Warrior Princesses Bike to Work

You know when you see an amazing dress on the rack and you go to try it on and it just doesn't look that good on you?  ...But you like the thought of it so much you buy it any ways.  That's what biking feels like to me.  It's a forced friendship and it's not coming naturally.  But I really want to love it.  I have been wanting to ride my bike to work for ages now, but fear was totally holding me back.  I was scared I would get hit by a car, that I would get lost, and that my ass was just too fat to be pedaling up that massive hill on my way home.  But last week my cycling Aunt accused me of making too many excuses, so I did what anyone would do -I proved her wrong. (which was probably her intention all along.)


I left the house at 7:30 this morning and it was a nice sunny day, but the air was crisp.  I didn't realize how crisp until I was cruising down some big hills and my poor little fingers were absolutely frozen.  I literally had no idea how cold biking makes your fingers.  It was painful.  By the time I finally got to work I was sucking my thumb like an awkward adult just trying to warm it up before frost bite set in (dramatic, yes)


My journey to work was not uneventful.  The part of the trip that I thought would be relatively stress free was not at all.  Tram lines dissecting the road were a perfect wheel sized trench for my tires to get stuck in.  However, I only let it happen once, and then I was tackling all tram lines with aggression.  I proceeded to get lost in the city center while trying to avoid some bigger, unnecessary hills but made it to work with time to spare.  


The ride home was more stressful because it was rush hour, and I'm sure drivers were cursing me and the Duchess as we plodded along.  I felt like such an amateur when Lycra clad bikers were tackling major traffic and zipping by me.  I nearly got hit by a car as I wrangled those damn tram lines again.  But I made it to safely to my last major hurdle, Loxley Road.  Here the traffic slows from city to country, shops fronts are replaced with fields of horses, and the incline gets steadily more intense.   In the beginning I told myself, "I'm alright, it's not as bad as it looks."  But as it soon got to be as bad as it looked, I had to drop a few F bombs in my head and remind myself that I was in fact, "a mother fucking warrior princess." And warrior princesses do not give up and they have super strong, (sexy and toned) thighs and they're fit and bad ass (and have nice asses too).


So did I make it to the top?  You betcha.  By the time I finished I looked more like a purple people eater than a fit and fabulous warrior princess, but what an enlightening feeling reaching the peak was!  I conquered my fears, I cheated death, and the only thing that seemed to be injured besides my ego was my badly bruised beaver (if ya know what I mean).  Not bad for a Monday.


And so I will keep trying to learn to love my two wheeled vehicle.  I will burn calories instead of gas, and feel empowered by the strength of my body and my independence from unreliable transportation.  But honestly, I probably won't do it everyday.

January Update

Hi Friends,

I know I've been totally slacking on the blogging front.  I've been getting busy, but my new found life as an employed member of society has been leaving me with less time for superfluous bloggy activities.  Anyways, here are some updates about life around here since the last time we left off...

• I have nicely adjusted to working life.  I thought I would be super duper tired, but I'm not.  The only thing I struggle with is boredom.  My job isn't that interesting.
• I have been going to the gym A LOT more in hopes of shifting some of this Christmas weight.
• Last week I ran, swam, and went to spinning, some activities more than once, and I gained a pound.  Typical.
• I rode The Duchess to the post office yesterday - it was the first time I have rode my bike to do an errand and this made me feel quite proud (and cold).  Nick even took a picture...

• Ironically, I was going to post a form to obtain my provisional driving license.  
• We have been seriously slacking on our DIY activities.  
• But we have finished some things, and I feel like I am a bad blogger for failing to post pictures, but I am always embarrassed of what a slob I am - as soon as a room is finished it is a mess.  Nick says I am trying to create a "show home" that is why the pictures are so long in coming... but I will post some soon...  Maybe even in progress ones?  Do we like in progress shots - or just straight up before and afters?
• Yesterday we went to B&Q (a DIY store) to get back on the DIY train.  We bought lots of blue-ish paint samples for our kitchen.  
• I've been told you're not supposed to paint kitchens blue because blue is an unappetizing color - but encouraging me to eat less seems like it can only be a good thing, no?
• At B&Q I also went a little overboard with the purchase of these...

