Whirlwind Weekend

Up up and away....

Another whirlwind weekend gone by.

My workweek was pretty much filled with work and taking care of the animals. I don’t know what my deal was, but I just wasn’t motivated to really ride Pokey all that much, so she got extra turnouts with light rides.

WINE BAR FRIDAY NIGHT
On Friday we tried out this amazing wine bar that Claire, a colleague, knew of. It’s called Amelie http://www.ameliesf.com/ and I think their website gives an idea of just what a gem this place is. I went with Claire, Mario, and Luiz and finally got to practice my Spanish; it’s been getting pretty rusty, so I was really glad to have the chance to “dust off” those language skills. We shared the 3-cheese plate, ordered some wines, and finished off with crème brule. It is safe to say that I have never tasted cheeses like these in the States before. I tried the Prosecco and a chardonay from Ardeche that I wasn’t crazy about. I especially liked the fact that although this was a French-owned wine bar, they offer an eclectic mix of wines from all over the world. Amelie is sophisticated, chic, and modern without being pretentious, and I thought it was extremely reasonably priced. Needless to say, we’ll be going back soon!

CALAVERAS RESEVOIR RIDE WITH TNT ON SATURDAY
I think I was in bed just after midnight and woke up at 4:50 on Saturday morning, took Buddy for a walk, took a bubble bath, and did some emailing before heading out the door for my Saturday TNT ride. (Turns out this is a great time to catch my buddy Marina who is always up around 4:30 AM).

This week’s ride was the closest that we will ever get to my ‘hood’. It was nice to only have a 25 min. drive instead of my usual hour. Ready for the Calaveras Resevoir ride, it was funny to be back at Sunol Glen elementary- this is where I used to do 4-H!

We started off with a pre-ride discussion on what to eat and drink before/during/and after rides with a nutritionist specializing in cycling. To my delight, my favorite meal (bean, rice, and cheese burritos) got a seal of approval from the expert! Giving up alcohol before rides, not so tough; burritos, I’m not sure I could have managed.

One of the many things that I love about all my fellow TNTers is their sense of humor. Always quick to laugh, I have to say they are a witty bunch. Sadly, we had a sobering moment with news of Maxx (you may remember, from my last entry, that we had done the previous week’s ride in his honor). Sheryl had to deliver the tough news that he did not make it though the week. For me, this was a confrontation with the reality of what people battling blood cancers face. My commitment to the cause was reconfirmed then and there. I got an extra umph and was ready to take on this ride!

We started out with a nice 3-5 mile stretch of flat road, great for warming up. But when I heard that the next 11 miles would be uphill, it took a moment for that information to register, and I found myself asking, “Wait? How many miles?!” The beautiful scenery is the best distraction I could imagine, and at one point during the climb I actually realized that I was enjoying this part of the ride. I was shocked at this revelation, but hey, I just went with it. All in all we did a total of 32 miles over a 3 hour span (though I believe actual ride time was 2h 45min b/c of course we stopped and chowed down on the yummy snacks provided by SAG). Susie (my coach) has this great little device that tells you all sorts of information, one of the little tidbits she shared was that we did 100 feet of climb/mile. That doesn’t really mean much to me, but apparently it’s quite a lot.


I was thankful for a short drive home, stripped down, and took bubble bath # 2 for the day and just relaxed. On Sunday I was up early AGAIN (thanks to some 2 pairs of pestering brown eyes staring me down, telling me it was time to get up). I had left my car at BART on Friday night, so had to do the bike ride of shame to go and pick it up. This is the route that I used to struggle with when I would bike to the pool. I did it in 30 minutes and was amazed at how effortless it was! Talk about gaining some perspective. From there I headed out to the barn for some quality time with Pokey. Went back home, showered, and got changed to go over to Jed and Holly’s for dinner. Their place is like a winter wonderland; Holly’s decoration obsession was in full effect! It was great to see them, and I can’t believe how much Mia’s changed. She’s definitely grown, was really looking at people and things, and has started to coo. Soooo cute. I visited with them for a while after dinner, headed home, watched some 24, and headed to the airport around 11:30 PM to pick up the parentals. Got back and was in bed by 1 AM- just enough time to get some sleep, wake up, and start a new week.