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Healing--Elle style (1 mile, 13 miles, 25 miles)

5/30/2012

2 Comments

 
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Goslings!
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Mundo picnic.
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Mama wasn't the only tired one on the bike today.
My "mishap" or as I call it "incredibly terrible lack of judgement on my part" has left me with a terrible mood and a yucky looking bruise on the bottom of my foot. Surprisingly, I'm not in a ton of pain which I keep thinking that I should be. The Dr. couldn't tell from the x-rays if anything was broken so she gave me the crutches and told me to act as if it was. I'm not very good at that. The swelling has gone down considerably but the purple is starting to shine through. I am, however, irritable, tired, and really irritable. Also, grumpy. 

I managed to not lose any biking days and rode 1 mile--literally around the block--the first day. Yesterday, I had a couple of bike trips adding up to 13 miles, including one where I hauled all my event supplies (including EZ-up canopy) across town. It's amazing to have a bike so comfortable and practical that I can do all that, even when I'm not in tip-top shape. 

Today, I was going totally stir-crazy and frustrated about being 50 miles away from my pledge with only two days left of May so I went on a 25 mile ride to Hagan Park with the boys. That was my limit. I definitely feel my foot now. Still pretty sure it's not broken because I can move it just fine and riding actually feels better than walking but that whole "don't overdo it" is ringing more true to me now. At this point, I am really excited about June coming and not riding with the same obsession that I've had this month. 

However, a new goal has come to light after these last two months of constant biking. I want to do a 365 day challenge! I'm excited about the idea of riding every single day for a year and see where it takes me--both literally and figuratively. At this point, it really doesn't seem difficult at all. If I can still get on my bike with a bum foot, there shouldn't be much that can stop me. My one hiccup is that I have a couple of overseas trips that I am taking this year and that got me thinking about how I would travel (especially by train or plane) with a bike. Amtrak doesn't allow cargo bikes which makes things difficult but an airplane is a totally different story. Packaging up a bike, paying insane charges, then putting it all back together at the airport is a bit beyond my abilities. I started perusing the bike section of Craigslist.org (which I actually do anyway, even when I'm not actively "looking" for a bike) and came across an awesome little folder--the Mobic. It is very reasonably priced and made here in California. They had some "demo" bikes available with some extra accessories and I got in touch with them immediately. I was set up to do a test ride this weekend but Michael's wife's water broke so we are rescheduling for next week. I love that the bike has some great components and folds easily. My folks ride Bike Fridays but they are well out of my price range. The reviews on the Mobic are pretty great and from my discussions with Michael, the founder and CEO, they are on par with Brompton and Bike Friday. It would be pretty great to have a little bike to go with my big bike. As my dad says "the formula for the number of bikes a person should own is n+1, n being the number of bikes the person already owns." I'm pretty sure that for all you bike lovers out there, there is always that "one other" bike that you are just dying to have. 

Anyway, enough drooling, I am very excited about having a new challenge to face and I plan on setting up some goals for the year--less about mileage and more about destinations and activities that I can go to/do by bike. I'm planning some more camping trips and explorations around the Sacramento area, really looking forward to doing some vacation/travel biking (hopefully on a nifty wee folder, maybe), and working on getting more car trips turned into bike trips. 

Also, if you're in the Sacramento area, it looks like next week the Mundo and I (with the wee ones if they cooperate) will be featured on News10 at 9 am! We're part of a section on the Cool California Challenge and they want us to talk about what we're doing to reduce our carbon footprint and how we're managing to lessen our car-dependence. Nervous! I think I'll let the Mundo do most of the talking. And Big Brother. They're really great at getting all the attention. 
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My load was easy to ride with, injury and all. (*warning* gross foot photo ahead)
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Cute boys (*warning* gross foot photo ahead)
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Our favoriet bike and our favorite tree (*warning* gross foot photo ahead--turn around before it's too late!)

I warned you. 

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Too late! Ewww! Sorry, had to add it. The top of my foot is bruised, too, but it doesn't show up in a photo. I like the bruise on the side, I'm pretty sure that's a spoke.
2 Comments
Gray Harrison link
6/7/2012 10:56:00 am

Hi Elle, saw the interview video on the Yuba blog. Such a great idea! I think that idea, along with your "365 day bike challenge" will spread. I'm going to see if we can get any interest in a Cool Massachusetts Challenge. Thanks!

Reply
Elle Bustamante link
6/11/2012 03:25:11 pm

Thanks, Gary! That would be great to have challenges all over the US. It makes carbon cutting fun and really gives us a concrete "score" to see that we are actually making a difference (I hope!). It has been fun riding each day, certainly changing the way I view the world. Today, Big Brother spent the whole ride home frantically waving and smiling at all the passerby's. He cheered up many people this evening, I'm sure.

Keep me posted on how it goes in Massachusetts!

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