• Apparently I want to be a farmer.  I will keep you updated to whether I have a green or a black thumb.  FYI all of these have sow dates in February (at least in the UK), so if you want to try farming too go buy some seeds now! 
• Also on the subject of food... I have started planning our meals for the week now, to minimize our (outrageous) grocery bill by only buying things we need, and making cooking after work a less daunting task.  I was thinking about posting our meal plan on this here blog, and letting you all vote on what you want to see featured here.  Thoughts?
• Heidi has been a naughty little dog since I went to work.  See below, that is sour cream on her head.

• Earlier in the week I got a bad report from her dog walker, who said that he let her run around on "the commons" and she refused to come back for 30 minutes because she wanted to play.  Later that night I took her for a run, and when we came home she kept complaining about how bored she was.  She also had a pimple on her nose.  I think it is a case of teenage angst. 
• She also chewed up a pair of my shoes for the first time this week.  She never chews things (except for raw hide) so this was a big surprise.
• Annnnnnnnnnd she just stole a pineapple carrot muffin I had cooling on the counter.  Fail.  
• She liked it so much she even ate the wrapper.  They were good.  I'll post the recipe.    
• We're working on retraining her.  

That's all folks.  

How was your January?  

Hope it was fantastic!!

Introducing : The Duchess

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

boys and girls...

I would like to introduce you to the newest piece of equipment

 in the category of "getting busy" hobbies.

The Duchess!  

Isn't she the most beautiful bicycle you ever did see?!

Now I have to admit, it was love at first sight, but first ride...

That is a different story.

I haven't ridden a bike for real since I was... maybe ten?

I don't even remember.

My first ride was stressful.

I feel worried about getting hit by a car 

and whether or not I'll make it up the very big hills around here.

(why did I not get a bike when I lived in Chicago where EVERYTHING is flat 

and Lake Shore Drive is the perfect place for cyclists?)

Plus my wrists hurt, and taking my hands off to signal...?

forget about it.

I swerve all over the place.

But today I rode her again and it was much better.

I even started to figure out how the gears worked...

Seriously, I couldn't remember.

I knew when I asked for a bike for Christmas

 it would either be a huge waste of money or...

it would change my way of life. 

I'm not trying to do a Tour de France anytime soon,

I just want to be able to use a bike for transportation.

I feel like it makes so much sense to bike.

No waiting for buses, no money spent on gas. 

Model-esque, cellulite free thighs and calves to kill for.

Plus it would save time - exercise while you commute - 

what a novel idea!

Someday I would like to be one of those people who doesn't go to the gym at all.

I want to just lead an active lifestyle.

Hiking and running with Heidi, biking for transportation. 

Yoga to relax and outdoor activities for "fun."  

I'm hopeful that I will get there, 

but I think it is a very long (hilly) road ahead!

ps.  The Duchess is a temporary name until I think of something a less obvious and perhaps a little more personal.  Any ideas?

pss. Please share advice more experienced cyclists!

psss.  Thanks for the bike, mom!

Learning from Gaga

I just wanted to tell you that this morning, 

fueled by my Day Zero motivation, I got up before the sun.

I went for a run.  In the rain.

I've told myself every single morning that I was going to do this for about a year.

I failed to get out of bed (on much more pleasant mornings) over 365 times.

But today I actually did.

Somewhere between listening to U2 and singing Lady Gaga to a field full of cows, I realized something.

It's not supposed to be easy.

I know this seems so generic.  But it finally clicked for me.  

If being that fabulous person you want to be was easy then everyone would be fabulous,

and you would have nothing to be proud of when you accomplished something.  

What separates you from your role model?

And with that I'll leave you with a little inspirational music....

Oh and ps.  For those of you who are following my unemployment saga, today I worked for the first time since December last year!  It was really hard minimum wage work at the University where Nick works, but at least I finally made some money on my own.  Hopefully it will cover that lil shopping spree I took myself on yesterday...

Want or Need?

