Niplets!!!!! I'm bored again due to rain.

My friend Jimi makes the coolest bracelets!  She calls them "Niplets".  This one matches my favorite bike I own...my single speed.  I have the pink Chris King hubs and headset along with my pink Oury  grips, some pink brake cable, a pink BMX chain, and pink pedals.  Smap insists on adding more and more pink.  OH...and I have a pink Terry saddle.  The pink is rubbing off of it, but it adds character to my bike.  I love my Rig.
Today is a most dreadful day.  It has been raining all day long.  I am SO glad I got in a fun ride yesterday and two swims in a row prior to that, or I would be going CRAZY.  Just another day of rain and it looks like PERFECT weather for riding from Saturday afternoon and on out.  

I am thinking about maybe perhaps possibly doing the Tsali Knobscorcher with my friend Maria on Sunday.  Tsali is very unpleasant when it is muddy though.  I really don't mind too much mud due to being on my single speed, but when it splatters up into my eyes is when it really sucks for me.  I had that problem at the Black Bear Rampage last year.  We'll see.  I really want to do a long road ride with Missy this weekend.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I can do both.

Taking furniture from others...

I have a problem... I always see furniture that either parents or friends have that I want.  It is a serious problem probably, but it works out pretty well for me.  

Smap and I were at our friends' Karen and Jeff's pre-wedding party the other night and I spotted a cute little desk in Karen's "garage sale room" of things that she needed to sell.  Luckily someone had given her the desk and she was willing to pass it on for free to a friend (ME).  So, I lucked out with a cute little desk for our yellow den.  A few weeks ago I scored a bench from my dad (previously blogged about).  He was so kind to donate such a beautiful piece to our pool room.  I also score nice things from my mom on a regular basis as she begins her de-cluttering of her house and multiple storage facilities. :)

Below, are so other examples of my horrible problem of taking furniture from friends.  

Here is the red desk (below) from Karen's.   I was afraid to tell Smap about it, so I showed it to him after I moved it in.  Luckily he liked it!!! 
Our coffee table also has a fun story behind it.  My best friend from high school and college got it for a wedding gift from a friend who MADE it for her and her husband as their gift.  I saw it and immediately told her that I wanted it.  It has a killer shelf built into it for storage.  I was over at her house several years ago and saw that it was no longer in her den.  She told me she was getting ready to take it to Goodwill....so here it is....in my den.
My buffet in my dining room....came from my friend Abby's house.  The first time I walked into her house I saw it.  I told her if she ever wanted to get rid of it, I would take it.  She called me last year and offered it for $50.  Her folks even delivered it and helped us move it into the house....pretty darn heavy piece.  It was a perfect fit once again.  Buying/taking furniture off of friends and asking parents for unwanted furniture is a gift I have.  Smap and I have pretty good stories behind a lot of our furniture.  

Anyway, I had a great ride tonight with my new friend Missy who just moved here.  She is a cat 2 roadie and is so fun to talk to.  We rode out of her house in South Knox.  I have not been out there in several years.  Hard to believe I started riding out there over 10 years ago when I first started riding with the Zoo folk.  What is even crazier is that I will be 33 in a week.  Wow....time flies when you are having fun. 

CRAZY!!!!  Just yesterday I was starting college....

I'm pregnant!!!!

Ha ha....April Fools!!!! Maybe in a few years...

Well, I did the marathon bike marshall thing on Sunday. It was COLD, but fun. I think I was on my bike (my Paragon 29'er) for about 4.5 hours. I am unsure of how many miles I actually rode because I don't have a computer on that bike, but it was anywhere between 25-35 miles. I rode pretty slowly riding next to friends going back and forth on the race course. It was a fun time even though my heart rate never got up once. I got some good photos of my twin sis (I'll post at some point this week), and of some of my friends I ran into along the way. I had two friends actually do the marathon...AmyLynn (the mountain biker turned roller derby queen) and our friend Jim Smith (Smithers). Crazy people....I saw a lot of people going through all kinds of pain. I did the bike marshalling the first year of the K-town marathon, but Smap and I were positioned on the 1/2 marathon part of the course. We didn't even think about moving on to the rest of the course that year. This year I wish I had taken a whole bottle of endurolytes (sp?) because I gave out the 10 I had in my mtn.bike pack I had with me. I needed more. I also needed more water. On a few occasions, I had to ride back to find bottled water for some poor souls... Luckily Amylynn was carrying a lot of extra endurolytes with her, so I bugged her for some one time after I ran out. Next year I will be a lot more prepared.

