GardenKim

Learning right from the start...the right way

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 17:00:00 +0000

I've written on this blog how a couple of women's only clinics are what got me started mountain biking. The first one at the Fall Colors Festival in the Kettle Moraine. This was a casual affair, almost better described as demo, which introduced me to some great trails, and got me over my fear of leaving the pavement and trying out some dirt. The next at the Ray's Mountain Bike Park was a more formal clinic following the International Mountain Bike Instruction Certification guidelines for teaching. Beginning to learn proper body position made immediate improvements in my riding.

Wanting the same for my family, was thrilled when I saw the Midwest Women's Mountain Bike Clinic was also offering a Kid's clinic (ages 8-12) and a Men's Novice to Advanced clinic. Started several years ago as a clinic for a small group of women, The Midwest Women's Mountain Bike Clinic is a weekend long event attracting over 150 people annually in June to Brown County State Park in Indiana. Sub-9 Productions does a great job of organizing the clinics using only IMBI Certified instructors and guidelines. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to sign up my kiddo and my hubby (after all I was attending no matter what!).

After checking in and receiving their name tags for their bikes, the kid's clinic begin with introductions and questions from the coaches about what they wanted to learn. Coaches spent some time checking over bikes, adjusting seats, and getting the kids at ease, before they rode off to do skills drills on the pavement.

Soon the kid's were split into two groups based on abilities. Kiddo was placed in the more advanced group where Angie Weston and Todd Boucher began working on things like high speed cornering, front and rear wheel lifting. After some practice time, the group took off on a ride on the LimeKiln trail, where they were introduced to the concept of sessioning areas of the trail.

That afternoon when I picked Kiddo up from the clinic, he suggested a quick ride on LimeKiln to show me what he'd learned. I was surprised when he tore down the trail. In order to put that in perspective, I'd written an essay prior to the clinic that talked about how I'd hoped the clinic would help him overcome a fear of riding downhills. Dramatic improvement is an understatement. And done with good form to boot. In May, he barely rode his bike, after the clinic he was hooked.

As an added benefit, because he learned to ride correctly at the same time I was doing the same, as a family we have been able to push each other. Kiddo doesn't let me take the bail line around obstacles. Instead there's a lot of "Mom, you can do that, you've been over bigger logs (or drop offs, or jumps or whatever)". We now feel confident on all the local trails from intro to more advanced. Our weekends typically include getting in weekend rides at our in city trails (Hoyt, Oak Hill or Crystal Ridge), or at the more extensive Muir/Carlin trails in Kettle Moraine of southeastern WI.

Mountain biking has become part of our family travels. I was able to work in a couple of days of Brown County riding around a business trip in September, and over Thanksgiving, we tackled trails in the Nashville area. To keep active over the Wisconsin winter, the entire family are season members at Rays Indoor Mountain Bike Park (where kiddo is also taking up BMX and jumping). Next summer we'll try our hand at riding Keystone in Summit County, Colorado, our first trip to a downhill/lift shuttled bike park.

I credit the Midwest Women's clinic with not only helping our family find a great family activity, but also with helping our skills and abilities progress at levels we would have never been able to attain on our own. This will be an annual family activity for us....and one we look forward to immensely.

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:58:00 +0000

Originally posted on December 23, 2010 (hence the reference to Reverb10). Bumping back up/Re-posting on December 23, 2011

I hate this day. I will always hate this day. On December 23, 2006, my father died from prostate cancer. As deaths from prostate cancer go, he was lucky. If you can describe dying far too young from a horrible disease lucky. He'd been diagnosed a bit more than 3 years earlier, had 3 good years where we all thought the disease had been caught early enough, the treatments were working. He was going to be one of those men who died 20 years later from some other old age related condition *with* prostate cancer. Not someone who actually dies *from* prostate cancer. I mean, who does that. As cancers go, isn't prostate cancer one of the least deadly????

That's what we thought. That's what so many people think.

Yet, prostate cancer ranks second among cancers for deaths in males. Each year over 32,000 men in the USA die from prostate cancer.

I said my Dad was lucky. At least lucky for those who this horrid disease kills. He did not have years of suffering because the prostate cancer had invaded his bones. Internet searches yielded story after story of men who spend years in pain from prostate cancer of the bones. My Dad's prostate cancer went to his liver, caused electrolyte imbalances which eventually stopped his heart. It happened fast. Far too fast.

In April of 2006 his PSA readings were normal, as they had been for the 3 years he'd been on hormone therapy. At his August check with the urologist, they had sky rocketed. In early September he and Mom toured England. While on the trip he started feeling some soreness in his hip (the start of a bone metasis). A late September PET scan showed the spot on his hip, but also spots on his liver. October brought unproductive attempts at chemotherapy. Several trips to the hospital were needed to stabilize his electrolytes. I last saw him Thanksgiving weekend. He made a heroic effort that weekend to remain strong, appear normal to Kiddo. Shortly after we left, he collapsed. The following week he was so weak, he had to be moved to a nursing home. On December 23, as we drove to see him, he died.

His death and the Christmas season will always be intertwined.

The day 19 prompt for Reverb 10 was healing. A prompt especially poignant for me this week. Because this is a wound which will never fully heal for me. A routine evening drive, just Kiddo and I, a quick detour to look at Christmas lights....suddenly the bandage was ripped away. The old wound exposed. I found myself with tears streaming down my face, quietly crying as we drove. Hoping and praying Kiddo wouldn't notice, that I wouldn't have to explain.

I remember after Dad's funeral asking my cousin, who'd lost her father the year before, when it would get better. Her answer, "Never, but it gets easier".

Each year in the US, approximately 217,000 new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed. Diagnosed early, this disease is often treatable, manageable, and not necessarily life threatening. Simple tests - the PSA blood test and the digital exam can spot problems early. I will never know if he hadn't waited 3 years between his PSA tests whether the outcome would have been different for my Dad. But I often wonder. Don't leave your family wondering. Get tested.

My cousin was right; now I can remember Dad fondly, think of him often, each memory doesn't bring fresh tears. Grief securely tucked away. But this time of the year it all comes back. The pain, the anger, the questions, the guilt. Exposed as if he died yesterday.

And so, I hate this day. I hope that on the other 364 days of the year, I honor him in what I do. Use the life lessons he taught me, the gifts he gave me, the example he set. That these are apparent in my life, in how I raise my son. But this day, the day he died, will always be a day to condemn this awful disease. And remind the men in my life to get tested. Every year.

In December I'm doing an on-line initiative, called Reverb 10, designed to help participants reflect on 2010 and manifest what's next in 2011. Each day participants are given prompts or thought starters to blog, tweet or journal. A record of my tweets in response to the prompts is found here.

An early advocate

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 22:43:00 +0000

Over the weekend, my Mom gave me an old newspaper clipping. She'd found it among items my Grandmother had saved. It is a letter I'd written to the editor of the paper in my hometown. Written when I was 14 years old. Advocating for biking. Not sure where that came from, I did not come from a biking family. Biking was something kids did. And so, as I grew up, I lost that joy of riding for far too long, only re-discovering it in the past two years.

