"Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing." ~ Laurie Buchanan

Posts tagged ‘bicycle’

Piggy Back Rides!

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A couple of weeks ago we traded in our 1990 Suburban and or 1996 Volvo and purchased a new-to-us Toyota Highlander. Quite by accident, the one that fit both our price and mileage range also happened to match the exact color of our bicycles – champagne!

We had a 2-inch hitch installed so that we could use the bicycle rack we purchased at REI’s “garage sale.” Every time we drive our bicycles to a trail head, we are, in fact, giving them a piggy back ride. 

Some of life’s loads, while heavy, can enhance the joy factor. Others are detrimental.

What type of load are you giving a piggy back ride to?

Listen with your heart,

Laurie Buchanan

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
               - Laurie Buchanan

www.HolEssence.com. 

No part of this blog post may be used in part, or in whole, without written permission from Laurie Buchanan. Copyright © 2010 Laurie Buchanan — All Rights Reserved.

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Bicycling, Life, Musings

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It’s What’s on the Inside that Really Counts!

Capilene Long Johns

The mornings of riding our bicycles in short pants and sleeves are done and gone. We’ve consistently been greeted each dawn by 43-45 degree weather. Add in the speed of a bicycle, and we’ve got some additional wind chill to contend with.

And while outerwear is certainly important, it doesn’t compare to the importance of what’s inside the final layer:

Moisture wicking briefs and sport bra
Capilene long underwear – top and bottom
Under helmet skull cap with ear flaps

Yep, it’s what’s on the inside that really counts! This isn’t just true for outdoor sports; it’s true for life as well. You’ll recall that Ralph Waldo Emerson said:

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies with in us.”

What inside your outer layer?

Listen with your heart,

Laurie Buchanan

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
               – Laurie Buchanan

www.HolEssence.com

Copyright © 2010 Laurie Buchanan — All Rights Reserved. No part of this blog post may be used in part, or in whole, without written permission from Laurie Buchanan.

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Bicycling, Exercise, Life, Musings, Personal Growth, Spiritual Awareness

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3 B’s and a Yahoo!

1 – BICYCLE RIDE
Sunday we rolled out of bed at 4am and arrived near Wilmot Mountain in Wisconsin by 6am to get our wrist-bands to ride 50-miles of the Harmon Hundred bicycle ride.

It’s very early and plenty cold; about 49-degrees. Roughly 5 miles into the ride we hear gun shots! Oh Lordy! we think. We look around only to see a duck blind on the side of a hill. At this we cheer the ducks and geese on:  fly, Fly, FLY! Then it dawns on us, some hunters are wont to drink and hunt simultaneously. In our high-visibility yellow jerseys we make pretty easy targets; we pick up the pace!

Len Riding Point

There are two designated rest stops on the 50-mile route. Long before we reach the first one, we’re overcome by scent mirages. We’re both certain that we smell French toast, waffles, pancakes, warm maple syrup, honey-whipped butter, raspberry jelly, and hot coffee. Our minds are playing wishful tricks on us.

First Rest Stop

In the state of Wisconsin, courtesy dictates that you give “a” finger (not “the” finger) when you pass another person. This is true whether you’re on a tractor, in a truck, or on a bicycle. It’s easy; you simply lift your index finger, while nodding and smiling at the other person until they’re past.

Giving "A" Finger (Not "The" Finger)

When we got to where the second stop should have been mile-wise, we realized that we missed a turn. I’m no longer sweet, loving, kind, and thoughtful. Rather, I’m tired, sore, cranky, and hungry. After multiple additional miles, we arrive at the second rest stop, butt weary.

Second Rest Stop

Our total ride was 62 miles, not 50. We averaged 11.34 miles per hour, with our fastest speed being 28.67 mph. The actual riding time—pedals in motion—was 5 hours and 26 minutes.

End Of The Ride

2 – BOOK SIGNING
We get home in the nick of time for showers and decent clothes before we’re back out the door and off to the Lakeside Legacy Arts Park (the historic Dole Mansion) in Crystal Lake where our friend, Kris Hayden, hosted a book signing for her newly published book, “Under the Eaves.” Here’s a LINK to her website if you’re interested in learning more about her book. From here we continue on to …

Kris Hayden Far Right (Short Dark Hair and Glasses)

3 – BIRTHDAY(S) PARTY
… a multiple birthday celebration for Eoghan, Kayley’s brother-in-law Ryan, and Kayley’s grandmother, Effie. As you can see, a good time was had by all.

