Sometimes I just get too busy living life to remember to blog. Which maybe isn’t a bad thing. Except then I feel (selfishly) guilty because if I don’t write about what’s going on in my life I just won’t remember all of the important, awesome things and feelings in the future. So here’s the first in a series of posts that is a sad attempt at recapping the last month or so of my life…mostly for my own benefit (and with retroactive dating of blog posts for organizational purposes). 🙂

The affordable housing cause will always be one near and dear to my heart. I mean, I did devote an entire summer and eight months prior to that preparing to and actually biking across the country to it. And yes, as easily as that rolls off the tongue, I’ve learned to selectively either a) censor that part of my life, or b) say it so quickly and nonchalantly that as I continue on with the relevant story requiring the “biking across the country” backstory the person I’m talking to might barely hear it and juuuuust miss it.

Save for making donations on behalf of riders to Bike & Build, buying some furniture from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in my hometown of Columbia, Maryland (which I highly recommend checking out in your city if you’re in the market for some cheap, used furniture!), and a solitary day with Habitat for Humanity of the Capital District helping Schoharie County homeowners in the aftermath of the devastating floods in 2012, I haven’t been too active in the AH network. I’ve always struggled (and have a strong feeling will continue to struggle) with trying to figure out where and how to direct my attention, time, and money when there are so many people and causes that are in need of help, but when a former Bike & Build SC2SC13 alum, Alicia, reached out to me about the revival of Habitat of the Capital District’s Tour de Habitat last spring, I knew I wanted to participate.

Alicia, the Community Outreach Manager at Habitat of the CD, and I bumped into each other on my birthday last year at the Lion’s Park section of the Mohawk-Hudson Bike Path. I was with three friends on a birthday bike ride (because really, what is a birthday without some bikes?!) and I could spot that B&B jersey from a mile away. We did the awkward yet standard “OMGYOUDIDBIKEANDBUILDWANNARIDEBIKES” exchange but never actually rode together.

Me and Alicia after the 50 mile ride!

The Tour de Habitat used to be an annual event, but it took a hiatus after 2011. Through Alicia’s hard work, the event came back with a vengeance this year offering rides ranging from 10 to 100 miles and raising over $10,100 for Habitat of the CD! I had an awesome time on the 50 mile ride throughout the Capital District (pretty cool that we were riding right in the areas that our fundraising would directly impact) and was thoroughly impressed with how well the course was marked the entire way. (I lost my cue sheet at mile 10, so, yeah…). I am trying to be better about doing things I want to do even if I can’t find a friend who will join me, and I even made a new biker friend, Sarah, and had a great time chatting with her and her family and friends at the after party at Druther’s post-ride.

The day was perfect, and I look forward to participating in future Tour de Habitats! With the success of this inaugural-ish event, I know it will only get bigger and bigger in years to come.

Sarah and me at the post-ride after party at Druther’s!

15. Biking in the Catskills/Hudson Valley

Yesterday’s 106 mile ride in Kingston with Moira was eventful to say the least.

It really is a beautiful ride.

After a pretty quick and trouble-free 65ish miles (only one flat and relatively quick, I mean; the Catskills can get pretty intense!), we got caught in a torrential downpour that not so gently encouraged us to get back to our cars as fast as we could. The rain lightened up for the last 15 or so miles, but about a mile from the finish, that point when you look back on the 100+ miles you rode before and are feeling pretty boss, I fell off my bike going over some slippery railroad tracks. Ironically, this occurred when Moira was telling me about how she thought she was going to fall a couple of times before, too.

My shoulder took the brunt of the fall, but my legs got scraped up pretty good and I am somewhat convinced I might have hit my head in the process, too. I went to bed with a sore arm with a decent range of motion and a pounding headache but woke up with an arm that cries in pain whenever I try to move it across my body or in an uppercut position.

An ER doc I spoke with briefly in passing (ah, the perks of going to school filled with doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals) told me it is an acromioclavicular ligament injury. I’ll go to see a doctor to take a better look at it tomorrow morning, but with the race in only 20 days, this isn’t exactly where I want to be right now. You really don’t realize how much you use your deltoid until you can’t use it anymore! And especially to swim, bike, and run. Which I intend on doing a lot of in a few weeks.

When I think about it, it’s pretty remarkable that in training for this race, the only acute-ish injuries I’ve really had are tripping on three separate occasions while running (and all on trail runs…I should really learn to not be so clumsy!) and even more remarkable that I could bike across the country and ride thousands more miles without sustaining any crazy falls or injuries.

Please send any positive, healthy, injury-free prayers and thoughts my way! I’ll just keep taking it easy and repeating my own mantra in my head: It’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay…

Please note: I hope that none of this discourages anyone from biking in the Hudson Valley/Catskills region. Just be careful going over those railroad tracks and bring extra bike tubes, and you should be good to go for a fun (but very hilly!) ride!

Biking in the Catskills/Hudson Valley

When and Where: Spring to Fall; all of the HITS bike courses begin at Kingston Point Beach and vary in distance from 3 to 112 miles (obviously, you don’t have to follow the course to a T, unless you’re actually racing, of course 😀 )

Highlights: BEAUTIFUL region to ride in; a very challenging, but fun course for the 112 mile ride that will have you riding anywhere from 5 to 40MPH-maybe even faster if you’re not a scaredy cat, like me; lots of little towns, restaurants, and gas stations to stop at for snacks, water, rest stops, etc.; people are extremely friendly; perhaps most importantly, a HUGE shoulder for most of the ride along with 2 lanes for some parts, so you will never feel like you’re competing for road space with big scary cars and trucks

Loses points for: Road conditions can be a bit rough at some points (bring extra tubes and pump/CO2 cartridges!); can be a real rough time if you’re not in shape

Cost: Free

Good for: Cyclists in pretty good shape, especially if venturing out deeper into the Catskills-some of those climbs will have you spinning at 5MPH for a good bit of time, but remember: what goes up must come down!

Would I go again?: Yes! This has become one of my favorite places to ride in the Capital District. I would love to participate in Ride the Ridge, too, which takes place in early June.