Then as now, my grammar wasn't perfect, but there's wisdom in these words written so many years go. A wisdom that brings a smile to my face, and makes me proud of the girl I was.

"I think that all of the Waukegan area should realize that

a bike is no longer a toy, but one of the cheapest, cleanest,

most efficient means of transportation around.....

we should all work to make it the safest."

The more things change the more they remain the same.

Sightseeing on two wheels

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:53:00 +0000

Recently spent a week vacationing in northern California. San Francisco was home base, but we added a night in Yountville (Napa) and Monterey. As with last year's trip to wine country, I'd researched possible self-lead bike tour routes and bike rental options. We knew we wanted to bike across the Golden Gate bridge and down to Sausalito. Further south, I was intrigued by the idea of biking past the famous golf courses and ocean views of the 17 mile drive between Monterey and Carmel.

Our first adventure was the Golden Gate trip. San Francisco has several options for renting bikes, especially in the touristy Fishermen's Wharf area. My on-line research lead me to Bike-n-Roll, as I preferred their wide fleet of Trek bikes. I knew I'd want to rent one of their "performance road" bikes (Trek FX7.3 disc) vs. a "comfort hybrid" bike (Trek 7300). My mistake was not reserving the bikes on-line; partially due to their on-line system not working from iPad, iPhone or Android mobile devices, something I'd suggest they fix. I decided our best bet to get the performance bike would be to go to the main tour center location at Columbus and Mason. After filling out the paperwork and discussing possible routes, we were asked to wait 15 minutes for a couple of the FX's to be brought over from another store. When that didn't happen, the store manager offered to upgrade us to Madone 2.1 road bikes or switch us to their "performance" mountain bike, Trek4500. Anticipating (wisely) the crowds on the Golden Gate bridge we went for the upright geometry of the mountain bikes.

First part of the ride was along Fisherman's Wharf and the waterfront bike path. Tons of folks out riding and walking. Enjoyed riding past Ghiradelli Square and the views of the Presidio.

The climb up to the Golden Gate was a bit of a challenge. Hill weenie that I am, I was surprised when I found the perfect spinning gear and navigated myself up the hill.

The bridge was crowded, particularly at each end, very middle less so, as I suspect many folks walk part way and turn back. Extreme care is needed riding across. Lots of folks walking 4-5 people wide, taking pictures - nose buried in viewfinder, being typical tourists with no care or even awareness of others. Yes, I realize I'm also a tourist, but do try and respect other tourists. Still the views were stunning. This is something everyone should do. Once. Once and done.

Off the bridge there's a fun descent down to Sausalito. Sausalito is a charming town, full of cafes, houseboats and gorgeous water views,and tons of clueless tourists. We were tired of weaving (or walking our bikes) through crowds, and decided to ride on through.

We foolishly did not stop to refill our water bottles or grab a snack in Sausalito. Not smart. Our water bottles were less than half full, we hadn't packed any energy bars, GU or other fuel. This came back to haunt us later. We both were out of water before, and starting to bonk going into Tiburon. I know better.

At Tiburon, views across the bay to the city were stunning. And the Blue Moons (and food) at Sam's were a perfect reward for a good ride.

The line of bikes waiting for the ferry back to San Fran was surprisingly long. Lucky we put our bikes into the queue when we did - by the time the ferry was loading there was probably 50 more bikes behind us. The ferry only allows 80 bikes per trip. We were # 75 and 76 for this trip. Lots of folks were turned away to wait the two hours for the next ferry. Loved seeing all these bikes on the ship!

Th short ride from the ferry terminal back to the shop concluded our 19mile trip. One I highly recommend. And know even with my once and done comment about riding over the Golden Gate - this is a trip I'd do again. As to Bike-n-Roll, was impressed with their fleet, the well-kept bike conditions and the general bike advocate nature of the staff. A business worthy of your (and my) business.

Trip 2- Monterey to Carmel via the 17 mile Drive

Wow, wow, wow. When planning this trip, I'd originally thrown out the idea of a night in Monterey to possibly explore wineries south of San Francisco. But then I realized folks biked the famous 17 Mile Drive past the infamous golf courses of Peeble Beach, Spanish Bay, and Spyglass, and the winery visits went away. For this trip, I decided to rent from Bay Bikes, utilizing their on-line reservation system to reserve a couple of Specialized Sirrius flat bar road bikes.

Bay Bikes is located on Cannery Row the main tourist area of Monterey. They stock many Surrey style bikes and comfort type hybrids, along with some traditional road bikes, mountain bikes and flat bar road bikes. Their fleet seemed a bit older than I would have liked. Nonetheless, they are a great option for renting bikes in Monterey. The employees are quite helpful in determining routes and helping with directions. In fact when I said we were planning on riding into Carmel for lunch, they questioned how often we rode, and suggested that most folks turned around about 10 miles into the ride. Once they were confident we rode (and even seemed impressed that I bike commuted), they offered suggestions for riding around and sites in Carmel.

Monterey has an excellent bike path running along their waterfront, providing a great 6-8 mile area for surrey bikes and less adventurous families to ride. One of my favorite things about it is the clear delineation between where bikes should go (in each direction) and where pedestrians should walk.

Upon leaving the bike path, there's 3 miles or so of road with bike lanes until entering the 17mile drive, where bikes can skip the toll booth, $10 per car charge, and ride for free. Views all along the drive are stunning - both ocean and golf course. We pedalled leisurely, stopping often for pictures.

Once past Peeble Beach the road narrows, and there's a fairly steep descent down into Carmel by the Sea. Followed by a corresponding ascent into downtown. Nothing someone comfortable on a bike can't handle - but made me realize why the shop suggests casual riders turn back at Peeble Beach. Enjoyed lunch at Flaherty's Oyster Bar, taking advantage of their yummy oyster selection! They were great about parking the bikes, refilling our water bottles and getting us back on our way.

On our return trip, we spent some time looking around Peeble Beach, including enjoying a drink in the lodge overlooking the famous 18th green.

Before we knew it, our 30 mile ride came to an end...which of course meant a stop for a beer. Cannery Row Brewing Company was a perfect place to try a few different beers, along with grabbing a bite at the beer while listening to live music. A great day, and a must do bike ride! Who needs to tour wineries, when there's bikes and beer, right?

Wordless Wednesday: Driveway Farm Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 23:26:00 +0000

July 28

And a bit of history:

June 16

July 15

July Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:42:00 +0000

If nothing else, this monthly Garden Bloggers Bloom day project is showing me that I may have gone too far across the spectrum from "it's all about the flowers" to "just worry about structure and foliage". This garden doesn't have a lot going from a flowering perspective. I'd blame it on the shade - but know I can have shade and flowers.

The lightpost bed is still the most colorful area of the garden. Huechera and Corydalis lutea are blooming, the barrel has filled in. Even the grass is adding some "flowers". Over in the walnut bed, only things in bloom are the corydalis, and a small little hosta. That in this diminuitive form the flowers are kinda charming.