So, after the marathon it actually became a pretty Sunday. Too bad for me though. Being out in the cold all morning totally zapped me. I was immobile on the couch for the rest of the day. I did make it out to walk with Mr.Ippon, but I was quickly back on the couch as soon as we got back in the house. Smap was busy installing our new dishwasher that must have taken him 8 hours all together....or it seemed like it. I kept telling myself I was staying inside just in case he needed my help....I had a good excuse to remain on the couch. Actually, he did need my help at one point...I think I handed him a cup from the cabinet so he could drain some water out of the old dishwasher....he he he.

Well, today my brother and sister in law offically start their way back to Tennessee. They are moving back to TN from SAN FRANSISCO. I can't wait! My twin sis left me the month before I got married in 05' for a bigger TN town, so I have been without the extravegance of having a person to hang out with when my husband just won't do. Kate is from the Czech Republic and is super fun. Alex (Smap's youngest bro) is pretty fun too. They both love to ride and camp just like us. Alex even races. Perfect...Smap and Kate can hang with our dogs while Alex and I race. Only kidding Smap if you are reading this. ;-)

So, I am looking at the radar today. I think someone is pulling an April Fool's on Knoxville. They are saying that it is suppose to be stormy weather out tonight, but I just don't see it. I hope not because I need to get some good road miles in today. I haven't been on that bike since....ummmmm....last Tuesday. I have been on my other two mountain bikes 3 times though...and have swam good swims twice, so I think I will be alright. I tell myself that at least. And, I did run from the Knoxville Expo center to my mom's car parked behind the Knox Museum of Art in the rain on Saturday so my sis and mom wouldn't have to get wet. That may have been a half mile run....I am counting that too.

Okay, enough rambling. Fingers are crossed for no rain!

TGIF! Last March weekend of 08'

This week has been hard on me (riding). Tuesday night we did the CBC "shop ride". I was doing fine in the rotation until it was my turn to take a pull at the near top of a hill on Hardin Valley Road. I hit a wall of head wind. It sucked. I sucked. My heart rate jumped up too high and my legs started screaming from all the abuse I had put them through the previous weekend. I made it up the long false flat of Hickory Creek Road, which is no easy feat due to the pace these guys keep. Once again we rode up and over Everitt Road this week due to lack of daylight still. I was already in the back when the climb started. Unfortunately I had a small asthma/acid reflux attack. I have had this happen a few times before, but this time I seriously thought I was going to fall off the bike. I didn't have my inhaler (I usually just take a few hits off of it prior to activity), so I took it easy going over the hill. I strolled back until I finally felt like breathing hard again. I met up with Mary and Gene, who dropped off the pace line also on Everitt. It was a decent ride, but I am really looking forward to the regular 42 mile loop that doesn't have that dang hill.

Wednesday is always Haw Ridge night (if it is dry and not raining). I rode with my Menstral Cycle 12 hour team (Kimberly Pemberton, Jimi Flynt, and Karent Clemments). We had a good ride except I bruised my arse pretty good when I fell over on a climb. Smap put some new candies on my single speed, so I am still adjusting to getting in and out of them. We rode my least favorite trail that I need to put some time in on (Roller Coaster). It kicked my butt.

