Thursday, October 20, 2011

Playing with Exposures

It's Thursday people! You know what that means...another thrifty day. Below is my latest commuter outfit - sans the sweater I wore, becasue it was 50 degrees in the morning and 80 in the afternoon, but I digress. Included in my ensemble, is one thrift store purchase. Can you guess which one it is? Here's a hit...it's not the (Big Bertha) bike.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

BCB 100...or 124 if You're One of the Cool Kids

Earlier this month, I participated in the Memphis Hightailers Bluff City Blues Century ride. This year they offered a double metric century (that's 124 miles, folks) option. Since, I love to *test my physical limits, of course I tried the 124 mile route.

Here's the reusable goodie bag that all the participants received and if they signed up before a specific time, they also received cool BCB socks.



It was a bit chilly the day of the ride - about 60 degrees with a 10mph NE wind (and guess which direction the first 70 miles went...you guessed it, N freakin' E). Riding 124 miles is difficult enough, factor in fighting the wind and oh, brother. Regardless, we were bright eyed and ready to roll at the start. Here we are flashing double metric signs. Like they said in "Office Space," "&*^% it feels good to be a gangsta."



Leigh and me at the first SAG stop - there were about 30 people riding the 124 mile route - only 4 of which, were females. GIRL POWER!






One of my favorite stops was around mile 90, Randolph Landing. Here I am with the crew that I mainly rode with. Don't ask me what I'm doing in this picture...I have no idea. For the record, as soon as I bent down, my legs let me know that bending was definitely not a good idea.



It was great to accomplish my longest ride yet (124.75 to be exact), although, the first 70 miles were against the wind. During that first 70, every second I was thinking, "this was a bad idea...this was a really bad idea." When we finally turned for home, with the wind on our backs, I felt like I found my groove & started enjoying the scenery. After all was said and done, my saddle time was 7:30 with a 16.4mph avg. There's definitely room for improvement, but I'm happy with how I did. I was also happy with the huge cup of Fat Tire beer that was provided at the finish!

*read: torture myself because I was raised Catholic and that's what Catholics do...well, that and drink. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.