We went with friends tonight to see Batman: The Dark Night. Rich had watched a clip online where the main actors and the director were interviewed about the making of the movie, and one comment stood out to me – they wanted to make it intense the whole time.

They succeeded.

There was not ONE moment during the movie that I lost attention, zoned out, tuned out – not ONE. From the moment it started, it was captivating. Poor Rich’s arm was squeezed through most of the movie as I waited for certain things to happen. The acting was just incredible. The action was incredible. The intensity was definitely edge-of-your-seat! I appreciated the fact there was no blood and gore, though there were plenty of moments I turned my head because of what I thought was coming! But, wow, what a get-your-heart-pumping-and-keep-it-there movie!

It was Saturday, so it was time for a long ride! I was actually intending to make it a short(er) ride of 10 miles, but I took a road untraveled (at least by me) and became curious where it went. And my time was looking so good that I wanted to see if I could improve upon the last couple of rides and make my goal of a 20 mile ride in 1 hr, 30 min.

First – the path. Instead of crossing into Richland, I decided to check out the Pasco path. I’m so glad I did, because I think I found a new favorite ride! I rode into Chiawana Park (West End) and just kept going. I found views I’d never seen before and a park I’d never heard about! It looked new, pristine, beautiful, and with not many people. It really looked like a perfect place for a little picnic in the sun. There were just a couple of kayakers in the water, a couple of people lying in the grass, and the bike path was WIDE, with a lane for cyclists going one way, and a lane for cyclists coming back. I didn’t get very far along the path, having already traveled 10 miles by that point. On the way back, I turned off the path a couple of times – the first to find out what street the park I’d found was from; the second to find out what street this incredible LARGE house was on that I passed by! I think it’s about the largest house I’d seen in the Tri-Cities, with a nearly-as-large house next door!

Second – the time. I DID IT!!! I was really surprised, but I managed an average speed of 13 mph, which is faster than my previous averages of 11.8 mph. And my total time for 21 miles was 1:32 – 1 hour, 32 minutes. WOOHOO!!! My maximum speed was 23 mph. And the whole ride was a blast. Granted, there were fewer people to navigate through in the parks which let me feel better about increasing my speed, which adds to thinking I’ve found a new favorite trail to follow. I also liked the fact there were a few turn-offs to get onto the road if needed. I did get off at one turnoff, just to see where I’d end up, and then got a little lost trying to find my way around – then turnoff got onto Sylvester, but then I took a side-road that was unfamiliar to me and ended up back on the bike path. So my 1:32 was actually including a few side-adventures. I was excited about that.

Third – endurance. So, by the time I was on the final leg of the trip, I was slowing WAY down. On the way out, I was hitting about 18 mph, coasting to about 15 mph, and then hitting 18 mph again. On the last part of the trip back, I was definitely going slower. I’m not sure what my top speed was, but I know I was coasting to about 11 mph. The funny thing is 11 mph isn’t horribly slow, but after spending most of the ride going nearly 20 mph, I guess I was surprised how slow it felt. I shouldn’t have been, since cars are the same way – dropping from 55 mph to 35 mph feels like a drag; same with going from 35 mph to 20 mph in school zones. Next time, I definitely need to take a granola bar with me or SOMETHING. I had my heart-rate monitor on, and forgot to actually TURN it on until part-way back. I hit a burn of 600 calories for the last part of the trip. Having only eaten a PB&J sandwich and a but of milk before the ride, I was definitely needing some more gas for the last leg.

Fourth – the tan. I had to include this, because it’s the first summer in a long time I’m actually getting a TAN. I should note that it’s more prevalent on my arms, but I love the fact I’m actually getting some COLOR. That’s not to say I don’t slather sunscreen on me before every ride – but it’s GREAT!

Fifth – the bugs! I chuckled part of the way through the ride as I looked at arms. Part of the bike path I took is on something of a dike, narrower, and no trees around – well, there are trees around, but they’re lower down the hill on each side. When I looked at my arms at that point, they resembled the front of a car after a drive…little black bugs stuck to me. Yeah, it was gross, but I was enjoying the ride too much to be disgusted.

With this ride, I now have 81 miles on my bicycle! Actually, make that 81 miles after my bike computer was put on. I might have 85 or so actual miles on it, but I never thought I’d have 81 miles on my bicycle after three weeks! I’m LOVING cycling, though. LOVING it. I wish I could squeeze more cycling in during the week, but my Saturday rides are definitely making up for the time I don’t get during the week. I think I need some cool-weather gear as it gets a little cooler in the mornings. Maybe I could even get cool-weather gear for my birthday so I could keep riding in the fall!

We just got pictures of the Colorado nephews today in the mail. At first, I thought we’d only received pictures of one of the nephews! Granted, I was looking at the pictures upside-down as Rich looked at them, and they WERE dressed alike, but I couldn’t believe how alike they looked! And they are stinking cute kids.