The blue/yellow container group by the driveway farm is beginning to fill in and look nice. And the driveway farm itself is rocking. The warm even hot days we've had the last couple of weeks have kicked the tomatoes into gear. Tons of flowers, and the beginnings of fruit.

In the front bed, there's a few things in bloom. A perennial geranium, a foxglove lutea, an allium. But on closer inspection, things are in a bit of disruption. Plants knocked sideways, broken off, a covering of sawdust everywhere, piles of cut up logs.

All because when we got home from vacation Tuesday, we arrived to discover a tree on our roof. Well, not a whole tree, but a very large branch - which had taken out the smaller branch I was worried about overhanging the house. Honestly, the giant branch wasn't even on my danger, danger radar screen. However, Monday morning's storms, yanked it down. While coming home to it was a shock, I am glad we weren't here when it happened. Kiddo is already wary of storms. The sound of this hitting the roof might have scarred us all for life.

The large branch was from a crotch high in the tree. Diameter of a medium sized tree (that dainty looking foot is a size 10.5). Crushed a bit of the corner of house. Currently navigating the insurance/contractor jungle. But on the bright side, the tree canopy is opened up, I have slightly less shade, and no more branches overhang the house! And, most importantly, no one was hurt.

A Tale of Two Cities' Bike Rides

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 16:02:00 +0000

One of the reasons I love living in the Milwaukee area is its close proximity to Chicago. While there are many reasons which give Milwaukee the edge as to my choice of residence, I consider Chicago as a second, adopted hometown. (I guess growing up midway between Chicago and Milwaukee has left me with torn allegiances - we won't even get into Bears vs. Packers or Cubs vs. Brewers). Anyway, I avail myself of any opportunity to take advantage of what both cities have to offer. Organized lakefront bike rides are no exception with each city offering up a ride on back to back weekends.

The first was Chicago's Bike the Drive on May 29th, the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Organized by the Active Transportation Alliance, a group encouraging biking as transportation within the Chicago area. The ride offers the once a year opportunity to ride a bike along Lake Shore Drive. The 30 mile loop begins at Jackson, with the option of 1st heading south to the turn around at the Museum of Science and Industry or north to the turnaround at Hollywood. I love the views of the skyline and Lake Michigan, the museum campuses and harbors from a car along Lake Shore Drive and was quite excited to see these from my bike. Alas, this year, the weather did not cooperate. The city was fogged in with a slight mist all morning. Not sure I ever caught an actual glimpse of the lake...or even a true view of the skyline.

This ride was very well organized and supported. The event website included a calendar of spots to pick up ride packets in the weeks leading up to the ride. We didn't make it in town until too late to get to one of these pick up locations...but will next year. The line to pick up packets was long when we arrived around 6:30am, and getting longer by the minute. Look closely in the picture below - when we got there the line went to the porta potties in the far back, by the time we got our packets, it had doubled back upon itself. Packets included the mandatory, and frequently checked, race bracelets and numbers, along with t-shirts and route guides.

Rest and re-fuel stations were provided at each turn around point and in the middle/start area. Quite impressive set-up - well stocked, tons of volunteers, and active recycling efforts.

While in line to pick up packets, I heard a group debating which direction to go first, and the 1st mention of "the hill" - as in "maybe we should go north first to do the hill in our first half". As we rode, I'd hear bits and pieces of conversations about folks dreading the Ohio Street hill. When we encountered this hill at about mile 28, it reminded me that hills are relative to where you live...and that Chicago is a very flat place. Yes, as I was feeling smug about my ease of riding up "the hill", I also acknowledged a biker from Colorado would laugh at all my complaining about Hillside Drive or the Hanson Park hill on my bike commute. At the top of the hill we stopped for a quick photo opportunity of a leg of the river and the idle construction site of the Chicago Spire project.

The ride offered a post ride festival, but the weather just wasn't hang in the park and listen to music friendly. Instead we biked over to our fav breakfast spot, Yolk as a post ride treat. Great ride despite the weather, and one I plan on making a tradition.

The next weekend was the Miller Lite/UPAF Ride for the Arts in Milwaukee. This fund raiser for Milwaukees Performing Arts scene offers a variety of routes from 5mile and 12 mile family friendly routes through downtown, to a bit more challenging 25mile route heading south along the lake, and for the true cyclist northerly 50 and 75 mile versions. We'd originally planned on doing the 50miler, but technical difficulities (a deja vu of hubby's flat in last year's ride - but with need of a new tire in addition of the tube) put us behind schedule and we called an audible and joined the 25miler.

All routes begin at the Summerfest grounds. As with the Chicago ride, routes are well marked, well organized and well supported. Yellow shirted ride marshals were apparent through out. I appreciate all the volunteers time and efforts, but would suggest the ride provide a bit more training and guidance to the marshals. We happened to be riding much of the route by a couple of marshals that frequently rode no-handed, changed lanes without looking back, passed without calling out to riders - all of which in a crowded biking situation could cause problems, but more importantly did not model good biking etiquette and safety while on an organized ride.

A highlight of this year's ride was the trip over the Hoan Bridge. Before the start organizers warned that no photography or stopping on the bridge was permitted, s have no pictures of the incredible views. The 3 percent grade of the bridge made climbing it not too strenuous at an easy pace, nor did it cause problems on the group descent. Hopefully this made us one step closer for the DOT to allow biking across the bridge in the future.

Bikes of all types, road, mountain, hybrid, recumbent, were apparent on the ride. Huge props to the guy on the single speed old fashioned bike. We saw him start and finish - and at the turn around, so know he did the 25mile route. Passed a couple of families using tandems plus tag alongs for a three person ride.

The UPAF Ride also includes a post ride festival on the Summerfest grounds. Local fav, 'Love Monkeys' were the featured band. However, we opted to head to brunch instead, this time to Honeypie in BayView. Creating our own post ride tradition, of re-fueling at brunch favorite restaurants.

Recommend both rides, and together they make a great way to kick off the summer riding season!

A bit of a slow start.....

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:22:00 +0000

The cool, wet spring (probably better described as long wet winter) combined with a significant amount of both work and personal travel has put me a bit behind on gardening. Did a bit of work a couple weeks ago, and this past weekend finally got out and got dirty - setting back up the driveway farm.

My yard and garden are heavily shaded with only a small area offering enough sun to successfully grow food. And that small spot is centered around and on my driveway. Last year I started experimenting with growing herbs and veggies in pots along the driveway edge. This experiment was mostly successful and has created what I call my driveway farm.

This year I'm focusing mainly on heirloom tomatoes and herbs with a pepper or two thrown into the mix. I started the day with last year's pots filled with last year's dirt and more than a few volunteer weeds. I look like a bit of a mad scientist as I rejuvenate the soil in the containers. Mixing in a bit of new potting mix, compost, fertilizer and my secret ingredient of alfalfa pellets.

