1. Bring a Sherpa – I’m pretty sure half the things I walked on were animal runs, or just patches of dirt that looked like a path. There was no path.

2. Get hiking boots – Sliding around on my ass because my sneakers slipped out from under me was not what I envisioned for this hike

3. Bring others – In case I don’t get a Sherpa, bring other humans so that someone can go back to civilization to get medical attention when I fall and break everything

4. Wear longer pants – Every cacti & plant got a bite of my juicy, tender, delicious, sexy legs.

So I am foregoing running tonight so I can wash the prickly feeling of plant and grubby feeling of dirt off my battered body.

Lady Face mountain – you won today, but I will be back. And I’ll climb you to the top and show you who is boss!!!

For the International people – does your country have an International Bike Month?

What special events are going on in your area? Check out this site to see what’s going on!

May 14th – 18th is Bike to Work Week! A lot of major cities will have nifty booths with freebies around if you bike on up. I’m going to attempt to bike to work, at least with public transportation to back me up. I moved really far from work. yeah yeah it’s still biking distance (under 30 miles) but it’s already in the upper 80′s out here.

Anyways, let’s use this month to try to get some more people on bikes, and less people in cars.

Well, this morning I got out of the house by 7 AM to hit the trails!! I apologized to my road bike and road off into the canyon.

Now, I have a dilemma. Long time readers may recall that I had thyroid cancer last year and no longer have a thyroid. This means I take thyroid meds, and I can’t eat for an hour after I take them, which is first thing after I wake up. So I hit the trails on an empty stomach and BONKED!! So I’ll have to figure that out.

Also, I got downright FILTHY. No idea why – it wasn’t muddy, but me and the bike were caked in mud. I had to keep wiping off my water bottle (see pic below) and ewww grit in teeth ewww.

Grubby water bottle, stupid finger in photo

As the trail was mostly a single track trail, I was battered by the overgrowing plants (most of which are California mustard plants, so I was turning a nice shade of yellow).
BUT! Even though I have hiked this trail also several times, I never noticed all the THISTLE plants. If you are unaware of what a thistle plant is, it’s a spiky stabby plant with a pretty purple flower. See image below. You do not want this plant brushing up against you while biking an overgrown bike trail.

I STAB YOUUU

I didn’t complete the entire canyon (having done about 7 miles in an HOUR, ugh) but the goal today was get out of bed and bike. And I did just that!!! So now I shall conclude with some lovely vista shots and a gratuitous kitty picture. Just because I can. ^_^ /

I stared at the hill and turned back.

Santa Monica Mountains and seas of mustard plants

I AM GETTING SNUGGLES FROM A KITTY YAY

The problem is, I made way too many life choices right after my surgery. So now I can’t figure out what is the cause of what.

I’m not a person who believes in regret – I MADE the CHOICE. I have to live with it. But it doesn’t mean I like it, yanno?

Also, related to poor life-choices, I’ve gained a considerable amount of weight (15lbs) in the past year or two. It’s so weird being 165 lbs. It’s horrible, I feel HUGE. Because I’m so tall (5’9″), most people don’t really notice, or don’t think I’m overweight. Of course, if you believe in the BMI scale (which is OK for reference, but not to be that relied on), my BMI is 24.4, and ‘overweight’ is 25. That is wayyy too close to comfort.

The doctor was like ‘oh you have lost weight!’, trying to give me a positive, but the truth is, it was cold last time I was at his office so I was wearing more clothes. Today it was just leggings and a light dress. So no, I haven’t lost weight (except muscle mass); I just didn’t wear heavier clothing.

I haven’t been on a bike in weeks; I’m going to make a huge effort tomorrow to at least take the trail bike out for a like, 3mile spin around the canyon.

The choices are mine; I need to make the RIGHT choice. I’ll admit – it’s tough, scary and downright painful making the ‘right’ choice right now. I’m scared just thinking about it. Boo hiss mew to being such a scaredy cat. Which, of course, is yet another choice, right?

Well, to end this fairly boring post – at least I have the ability to make choices. If I have to be a woman, at least I’m a woman in the 21st century in the United States.

Yeah, cuz that is where your lock should be.

