My One True Love

 I totally stopped and asked some very nice, unsuspecting biker to take this picture.  I couldn't quite bring myself to tell her it was for a blog, so I told her it was for a friend.  It's not a total lie, we're friendly, right?

All this talk of the uni was making my one true love feel neglected.  Well, that and the fact that he's been hanging in the bathroom untouched for the last. . . month??  Eek, how did the holiday order crunch do that to us?  Never fear Flash, I still love you.

Look!  I'm actually wearing a full bike kit!  For the first time in weeks!

To prove my love, Flash and I headed out for a quick ride today.  You know it's 60 degrees in December when the parking lot at Bent Creek is full at 2:00 on a Tuesday.

Proof - 2:00 on a Tuesday and the parking lot's full.  Doesn't anybody work in this town?

The weather was dreamy.  The trails. . . not quite so much.  They've been frozen, so when you add 60 degrees to frozen trails you get that lovely trail condition known as grease.  Eeps.  So after trying one trail, Flash and I stuck mainly to the fire roads.  Still totally lovely.

Lake Powhatan.

The thing about Bent Creek is, the views are beautiful, but not cleared out enough to be conducive to pictures that would provide proof.  But if you'll just trust me, the mountains are lovely, and there's a tiny white speck in this picture that is actually The Biltmore House.  Fun.


So what'd I do with the rest of my day?  Mainly lots of this:

 Playing Santa and packing lots of orders.    And if you've had the kind of November and December that I've had, then this makes you very, very happy:

Yes!  More Priority Mail envelopes delivered from the post office!  My level of excitement over these reminded me that December is not exactly an average month.  But it's still a really fun one.

Treasury Jedi

Check it out!  I just figured out how to add a whole Etsy treasury to a blog post.  I know, you were expecting something better.  But after my last attempt, which was a slightly wackadoodly series of screenshots and weird links,  this is pretty cool.  I heart these treasuries - they're a good source of cool stuff without getting lost in the Etsy labyrinth - but I couldn't figure out how to share them until now.  I believe I will now close all blog posts with a Treasury.  What, you only read this thing for the bike posts?  Good thing the treasuries are going to be at the end then, eh?

In other news, I'm working the Holiday in the Mountains show this weekend.  It has been. . . interesting.  I'm not sure it's exactly the correct demographic for my work, but I've sold some, and met a bunch of cool people, and there's a very impressive model train set.  The other vendors (whom I affectionately refer to as the carnies) are almost inevitably very cool and interesting people.  At the very least I have yet to meet one that's an actual asshole.  And the carnies usually have a good story - useful for the end of a show when the customers have gone home and tumbleweeds are blowing down the aisles.  And tomorrow morning before the show starts at noon I'm sneaking out on the bike for an hour or two - yippee!

And speaking of exercise, and you'll note the reports still haven't included any running - I'm headed to the Mission Sports &  Rehab office first thing Monday morning for a visit to the running clinic where they videotape you running and analyze everything and attempt to explain how you ended up in your current situation.  Thanks to the incredibly nice people at Foot Rx I'm going loaded with three new pairs of shoes for Krista (the PT) to evaluate.  And why does that make the Foot Rx people incredibly nice?  Because, since the shoes are only going to be used on the treadmill unless I want to keep them, they're going to let me return the ones that don't work without any problems.  I'm also excited because the foot is feeling much better (thanks to Krista, Tory (the rolfer) and a BUNCH of leukotape), and I think I'm going to get the clearance to try a teensy bit of running this week.  This makes me inordinately excited.

Speaking of running - I need to go do the PT exercises and go to bed. (yes, it's 8:55 pm on a Saturday night - I've had a long weekend.  Sue me.)  So, without further ado - here's my first attempt at imbedding a treasury.  I think this is one of my favorites of all.  Which means I'm very excited that one of the new resin block necklaces is included in it!