I use the largest pots I have for the tomatos, filling between them with the smaller herb pots. I'll be sticking in nasturium and other small plants such parsley at the base of the tomatoes. Also need to rig up some kind of automatic drip irrigation system, but all and all good progress on the farm.

The area I think of as the lampost bed is filling in nicely. Planted the barrel with annuals a couple weeks ago, but it really is the perennials stealing the show - and proving the value of foliage for color in a garden. Love the brightess of the yellow foliage in this shaded yard.

On the other hand, the bed under the walnut tree is not quite as successful. Several of the pernenials did not return. Some corners of the bed are fine, other a bit bare. Still experimenting here on what will grow successfully beneath a walnut.

As I worked and took pictures around the garden, I realized that last year I kinda lost steam on updating garden progress on this blog. I think the last phot I did of the front beds looks something like this:

Nothing but spray painted bed lines on both sides of the front walk. Readers digest version: We tilled it up, I planted in a variety of shade and part sun plants, sticking to a green/white/burgundy color scheme, relying on foliage color more than flowers, and finally used stones from other areas of the yard to create an edging. If I can say so myself, it has all turned out quite well.

This spring we added the bottle tree, and bottle bug earlier this year. I lost few if any of the perennials over the winter. Most of all, I am thrilled with the Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' (aka red leaved redbudtree). One of my favorite small trees. I find the deep color of the young leaves enchanting. Cannot imagine a garden without this tree.

Wordless Wednesday: Up in the Air Junior Birdman

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:06:00 +0000

Another collection of phone pictures: Milwaukee, Louisville, frozen lake Michigan, Manhattan, Hudson Bay, Chicago, Indiana "wind farms", Travese Bay

Flat Tire Decor Review

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Mon, 30 May 2011 21:52:00 +0000

My friend and garden blog guru, MrBrownThumb, asked me to join a group of garden bloggers reviewing products from Flat Tire Decor. I would receive one of their products for no charge, and provide a blog post of my experience and opinion. Other than receiving the product, I was not compensated for this review, and these are my honest opinions.

Flat Tire Decor is a Milwaukee (West Allis) based company that recycles/reuses old tires by turning them into footwear and other products. Milwaukee company and keeping tires out of landfills, how great is that? I received their largest basket, the 'Newport', a two handled trug-type shape that's about 8"high with an 8" base and 12" top opening. (Milwaukee folks - you can get these at any of the 4 Elliott's Ace Hardware stores)

Kiddo suggested I use the Newport to chill drinks. This is a great use. We like serving food buffet style, and are always looking for different ways to present guests with self serve options for many different beers, wines or soda. I know, I have one smart Kiddo, thanks for noticing. He earned a pack of his fav Sprecher Cream Soda as a reward for coming up with the idea.

My other favorite use was on the back of my bike. The stiff nature of the tires, allowed the sides to hold up to the bungee cords. The open top allowed me to safely carry plants and other farmer's market finds which could get damaged in the pannier or messenger bags.

Ironically, the most obvious use of the Newport was my least favorite. I am a huge fan of using trugs in the garden, and already own three. I mix dirt and fertilizer in them, fill them with weeds, use them to tote tools, plants and other things around the garden. However, for this purpose, I wasn't overly fond of the Newport. A bit too small, handles felt a bit clunky in my hands.

However, I so liked the idea of using the Flat Tire Decor items with my bike, that I exchanged several tweets with the owner (their twitter account is @flattiredecor) suggesting they make a bike basket version. An oval similar in size to the Newport with a way to attach to handlebars would be great. Even better with an easy on off feature to allow the user to carry it around while shopping and then quickly put on the bike. Something about using waste from an auto while using my bike as transportation makes me smile.

Taking A Bite Out Of The Big Apple

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Sat, 28 May 2011 03:48:00 +0000

In addition to a lot of walking around New York, we did a bunch of eating and drinking. This was a work related trip (hubby's work, not mine). Good food, good company and good drink was guaranteed.

Being the Top Chef fan girl I am, I couldn't go to New York without visiting Tom Colicchio's restaurant CraftBar. Naturally, we had walked there. Taking a path up Fifth Avenue with a walk through the Union Square Greenmarket. The Andy Memorial brought a smile to my face.

We were at Craftbar mid-day, so enjoyed a cheese plate, along with some craft beers. Hopefully, on a future trip to NYC, we can add dinner at Craft or Craftbar to my list of Top Chef restaurants where I've dined. Tho' I can already add this to the ones I've enjoyed.

One of the highlights of the trip was the "Neighborhood Nosh Tour". 8 of our group choose this as an excursion on a Saturday morning in early May. We began the tour at Ferrara's in Little Italy for coffee and cannoli, which we enjoyed outside the restaurant.

After eating our fill of these delectable sweets, we needed to walk a bit to work up an appetite for our next stop. A tour through Little Italy and on the Chinatown, with a stop along Canal Street to haggle on "real" Rolex, Coach, Louis Vitton, Chanel did the trick.

I found the shops and street vendors in Chinatown fascinating.

Our destination was Columbus Park where we ate Tasty Dumplings while watching people young and old perform Tai Chai, play chess, and mingle in the park.

A quick bus ride brought us to the East Village to Yonah Schimmel's Knishery. I've never had a knish. As knishes go, I'm sure these were quite good. BUT....while I love potatoes, knishes just went to my been there done that, checked the box list. Not a fan. The Egg Creams, tho', I could do again (but I'm a huge fan of Chocolate Phosphates)

We ended the tour with a trip to Empire Candy. Was so stuffed at this point, going to a place to buy something for later ws just the ticket. Bought several treats to bring home to Kiddo while here.

One of the more unique experiences happened on our first night as we walked to the restuarant the group was met by the trip sponsor's, and asked to sign the "Cask of Dreams", which was then rolled down the street to Public, our restaurant of the evening.

This was Derby weekend, so we had to find a place to watch the race and drink a mint julep - Brinkle's worked out well for that. And, of course, I worked in a Blue Moon or two (including on Broadway at Million DOllar Quartet).

On our last morning in NYC, we walked back to the East Village for sandwiches at Katz's Deli. Made famous in the "I'll have what she's having" scene of 'When Harry Met Sally', this Ny Deli is known for their pastrami sandwiches and salami. Loved it.

In fact, loved this trip. Can't wait to get back to NYC!

This is part 2 of a trip report on NYC, part 1 is here

New York City State of Mind

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Fri, 27 May 2011 21:39:00 +0000

Hubby and I spent a recent weekend in New York City. Despite all my traveling, I have only been in Manhattan one other time. While only 8 or 9 years ago, that trip seems like a lifetime ago - I was such a different person, out of shape, not likely to venture out and explore on my own. On that trip, I was in the city for a meeting, and went from hotel room, to meeting room, to bus with a large group to take us to restaurants or a show. I hadn't yet discovered how even in a large city like New York or Chicago, biking or walking to explore a city brings it all down to scale. Makes the city more human, more accessible.