Birthday Celebration - Effie, Ryan, and Eoghan

Kayley and Eoghan

 

Kayley and Eoghan - Smoochin'

YAHOO!
It was a whirlwind of a day, and we enjoyed ourselves tremendously. When we got home we crashed saying, “Yahoo, tomorrow we’re closed! We’ll just sit like two bumps on a log and contemplate the speed at which hair grows on our knees—nothing more strenuous than that!”

Listen with your heart,

Laurie Buchanan

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
               – Laurie Buchanan

www.HolEssence.com
Copyright © 2010 Laurie Buchanan — All Rights Reserved.

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Bicycling, Exercise, Humor, Life, Musings

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The Law of Gross Tonnage

The Law of Gross Tonnage

The law of gross tonnage is usually thought of in terms of the maritime world—an unwritten, yet accepted nautical law that has everything to do with common sense: “If it’s bigger than you are, get out of the way.”

As bicyclists we, too, have this law. Together my bike and I weigh well-less than 200 pounds. A car—even a small one—weighs a heck of a lot more! In the state of Illinois it’s a law that vehicles passing a cyclist must give them at least 3 feet of space.

It’s a nice law to have on the books, but in our real-life experience, sometimes we’re lucky if we get 3 inches. But when push comes to shove, regardless of the written law, the unwritten, yet accepted law of bicyclists dictates, “If it’s bigger than you are, get out of the way.”

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”
–Albert Einstein 

“Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.”
–Charles M. Schulz

“Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I have hope for the human race.”
–H.G. Wells

“I thought of that while riding my bicycle.”
–Albert Einstein on the theory of relativity

“Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a bike.”
–John F. Kennedy

“Chasing records doesn’t keep me on my bike. Happiness does.”
–Lance Armstrong after his third Tour de France victory

“Melancholy is incompatible with bicycling.”
–James E. Starrs (sometimes referred to as the father of Indiana Jones)

Wasps don’t adhere to the law of gross tonnage. Even though we weigh thousands of times more than they do, they’ll still chase a bicyclist down and sting him right through his glove!

Wasps Don't Adhere to the Law of Gross Tonnage

Listen with your heart,

Laurie Buchanan

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
               – Laurie Buchanan

www.HolEssence.com
Copyright © 2010 Laurie Buchanan — All Rights Reserved.

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Bicycling, Exercise, Musings

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Oh Crap! What’s That Noise?

The day started out like any other non-law-breaking day. We woke up and were going to take a nice 20-mile bike ride. However, when we got to Elgin, we got to thinking, “We’re not going to have that many more nice biking days this season, let’s ride just a little further.”

Riding along, minding our own business, thinking we’ll do a 30 mile ride instead, we came across a barricade on the bike path.

We came across a barricade in the path

WHY? we wondered. We looked around and not seeing anyone, asked ourselves, “What’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like they’re going to confiscate our bikes and throw us in jail, right? Let’s just go take a quick peek and see WHY the path is closed.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way …

Where there's a will, there's a way

We find that they’re  replacing the bicycle path — it doesn’t exist — so we’re walking our bikes next to the tracks. We can see another barricade a half mile, or so, ahead that’s stopping bicyclists from coming through the other way.

We’ll just sniggle around that barricade when we get there and keep going.

Walking our bikes next to the tracks

We can see that they’re building a new bike path and a bridge. We stop to admire the work. This is going to be fantastic when it’s finished!

They're building a new bike path and bridge

All of a sudden we hear something in the distance. It’s getting louder and has kind of a rumbling feel to it. 

We turn to each other wide-eyed and say, “Oh crap! What’s that noise?” as we realize it sounds like a train!

Scrambling as fast as we can, we make it down into a work area with our bikes and turn to see a trolley ambling along, passengerless, the conductors smiled and waved as they passed.

Oh Crap! What's that Noise?

When we reached the “Stop, or I’ll gnaw my arm off now” point, we realize we’ve gone a little over 26 miles. Not too shabby.

Then in dawns on us, we’ve got to ride that same distance all the way back!

We’re so hot (90-degrees) we can hardly stand it. The little “rest area” we stop in has a water spigot. I turn it on, take my helmet off, and stick my head and shoulders gratefully under the cold running water. (yes, my eyes are still black and blue from the “gargling incident”) …

Laurie after sticking her head under cold running water

Len turns to me with a great big grin and says, “I think maybe we shouldn’t have left The Shire, Pippin.”

Len says to me, "I think maybe we shouldn't have left the shire, Pippin."