'Yellow, Blue, Green & Orange' by Harem6

We love these ! :)

Paris Graffiti, Yellow Heart... littlebrownpen $75.00	Wool mittens/ Blue gloves wi... lyralyra $36.00	Fern Resin Pendant. Green Re... SpottedDogAshe... $32.00
Ceramic Pig Planter Vintage ... fruitflypie $29.99	Yellow and White Chevron Clu... waterpath $25.00	Sparkle Cobalt Blue Big Bead... SarahRobinL $21.00
Grass Green First Formal Bab... elisabeth76 $36.00	Kallisto bag in stripe canva... milloo $96.00	Journey - Travel Journal - S... makingthishome $17.00
Ceramic Yarn Bowl, Blue Bir... JulieKnowlesPo... $44.00	Lovetatum Natural Uvarovite-... LoveTatumJewel... $600.00	Bat Country T-shirt... Limit... wickedmoxie $16.15
Geometric Golden Yellow Wool... whitenest $75.00	Orange Polka Dot Martingale ... Jacqpot $17.00	Handmade green leather walle... natthakurLondo... $55.00
Aviator Hat in Teal Wool : M... rocksandsalt $68.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Happy Mountain Biking

So when last we met I was not mountain biking - because the universe had told me it had other plans for that day. But this day the universe seemed perfectly happy to send me off on my way, so I took pictures.

But first, a little backstory - I wasn't on my bike at all this spring and summer.  Because I was too busy running.  And running, and running, until my foot didn't want to run. (Quick side note - I finally have an answer on what's wrong with my foot - yay!  Posterior tibial tendonitis.  I know, WTH, right?  But knowledge is power, and the PT seems quite competent, and I'm pairing this with an amazing rolfer to try to get straightened out once and for all, so I'm happy.)  Anyway - I finally faced the reality that a fast fall 5-K was not in my future, and got back on my bike.  Happy!  This is my favorite time of the year for mountain biking.  And so I celebrated by doing this:

I debated whether that was too gross to put on here, but I decided the smile on my face balanced it out.  Why am I smiling?  (a) Because this was the picture I sent to Clark and Sam to say I was on my way to urgent care  - yes, a few stitches were required, and (b) because I was such a dumbass to have done it in the first place.  That's partly  a smile of disbelief.  Because I didn't crash on anything impressive or death-defying - I just washed out in a perfectly fine curve.  Oops.  So this was (literally) my first ride back in a few months.  Welcome back!  Other than this small mishap, though, it was quite fun, and Kelly and Robin and I were happy to be back together.  Return of the Three Musketeers!

So I have since been on a few super fun, uneventful rides, most of which I have meant to document with photographic proof.  But I never seem to remember to pull out my camera - until yesterday.  Frankly I didn't do that great a job of it yesterday either, because to use it (it's my iPhone) I have to pull it out of my pocket that's buried under a layer of clothes (this was early in the morning), and then unwrap it from the waterproof bag and arm warmer (hi-tech cushioning), and *then* take a picture.  Burdensome.

But - never fear, I did manage to get a few - here's an October morning in Bent Creek:

Early morning in the parking lot - probably the only time on this whole beautiful day it was empty.

My fearless steed awaiting our ride.  I LOVE this bike.  It's a Serotta 650b hardtail, and it weighs about 21 pounds.   It's way nicer than I would have ever been able to buy - except that the fates smiled mightily upon me in the form of my friend's brother-in-law who works at a bike shop and was selling his personal bike.  I think he felt sorry for me (my previous bike weighed 32 pounds and was named Bertha), so he made me an incredibly good deal.  I am forever grateful.  Fred I love you!

Why the dorky orange vest on the bar?  Because it's hunting season and some of those very old and very young hunters walking around Bent Creek with a rifle look like they might have a hard time figuring out if it's me or a squirrel.  God forbid when rifle season for deer gets here - I'll add a blaze orange knit cap over my bike helmet.  And I'm not kidding.

Here's today's partner in crime: Kelly.  I know, awesome picture.   Kelly was also with me the day I bought the blaze orange vest featured above.  That was the day we were doing recon for Swank and inadvertently ended up biking in Pisgah on the opening day of bear season.  Exciting!  I stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home and bought the vest.

Here's the main reason I like to park at Rice Pinnacle - separate male and female bathrooms.  They're not always great, but it's still better than the co-ed one at Hard Times.  Gack.

Off on a beauteous ride.  It would have been better to take a picture of the single track, but alas I was busy actually riding on that stuff.

And - the payoff.  After climbing a fair bit, it opens up and - you're on top of the word!  Or at least Hominy Valley.  It was pretty much the most perfect day for mountain biking of the year.  Happy.

