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Fulton Gran Fondo, My allergies are terrible but I am trying hard to ignore them succeeding/not succeeding, Zwift
Today was a gorgeous sunny spring day, not too hot and not too cool, the kind of perfect day you long for and that seems so rare. I fully intended to spend a lot of time outdoors in the garden but the day did not go to plan. I had laundry and other chores to do. I also had to give Carter a good cleaning after last weekend’s gravel race. I also had to repair her front tire because it turned out it had a really slow leak. I found this out when it was completely flat Monday morning. I am amazed I got through the race on it. It is a good thing I did because the tubes I bought to repair a flat were the wrong size. And, the epoxy in my tire patch kit I have been carrying was dried out. So if I had had a blowout I would have been in big trouble. Lucky!
The leak in the tube was so tiny I had a hard time finding it. Had to use water and soap bubbles to locate it and even then I couldn’t see it, which made patching it really hard. I am pretty sure I got the patch on in the right spot. I will find out by morning!
While I am talking about cycling, yesterday Astrid and I had a Fulton Gran Fondo all day adventure. It was 102 miles/164 km of fun! Did I just hear some groans? Yes, this is what I do for fun. We had a mass group start of 500+ cyclists. First a fire truck led the way until we got to a bike trail and then we had Fulton ride leaders keeping us in check until we hit the open roads in the suburbs. The route eventually made it out of town completely into the rolling countryside. There were so many people I got to ride in various bunches and had to wait in line for water and nature breaks at two of the three pit stops.I also got to meet a Zwift friend whom I’ve cycled with online and lives in the east metro. He’s a really nice guy and we got to ride together and chat for a while at the beginning before he joined a bunch of his friends who were also riding. He finished the ride in just over five hours. I finished in a little over six. I was hoping to be closer to six than I was, but I am still really pleased with how well I did. And when I finished I still had plenty of oomph left, a good thing because Bookman was working and I had to ride home. Home was only an additional 7 miles/11 kms at an easy pace.
So today, in addition to taking care of Carter, I had Astrid to take care of too. She performed beautifully and looked quite nice in her new silver handlebar tape. Her old tape was white and looking pretty dirty and it was tearing in places. The silver tape is shiny and snazzy. This was the first time I have ever changed handlebar tape so I had to watch YouTube videos and learn how to do it. Not a hard thing but it still took me a long time because there is an art to wrapping it so there are no gaps and wrinkles.
Even though I didn’t get to spend time in the garden this weekend it is definitely springing up all over. Walter the crab apple burst into bloom a couple days ago and looks absolutely gorgeous. The other apples will be flowering in a few days.
Last year I planted a table grape. I have not been successful with grapes in the past, they never make it through winter. I planted this grape on the south side on the house and put trellising on the side of the house for it to climb. The grapes that didn’t live were all out in the exposed garden. I checked on the new grape in early spring and it looked like it had survived. I checked on it today and it is leafed out and has what I assume are flowers on it! The vine is still young so I don’t expect there will be many grapes this year, but even a few is very exciting. Success!The week ahead looks to be even more springy. Friday is the big plant sale Bookman and I always go to. We haven’t quite finalized out shopping list yet, but we are close. That means next weekend will be full of all kinds of garden news because plant sale weekend means garden frenzy. The Dashwoods will not be pleased when they learn they don’t get to help. They will get a consolation cabbage so that’s something at least.
Good job on the Gran Fondo!!
We biked in NC last weekend. A 45 mile ride Friday, 51 Saturday, 15 Sunday. Our pace was only 13.8 – slower than your 100 mile ride !!! Zwift has been great training for you. And how fun to meet a virtual friend in person! Well done Stefanie 🚴🏻♀️
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Thanks Helen! It was so much fun to be out. Yes, Zwift has been great training, I love it! I thought meeting my Zwift friend in person would be awkward but it was really nice. And well done to you on all your cycling! I take it volleyball has not started up yet? 🙂
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Slow start to volleyball
Last week was the opener & I we were on the bike/camp trip in NC
This weekend I had to work
Next weekend we are dog sitting Rascals sister Ruby. I am hoping to play May 20th
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Well may 20th isn’t all that far away!
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Wow!! Some biking achievements!! Way to go Stefanie! Real fun to meet one of your virtual biking friend!!
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cirtnecce, thanks! It was a great day and really nice to meet a virtual friend. Proof that it isn’t all imaginary 🙂
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Sounds like my kind of fun 🙂 congrats on a good race.
I was hoping to see the silver hand bar tape, because that sounds awesome!
So much spring.
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wanderwulf, thank you! Sorry I didn’t take a photo, I didn’t think anyone would want to see and I forgot to take a picture of the the before tape. But I will get a picture up maybe next weekend 🙂
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Congratulations on all that bike riding! I can’t begin to imagine riding that far. I’ve hardly ridden a bicycle since I was about twelve. I hope you do get grapes this year. We had old vines when I was growing up and there’s nothing like picking your own grapes.
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Joan, thanks! Haven’t really ridden a bike since you were 12? You are missing out on some great fun and you don’t even have to ride 100 miles! But cycling is addictive so you never know how far you might end up riding 🙂 We had grapes in the backyard when I was a kid and my mom made jam once and it was great. But then my parents decided the vines were too much trouble and ripped them out along with the blackberries that were also growing. It was a sad, sad day when they did that. So I am extra looking forward to having my own grapes again!
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Consolation cabbage! Haha, that made me laugh. I guess it could be worse like, hmm, consolation turnip (though, secretly, I quite like turnips too.)
Anyhow, good to hear you are enjoying your spring. Our autumn has, on the whole, been pretty pleasant too – but I know winter is coming.
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whisperinggums, Oh I like turnips too so you don’t have to keep your love of them a secret 🙂 Glad you’ve been having a lovely autumn!
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Definitely lots of groaning over here… I went out bike riding and after a total of 6 miles I was a bit tired! In my defense the sun was already too hot for my taste. Next time I better get up earlier before the heat starts! Cute pic of you!
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Iliana, thanks! The long road has to start somewhere! I remember when I thought five miles was a big deal and the first time I did ten I was exhausted.
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I hope it is dry and sunny (still) where you are as it is wet wet wet here! So nice to see your smiling face! Do you have lots of long weekend rides planned?
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Danielle, oh yes! Lots and lots of long weekend rides planned for the whole summer. Dry and sunny turned to wet and more wet and now we are finally trying to dry out again.
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