I'm not sure whether this is airing my dirty laundry a lil too much, but one of the biggest fights Nick and I have regularly is on the issue of purchasing a car.  My little American self does not like walking.  Call me lazy if you will but when a 5 minute car ride turns into an hour walk, I really have no desire to get off my arse.  And I can honestly say that our lack of car is seriously holding us back from enjoying the beautiful English countryside.

So, even though my husband says we'll get a car, I'm not sure when, if ever, this is going to happen, so I have started contemplating the purchase of a bike.  The problem is, they are kind of pricey and I wonder whether I will actually use it or I whether I will be just as lazy as a pedaler as I am a walker.  Also, running errands with a bike doesn't seem that appealing because where do I put stuff?  Groceries?  Dry cleaning?  I can't figure it out.

Enter Madsen Cycles.  I first saw these cargo bikes on the lovely Kera's blog.  Even though I thought she was adorable carting her two little boys around in one, I didn't really see the potential for my childless self.



But I keep seeing them around the blogs these days, and so I went to their website to have a little gander.  And it hit me...



The dog, the blue color, the flowers.  I need this bike.  I would take Heidi deep into the countryside and then we would go exploring, sans vehicle.  How cute would we look?  Hey, I could even put my husband in the back - he never learned to ride a bike (sad childhood I know!).  I might cycle him along to a new restaurant since the only one we ever go to is the one within walking distance.  Talk about a date.  Do you think it would be for or against man code to have your woman drive you around in the bucket of a bike?  And I could go grocery shopping without having to pay for a cab.  And I could make it to rowing practice without having to find a ride.  Oh the joy of being self reliant!

Do you want one too?  Madsen Cycles is having a contest where you can win one by linking back to their site.  I wasn't going to tell you because I wanted to up my chances of winning, but I feel too guilty.  Damn you, conscious.

Update: I just read the contest rules again, you have to be in America to win.  Bullocks.

Running Mishaps and a Gorilla Suit

Hi Friends,

Sorry for my lack of blogging lately and my totally emo posts.  Nick had last week off work and he expressly stated that he wanted to "Do Nothing".  Despite my best efforts to convince him that doing nothing is way boring, thats pretty much what we did so I literally had nothing to share with you.

We did splash out on some brand spankin new trail running shoes ("trainers" as they say in jolly old England) and Nick joined me on his first run since a week before our wedding when he was telling me to "hurry up" and ended up falling flat on his face, resulting in him being high on Vicodin and wearing a moonboot on our wedding day.  True story.  

Luckily, this run went better, but not perfect.  I set some ground rules to start, he had to run half a step behind me and I was setting the pace.  We planned to run to the reservoir and see how we felt...

Via

Well we made it there which is about two miles, and the whole time he was running next to me like a freaking gazelle and making "Can't you run any faster" faces as we got passed by much fitter dudes.  I wanted to punch him in the face, as predicted.  Somewhere between miles two and three he got tired, but I was totally in the zone.  He started walking and I kept jamming along for another mile to some techno beats, when all of a sudden as I took a deep breath, a MASSIVE bug went down my windpipe.  I mean I didn't see it but it felt HUGE, and it felt ALIVE.  Like it was crawling around in there.

When Nick caught up with me I was vomiting marmite and toast on the side of the road.  And he was bitching about the fact that he was "SO hungry he was going to die" and how he wished he could swallow a bug for some sustenance.  Kill me.  We walked the 3 miles home -him wishing for free chocolate bars to magically appear on the side of the road, and me wishing for a glass of water to wash down whatever it was I swallowed.  

Will we ever be good running partners?  I don't know.  But we are trying to get in shape for a 10k in september!  And I am kinda sorta thinking about doing this....

Via

It's a 7k run or walk through London dressed in a GORILLA SUIT to raise money for gorilla conservation - called the Great Gorilla Run!  I cant decide whether it seems like a lot of fun - 1,000 people in gorilla suits = hilarious, OR pretty miserable - running 7k IN a gorilla suit = hot, sweaty, mess.  Hmmm......  What do you think?!