Weekend Update

I'm supposed to be mountain biking right now - but alas, I'm instead being quasi-business like.  "Quasi" because I'm actually playing on the blog, but *then* I'm going to go do business type stuff, so that counts.  I'm not on my bike because the universe wanted me to restock Woolworth Walk.  It expressed this to me by giving me a mild case of asthma upon awakening.  I almost never have asthma problems, except when I exercise hard in cold weather, but today the universe decided I should work.  Or maybe it decided I should stay off my foot.  Either way I decided to heed the warning.  When biking, I often find it useful to have full lung function.  I'm picking up some Singulair today, to go with my almost-never-used inhaler, and then all will be right with the world again.

Speaking of Woolworth, Southern Highland Craft Fair is in town today - which is not a non-sequitur, because the Southern Highland fair is held right down the street from Woolworth, and thus lots of people interested in craft tend to wander their way down the street to Woolworth also.  I had forgotten this when I went to restock Woolworth yesterday, and didn't bring enough stuff.  So I've got to go back today.  This is a good problem to have.

And speaking of restocking, we're also back at the Asheville City Market on Saturdays from now until the end of time.  Or maybe just Christmas.  I have to say, it was funnnnn going back for the first time last Saturday.  We've been doing that market for so long now that it kind of feels like home.  We do have a different spot - because they've got a bunch of artisans and crafters coming now and we're all in one spot - a critical mass of good design and interesting art, if you will.  But it turns out I like my new neighbors, so we're happy.  Except that Anomaly and her amazing cupcakes have been MIA the last couple of weeks, so when she shows back up all will truly be right with the world.  Or at least the market.

The rest of the weekend includes: the corn maze (we've never done it - I'm totally planning on having fun.  Or else I'm calling 911), Sam's last baseball game of the year (kind of ready for that one), some mountain biking, and dinner with an old friend who's in town.  Yay!

Not the Shoes

So - it's actually not about the shoes.  Unfortunately.  As you might recall, I was hopeful some new running shoes would clear things right up with my foot.  But - as is often the case - my foot has other ideas.  I tried Nike Frees, and Saucony Kinvarras, and New Balance Minimuses (Minimusi?), and the foot is not having it.  (Fortunately all of the shoes can go back, so I'm not out a chunk of money to figure this out.)

To date, I've also tried:  chiropractic, acupuncture, ART, massage, taping, icing, and anti-inflammatories.  I also currently have appointments pending with a rolfer and a physical therapist who specializes in runners.  Let it never be said I leave a stone unturned!  Of course the one thing I haven't actually tried is a lot of rest.  It's such a bummer.  But - as I walked home through Montford today on my aching foot, I came to terms with the fact that it's probably time to get back on the bike for a while and let the foot have a break.  And also probably time to stop trying new iterations of shoe, tape, no tape, orthotic, no orthotic, etc.  And just leave the dang thing alone.  I'm pretty sure that's what it has decided is its heart's desire.

So, so as not to fall into the injury doldrums, today I was on the Swank website seeing if the race was full yet.  True, I have barely ridden my mountain bike since 6 Hours of Warrior Creek in April, but I still have a month to get ready!  Don't worry, I'm not that crazy.  Yet.

Back in the Saddle

So, turns out I don't have to bankrupt myself to the ART practitioner after all.  Because that was my plan B in case my hip flexor didn't ever decide to flex again.  But it appears to have decided to rejoin the party, and so I'm back at it. (Well, if you can consider jogging aimlessly around Montford being back at it.)  But today I'm going to attempt to run an actual workout.  Fingers crossed.

Biggest news of the week (month?? year??) - Sam learned to ride a bike yesterday!!!  He had sort-of, somewhat attempted to ride a couple of times over the last couple of years, but it just never really seemed to take.  He'd crash, scare himself a little, and decide that was the most ridiculous activity he'd ever heard of.  But - he got a fire in his belly this week and decided he was ready.  So I got his old bike (now ridiculously small for him - which is perfect for learning on), and we headed to the Greenway.  And - he figured it out.  It was sooo fun to watch.  I had a cheek ache from smiling so much.  And at one point he turned around and yelled "this is the most amazing feeling in the world!!!!!", and I knew *exactly* how he felt.  It was this great moment of kinship and accord.  So we're going back for more today, and now I'm looking at the budget to see where a new bike fits in.  And - I have the *most adorable* video of him on his first day of biking, and I'm *dying* to post it, but since the video ends with him yelling "and don't put this on youtube!!!", I'm guessing that should also apply to my blog.  But it's really adorable.


