Mr. Helpful says I need to blog, so here goes. Only problem is, I don’t have much to say. I did something dreadful to my back yesterday, causing it to go into a spasm, so I’ve spent the last 36 hours hobbling around the house being grumpy. I think I’ll go take some more Tylenol PM . . .
I missed a couple of weeks of blogging there–just a quick backtrack–I had several days of single parenting, a mild stomach bug (probably not even a bug; probably just something I ate) that caused me to miss a 200k that I had planned to do, and then about 10 days of NO INTERNET. It was hideous. Catastrophic. I can’t even remember how to mail-order properly without the internet . . . I have some distant shadow of a memory that might have involved buying things on the telephone? Sounds prehistoric.
Anyway, by the time we got the computer thing straightened out, I was feeling a need to put in big miles on the bike, so I rode a century, then a few days later a 200k (to make up for the one that I missed)–both solo! More than the miles, the solo-ness is a point of pride for me. Long distances ridden alone intimidate me–but not anymore! Anyway, suffice it to say I’ve been riding. Brevet week starts in less than three weeks, so this week is the end of my volume; I’m going to do two more long rides, this Friday and Saturday, then taper.
But here’s the weird phenomenon–I’ve taken up sewing. And knitting. To an extreme. Today I sewed myself an adorable spring bag; last weekend I knitted dishcloths for the kitchen.
I remember, when I was training for PBP in 2003, that I played with beads all the time; I made TONS of earrings, along with some bracelets and necklaces. I was totally obsessed, constantly plotting jewelry ensembles that I could make to accessorize various outfits. When I wasn’t on the bike, I was hanging out in bead shops. Now it’s fabric shops and yarn stores.
I think it’s a coping mechanism, some sort of anti-testosterone uber-housewife thing that wakes up when I spend lots of time away from home training really hard. Today I got out a bunch of jam jars, in preparation for picking strawberries tomorrow. I’ve concluded that the best strawberry jam is the one from Nigella Lawson’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess. I’ve had fabulous personalized pink and purple labels printed up for the jars. Now all I need is the berries . . .
AACK! I’m turning into Martha!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Haha – there are worse things than being Martha! I think it’s great that you’re doing all this other stuff. I say keep going with it as long as you are having fun.
Hope your back is better soon . . .
Kudos to you for conquering apprehension duing long solo rides! That’s something to be really proud of! I freak out on solo rides, just worrying that I’ll get lost. And often I’m in places where cell service is sketchy.
Also, kudos on your domestic projects. I love knitting; maybe one day we can visit yarn stores and knit together….of course by then, you might be onto some other wonderful domestic project.
I must say that I was sad that you’re already making strawberry jam. I haven’t done that yet this year, and I was fondly remembering our fun strawberry-picking trip in Northern Moore county last year……
Hey, you did not ride alone. I rode with you for at least a mile or so.
It was nice meeting you on that stretch along Hilltop-Needmore north of Fuquay. You are definitely a motivation as I train for 3 Mountain Madness. Wish me luck and I hope to run into you again.