By the time we got back to Crystal Lake from Geneva, Illinois, we’d ridden 53.36 miles. Our legs are still wobbling!

Listen with your heart,

Laurie Buchanan

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
               – Laurie Buchanan

www.HolEssence.com
Copyright © 2010 Laurie Buchanan — All Rights Reserved.

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Bicycling, Exercise, Humor

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A Hint of Magic in the Air

The morning started out almost like any other, but there was the slightest hint of something different in the air—magic—as we turned our bikes onto the Fox River Trail and headed south to historic Elgin, Illinois.

We turned our bikes south on the Fox River Trail

Riding along the Fox River, we enjoyed the way it winked back at the sun who was flirting shamelessly with it.

The river winks back at the sun

We rode past beautiful scenery that waved its leafy fingers, beckoning us to leave the trail and play.

We rode past beautiful scenery

But we didn’t. We stayed on the trail that eventually took us within feet of the river.

The bike path took us really close to the river

We could tell by the change in scenery that we were getting close to our destination.

We're getting close to our destination

Finally, we arrive in historic Elgin, Illinois—made famous by the Elgin Watch Company.

We arrive in historic Elgin, Illinois

I love libraries. As you can imagine, lots of magic is let loose in the children’s section of the Elgin library.

The children's section of the phenomenal Elgin library.

We continued our journey to see the Grand Victoria riverboat casino. After dazzling the security guard with our brilliant smiles (and using just a hint of magic), he allowed us to use their very nice restrooms.

The Grand Victoria riverboat casino

On the return trip, we stopped and fortified ourselves for the ride back home with a delicious breakfast at “The Measuring Cup.”

We ate a delicious breakfast at "The Measuring Cup"

Then, you’ll never … ever … believe what we saw. How had we possibly missed this on the ride down? Impossible!

How could we have possibly missed THIS on the ride down?

A castle! The early morning hint of magic in the air proved to be true.

A castle!

With the zoom lens we got a closeup view. How cool is that?!

With a zoom lens, we get a closeup view

See those blue tubes hanging over our right shoulders? Those are how we drink water while riding. We wear “Camelbak” packs that each hold 100 ounces of water. When we’re thirsty, we just bite down on the bite-valve and voilà! Perfect for a long, hot ride.

Our Camelbak packs make it easy to stay hydrated on a long, hot bicycle ride

There’s magic around us all the time, all we have to do is pay attention.

Listen with your heart,

Laurie Buchanan

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
               – Laurie Buchanan

www.HolEssence.com
Copyright © 2010 Laurie Buchanan — All Rights Reserved.

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Bicycling, Environment, Exercise, Musings, Nature

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Line of Communication – How’s Your Delivery Style?

Line of Communication by Laurie Buchanan

Riding our bicycles the other morning we passed what seemed like a never-ending line of telephone poles—a line of communication—standing smartly at attention. It made me think of the game “gossip” where someone whispers a bit of information into a person’s ear, it’s passed along in the same manner, and by the time the last person shares it out loud with the group, it’s changed considerably from the original message.

That line of thinking caused me examine my own communication and ask:

Am I clear, concise, and articulate?
Do I say what I mean, and mean what I say?
Do I deliver my message like a nail gun—hammering each point home? Or do I deliver it with graceful strength that leaves the recipient’s dignity in tact?

In other words, would I want to be on the receiving end of my own delivery style?

My mother used to say, “Laurie, make your words sweet and tender today, for tomorrow you may have to eat them.”

How’s your line of communication?

Listen with your heart,

Laurie Buchanan

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
               – Laurie Buchanan

www.HolEssence.com
Copyright © 2010 Laurie Buchanan — All Rights Reserved. 

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Life, Musings, Personal Growth

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If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium

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Do you remember the 1969 romantic comedy — If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium — with Suzaqnne Pleshette and Ian McShane?

Well, pretend for a moment that I’m Suzanne Pleshette and Len is Ian McShane. We strapped our bicycles on the back of our car and left Crystal Lake, Illinois at 5am and headed for historic Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

After stopping for breakfast in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, we continued on and arrived in Cedarburg at just before 9am. We were on the Ozaukee Interurban Trail by 9:10am, headed for Belgium, Wisconsin — the village with a heart.

On the way, Len was almost hit by a fawn. No, Len didn’t almost hit a fawn; a fawn almost hit Len. The itty-bitty fellow flew out of the bushes on the left side of the trail and came to a dead stop next to Len, eyeing him up-and-down. Then took off at top speed into the bushes on the other side of the trail. We could see his mama grazing about a quarter mile away.