Edited to Add:  The hip flexor really did decide to flex!  7 miles around N. Asheville in an hour (more or less), including 2x200, 2x400, 2x200 on the UNCA track.  The track intervals were supposed to be at 5k race pace, and I really did mean to be good, but for a person who once actually ran the 400, doing those intervals at 5k pace seems realllllly silly.  So I was faster than I was supposed to be, but not by too much, and - Happy Dance! - the legs seemed to be up for it.

We Have a Winner! And amazingly beautiful video clip.

First - Leslie drew the winner for the lantern - and the winner is. . . .Anna Katherine Montgomery!  Yay!!!

Second - I just saw this video on a friend's facebook page (isn't that how everyone gets all of their information??), and was blown away:



I've seen clips of this guy riding before, and it's always AMAZING, but this one is also beautiful.

In other news, I'm actually getting back in the saddle with some work-type stuff.  I've found some round glass tiles that I'm rather taken with, and am making a bunch of those this week, as well as some more large pendants.

City Market is closed this week - because of the Holiday Parade.  But we'll be at the Vance Craft Explosion at Vance Elementary on Sunday noon-5, which looks to have a rather good lineup this year.  It's always fun - and if nothing else, being in an elementary school gym brings a good hit of nostalgia.

Race Report - Swank!

Soooo, it's official - I survived Swank!  It had been one of those big goals that loomed out in the distance for a while, and it's slightly surreal to actually have it finished.  To be sure, for people who are serious endurance mountain bike racers, it's not that huge of a deal.  But then, how many serious endurance mountain bike racers are there??  So for the rest of us, those that like riding a bike and find the idea of a big goal appealing, it was kind of a big deal.  And I guess women must find it a bigger deal anyway, because out of the 150 registered entrants, only 7 were women.  Yep.  Seven.

So. . . the start was actually quite civilized.  A 10am start, which with the time change felt like 11, so no crazy early alarm action.  My mom (the uber-sherpa) came with me, and we carpooled in with another woman racer who I was randomly paired up with, but really liked (in one of the fortuitous turns of fate), and we all had a rather enjoyable time hanging out before the start.  Here I am right before it was time to go:

You might notice we aren't actually on our bikes.  Because it's a LeMans start - meaning you run a loop around a field before jumping on your bikes and heading out.  And theoretically this should be the one place where I would actually excel - being a runner and all.  Except that I see no reason to go sprinting like a crazy woman at the beginning of a 6 hour race, so I was pretty firmly in the back half for the beginning.

This was my first time racing with a heart rate monitor, and it was the bomb. (If you aren't used to that expression, and/or don't know my neighbor Geoffrey, I mean that phrase in the best possible way: "It was the bomb!!!")  I loved it - easy to tell when I was going too hard (e.g., climbing up Long Branch, I looked down and my heart rate was 185.  Not the bomb!! ), and also easy to tell when I was doing pretty well and was not actually going to expire regardless of how it felt (e.g., the last climb at hour 5.)  So overall I felt pretty in control, walked down Farlow Gap as planned (I have a great deal of respect for people who ride that trail, but not much desire to actually do it myself), FINALLY got my nutrition figured out (it mainly involved a LOT of Perpetuem), and finished feeling pretty good.

Here I am coming through the finish:

That pretty much says it all.  I was REALLY happy to be finished, REALLY happy to have met my time goal (I wanted to be under 6 hours, and I was 5:46), and REALLY happy to have kept myself more or less upright for the duration.

My friend Robin (my usual biking partner-in-crime) came to watch the finish, which was such a nice surprise, and took these pictures.   Here I am just after.  Again, looking quite happy just to be off the bike.

It turned out that my 5:46 was good enough for 4th place woman (out of the very slim women's field), and they actually gave prizes.  Here's the jersey I won:

Cool, right?  That's a good thing about mountain bike races - they always give out really good stuff.  Sure, sure, it's all about the personal satisfaction, but who's going to turn down really good stuff??


And here Robin and I are under the finish line.

A good day complete, a big goal accomplished, a good friend to share it with - yay!

Win Free Stuff!!

Seriously, who wouldn't read this with a title like that??  Best of all - it's true!  And it involves the lanterns:

Here's the story:  my friend Leslie just started her blog and FB page for her business - Roost Interior Design.  To kick it off, she's giving away one of my lanterns (pictured below - although if you're familiar with my lanterns, and you have your heart set on cosmos instead of maidenhair, for example, I'm happy to do a little swapping around.)  