Thursday, I planned on doing a solo road ride after school, but last minute changed my mind and decided to go out to the ridge again. Bad mistake. My legs were seriously tired as well as my lower back. I did not realize this until I got up the first hill. I rode for a pretty good amount of time and finally decided I would do one last climb up Low Gap, so I could do the super fun decent over to my favorite trail, Soccer. I took a wrong turn and upon coming back down to the correct trail, I crashed hard. A sticked popped out of the ground as I rolled over it with my front wheel and it caught me. I landed so hard on my left thigh muscle. I just had to lay there in a fetal position for a minute or so to catch my breath. So much for going down Low Gap. I made my way back to my car and called it a night. I am glad I went though. I need as much trail time as I can get because Cohotta is creeping in pretty quickly.

This weekend hopefully will be fun if it doesn't rain too much. Smap and I are doing a lot of volunteering on Saturday and Sunday. Smap is building trails over at Hastie Park in South Knox on Saturday and I will be helping out with the bike marshalling at the Knoxville Marathon on Sunday. My twin sis will be in town to run the half. It will be fun hanging with her some this weekend too!

That is about it. Hopefully I will remember to take some shots this weekend.

Chaio!

My St.Patty's day photos....a week late...

My dad LOVES collecting different things. This is one of two barns which display his ever growing collection of license plates. If you have some and don't want to throw them away, my dad will take them. At night, you can point your head lights towards the barn, and it lights up. It is really cool!

The llamas are just so different. I love watching them!

Here I am on the "Four Corners" of Laughalot (my dad's farm is called this). We need another corner to fit the horses in. Ippon and Sam are wondering what the heck I am doing up there. I just thought it would be cool to see if I could get all the animals over there together. They all came when I called. The llamas and pigs all somewhat know their names. My dad is letting my uncle keep some cattle in the one pasture. I think it would be cool to see how the llamas and the horses interact...the cows are just kind of dumb.

Ippon with a ball in his mouth.

Dad and myself doing the self-portrait thing.

He is so cute. He doesn't look like he is over 11 years old (77 in doggy years).

Dorky girl on the John Deere.

My little brother has a pit bull named Sam. He is such a sweet sweet dog. He is very smart too. We were saying hi to the a few of the pigs.

I grew up LOVING horses and always wanting to ride them. I think Smap and I are going to have to get over to the farm to ride this spring. It is so much fun. I guess the last time I actually rode one of my dad's horses was about 7-8 years ago. So sad.

Well, that was our day. Just hanging on the farm walking around. Afterwards, Dad took Joyce and me for a delicious lunch and some beers (you have to have some beer on St.Pat's Day!).

Over and out!

Back in school and getting ready to ride.

Yep, bored again and waiting for 6 pm to come.  The bad thing about teaching is that I get off work way before everyone else.  So, on Tuesday's I have to wait two hours before I can ride.  It is going to be chilly out there today.  

The kids came back today.  I had fun with them today doing a creative writing assignment.  It is amazing to hear about the trips my kids get to go on nowadays.  I actually had kids tell me they were SO bored on their cruises last week.  I do have quite a few spoiled kids.  My kids are equivalent to Farragut kids, but fortunately they aren't as pretentious yet.  I have a lot of funny sweet kids this year.  I had quite a few last year too.  It is too bad I don't get to see them much after they leave the 6th grade. 

After school I had to go get my passport renewed AGAIN.  I got it renewed in 04' to go to France. I got my first one in 94' and I think it cost me $60 back then.  Then, in 04' I also paid I think $60 to renew it.  When I got married in 05' I think I could have got it changed for FREE to my new married name, but I didn't need it then, so I never thought out it.  Today it cost me a total of $95.  This included the $75 name change/renew fee, the $15 passport photo, and the $5 postage to send it where ever it needs to go.  I think they need to pay teachers more if they are going to have this inflation thing.

I am getting ready for my Tuesday night beating.  I really hope we don't go over Everett Road again tonight.  We'll see how I do after doing all the climbing this weekend.

Cheers!

A most EXCELLENT LONG weekend!