And so on this trip we did all the touristy things, but for the most part we walked. A lot. My pedometer said I walked nearly 6 miles on Thursday, over 11 miles on Friday, another 9 on Saturday, and 7 on Sunday. The Trump SoHo hotel was our home base, putting us in a pedestrian friendly spot. On Friday morning, we ventured out with the group on Liberty/Ellis Island tour.

Rather than sticking with the group and riding the bus back to the hotel, we cut out of Ellis Island on an earlier ferry, walking through Battery Park to catch a subway uptown. A subway ride complete with entertainment.

From the subway station it was a short walk on a beautiful spring day to our destination of Central Park with a planned stop at the Boathouse. Our path to the boathouse took us past the Central park Zoo. I was surprised and fascinated by the rock outcroppings within Central Park.

After lunch at the Boathouse, we headed to the Mall area of Central Park, and south towards Columbus Circle.

Naturally, I was drawn to the flowers, particularly the flowering trees.

From Columbus Circle, we wandered south down Broadway past the Ed Sullivan theater (where close by Mario Lopez was filming for Entertainment Tonight), through Times Square, by Madison Square Garden to Greenwich Village.

Shed a few tears at the Tiles for America Memorial

I wish on this trip we'd had time to rent bikes and explore New York by bike. I'd really like to bike the New York City Waterfront Greenway which makes a 32 mile circle around Manhattan. All through the city, I saw bikes, and evidence of a surprisingly good bike infrastructure. Loved the bike specific traffic lights, and was especially impressed with the re-design of Broadway with the separated bile lanes.

The Trump SoHo Hotel made a great home base for the weekend. Slick, modern lobby. Outdoor pool deck on the 7th floor. Location was great for shopping, restaurants and exploring. For New York the rooms seemed huge. Bathrooms had a separate two headed shower and water closet. But best of all, the bathtub overlooking the city, and the construction of what will be World Trade #1 was such a great touch.

Of course, all this exploring works up an appetite and makes one thirsty. And since eating and drinking is kinda what we do, I'll cover the food and drink portions of the trip in part 2.

Wordless Wednesday: Bloody Marys - Milwaukee style

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Wed, 25 May 2011 13:54:00 +0000

Love the beer side cars!

(A photo collection discovered on my phone: AJ Bombers, Sobelman's, HoneyPie, in MKE airport, upgraded and at gate on AirTran)

Off the Road in the City......

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Mon, 23 May 2011 02:24:00 +0000

"Blues skies...local MTB trails are open."

Was thrilled this morning to see this tweet from @WORBA_MMB, the account of Metro Mountain Bikers, Milwaukee's off-road biking club. The Metro Mountain Bikers maintain several areas of mountain biking singletrack around Milwaukee County. The Hoyt Park and Oak Hill sections are in located in Wauwatosa - the city just west of Milwaukee proper.

The weather was perfect for our first trail ride of the year. Sunny, 80 degrees. We put the hitch on the car, checked out the bikes; giving them the ABC once over - air, brakes, cranks and chains. Once that was complete, made sure we had all the gear - helmets, water, gloves, before heading out on the 5mile trip to the trails. Yes, I know we could have ridden, should have - in fact I ride past the Hoyt trails on my bike commute. However, kiddo doesn't quite have his biking legs and stamina to do both the rides to and from plus the trails. Working on that is a goal for the year.

For this ride, we choose the Oak Hill 1 trail, aka Harley Woods, at Capitol Drive and Menominee Parkway. To get to the trails, you drop in on the north side of Capitol Drive, just west of the parkway and the river, east of 45. Trailhead is well marked, just look for the signs.

The trails are flowing, curvy single track. No tough climbs, but fun little touches of dips and creek crossings. The Metro Mountain Bikers do a great job of maintaining these - in keeping brush in check, building boardwalk type crossings, and installing rock and other armor in low lying spots.

The trail makes a 3mile loop heading out along 45 (which is only noticeable in one small section), and returning along the Menominee River. While not overly technical, and no steep climbs, the trail does force you to pay attention in order to successfully navigate the twisty spaces between the trees. Both kiddo and I were fascinated by the bench in the river - and couldn't decide if when the river isn't so high, if you could sit in it.

I also laughed at this tree. Apparently, a local beaver has the same opinion as I about having this tree at the base of a small hill with a slight curve in the trail. Tho' I suppose it would prevent you from riding into the river.

The entire time, I could hear the voice of Tania, my instructor from the Ray's Women's Clinic, telling me, "Eyes up, Kim". I must say compared to the first time I rode this trail last fall, my skills and ability to tackle the trail have made dramatic improvements since that clinic. I am so looking forward to learning more at the Midwest Women's Mountain Bike weekend next month. I even made a couple of tries at making it over a large log (these not so successful, but other smaller logs, no problem).

We had a great ride, a great time playing in the mud today. Brought a bit home with us.

And as I typed this, was reminded that it was a good thing we took advantage of this sunny afternoon - and how handy it is to get text updates via twitter from @WORBA_MMB, because my phone buzzed with this tweet:

"More rain, arghh!. Milwaukee MTB trails closed."

National Bike to Work Week

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Sat, 21 May 2011 00:57:00 +0000

Ok, I admit it. I'm pretty much a fair weather bike commuter. I started bike commuting last fall and rode until the Friday before "fall back", the switch from daylight saving to standard time. In the fall, I enjoyed riding the 11 mile route in the cool temperatures, and found the early morning frost to be a beautiful addition to the ride. However, I just am not comfortable riding in the dark, nor on snow and ice. So once the time changed, the commuter was put away for the winter.

My schedule and the rainy, crappy weather have been on a collision course for weeks (yes, refer back to the fair weather thing, and add rain and winds over 20mph to the snow, ice and dark list.) I travel extensively for work, often only going into the office a couple of times a week. But I was determined I would ride my bike this week - that no matter what it took, I would commute at least once during National Bike to Work Week. Thankfully, today, on the one day I was in the office, the weather cooperated.

Beautiful sunny morning. Enjoyed seeing a duck pair playing in water on the trail.

Ride in was great. Loved seeing my helmet and gear in my office. So much so, I kept moving it around, so others would notice. On my own little influence others to ride mission around the office.

I'm fortunate in having half of my route off road on Milwaukee's Oak Leaf trail -both for the views of the Menominee River......

And because it takes me off the road - I sure am glad I wasn't sitting in that traffic above the trail!

Loved the ride. Makes me happy to get the 1st of many bike commutes in for 2011.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - May

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Tue, 17 May 2011 14:06:00 +0000

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is the 15th of each month. The idea is to chronicle the progression of our garden's through the seasons by taking pictures and creating a blog post on the 15th. This month I was halfway there. I got the pictures taken...but getting this post up, well, better late than never, right???

This long, cool, seemingly never ending spring (late winter???) has highlighted how badly my garden needs spring flowering bulbs. That will be an initiative of mine this fall. In the actual cultivated parts of the garden, there's little in bloom. The garden is just waking up, beginning to kick into gear. The spring renewal of the garden provides a little treasure hunt for me as I wander. Reminding me of the plants I've added, remembering their origins.

