Falling off a bike hurts.

When mountain biking, falling down doesn't hurt too bad. There is not too much speed involved (for me), and hopefully, there is a soft patch of dirt beneath you to catch your fall, followed by a good dose of laughter follows.
Today I fell off my bike. My ROAD bike.
No dirt. No laughter. 
I have a chainring shaped contusion.
It's pretty. Not.

Luckily, I was going REALLY slow. Painfully slow.

Coach has me doing some short big gear efforts at a low cadence to work on making me stronger. I've done them before, and I really enjoy this workout. It's challenging, constantly changing, and doesn't make me feel like death by the end.

The last time I did this workout, I could only barely use my biggest gear (a big improvement from my earlier failure at trying to push a big gear at all), and I had to use a flat grade or be inside on the trainer. Today I had to find a HILL, IN MY BIGGEST GEAR, to get the right amount of force.
HOW COOL IS THAT!?!?
(a little bit excited here)

Toward the end of my workout, I decided to make the last effort on a bigger, longer hill. The stuff inspiration is made of ;-)

To my surprise, I did it, did it well, and then I got chased by a dog.
Not kidding.

At then end of a hard workout, going uphill, in my biggest gear, being chased by a slobbering, growling, angry dog. I was living my worst nightmare.

He came out of NOWHERE. I was in my happy zone, solving all the world's peace problems, hammering up this hill at like, 3mph, not bothering a soul.
It wasn't like I could pick up the speed. My legs were toast at that specific moment.
I couldn't get unclipped from my pedals because I was freaked out too bad by this growling dog who acted like he was about to eat me.
So, I fell down.

There were no cars around, thankfully. I quickly got up and got my bike between me and the dog, which finally intimidated him enough to back off and go home. Sheesh!

He was a beautiful, young golden retriever. I am sure he is a well-loved member of someone's family.

This is why you need to restrain your pets: if there had been a car coming in either direction, he or I would have been flattened and sent to heaven by now.

Nobody needs to die because of a simple bicycle ride or an unrestrained dog.

I often hear dog owners say, "Oh, he won't hurt you. He doesn't bite."
You may be right, but let me explain why dogs and bikes are a dangerous duo:

Your sweet pooch does run out in the road when he sees me coming...even the well trained ones. He could get hit by a car because he is paying more attention to chasing me than the car coming toward him. I've seen that happen. It was so very sad; I still cry when I think about that poor little dog. This isn't all about me and my safety; I want your furry family member to stay safe too. Dogs simply don't know or understand the dangers of moving vehicles - and they certainly do not prioritize safety like we do.

Even sweet dogs bark and growl and act in a "I'm going to eat you for dinner" kind of way when they see a bicycle. My dog, who has never been aggressive, even does that, and she sees me ride almost daily. It's just how they are. Besides the fact that it totally freaks me out, it makes me seriously question my safety. I have no way to know if your dog has rabies or not, or if he is a biter or not, or if he is aggressive or sweet.

In the excitement of seeing a moving bicycle, your adorable little dog runs along side me...and then in front of me...because he's trying to play with me. Cute? Yes. Dangerous? Absolutely. I'm genuinely happy that your dog is healthy enough to be outside, running and playing. I want my dog to have fun too. However, if anything, especially a moving object, comes in contact with a moving bicycle, the object wins. Every time. The bicycle rider is then the proud owner of a new concussion, bruises, and broken bones.

The truth: I love dogs. I have one. And two cats. They are part of my family and I would die if I knew that my dog was hurt or a danger to another being. She stays in my yard, under my control at all times for the safety of herself and others.

The truth: Riding my bike is dangerous. I get that. It is less dangerous than being nearly 100lbs overweight and sedentary. That was me, 4 years ago. Riding inspires me and keeps me motivated to stay healthy. I love my family dearly and I have a huge job to do in my community. I want to keep doing it; I have to stay healthy to keep doing it.

