Music, Cycling and Onion Rings

Don't those go together well? Okay, maybe not but they were all present in my weekend. Miguel has realized that he now has the best excuse to make me get rid of some of our stuff my junk, "we need to make room for the baby." He doesn't understand why I need to own so many books, especially ones I've already read. And I do have a tendency toward things in a frame - art, photos, artistic photos. We have stuff tucked under the bed, hiding under the coffee table. Anyway, we spent Saturday going through the living room book shelves and hiding spots and throwing out stuff we don't need. Admittedly I didn't get rid of many books - I'd already purged when we moved here and what's left are my favorites. But we got rid of lots of other junk. Why did I even have 4 boxes of pencil lead? I don't even use mechanical pencils.

Saturday evening rolled around and we had tickets to see Dave Matthews Band at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. I bought these way back when and honestly admit I wasn't as excited to go. A late night, lots of smoke in the air (which, not being cigarette smoke it really isn't that bad), general admission seating. Ugh. I wish the concert had made up for all that but sadly, we weren't thrilled. We were sitting on a slope all evening and our butts kept going numb. Granted it was our fault for not getting there sooner to get seats but I also didn't want to arrive 2 hours early. The music was good but they tend toward long, jammish versions of their songs so we often didn't recognize what we were listening to. And, and I'll admit this really peeved me, they didn't play Crash Into Me, my favorite DMB song. So I went home a little disappointed and really tired with a sore backside.

When I woke up this morning I felt pretty tired and seriously considered canceling my planned bike ride. But I thought, "What will I have done this weekend if I skip this ride?" and, "What am I going to do all day, sit on my ass?". So those two thoughts got me out of bed. On the way there I started to get really nervous about my ability to keep up. I kept reminding myself I could turn around if it got to be too much. We met up at a diner next to a wharf along the Napa River.

We got riding and I was in the middle of the group, with some ahead of me and some behind me. Things were going smooth and I was feeling good. The weather was gorgeous and the surrounds of rolling hills and vineyards can't be beat. Around mile 10 I decided to slow down to ride with a friend that I enjoy chatting with. She was the last rider and was happy for the company. We arrived at Sonoma Plaza and took a little rest. Here's a picture of some of our group during the break.

We headed back and some of the riders decided to do a side route that included a big climb. I passed on that one. I rode back with the same woman that I was chatting with and by about Mile 23 I was feeling really pooped! Good thing I rode with her at the slower pace because I don't think I would have had enough gas in the tank to make it back if I'd kept up that middle of the pack pace. I felt a little shaky and it was getting pretty hot out so I just took it easy, ate my ShotBlox, drank a lot of water and enjoyed the scenery. I posted the route to mapmyride, click here to check it out.

When we got back to the diner we went in for lunch. I did some stretching and then sat down to a patty melt and onion rings. Shhh! The view of the river was peaceful and there was a nice breeze. We sat around chatting for a bit and I admit, I was happy I made myself get out of bed. This 30 mile ride really got me thinking about the 26 mile bike leg of the tri in October. I don't think I'll know until mid October how doable it will be for me.

I will consider this weekend a success. My eating still leaves a lot to be desired but the good thing is I am thinking a lot about the changes I need to make. That's usually the first step in my change process. And I'll be making a healthy dinner to balance out the fatty lunch.

I'll close with a picture of some grapes. Everywhere the vines were heavy with them and they were just gorgeous with the sun shining on them. And given my status this is as close as I can get to wine at the moment :) I hope you all had a great weekend too!!

Update: I just got emailed a picture another rider took. It's so cute I want to share it too!!