The Amelanchier 'Princess Diana' purchased 4 years ago from the Missouri Botainc Garden plant sale as a tiny rooted cutting. Grown for 3 years in a pot, moved from house to house, and now in ground, taking shape as a small tree in this garden.

The Corydalis lutea, a division from my Mother's garden - but a plant I'd given her as a division from a plant sent to me 15 years ago by a woman I met on the CompuServe Garden Forum.

A small pulmonaria, a division sent me last year from another great gardener and friend, a friendship which also bloomed on the CompuServe forum

And some of the typical spring bloomers, vinca, bleeding heart, ajuga.

Thankfully, Mother Nature has my back, and is providing some glorious woodland natives. Throughout my woods, clusters of Arisaema triphyllum(Jack-in-the-Pulpit) pictured at the top of this post. Masses of trillium.

However, within this all lurks a bit of evil. Masses and masses of Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata), a noxious weed, introduced from Europe and threatening native plants throughout the Midwest. And I do mean masses. In clusters together, between the other plants, Best controlled by pulling, which when at flowering height is easy. However, lurking below millions and millions of tiny seedlings. I've read a single plant can produce 50,000 seeds, seeds that remain viable in the soil for 6 years. Garlic Mustard plants are alleopathic producing chemicals in the soil that inhibit the growth of other plants.

And so I pull.....and pull and pull. At times frustrated by the sheer numbers. Knowing I will have to remain vigilant all summer as additional plants reach flowering maturity. But also knowing that if I prevent the creation of new seeds, I'll eventually get ahead of this scourge - at least in my small patch. And that with each plant I pull, I'm handing just a bit of the edge back to Mother Nature, and the plants she put in this space.

San Antonio Botanic Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 10:20:00 +0000

I'm a huge fan of garden touring, be it private gardens, urban gardens or official Botanic gardens. I work this into my travels whenever and wherever possible. On my late March trip to San Antonio, I spent the afternoon at the San Antonio Botanical Garden. When I left Milwaukee we still had snow on the ground, so spending a few hours wandering around plants with flowers and trees with leaves was a much needed tonic for my soul.

The Botanical Garden is laid out on 38 acres with the most formal areas closest to the entrance. You enter through a carriage house, which includes an interesting looking restaurant and a nice gift shop. Restrooms are in the carriage house and in locations around the gardens.

Looking at the garden map, I decided on a clockwise circle around the garden, allowing me to explore all areas. Immediately on entering I was wowed by a stand of poppies in full bloom. I am a huge fan of poppies, but have never been successful in establishing them or growing them from seed in the masses I saw here.

Past the poppies were the formal gardens and the rose garden. Early roses were blooming, but I'd guess I was about a month early for peak spring bloom. I was quite taken with one unmarked rose with multi hued flowers (changing from a red bud through multi to yellow mature flower). Reading the label on 'Zephrine Drouhin' (in bud, not flower) I was reminded of how much I loved this nearly thornless, sweet scented beauty in my old garden.

Just past the formal garden was an area called the Watersaver Lane. An exhibit of 6 small "houses" each landscaped in a theme with notes about water and fertilizer required to maintain these. I loved the concept, but wish the wording on the waste of water and chemical need of a typical American lawn was spelled out even stronger.

Continuing around the path were more wild, natural areas planted in natives designed to mimic the East Texas piney woods and the South Texas hill country. Once past this area was the Childrens Vegetable Garden. This was one impressive teaching garden.

The Botanical Garden has a series of conservatories which surround a sunken garden area.

Next up was the fountain area and the Japanese Garden. I smiled at the rubber duckies in the fountain, but was told by an employee there were only there for spring break. In fact, she was removing them while I was there.

Interesting sculpture was doted all through the gardens, the most memorable being the chair tree.

The Botanical Garden is about 4 miles from the downtown/Alamo area. Timing forced me to take a cab out to the gardens ($18), however, the garden is easily accessible via the number 7 bus which runs hourly to and from the Alamo area. I was able to take advantage of the bus ($1.50) for the ride home. So glad I made it to the garden, and hope to visit again in another season.

This is the second part of my San Antonio trip report. The first part focuses on the Riverwalk area. It can be found here.

Take me to the river...........San Antonio style

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 18:50:00 +0000

Got a break from the winter that wouldn't end with a late March trip to San Antonio. Trip was business related but I had planned my flight home after the meeting to allow most of a day exploring. I love visiting San Antonio anytime, but the beautiful sunny days and 80 degree temperatures were a bonus. This is part one of a two part trip review, focused on the Riverwalk and Alamo. Part two will cover the Botanic Garden.

I began walking along the streets of downtown heading towards the Alamo. As usual bike related things caught my eye. From the sign reminding drivers bikes have rights (and the unfortunately empty bikeshare rack) to the biking police.

Upon arriving at the Alamo, I spent quite a bit of time wandering the grounds, taking in the architecture and the landscape.

Most visitors to the city are familiar with just a small area of the Riverwalk - the semi-circle restaurant and bar lined section called the Paseo del Rio.

While the Paseo del Rio may be what everyone knows, and is a great place to people watch; you're short changing yourself if you don't venture beyond. The riverwalk continues both north and south from this area along the main river. Leaving the Paseo del Rio provides a less crowded but still delightful place to explore.

The city has done an incredible job of providing signage all along the Riverwalk - showing both explanations and locations of points of interest, and also mileage between them. On my last trip to the city, I focused my walks south to the King Williams area, this trip I headed north towards the Art Museum, covering about 2 miles of the river.

Exploring this direction answered one question I've had about the San Antonio river - how the river flow and level stayed so constant. Was a tad disappointed I didn't get to see any boats go through the locks.

This northern section was under construction when I visited 18 months ago. As with the signage, the city has done themselves proud in this area. Just beautiful. From the varied pavement textures, to the art under the street overpasses, to the unique sitting areas and landscape plantings.

I could have spent much more time exploring, but I also wanted to head to the San Antonio Botanic Garden. More on that in part two, just click here.....

Day with Kiddo.....1st ride of the Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:42:00 +0000

This has felt like the winter that wouldn't end. Combine that with some unusually busy weekends, and a focus on training for a half marathon, and I just haven't been out riding. Kiddo and I were home alone this weekend, while Hubby was down at the Masters. As we planned our weekend, Kiddo suggested we go mountain biking. When I explained the trails were closed because they were too wet, we discussed riding Milwaukee's lakefront trail. We'd done this last year, this same weekend, and I'd written it up here. I knew the South Shore Half Marathon was Sunday, and was worried the lakefront trail would be too crowded due to the race. I've been wanting to try the Lake Country Recreational trail, so this is where we decided to ride.

The 13 mile Lake Country trail runs along the southern end of Pewaukee Lake and Lake Nagawicka from just west of Hwy T in Pewaukee (the trailhead is close to Country Springs Hotel on Golf Road) through Delafield and on to Oconomowoc. This is a good map of the trail.