The truth: Here, it is illegal for a person to ride a bike on the sidewalk. Bikes are only allowed on the public roadways; sidewalks are for walking. I will get a ticket for riding my bike on the sidewalk, so please don't ask me to move to the sidewalk when I commute to work.

The truth: Here, it is illegal for a moving vehicle to come within 3 feet of a cyclist. A car is allowed to pass a bike on the road, as long as the cyclist is given 3 feet of clearance between the car and the bike. I drive a car, too, and understand how irritating it is to be held up in traffic. Please, be patient and wait the extra 30 seconds it takes to provide that 3 feet of space. Remember, you don't actually have to come in contact with a cyclist to create a wreck, because of the air vacuum the car creates as it zooms by.

The truth: Here, it is illegal for pets to be unrestrained on public property (think: roads). All animals in your care are required to be under your control at all times, or on your property. I can't come on your property; you can't allow your property to come to me. If your furry family member is out in the road and causes an accident, the animal's owner is at full fault and will be legally and financially responsible for all damage to health and property. That means - if your dog chases me again and I get bitten or if he runs in front of me and causes a crash where I break a bone or my bike, you get to pay for a new bike and a new bone.

Be responsible. Be helpful. Love your furry friends. Keeping them safe will keep all of us safe.

I'm off to find some Arnica for this bruise...

off season wrap-up

I'm a new athlete. Not just new, but I only accidentally tripped into this world of fitness and cycling. I've been making music since before I spoke my first words; I've only been moving my body for 4 years. I approach everything as if it is music, and that has worked so far: practice the basics, set goal, practice new skills, seek assistance, practice, practice, stay focused, practice, practice, practice, keep the intensity up, practice more, perform, practice, repeat.

Before now, I was so unfit that I NEEDED to keep the consistency up all year round (like in the music world). I did that for a couple of years, lost a bunch of weight, and created a base of fitness for endurance sports. Got healthy: Check.

But being an endurance athlete is NOTHING like that. There's all this stuff called "rest," "active recovery," "testing," "work load," "periodization," "off season," etc.

You mean, I can't just stay on a straight, consistent trajectory from here to where I want to be?
Mind. Blown.

My first off season was lots of fun and I'm eager to go faster, be stronger, and have fun now that the weather is above freezing.

Here are a few pictures from my very fun first off season :-)

The last race of 2013: Beach to Battleship Full Triathlon. 

This Ship Just Got Real team: Kris the fish, Me the pedaler, and Jason who runs like the wind. 

Our team got 3rd place in our category :-) Placing in a sport event was a first EVER for me. 

I did the bike portion. 112 miles. In a headwind. In 6ish hours. In my VK Kit. They took my bike from me, and I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself, after cycling THOUSANDS of miles over the course of that year in prep for this.

Off Season has officially begun!!!

Lots of sweating happened at the YMCA. Here, Lauren convinced me to join this huge 2 hour group class. She said, "Come on, it'll be fun!" But really, this was a death payback from several months earlier when I made her do a dozen hill repeats with me.  We're even, now, right???

I took up Aerial Silks! Super fun, really cool people, and a great core workout

I even tried cyclocross. One of our superstar juniors needed a girl to be on his relay team - I was the only girl around who wasn't already racing. I told him that if he found me a bike, shoes, and a helmet, I would do it. Less than 5minutes later, he shows up with all the gear and great big grin on his face :-)  I couldn't say no.

Hiking in the redwoods in California with my brother John and at Bays Mountain with my John.

Lots of fun cold rides with my buddy Kim, and one little mountain bike ride with Lauren. (You might actually call it hike-a-bike because I spent more time walking my mountain bike than riding it.)

 I did a little traveling. I went to visit family in Georgia (and stopped by the Goats on the Roof attraction along the way) and San Francisco, CA to see my brother. I also went to visit friends (and my fur friends - Tillie May loves when I bring my bike to her house) in Charlottesville, VA and went to a music therapy reunion (10 years!) at Tennessee Tech.