Therefore, when I saw the bike lock (and a random assortment of other things , like a garage door opener), I took a glance to see if the bike was locked by separate means.
Yup, not locked.

Yup, not locked.

It’s not like I have the best history with bike locks myself, but I now keep my bike in my office, away from prying hands and eyes.
Nice looking bike, too. Dig the cup holder.

Now, should I be a good samaritan and post to the company mailing list about how the person should lock their bike and not leave stuff unattended, since there is a known history in the past few months of theft?

I attended a school called University of Southern California (USC) for my undergraduate years. Many students biked around campus.

But they didn’t just bike. They also biked:

• while smoking cigarettes
• talking on their cellphones
• biking with no underwear in short skirts
• probably biking drunk
• without helmets, ever*

I’m included in that last category. No one biked with a helmet on.
And I’ll admit to it – I used to bike in full on Goth garb- wig, corset, big boots, long skirts, etc. Oh man. Not easy to bike to class while dolled up in opera length gloves and a corset!

What is the weirdest thing you have seen others do while cycling?

But in case you are on the OTHER side of the fence, I bring you TURBOKSPOKE!

OMG IT COMES WITH 15 CUSTOM STICKERS!
Get this for you and all your cycling buddies and sound like a motorcycle gang on your local bike paths!
I bet this gets all da ladies, too…

Cool or lame? Would you actually put one on your bike??

I’m traditionally a road cyclist. I know how to avoid cars and broken glass like no one’s business. But now I have access to tons of awesome trails, time to start hitting the dirt!

HOLY MOLY TRAIL BIKING IS DIFFICULT!!

• The road has good grip – on dirt, your bike SLIDES.
• Dangerous items on the road (cars) try to avoid you. Dangerous items on the trail (rocks) want to hit you.
• You are in the middle of nowhere on a trail bike; you are on a charted street when on a road bike
• The above is also a PRO for trail biking – it’s awesome being in the middle of nature
• It’s easier to find a tree and fall asleep while trail biking (see picture below)

I swear I did not fall asleep under this tree

In all honesty, trail biking is AWESOME. But I obviously need to work on my skillset. Fortunately, there is a free MTB skills class available right down the street, so me, my pride, and I are going to attend it next month.

Any tips/tricks you recommend? Do you prefer road or trail biking?

what a view!

2011 started out sort of boring and bland for me, even with a new job.

Then it all hit the fan at the same time. Cancer, work, love life, all hit at once! Alas, I haven’t done any serious cycling since my surgery, so time to change that.

Glad to be cancer free, and I’ve managed to pay off all my medical bills! I wanted to buy a new bike last year, as my current bike is about ten years old and I’m a sucker for the latest in cycling technology (I’m a techno-phile in every part of my life). But cancer isn’t cheap, so… oh well. That is OK.

This is how my brain feels right now

If you got here because you are researching post-thyroidectomy symptoms, please please please take at least a month off to heal. I went back after only two weeks and it was a horrible mistake. It took me longer to heal because I went back too soon and didn’t listen to my body.

OK Enough whining about that.

I think my cats got more Christmas presents than me. A sign of being a crazy cat lady is when your parents give up and start calling the cats their “Grandkitties” and give them tons of gifts while throwing a small gift card in your direction. And they also like to give the cats wet food and pet them and get angry when I call my boy cat stupid. He IS stupid! He has this vacant look in his eye, and constantly whines. He’s so freakin’ adorable but he’s a tubbachub and hides under the bed and runs away from me like I’m going to eat him.

I don’t believe in New Years Resolutions. I never seem to keep them and of course I need to lose 20lbs. I’d love to lose weight, but I also love food.

I have a lot of hopes for this year, but can you really do anything more than hope when it comes to life? I’ve lived long enough to know that there are parts you can (kind of) control, but the rest is up to … Fate? Destiny? Life?

Life has so many curveballs (who would have guessed I’d get Thyroid cancer!?). It’s bittersweet in so many ways. Now I’m just rambling.

I stopped truly planning long term for life, as it’s so erratic that all you can do is just try to enjoy the now and maintain balance for the future.

Enjoy the now, give people lots of hugs and go out and have fun.
Have a lovely 2012 and get on that bike!