Our first big stop was at Sauk Harbor in Port Washington — this was the 10 mile mark on the ride — where we got caught in a pretty good rain shower. In the photographs, you’ll see the gazebo that we stayed under until things cleared off a bit (the photo was taken on sunny the return journey).

Then we continued on to Belgium. This was the 20 mile mark. However, we did and extra two miles riding around looking for lunch. The search was well worth it.  We found Crissy’s Now and Then Pub. The food was beyond delicious!

By the time we finished lunch, the clouds had cleared off and the return journey was hot and beautiful. The lushness of the surrounding farm land was not lost on us. Every now and then we’d be enveloped by a wave of sweet clover scent.

We arrived back in Cedarburg exhausted, having riden a round trip of 41.45 miles. My legs were wobbling so much that I had to hug a tree to remain standing and get some stability back. In so doing, I got sap on my shirt. When we got home I Googled how to get tree sap out of clothes. Peanut butter — it worked like a charm!

According to Len’s bike computer our actual riding time was 4 hours and 36 minutes. We averaged 9 miles per hour, with 18.32 miles per hour being our fastest speed.

I hope you enjoyed the journey — we had fun doing the pedaling for you.

Listen with your heart,

Laurie Buchanan

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
               – Laurie Buchanan

www.HolEssence.com
Copyright © 2010 Laurie Buchanan — All Rights Reserved. 

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Bicycling, Environment, Health and Wellness, Life, Nature

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Caution – Tractor Crossing

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Nan and Dave Palmer, fellow bicyclists, told us about the Long Prairie Trail in Boone County, and exactly how to get there. Never ones to let grass grow under our feet, nice and early on Monday morning we loaded the bikes on the back of the car and headed out.

The head of the trail was waiting for us exactly where they said it would be, with a nice little parking area for a few cars. We took off on our bikes at a leisurely clip. As you can see from the photographs, the trail is nicely paved, flat, and always visible for at least a mile.

Lovely trees bow gracefully toward each other over a good portion of the trail. At one point we came across a patch of birch trees mixed in with the rest. Surprisingly, there were very few other cyclists.

Pedaling along merrily, I heard a crash. I turned around just in time to see Len in the end part of a body roll.

“Are you okay? What happened?” I asked.

“I got too close to your back tire and I didn’t want to knock you over. I don’t know if I braked too fast, or turned too sharp, or what — it happened so fast.”

Good thing we wear helmets, riding gloves with padded palms, and carry a well-stocked first-aid kit. I could sew up a deep gash if I needed to. We’ve never had to use the kit for ourselves before. On occasion we’ve used it for other people we’ve come across who’ve taken a nasty spill. Gratefully, no stitches were needed.

That part of our ride was 15 miles—a little longer than the actual trail because we did a little off-trail snooping. After we got home, and just before dinner that evening, we took another ride much closer to home. We rode up to the train station in McHenry and back—it was a lovely 10 mile ride.

If you were to hop on your bike and ride somewhere today, where would it be?

Listen with your heart,

Laurie Buchanan

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
               – Laurie Buchanan

www.HolEssence.com
Copyright © 2010 Laurie Buchanan — All Rights Reserved.

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Environment, Health and Wellness, Life, Musings, Nature

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Butt Weary!

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You thought there’d be an Energy Medicine 101 class today, didn’t you? Well, I’d like you to play a little hooky and join us on a bicycle ride that we took yesterday – July 5th.

You see, I needed a reward. A big reward! I kept my butt glued to my desk chair and wore my busy-bee blinders all weekend working to meet a deadline – the one where I had to recreate 113 of the pages that are on the dead hard drive (no we haven’t heard anything yet). I met the deadline and the material is winging its way to my editor at UW-Wisconsin as we speak.

A cause for celebration! So whip out your bicycles and join us as we fly along at a brisk pace. Remember to bring along some water because this is a ten mile ride.

I asked myself over the weekend, “Laurie, would you still work this hard on the manuscript and the articles you write if you knew that you’d never, ever be published?” Would you like to know how I responded? “You’re darn tootin’ I would!” I’m not reserving joy for the destination; I’m fully enjoying the journey.

I hope you enjoyed the ride – we sure did! More importantly, I hope you’re enjoying the journey.

Listen with your heart,

Laurie Buchanan

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
               – Laurie Buchanan

www.HolEssence.com
Copyright © 2010 Laurie Buchanan – All Rights Reserved.

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Environment, Green Lifestyle, Health and Wellness, Life, Nature, Writing

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