A short intermission ...

I haven't been good about this blog ... my apologies.  I have a lot in my schedule right now so will be taking a hiatus until September.  I hope y'all have a good summer!

Where are the nuts?

It started with my b-i-l, Doug, posing the question in early December:  Where are the nuts?

Growing up there were some Christmas staples that were at every home:  Christmas ribbon candy; sweet pickled onions; gherkins; and NUTS!  All the usual suspects:  walnuts; brazil nuts; filberts; almonds; and pecans.

Everyone had them and, surprisingly, no one was allergic to them.

Nuts are actually in season during Christmas so that's probably why they were at everyone's home.

Personally, I've always had them.  I still have the metal nutcrackers and meat extractors my Doodie gave me when I first moved out on my own.

I guess with allergy scares they are one of those things that are almost long forgotten ...

Resolutions and Revolutions

Happy New Year y’all!

Every year, like a few people, I make a resolution or two. This year one of my resolutions involves revolutions.

I will get stronger on the bike!
I will get faster on the bike!
I will get pancakes at the RTCC pit stops!

Just you wait, I will do this! I will not let the hill from the bottom of Bellingham to the top of the world defeat me!

That, quite naturally, involves other resolutions that are too boring to even bother discussing.

Of course, faster, like everything else, is purely subjective. I will never catch those speed demons on Team Finn but I will not be just the old lady anymore (even if I have to recruit people older than me!).

And last year (oh, so long ago now after a week off work) I took on the challenge of being a pilot/guide for a blind athlete who also wants to do triathlons.

Everyone, meet Shawn! (Don’t you just LOVE digital photography – I never have to be in a picture!)

How does my resolution for more revolutions and volunteering with BC Blind Sports come together?

Shawn and I went for our first tandem bike ride on January 2. What a way to stick to a resolution! Shawn casually mentioned that she’d like to do the RTCC (she didn’t know that I had participated). Her mother had been diagnosed with colon cancer last year and she really wanted to contribute to the battle. She wondered if I would mind helping her out and being her pilot. The whole time she is talking about this I am thinking to myself, wow, this girl is really fast on the bike (she is 17 years younger and I will take advantage of that) and the scenery is flying by. No time to stop and smell the roses!

But ... but, slow down, I wanna take pictures I tell her. It’s a beautiful day, I say! Nope, no time to slow down in Shawn’s world.

Shawn is highly competitive. Shawn is uber-competitive. Shawn has competed, I find out, in the Athens paralympic games, as a cyclist. GULP! Yes, as a cyclist ... placing 6th. Shawn plays on the National GoalBall team. Shawn is a former competitive swimmer.

JUST SHOOT ME NOW! We’re not even playing in the same sandbox!

I was telling one of my bosses (a former Olympian himself) and he, ever so optimistic, says “well, you’ll be the eyes and she can be the legs”!

So, how do a non-competitor and an paralympian come together??? Train together??? Have fun together???
I can say we had a lot of fun out there. A few wrinkles to work out and finessing on the bike to be done. She may drop me like a hot potato to train with someone much faster but I’m gonna make the most of it while I have the opportunity and, I’m confident, there is a reason we were put together. The idea that you actually stop every 30K or so and take a break and refuel is a concept she questioned.