And that makes me wonder – yet again – would Rich and I have cute kids? I keep imagining short legged, long fingered, allergied, near-sighted, uncoordinated children with LOTS of hair, a clown chin (like mine), big bones, and big ears (like mine). Sheesh, I nearly described a neanderthal, I think.

And I imagine little nerds running around the house, playing piano, playing board games, citing random pieces of trivia their father teaches them, not to mention numerous sarcastic comments and OCD behaviors (which I can only imagine I’d wish would translate into organized rooms). Oh, and they’ll be stubborn, loud little children. They’ll have to be loud…else their parents probably won’t hear them! And they’ll talk a lot. Hopefully, they’ll read a lot.

And then, what if we have one child who is totally the opposite? We’d probably wonder where on earth that child got their genes.

On a random tangent – Rich mentioned the other day that sarcasm has been found to be a sign of evolved intelligence. I suppose the Johnson family is a highly evolved group, then and future generations will only continue that evolution.

Scary.

Well, I took advantage of the awesome weather this weekend and did a 23.44 mile ride. I LOVE cycling. My only problem was I lost the pedal covers that came with my clipless pedals…I found ONE, but couldn’t find the other. Oh well. This ride went from our house to the end of Leslie Groves park in Richland. I WAS going to stop there and come back, and called my husband to let him know I was on my way back, but then I decided to see just how much farther it was to WSU Tri-Cities campus. If anyone wants to know, going on the bike path from our house to the end of Leslie Groves park is 10.2 miles. It’s another 1.2 miles to the WSUTC campus from that point. My extra little bit of mileage is from turning around and back-tracking a little bit looking for pedal covers…which I realized were missing as I got back onto the bike path at Leslie Groves!

Not only was the weather perfect, the park was fairly empty, too, so no hassles with running into people. I also learned the crucial signal of cyclists for pedestrians…”Passing on your (left/right)!” I’d forgotten about that one until my 4th of July ride, when I passed someone whose family was riding bicycles along the path and the mom called out, “Passing on your left!” to the kids. I felt a bit ashamed for not having done that myself. I’d been wondering just how to let people know I was coming, though, without shouting out the only thing that would come to mind, “Watch out!” or “Excuse me!” Neither of those are quite as effective as, “Passing on your (left/right)!”

Now, my only issue is that my neck aches a little from the ride. My back was already a bit sore from my workout earlier in the week, and I think the long ride just strained it a little more than it could handle. It’s feeling better today; I think I’ll have to figure out my workouts so that I’m not so sore when I want to go on a long ride again!

After serving as a nursery worker for 18 months, I was released and am now…the Young Women’s Secretary. I’m excited, nervous, worried, anxious… I

We had a fun 4th of July! After breakfast, I decided to try riding out to work and back. The trip out to work is about 13 miles. I didn’t quite make it to the building I work in, but I did get past the building my husband works in before I decided to loop around and head back home. I also took a bit of a short-cut through the park on the way home — too many people to try to wrestle through on the path! Round trip, I rode 25 miles! I understood after that 25 mile ride why it is that people wear padded cycling shorts…

In the evening, we hung out with family and watched the fireworks at the stadium. That’s one of the many things I enjoy about living where we live – the stadium is just down the road, so we can walk to the soccer fields and watch the fireworks! No cars, no hassle. WOOHOO!

Here are a couple of my favorite photos that my husband took from the fireworks show.

So, I went on a ride Thursday evening close to our house. There’s this stretch of road that’s wonderful for sprinting! I was curious how fast I could go, so I sprinted it a few times, then would recover going around the rest of the block. I’m sure a few people who were in their front lawns wondered why I kept going past them! I did manage to hit a maximum speed of 24.9 miles per hour! That was as fast as it would go. I really tried to hit 25 mph, but my legs just wouldn’t do it after hitting 24.9. I couldn’t help but be curious if having the extra weight of the camelback made a difference. Without it, would I hit 25mph? I was too tired to try, though. Another time…

I also experimented with riding low versus riding upright, seeing the difference that would make for speed. Camelback aside, I felt like I’d just opened a parachute the way my t-shirt would blow out to the sides! I don’t have cycling clothes – my gym clothes are working for now. But it kind of cracked me up the way that happened. Definite drag.

By the time I got home, the bike computer said I’d clocked 8 miles. Short ride, but those sprints were killer!

I picked up my bike yesterday from its tune-up and fitting. The guys at the bike shop sold me on a new seat – a nice, cushy, gel, made-for-women seat. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! I felt like I could ride all day! After practicing for awhile last night and going for a ride at dusk, I went to sleep debating if I would go to the gym or go for a ride in the morning.

As it was, I went out for a nice ride this morning, taking the path that my friends and I were going to take Friday when I had my fun adventure. Thankfully, I found my way onto the bike path (I’ve been wondering how to get there!), and I made it out and back without much hassle! I LOVE riding!! Here’s the route I took – about 15 miles round-trip! I nearly decided to just go all the way to work and call Rich to have him bring me my gym bag… It was such a beautiful morning. I forgot how much I love being on the path that goes by the river!

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