Here's the lantern looking sultry with its red velvet:

And here it is with a more casual day look:

So, to enter the drawing all you have to do is like her FB page (for one entry) or my FB page (for one entry), or share either of our pages with a friend (for another entry). And then leave either of us a comment on our blogs letting us know what you did, and how many entries to give you.  (Example:  "Wow, what an awesome contest!!  I liked both of your pages, and recommended them to a friend (or 30), so put me in for 3 entries!")  Even if you're not quite that enthusiastic, any sort of comment that lets us know will work.

 Soooooo - once more:  like either of our pages - one entry!  Like both of our pages - two entries! Like both of our pages and share either/both with a friend - 3 entries in the contest for you!  What could be easier??  (And, if you already like my FB page, and thus can't like it again, just let me know and that will count for an entry.)


Spotted Dog's FB Page:  here
Roost's FB Page:  here

So - leave a comment and let us give you free stuff!  What could be simpler??

In other news, tomorrow is the premier for Race Across the Sky 2010 - the documentary of the Leadville Trail 100 - and it's showing at the Carolina.  Yes I purchased my tickets the day they went on sale weeks ago.  Yes I'm genuinely excited to see it.  Yes I'm a total geek.  But take a look at this trailer - how cool is that???  

Race Across The Sky 2010 from Citizen Pictures on Vimeo.


And the timing's perfect - Swank is on Sunday, so I'm hoping to be totally inspired.  (yes, I'm a geek.)  

This Time I Mean It!

This is kind of embarrassing. Here I am again, jumpstarting this blog by doing a photo retrospective of the past 3 months. But I'm back for real this time, and here's why: I can't possibly let Leslie out-blog me. Sure, she has a cool business and a great topic (the rehab of an old house in Montford), but that doesn't mean I can't beat her with sheer volume. And thus out-blog her. And I win! [You may be thinking at this point - this is a contest?? And ok, sure, the answer is no. In fact Leslie's about the least competitive person I know - and I have verified proof, having taken a racquetball class with her in 1992. But you've got to take your motivation where you can find it.]

So, I'm back. And this time I mean it!

Without further ado, the last 3 months:

We headed back to the beach - for a triathlon. My first ocean swim. But first we gamboled about as one does at the beach.

Accompanying us to the beach - Leslie! And providing our accommodations - her brother Douglas! (as an aside, I love this picture, because it looks like the ones we used to take when Douglas would come to college and take us out to dinner. So it looks just like those pictures if this is what we looked like in 1991.)

An actual triathlon picture! I haven't managed to do too many of them this year, but this one was fun. My first ocean swim - to say I was a little intimidated when I watched the first wave get swept past the turn buoy by the current would be an understatement. In fact, I started so far up the beach that at least half of my wave was ahead of me when I made the turn - but I by God did not get swept past the buoy! And then I biked surprisingly strongly for me (probably because it's dead flat down there?), and had a much better run than I expected (again, the flat no doubt helped), and ended up 2nd woman overall. To say I was surprised would be an understatement.

A week later, Clark ran the Citizen Times Half Marathon, and Sam as usual helped him celebrate his finish.

Some fishing took place - Shii caught his first fish, with help from my mom. It's a real sign of how much she loves her grandchildren that she's turned into a rather capable fisherwoman.

And some baseball of course. Couldn't let a retrospective go by without at least one baseball pic.

New holiday ornaments! They're hollow - and thus not likely to break your tree branch in half.

We tried out LEAF for the first time. Turns out, it's fabulous. I know everyone says that, but I wasn't sure that 3 straight days of vending was really going to be a blast. But yep, it was.

Aided largely by how much fun Sam had. Here he is trying out the aerial arts.

Also much zip-lining was enjoyed.

And in the midst of all this I've been riding my bike. A lot. Because I've entered this race called the Swank 65, and I'm slightly intimidated by it. (ok, fine, I'm scared sh!tless.) So Kelly and I have been heading to Pisgah and riding. And having fun. (as an aside, what is up with my bike helmet?? It always looks really high and kind of sideways. So I resemble a slightly tipsy miner. May have to do something to remedy that.)

Our reward for all of the Pisgah riding: views like this. We climbed up to the top of Farlow (which is a long, long way in a small, small gear), and every now and then the trees would open up and you could really see where you were. Which was totally worth seeing.

Will report back with more. For real, this time.