This whole weekend has been great! It all pretty much started on Thursday. Smap took off work early and came home so we could go on a decently hilly 40 mile road ride. We got back right before dusk and my toes were feeling the lack of sunshine.

Friday was a rare occasion for me. I got to spend the whole day with Smap and Ippon. Smap took off work and we headed to one of our favorite places, Asheville. Our friend Skinny D (Dennis) met us at Bent Creek just down the road from Asheville, and the three of us had a great time riding a bunch of the trails there. Lots of climbing is involved and lots of fun downhill stuff.

I took the guys and Ippon to lunch in downtown Asheville. We had to walk a while before we could find a place where we could eat outside with Ippon. It was shocking for us to not be served at one place (Jack In The Woods). We are probably going to have to strike them off our list since they were pretty rude to us. Anyway, we ended up at Johnny's Uptown Grill (JUGS). We lucked out with a terrific server and delicious food. The owner/head chef even came out and said hello to us. He even gave us all three free cookies! We added a new place to our list for sure. And, there was a doggie bakery across the street so all the guys got treats (Smap and Skinny got lunch and beer).

Smap and I drove home while Skinny continued on to Raleigh to be with his family. Smap and I decided to do Monte Jones's planned "Heinous Loop" on Saturday morning. The "Heinous" has been around for a long time. I think I have done the ride once a year since I have been with Smap and his group of friends (at least 7-8 times). I missed last year's epic night time trip (they started at some stupid late hour 8-9pm) and Smap got home at like 4 in the morning. Not for me.

(Here is Smap, Wally, Jen and Kevin up on Look Rock.)

Anyway, there were 7 of us total. Three "Heinous Virgins" were with us....Jen Smelser, Kevin Trent, and Wally Judy. Smap, myself, Monte and Ben Smith were the veterans on the loop. The Heinous starts on 321 in Townsend across from the Back Porch Restaurant in the little parking lot by the Little River. We ride down Old Walland Hwy, up to the Foothills Pkwy, up and over to 129. We turn left onto 129 and proceed to ride the DRAGON. I LOVE riding the Dragon, but I would rather be on my road bike to fully enjoy the speed you can get there. Did I mention the Heinous loop is to be done on your mountain bike? Here is why......we get off 129 where Parson's Branch Road spills into the road. Parson's Branch is a steep gravel road that is one way and it leads out from Cade's Cove. So, yes we are going the wrong way up a super steep gravel road. We go up and over that and down an equally steep and long gravel road down into Cades Cove. If we ride the entire loop we can make the whole ride 63 miles, but yesterday we did the 58 version by taking Hyatt Lane through to Rich Mtn. Road (which is also a gravel road that leads out of Cades Cove). Rich Mtn. is luckily not so steep, but it is a 3.5 or so mile road up to the top, then down back towards 321.

The above shot is Monte pulling out the Jelly Belly's. He said water and Jelly Belly's were his "chemicals for the day". Monte kicked some serious ass on the ride! I got in on the jelly beans, but my lungs and legs just weren't with me yesterday. Three days of climbing is quite a bit.

The next shot is all of us riding down Hyatt Lane. Ben is in the tights, Kevin, then Jen, Wally, me, and Mr. Jones in the lead. He was up front all day long. He was also on a one-by-nine is memory serves.

WE had a good group yesterday that stayed together well. It was fun. Smap and I had THREE great days of climbing and riding.

Today, we decided to have a rest day for our legs. It has been windy and cold anyways. My two worst enemies when it comes to riding. We took Ippon out for a game of Frisbee golf at one of Smap's favorite places (Victor Ashe Park). Smap is a great Frisbee golf player. I play a lot more in the summer when all of our friends are out together. Today was my first day playing in a while. I have not played here before, so it was a lot of fun seeing the place Smap is always talking about. Ippon enjoyed just being outside sniffing.

It was a great weekend. I am looking forward to the cold to move out permanantly so I can ride consecutively! More fun times are definitely ahead! I can't wait!