the hills are alive...

with cows! ATVs! wildlife!

this past saturday was another silk sheets ride... i finished my first 50-mile ride! whoohoo! and i didn't fall! double woo! (it's the little things y'all...the little things.)

fellow texan (and longhorn fan), greg shoemake

saturday morning, we (greg, blake, john, jeff, and that-other-guy-whose-name-escapes-me-but-is-a-teacher-at-paideia-and-doesn't-own-a-car) headed out to do a 50-mile ride in palllllmetto, georgia.  (that is how i expect one to pronounce that.)  and yes, it was the silk sheets ride again, but a longer loop. and much MUCH warmer which was definitely appreciated.  i suppose i had SORTA forgotten it would be hilly, but greg assured me that nothing on the actual ride would be worse than any of the hills we hit that day.

along the way, we passed... (many) cows. 3 ATVs. random wildlife. LOTS of trucks. an unbelievable number of john deere lawnmowers. and even something that looked like a cult compound... kids - stick to metro atlanta. i'm telling you what... i don't know how people live out there....the only non-residential buildings we passed were: 1 fire station, 3 gas stations, a "grocery mart" that was attached to one of those gas stations, and a whole heap of churches. (not surprising.)

3.5 hours later, despite the nice weather and lovely scenery (hey, i can see the plus side to things!) i was SO ready to be done (and to eat my arm)... but thanks to the boys and their encouragement, i was actually able to finish because really... i didn't think i would at about mile 43 or so... then again, i wanted to scream every time i saw ANOTHER HILL because someone may have told me, "i promise, that was the last one!"

lies. allllll lies.

but now, after finishing 50, i'm thinking 100 (back-to-back) is going to be super challenging... especially when the heat and humidity kick up in georgia.  but i don't suppose i can back out now, especially since i just mailed out those "sponsor me!" emails... with this link... and you know, that whole not-backing-down-from-a-challenge personality flaw that i have. hm.

IF you are reading this as a result of that email, please know that i'm deeply grateful and appreciative of all of y'all's support and any little bit will help.  And...if you live in georgia and you don't think you can help out financially, the ride can always use volunteers because really - nothing keeps us going like seeing friendly faces at pit stops :)  SO... I hope to see some of you out there!

in other goal-related news:
- i started reading Shadow of the Wind on sunday...it's really good. i'm almost done. i'm pretty sure the last 100 pages aren't going to suck and ruin the book, so i'll stick with that. (this is why i shouldn't be a book reviewer...or a reviewer of any kind.)
- i finished knitting the mittens i started for my friend back in january! that is BIG for me... considering i started a scarf for my cousin 3 years ago and finally finished this past december. and then realized that the scarf was actually a bit short, so... i don't know if i can say i REALLY finished.
- i didn't end of signing up/doing the tough mudder with iljin & hoot-daddy. but after listening to their stories and looking at the pictures, it's probably a good thing i didn't.. i probably would've broken/sprained something given my accident-prone self...
- the SAAC pool opens April 1. which means i have no more excuses on why i shouldn't start swimming/tri-training. which also means that i will have to actually sign up for one.
- tina 2.0 may have regressed to more like...1.5+. still being open-minded. but still being passive-aggressive. we're workin' out the bugs.

i'll be heading home to dallas this weekend for a wedding (congrats tom & lisa!) and then getting some wisdom teeth pulled... i hope this doesn't put me out of commission for too long because i really can't take that much time off the training...eek!  looking forward to some 80 degree texas weather, though!