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Mare wasn’t feeling well on thursday and came home from work a bit early. She had been shivering and freezing all day so we figured she had a fever. She took it once and the thermometer said 102.67! I thought it HAD to be a fluke so I tried…98.7. Her ear was bothering her too so she went into the clinic that night. They said she had an ear infection (and maybe a cold coming on) and gave her some antibiotic+steroid drops. Friday night, her throat started to hurt. This morning she woke me up and said she had white spots in her throat. Uh oh. I looked and it was pretty nasty so we went to the clinic at Target to get a strep test done.

It was kinda funny. The secretary/assistant took the swab and waited for the doctor to come in. They said they’d do a rapid test and send it to the lab if it came back negative. The doctor started the test and set a timer for 6 minutes (for the test to complete). One minute later, he said “well, you’re already positive” and threw away the test. Shortly after the assistant came out of exam room with a spray bottle and started spraying down the check-in counter. It may have just been a coincidence but it totally cracked me up. We picked up some penicillin and headed on our way.

I’m _really_ hoping to avoid catching it. I know I’ve been exposed but hopefully my superior immune system will come out the victor. lol.

It’s been a busy weekend. I helped some good friends move into their new (and super nice) house on Friday night. This afternoon I went out on a sweet 2 hour ride. The weather was perfect and I made it to the end of the Gateway Trail (33 miles round trip). The last 1.5 miles was rough. I always seem to be heading uphill and into the wind when I’m the most tired. Near the end, I was riding on a somewhat busy street hugging the white line near the gutter. Most vehicles were cool and either used the left lane or at least scooted left a few feet to pass me. However, some jackass redneck in a huge pickup decided to buzz me (at what must have been 50 mph (in a 30mph zone)) and came within INCHES of hitting me. I was so pissed! I mean it’s one thing to not move over but it’s another thing entirely to purposely try to intimidate me off the road. It’s idiots like this that make we want to be a jerk and command the entire lane (as is my right since in MN a bike has the exact same rights as a car…except for riding on the freeways). I swear, EVERY single time I have an issue with a motor vehicle it’s some guy in a truck. I’m 99% sure big truck owners are trying to compensate for something else that’s tiny. My only comfort is that they’re paying at least $100 to fill their tanks.

Growing up, I spent a _lot_ of time mowing lawns. It turns out that adults seem to dread mowing their lawns and, as a kid, mowing was a great way to make some cash during “baseball season”, aka summer. I started mowing my neighbor Dorothy’s (my “3rd Grandma) yard when I was about 11 years old and continued mowing several lawns until I left for college. I loved the smell of fresh cut grass and dirty 2-stroke engines.

Since I’m now a homeowner and it’s springtime, I have the privilege of having a lawn to mow again! As winter began to fade, I became excited about purchasing my first ever lawnmower. With gas prices ever on the rise, I thought it would be cool to buy one of those human-powered reel mowers. I read some positive reviews online and decided to buy a 20″ Scotts model. The local True Value store (which is 100% cooler than Home Depot, btw) had one in stock and I decided to buy it. The TrueValue guy said “they work ok” and I was super excited about a pollution-less, quiet, and simple mower.

Epic FAIL!

My first attempt at mowing was saddening to say the least. The “green” mower didn’t like my uneven lawn and completely failed to cut any grass over a few inches tall. My neighbor chuckled at me but was nice enough not to say too much. While I was mowing the front yard, the mailman came by and said “I haven’t seen one of those since the 60’s”! That’s Minnesota nice for “you’re an idiot, man”!

So…yeah…Last weekend I went and bought myself a _real_ (not reel) mower. I thought about buying an electric, but after the previous debacle, I decided that a nice cut lawn was more important than burning gas and spitting out some CO2. Take THAT future generations!

So there you have it. I’m now a happy polluter with a nice lawn. To compensate, I’ve decided to buy a battery-powered trimmer. Does that count as a carbon offset?

So I got an email yesterday informing me that I have 18 days until the MS 150 bike race. The MS 150 is a 2 day, 150 mile ride from Duluth MN to the Twin Cities. A couple of people on our kickball team did it last year so, in a moment of insanity, I agreed to give it a go as well. I’m excited for the challenge but _really_ pissed at myself for not managing my schedule properly. I signed up for the race then months later realized (thanks to Marianne and Aaron) that it coincided with our yearly hiking trip! I’m soooo bummed that I can’t go on the hiking trip. That has been the highlight of my summer (well other than getting engaged I guess) for the past 2 years and I’m gonna miss it so incredibly much.

Anyway, since I only have less than 3 weeks to get my lazy butt into shape I decided to do some riding this week. I really don’t know the trails out on the east side of St Paul so it’s been a fun exploratory experience. On Saturday, I headed over to Lake Elmo Reserve. My neighbor works there part time so I thought I’d check it out. The ride east was fun. The wind was at my back and it was downhill most of the way. At one point I hit 39mph going down a hill and had a blast. The park was pretty cool and I enjoyed buzzing by the ranger station without a permit. The weather looked ominous so I decided to start the trek home. Traveling home…not so fun. The 39mph hill was daunting on the way up with a strong headwind. Once I conquered that obstacle, the wind picked up and I felt like I was being sandblasted on several occasions! I finally made it home, wondering to myself how I could do 75 miles in day when I was so tired after just 17.

Tonight I went out for another ride. This time I decided to head south on McKnight to find the Battle Creek Trail. The Battle Creek trail was pretty sweet. It was very beautiful, except for the gnats in the mouth The trail was windy, downhill, and there were a few families around so I was constantly breaking. I eventually met up with Warner Road and continued into downtown St Paul. For nostalgia I decided to ride back through downtown and go by the old MindTouch office (singe tear streams down my face). Instead of heading back on the trail I decided to do some city biking and headed up East 7th. Climbing back out of the river valley was a LOT of work. Thankfully the road wasn’t too busy and it was fun to explore a new area. I eventually made it home and enjoyed the endorphin rush of working my butt off for an hour. Now I just need to stick to my routine and get at least 3-4 rides in a week.

Finding motivation to bike has been really hard lately, but I’m _always_ satisfied when I’m done. There’s just something so gratifying about traveling a large distance on only human power. I just hope I feel the same way after 2 75 mile days

P.S. I need to raise $300 for the MS 150 race so if anyone wants to give me money, I’ll take it! But seriously, I probably wouldn’t give you money so I’m not getting my hopes up