something on my phone, but either I'm not smart enough or it isn't. (Probably me.)
And I'm new to this blogging thing. I'm not quite sure what to share and what not to share. Obviously, I'm writing about me and my experiences, but sometimes things happen that I really don't want to share with the entire world and I'm not sure how to proceed without oversharing, so instead I write nothing.
Trying to get back into it. Or, I'll post when I can.
Just want to say, though, that I've had two really good rides the past two days.
I got the notice yesterday morning that SWFTMUD (or whatever it's called) will be closing parts of the Wilderness Park Trails for the next month to build fire roads. My park, my park. Parts will be open, but I won't be able to do the entire loop during the week. Really, that shouldn't be a problem. You can take either half of the park (either Flatwoods side or Hole in the Fence side) and with doubling back--doing trails both ways-- get a 20 mile ride in. But I just had to get a full ride in.
Yesterday afternoon, Wednesday, I set out to get as much out of the park as I could. I'd ridden the previous day with my friend Bev. She's a roadie, and we've had a few off road rides. It's been a while since she's been in the woods, and she found the roots as intimidating as I did when I first started. She was exclaiming over the same roots/parts of the trail that used to give me fits. It was funny to hear her go "Oh, my!" to the same sections that used to stop me or fell me. It was slow going, but I used to be that slow, too. I'm delighted to show her the trails. But I was ready for more of a challenge the next day.
On Tuesday, with Bev, I'd taken her on the double track by the trail called Panther while I took Panther. I fell, hard, on Panther when I first started and have been a wimp (nut sack) about it ever since. I've been working on conquering it for the past year or so. I got it from North to South a while ago, but have not been able to navigate one portion the other way. It's a sketchy left turn, through tight trees over big roots. There's a couple ways to do it and I usually end up unclipping and walking over it. I did that Tuesday.
But Wednesday I'd had enough. I made myself do it. And damn if I didn't.
On Tuesday, I kept looking for the hard part that felled me, hurt me. I went over it without a problem. It was no longer a problem.
On Wednesday, I kept looking for it too, and again, it was no problem. Yay! I've made progress.
I was with Bev on Tuesday, but Wednesday it was just me and my headphones. I tried to make sure it's not too loud, so I can hear what's around me. I love the sound of the woods, but I love riding with my tunes more.
Over on the Morris Bridge/HITF side, I made myself do Indian. Another of the trails labled 'Very Difficult Trail' which isn't actually very difficult but parts of it are, so (IMHO) the label is deserved. I've made it both ways, successfully, but it's been awhile because it's been closed due to it being wet. But last time I tried it, there were a lot of sandy parts which made it not so much fun. There's a stair climb toward the start that I had to put a foot down for last time. Yesterday I nailed it. I made it through the whole trail. The progress I'm making is so slow. I'm so careful 'cause I don't want to hurt myself, but if I can say it, I'm proud of my progress.
Today, me and Nancy met at Boyette. Didn't have a perfect day. Had to walk over some stupid palmettos in the middle of the trail (which I should be able to go over but when I see them my brain sends an immediate signal to my index fingers to jump on the brakes) and I fell one time 'cause I'd slowed too much in one of the stupid tight turns they have in the Quadrants and ran into another big palmetto root without enough speed and had to clip out and walk a few times on Golfcart and realized that I'm not actually riding some of the trails but coasting because I'm so tight and tense and nervous because they're so narrow and had to walk some more through Wood Trails because even though it's labeled easy that have stupid big palmettos in the middle of the trails but all in all I had a great ride. And that's all that matters.
Spent great girlfriend time, the importance of which cannot be overstated. Got 18 miles in of riding more challenging than I'm used to. So another great day on the bike.
It's a great time of year to ride in Florida. I'm making myself take the day off, but am planning a hilly road ride for tomorrow. Woo hoo.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Summer off
I can't believe I've not written anything all summer long. How is that possible?
Well, for one, I spent a lot of time in the NC place. I tried to post one blog from my phone but it didn't work very well. Darn, all the drama and excitement and ups and downs didn't get recorded. I will try to do better.
I love the NC place, but I think it put me at a disadvantage as far as cycling in Florida during the summer. I was gone for three weeks. I kept busy and did some cycling there and I was going up and down mountains (not on trails, on roads) and think I improved my fitness and confidence (making it up a steep steep hill, huffing and puffing but still having 3-4 gears I've not used yet...can we say quads of steel?...and barreling down the other side saying to myself no brakes no brakes...YIKES am I really doing 30...35...36..37 mph? OK feather the brakes, feather the brakes!) But I missed three weeks of riding in the Florida heat and think I messed up my body's acclimation process. At least, that's my excuse.
So it's Monday morning. I've got free time. Why am I not out on my bike? 'cause it's 91 degrees out there and I don't want to pass out. Went to Croom last week. Perfect trails, the sand was packed down due to all the rains we've had. But I had to get off my bike about 1/3 of the way into the ride. I was overcome with nausea; the heat really got to me. I'm almost afraid to go riding.
So here I sit in my air conditioned house. Hopefully it will cool down soon or I'll find some motivation, somewhere, to get me up and out.
Well, for one, I spent a lot of time in the NC place. I tried to post one blog from my phone but it didn't work very well. Darn, all the drama and excitement and ups and downs didn't get recorded. I will try to do better.
I love the NC place, but I think it put me at a disadvantage as far as cycling in Florida during the summer. I was gone for three weeks. I kept busy and did some cycling there and I was going up and down mountains (not on trails, on roads) and think I improved my fitness and confidence (making it up a steep steep hill, huffing and puffing but still having 3-4 gears I've not used yet...can we say quads of steel?...and barreling down the other side saying to myself no brakes no brakes...YIKES am I really doing 30...35...36..37 mph? OK feather the brakes, feather the brakes!) But I missed three weeks of riding in the Florida heat and think I messed up my body's acclimation process. At least, that's my excuse.
So it's Monday morning. I've got free time. Why am I not out on my bike? 'cause it's 91 degrees out there and I don't want to pass out. Went to Croom last week. Perfect trails, the sand was packed down due to all the rains we've had. But I had to get off my bike about 1/3 of the way into the ride. I was overcome with nausea; the heat really got to me. I'm almost afraid to go riding.
So here I sit in my air conditioned house. Hopefully it will cool down soon or I'll find some motivation, somewhere, to get me up and out.
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