Kayaking in Klamath Falls

The picture makes it looks like I’m having fun, so I suppose I must have been. The water was clear, the sky was blue, the birds (herons, bald eagles, crows) were numerous and beautiful. But I suck at kayaking.

Carolyn kayaking

eBay

Strawberry Fields Bike Ride 2009

On Sunday I rode the 100K Strawberry Fields Forever bike ride. The route cuts a gorgeous swath through Santa Cruz County over roads both urban and rural, through fields of strawberries and lettuce, past sloughs and ocean, redwoods and eucalyptus, with a stop at Gizdich Ranch where pie and a live three-piece band sweetened the day.

Midway through the ride, just before lunch, there are two HARD hills. The grade on the first must be 15%, and it maintains that for longer than I care to think. I nearly broke down and joined the parade of people who were walking their bikes up those hills, but pride kept me mashing the pedals and sucking air like an old horse.

Pride’s a sucker’s game. The effort I expended on those hills sapped me: when I got off the bike at lunchtime, I saw black spots in front of my eyes and felt dizzy, and near the end of the ride, going up Hazel Dell (a moderate climb of several miles duration that I’ve done on shorter rides without problem or stopping), I stopped three times to rest before continuing. Pride be damned.

I didn’t buy a jersey, but here’s an image from the club’s website.

Jersey for the Strawberry Fields Forever XX ride, 2009

Star Trek

I saw the new Star Trek movie this morning.

It’s hard for me to explain what seeing this movie means to me. When I was a kid, the original TV series was in its first run, and I watched each episode religiously.

“Religiously” is not a metaphor here: I worshipped the show. All throughout each episode, I sat in one spot on the floor in a rigid position, double-jointed knees bent so that my legs were arranged in a V pressed flat on either side of me. Somehow that uncomfortable position made me worthy, made me part of the action.

I clipped the episode descriptions out of the guide in the daily newspaper and taped them into a log book. I arched my left eyebrow and murmured “fascinating” at every opportunity. I bought Leonard Nimoy’s records and played them over and over. I made up Mary Sue fanfic stories to tell myself as I fell asleep at night.

My younger brother called me Spock.

Brian thought of himself as Captain Kirk. Several times before he died of ALS last year, we watched Star Trek Generations together–the movie in which Captain Kirk dies. Brian made me promise to tell the readers of his blog that his last words to them were the same as Kirk’s last words in the movie: “It was fun.”

Anyone who knows anything about ALS knows that Brian wasn’t referring to the disease.

My dearest, deepest wish is that my brother could have seen the new movie. Seen fearless Kirk, fists flying in the face of death, more than forty years after his first incarnation.

Maybe (*spoiler alert*), in some alternative universe like the one in the movie, Brian lives and is watching Kirk and Spock and our beloved crew resurrected on screen.

Maybe when Brian’s young son, Joey, watches the young, fatherless Kirk drive hellbent for that yawning crevasse in the plains of Iowa, he’ll think of his dad. And know what Brian meant.

Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse

Friday nights on Fox. Record it. Watch it.

Here’s a synopsis of the first season so far.

Disney Bike Pins

An update: I now have eighteen Disney pins that feature bicycles. Click the link to view a photo of my Disney bike pin collection.

Rained Out

Claudia Comay and I drove to Santa Rosa yesterday, bikes strapped on the back of her car and ready to ride in the Santa Rosa Cycling Club’s Wine Country Century, but the rain made the prospect just too unbearable, so we turned around and drove back home. Oh well. Better luck next year. Unless this strange weather continues.

100 Miles

I rode the Chauncey’s Century yesterday, a 100-mile trek from Gilroy to Los Altos. The route was relatively flat, but the headwind in the last 20 miles was brutal.

For nine of the last 20 headwind-cursed miles I helped pull the pace line, but then I was dropped when I couldn’t get back on the line after one of my turns as leader. That was a relief: even though I had to contend with the wind without a buffer, I got to ride the remaining 11 miles at a more comfortable MPH.

Key word in the preceding sentence: “more.” My shoulders and neck were in WAY greater pain than usual, and my right hand was definitely numb. Comfortable I was not.

But no matter. Another benchmark done. Whoo-hoo!

My odometer, showing 101.15 miles

Tierra Bella Bike Ride 2009

Yesterday I finished the 64-mile route of the 2009 Tierra Bella with a numb right hand. (And, yes, aching shoulders.)

It was a beautiful day: poppies and lupine sprinkled the green hillsides, the sun was shining and the breeze was gentle, and the motorists who drove past us on the road were friendly. The ACTC support–from bicycle racks to nutbread–was excellent.

Here’s the patch.

Cinderella Classic Bike Ride 2009

I just finished the 65-mile Cinderella Classic. My aching shoulders! I’m not in as good shape as I was this time last year. Hmmmmm . . . .

Maybe I ache more because I forgot to wear a Cinderella Disney pin this year.

Here’s a picture of the patch they handed out at the end of the ride.