HI again! Well, I did it. January 1st I ran in my first race. It was a full 5 miles in Dallas. It took me 57 minutes exactly. It was a lot harder than my runs on the treadmill but i'm already signed up to do 3 more runs. I really starting to like this running stuff :P

trying to keep warm.....................Waiting to start

34 degrees out


Here I come Crossing the finish line!

Well, My sweatshirt was a bit too much. I was warm but the front pocket came in handy for my gloves and some sport jelly beans.

Well, Happy January 2nd. Here are some pictures from my Christmas Day training run. Mark rode with me to keep me company.

I hope you all had as good a Christmas as I did! And for those of you that are wondering that is snow on the ground! It melted quite a bit from the morning but it was completly covered just a few hours prior.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Well, I can't believe we had a white Christmas here in Texas! That was a surprise! Mark and I laid low today. We didn't put up a tree but Mark had his bike decorated with a Christmas tree and blinking lights so we left that on throughout the night. Well, It's only in the 30's today but I can't let that stop me from my Marathon Training. Here's a Picture of me this morning to test the roads

The roads are still way too icy - Here's me coming back - I'll try again after lunch.

But before we went inside Mark wanted to have a good ol' fashion Snowball Fight :P

Ahh...Well, at least the sun is out! Hope you all are enjoying your Chrismas!

We did it again! Another 200k!

Good Morning! Well Mark and I went out yesterday for another 200k. (Actual milage 127.3) The ride was an Out and Back Permenant called Cheeburger Cheeburger. We started in Van Alystne and rode out to Forestburg and back again to Van Alystne. It was a great ride. We missed the time limit by 2 minutes this time. Alot better than the 2 hours over we did last time. We left before the sun came up and got home after the sun went down. We did 11 hours and 15 minutes of actual riding time. The morning temp was about 41. Better than the 32 degrees we were expecting. The wind felt blistering cold though and even 3 hours in I was still really cold. The first control was the 1/2 way point but we made 2 unofficial stops before then. One to take some pics and take some layers off and the other was a rest stop break and to get a snack. We got chased by quite a few dogs. I ended up throwing a bag of frosted flakes at them to scare them off. It worked and then I think they ate them. Better the cereal than me! Once we got to the control and saw we were 2 minutes over, we stayed a little while to eat lunch and grab a snack for the ride back. The way back was better than the way there. It always seems to be that way for some reason. We weren't chased by nearly as many dogs and we were traveling at a much quicker pace. There were hardly any clouds in the sky so we could see all the stars. My knees were hurting me but I think my legs were on auto pilot so I didn't feel them so much. We hit a lot of roling hills. Going down was fun. I actually hit 36.4 mph. Pretty cool huh? So far this month i've ridden 436.93 miles. The most i've ridden in one month to date. I'd like to hit 450 before Feb. And....If you think that's a lot...So far Mark has ridden 701 miles. WHOA! I think he'll hit 1000 before the month is through. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

Here we are at the start in.......Here we are at our first break
Van Alstyne, Tx

Mark's taking off his leg wamers...Chris' took off her arm warmers


At the control in Forestburg......Where do we get our card signed?


Oh, over here! .......................Frosted Flakes Dog Detterent

............................................... ACO tested & approved!

Getting ready to head back........Waiting for the trains to pass

Here's Mark behind me..........Here's alot of nothing in front of me

Some sights along the way.......Starting to get dark now

Really dark...............................Time for the headlights

Finally made it back. WOO HOO!

http://picasaweb.google.com/shantar42/Perm20080119

.

Aniversary Ride

Hi! Well, Mark and I went for an Aniversary Ride today. 30 miles with our bike club the Texas Flyers. We stoped at a coffee shop for a bite and then split up. Some went on home and others took a longer route. Mark and I stayed with the longer route. It was gorgeous out today. In the high 70's! We even went for another 32 miles this evening. Got in a 100k today! Here are some pics from this afternoon.

Gathering at the Start.......Time for a break at the coffee Shop

What a great way to spend.....Here's my rag underneath my

the day!................................helmet. Help keeps my hair up :P

Jan. 1st 200K

Hello and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Mark and I completed our 200K which began in Arlington and even got in a few bonus miles when we took a wrong turn. Over all we did 133.4 miles. We started at 7am sharp. It was still dark and there were blinking red lights everywhere and people dressed in reflective clothing with faces covered in balaclavas. It was a cool 37 degrees at the start and very dark. We had to sign a waiver, pick up our cue sheets (directions) and Brevet cards and off we went. We were dressed in layers but once we got moving it didn't feel very cold at all. There were about 30 people who did the ride. Mostly on upright bikes but also a few tamdems and recumbents( aka. Bents) as well. I wasn't as prepared as I thought. When we did our first century last year with 12,000 other riders we made great time. I dont' care too much about riding fast but it's amazing when riding with that many people how motivated you can become to keep up your speed. At the start of this ride, I had trouble getting my speed up. Randoneuring is all about being self supported and sufficient so when we rode for hours (13 in-the-saddle-hours to be exact) and didn't see anyone else around it becomes a whole other experience. This ride was alot more of a mental challenge than a physical one. When the host of the ride and his wife called us at 8:30pm to offer to pick us up it was tempting. BUT....we talked it over and in the spririt of randoneuring and being self sufficient we knew we'd make it home sooner or later and so we declined and trecked on. We saw the sunrise and the sunset and by the end my knees were killing me. Sitting down and standing were not possible without some help. But after alot of sleep and some more naps the next day Mark and I were ready again. We did a very small recovery ride today of about 6 miles this afternoon and are going for a 20+mile group ride tomorrow. Here are some pics. couldn't get any group shots with other riders. After the start they disappeared and we never saw them again.


Mark tightening my................ Time for the sunglasses!
handlebars



"Hmmm. do you think we ...........no, no, i'm not sleeping
should turn back?" ...................Just checking for light leaks.


Mile 89! only 44 more to go!....... It got dark fast!


Just a short recovery ride
around the neighborhood

Weather and Riding!

Well, We Hope you all had a great holiday! I for one am glad they are over. No more crazy traffic, no more Christmas crowded stores! Well, just wanted to share a few pictures with you. Texas has some crazy weather. I took some pictures of a line of clouds today. This morning it was sunny and then the clouds rolled in around 9 am. Then it poured rain really hard for about 20 minutes and then a sunny day with not a cloud in the sky. After I got home from work, Mark and I went for a quick bike ride around town. Here he is on his Hurricane and I on my Catrike. Ain't life fun!