 There was a lot of music making this Winter, too. Had my first symphony solo that I didn't trash in performance, and shared music with my athlete friends. That was the BEST feeling in the world :-) Thanks for coming to hear us play, Kim and John!

 And the best part of all was being selected to be a Vanderkitten VIP!!!

Climbed my first three mountains of the year, yesterday. I'm ready to get off the trainer, out of the gym, and into the sunshine :-) Let the ONseason begin!!!

"let yourself be a beginner. nobody starts out as an expert."

Yesterday was Pi Day. And my 33rd birthday. And it was sunny.

In all things, I'm super happy with what my life has become. I spent the first third figuring out what I wanted my life to be about: making my community a better place by being inspired to be a better human and loving people. That's all. I get to spend the next third just doing that; I'm pretty excited about this next part :-)

In my endeavor to get inspired and be a better person, I had this test to do on my bike. I was super excited to do it, on my birthday, with my friend Liane. She's such a happy and brave athlete - she inspires me to be strong and keep going.

John asked me, "Well, did you study good?" Ha! He's so cute.

The test is simple: ride as hard as you can, for 20 min.
The results are simple: take your watts produced - 5% to get functional threshold power.
The interpretation is simple: This is the magic number to base training on in the coming weeks so you don't over or under work yourself. It is a measure of getting stronger, as compared to previous tests.

So, it's my birthday, I'm super excited and ready to blow this test out of the water, and take my training up a notch...and I basically do the same as I did last time. Which was MONTHS ago. What?!?!

I was so confused. I was SURE that I was stronger, faster, better, and all that stuff that makes an athlete. Last year, I was used to making these huge shifts. Exciting shifts. Inspiring shifts. And I've heard more than a few fellow athletes comment to me about how much faster I am this year. It made sense that the number would jump up significantly.

But no, it was an incremental change of just a couple watts. Does that mean that all my effort is for nothing? Does that mean that this confidence I've grown into is a falsehood? Does that mean that this is as good as it gets and I should quit now? Are my friends exaggerating when they say, "Sybil, you're so strong this year." Seriously, these are the silly questions that initially happened in my head, all because of a silly 3-digit number that Garmin gives me.

Being a therapist, I occasionally have this funky expectation that I SHOULD be able to handle everything with grace, acceptance, and joy, without ever struggling with feelings of disappointment, sadness, anger and fear - as if I should be immune to those negative feelings. Ha! I have to remember that disappointment, sadness, fear, and anger are PART of being a better human. Trying to not have those feelings isn't the point - it's what we do with them once they come around. I do know this in my head and my heart, but I forget sometimes. I'm human. It is just another facet of myself to work on cleaning.

I didn't let it ruin my day. Don't worry. I had a fabulous birthday filled with the people I love, doing the things I love - capped off with yummy sushi and a cupcake :-)

This new incrementally larger 3-digit magic number does make me ask bigger, deeper questions about myself. About why I spend so much time believing what I am is never enough. About how to handle disappointment and fear. About how to get inspired on a new level. About why I expect so much of myself. About why I don't allow myself to rejoice in the small things. About why I'm in such a hurry all the time. About what my life is for.

It also helps that I have an amazing coach who reminded me that this is just March; I have lots of time to keep getting stronger. I have to remember that I've only been riding a bike for barely 2&1/2 years - being better takes time. I'm allowed to still be a beginner; I simply don't have the experience of a cyclist who has been working hard for a decade. He's such a happy and encouraging guy; his insight and wisdom is much appreciated.

As it stands now, I'm super excited about my new magic number. This number is a happy birthday present to myself that represents 2 years of hard work, sweat, dedication, inspiration, and a personal commitment to excellence. It is my springboard for success and is enough for now. I want to win something, and this magic number is the first step toward that experience.

My bike is my metaphor.

Pedal therapy at its finest :-)