After airing up the tires, and giving both our bikes the once over, my first challenge was loading the bikes. I've never put the hitch rack on my car, and didn't feel comfortable attempting without a demo - the vision of rack and 2 bikes falling off on the highway was a bit too scary. Throwing my road bike in the back of the car is easy. But my hybrid is bigger, heavier, more unwieldy, and a second bike adds to the difficulty. I can never remember front wheel first or back wheel, but somehow I got them both in, using an old yoga mat to protect the paint and drivetrain of my bike.

The trail runs along a right of way under Wisconsin Electric lines. The first 3 or so miles are paved, a bit further down the trail changed to crushed gravel.

Views ranged from golf courses to marsh to lake views. Though suspect once the trees leaf out, lake views will be limited.

Kiddo and I enjoyed our time out on the trail. Being the 1st ride of the season we realized we could use a bit of work on our endurance. Nonetheless this ride whetted our appetite for more. We're both excited to hit other trails, make a family ride a weekly event.

Gayla Trail at Art in Bloom

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 13:28:00 +0000

The Art in Bloom exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum provided a opportunity to spend real life time with a few of the garden bloggers whose 140 character insights I follow. Gayla Trail (@yougrowgirl), author of the books You Grow Girl: The Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening and Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spacesand founder of the website You Grow Girl was going to be speaking. Meeting up were bloggers @mrbrownthumb of Chicago Garden, @snappyjdog of The Dig-it-yourself garden, @myskinnygarden of My Skinny Garden and @cobrahead of Cobrahead Tools.

As the Milwaukee host of the meet-up, I suggested we start at the Milwaukee Public Market. This is a great choice when needing something for everyone, not to mention a pleasant walk from the museum. The next two hours passed quickly; sharing stories of our gardens and community gardens, plus hearing Gayla talk about the challenges of writing garden books (and photographing not to mention growing everything needed).

We headed back to the museum so Gayla could prep for her talk, and we could visit the exhibit.

I hate to admit that not only had I not been to the Art Museum before, I also did not know what the Art in Bloom exhibit was all about. As we walked into the galleries, I thought, "hmm, how odd, just floral arrangements set around the museum". Then this one, done in such a literal fashion, hit me......oh my, the floral exhibits are inspired by the paintings.

From that point on it was fascinating to see how the floral designer had interpreted the paintings. Next year, I plan on spending more time in the exhibits. They really are quite compelling.

Gayla did a great presentation on urban gardening, growing food in unlikely spots, from rooftops, to alleys, in containers and in the ground. I learned a lot, got some great ideas, looking forward to using her suggestions , ideas this summer in the driveway farm part 2. I'm enjoying reading 'Grow Great Grub", recommend it highly.

After the lecture and Gayla's book signing, the group headed back to the Third Ward for dinner at Milwaukee Ale House. This beer girl loved the plates her pot roast was served upon! Need to find these.

One of the topics at dinner was how great a city is Milwaukee. That's always nice to hear, especially from a group primarily from Chicago. We do have a great town, I can sometimes lose sight of that with my constant rush to visit someplace new and exciting.

Finished off this garden and Milwaukee centered weekend with brunch with Hubby and kiddo at HoneyPie in Bayview before heading to the Home and Garden Show. So good. A typical Milwaukee Bloody Mary with it's side pony of High Life, great food, and for kiddo a carefully chosen dessert to go from the bakery cases.

Brunch included a small reminder that we aren't quite to spring yet in Milwaukee. A hail downpour. Unlike anything I've seen, small bits of hail, the size of Dipping Dots, quickly covering the ground. Fascinating to watch, and to walk in.

Milwaukee did itself proud with Art in Bloom. With all my travel - for business and pleasure, it's good to be reminded every now and again of how much this great city I call home offers!

A Tale of Two Cities' Garden Shows

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 20:55:00 +0000

Early spring.....the time when gardeners in the upper-Midwest start itching for some greenery. It's the beginnings of seed starting season, but still several long weeks from outdoor planting time.

So what's a gardener to do? Visit a garden show or two. Which is exactly what I did. First up the Chicago Flower and Garden Show, held March 10-18th at Navy Pier. This one had an added bonus for me of a tweet-up with other Chicago area garden bloggers. A couple of weeks later closer to home, Hubby, Kiddo and I attended the Milwaukee Realtors Home and Garden Show, held March 25 - April 3rd at the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds.

The theme for the Chicago Flower and Garden Show was "Sport of Gardening". The display gardens all had some kind of sport theme, from the obvious such as giant croquet mallet and balls (made out of beautiful white orchids), backyard putting greens, and sailboats. Or the less obvious "sport" of backyard entertaining and chicken keeping. Even the decorated tablescapes/floral arrangements had a sports theme.

Best of all the sport's themes, the over the top but fascinating Blackhawks garden

The display garden where I spent the most time was the garden featuring stone sculpture's and plants (mainly woodies, both deciduous and evergreen) from Rich's Foxwillow Pines Nursery in Woodstock, IL. While we were visiting, the artist was actively working on a new piece. Watching him hand carve the stone was fascinating - as were the mainly examples of his craft woven throughout the garden.

But, of course, it was the plants that drew me in. Can't wait to get down to Woodstock and check out this nursery located 65 miles southwest of me, 35 miles due west of my Mom, I have no excuse not to go. Based on the specimens in the garden (which were very nicely marked), this is a must see place for me.

Spring garden shows can get ideas flowing for projects large and small. Unfortunately, as one of the garden bloggers commented, more and more these shows are about selling bricks, pavers, and other hardscape. The Milwaukee show made no bones about it with both the sponsorship of the "Garden of the World" theme by Uniloc, a manufactured block and paver company, and the outdoor bedroom display when you first walked in the door.

Like the Chicago show, the Milwaukee show's display gardens included lots of focus on outdoor entertaining, outdoor kitchens, fire pits, and water features.

My favorite garden at the Milwaukee show was the one that highlighted a bit more green practices. Beekeeping, green roofs, rain barrels...

Both shows had water features created by drilling holes through rocks. The Chicago show even had a vendor selling kits of pre-drilled rocks to make your own at home fountain. I love this technique for fountain building, first seeing it in the Better Homes & Gardens display gardens in downtown Des Moines back in 2003 or 2004. Trend setters that we are, Hubby & I built one at our last garden. Here's the ones from the garden shows:

And mine from 2006, in situ:

Each show also had a market area. The Chicago one a bit smaller than the Milwaukee one - which to be fair was a *home* and garden show. From Chicago I brought home seeds and a few bulbs. Milwaukee's catch was much more fun. I've always wanted a bottle tree. There was a vendor with iron bottle tree forms, plus other iron garden scupture. Couldn't resist the bottle bug to go along with the bottle tree. Now to find them a home.....

As young as you feel (or act).....

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 18:57:00 +0000

With the exception of 21, birthdays which bring you to an age ending in a 1 are not exactly milestones. Milestones would be the ones ending in a zero, the ones signifying a decade passing...30..40..50..60.. Or the ones ending in 9, bringing the "I'll stay 29 forever" mentality. In fact, the namesake of my junior high school, comedian Jack Benny, made a whole schtick out of being 39. So much so, that our team name was the 39ers. Seriously, google, it, in Waukegan, IL there is such a school, my father taught there for much of his career, my brother and I attended.

This picture is of me, yesterday, on my most recent 1 birthday, a birthday on which a friend tweeted "no way you were as cool then as you are now". The weeks leading up to this birthday had caused me to acknowledge the change in me over the last couple of years. And to reflect on the birthdays before.

I was excited about turning 30. At that time, I'd just been promoted to my first true management role. 30 felt like a good transition, an age to take me away from the uncertainty and indiscretions of my 20s. Five short years later, everything had changed. 35 was a tough birthday. I cried much of the day. Was at a miserable place in my life - unhappy marriage, feeling stuck in my career, obese, health problem after health problem. Unable to see a bright future. I felt old, really old.

In hindsight, attending a school where I was a 39er, seems to have been karma for me. Set up a bit of fate. Not in the "I'll lie and say I'm 39 forever" sense (tho' it has crossed my mind), but in the idea of challenging conventional age wisdom. The point where I started to get it right. The age I got re-married. Not too long before my 39th birthday, I discovered I was pregnant. Was going to have my first child. An unexpected surprise, but one I am thankful for each and every day. I don't have any memory of hand wringing or fear over turning 40, was probably too far into the sleep deprived world of the mother of an infant to care. Never really thought of it as a milestone.

Seems like the next few years passed in a blur. Career moves by both my husband and I moved us around a bit. I got settled. Maybe too settled. Slipping once again into a life by rote. Comfortable, yet increasingly uncomfortable. Sedentary. Health issues creeping up as my weight crept back up. Slowly coming to the realization that if I continued down this path I would not be able to keep up with my son. That my health, my weight was affecting the things I loved. Many of the activities I enjoyed, visiting amusement parks, gardening were becoming harder and harder. Unable to do horseback tours or ziplines, because I was over the maximum weight limit. Beginning to avoid or dread activity. Knowing this 39er was about to be a 49er....it was time for a change, time to once again challenge conventional wisdom around age.

Heading towards my 49th birthday, I changed. As my weight went down and my fitness up, I gained back confidence in myself, in what I could do. At 49, I finally got scuba certified, entered and completed my first half marathon (and my second), began to re-discover the joy of cycling, bought a road bike, learned the empowerment of fitness.

Turning 50 didn't slow me down either. This was the year I truly began to believe the mantra "you're only as old as you feel". That being fit not only changes your health, it changes your life and how you see things. Opens up so many more possibilities. 50 was the year that being active became a part of who I am. Another half marathon. Renting bikes while on vacation, trying mountain biking (and getting my first couple of battle scars), while Kiddo learned to snowboard, I re-learned how to ski.

Here's to 51....the year I will complete a triathlon, run a couple more half marathons, finally run my first 5k, continue to learn to mountain bike, continue to bike commute, hopfully, try a zipline or two. Continue to set an example of a fit, active lifestyle for my son. Continue to bring activity and fun into my family's life. Maybe inspire a person or two. But mostly, relish the freedom and agelessness being fit provides me.

Laissez le Bon temp rouler...a weekend in NOLA

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:52:00 +0000

As many times as I've visited, as much as I love New Orleans, I've never been there for Mardi Gras. I've always been intrigued by the Krewe parades, but worried about my reaction to the crowds. A recent visit over Valentine's weekend confirmed that fear - New Orleans had about as big of a crowd as I can handle.

One local guide provided by the hotel defined Mardi Gras as being from Epiphany (Jan 6th) until the day before Ash Wednesday, which is Wed. Mar 9th this year. However, that seems a bit of a stretch. The weekend I visited would have been part of Carnival, but was the week before the first Mardi Gras parade. Still the city was crowded, maybe the most crowded of anytime I've been there. The Rock-n-Roll marathon/half marathon was on Sunday, and the streets were filled with folks obviously in town for the race.

Mardi Gras decorations seemed to be just going up. Some balconies, homes and businesses were already fully adorned in purple, green and gold. Others were in the process of being decorated. Kinda like the first week or so of December and Christmas decorations. In fact, I saw evidence that just like the companies that will hang your outdoor Christmas lights, there were professional Mardi Gras decorating companies at work.

I love New Orleans for it's mix of the beautiful and the decadent. From the balconies of the Quarter and the mansions of the Garden District to the drunks on Bourbon Street and the wonderful food (and drinks which of course lead to the drunks on Bourbon St). Only in New Orleans would someone give directions with a perfectly straight face that included "From Lafitte's walk west on Bourbon St, turn right at the first street past the big dildo shop".

Of course, we indulged in quite a bit of that food and drink. I knew we'd hit old stand-bys: Camellia Grill, Cafe du Monde, K-Paul's, but I'd reached out to one of the MKE tweeps who seems to know not only a bit about food and restaurants but also New Orleans. @Im_X1 (Christin) strongly recommended we try Green Goddess (@greengoddessFQ or http://www.greengoddessnola.com/). So glad I listened to her advice!

One of the best and most memorable meals in a long, long time. Green Goddess has an eclectic menu, not to mention staff, that blends a variety of ethnic cuisines with ingredients from all over the world; including Wisconsin's own Nueske's bacon. Christin even tweeted ahead for us to tell the folks at Green goddess to treat us well, and gave me a little DM'd tip which lead to a yummy fig and blue cheese amuse-bouche described on the menu as Armagnac-Soaked Mission Figs: These boozy morsels are stuffed with Strathdon Blue Cheese,wrapped in Serrano Ham, quick-roasted, and finished with Leonardi Balsamico aged 20 years in Cherrywood Barrels. Oh. My.

The restaurant is tiny, with maybe room for 25 diners inside, perhaps another 15 outside. We were seated along a bar/counter giving us a great view of all the action in the kitchen. Chef Chris DeBarre takes an active role in interacting with the guests, explaining courses as they are served, but it was the expediter at work directly in front of us that we found most fascinating (even if I did joke that he scared me just a bit). We ate far too much, beginning our meal with the chef's choice cheese platter accompanied by a Pecan Nut Brown Ale from Lazy Magnolia Brewing, moving to an amazing caprese salad, followed by Shrimp in a grass skirt and Cochon de Lait/Lei pulled pork wrapped in banana leaves (you *must* try this entree). The wine list offered several options of great wines by the glass to pair with the dishes (my memory is a bit hazy on that part of the night).

But that's not all...remember I mentioned Nueske's bacon? We ended the meal with Vietnamese pressed chicory coffe and their “Notorious” Bacon Sundae. Praline ice cream, caramel sauce, bacon, sea salt. Sweet, salty, rich goodness. I still dream about that sundae.

Other dining highlights were a dinner at K-Pauls (where somehow I took no pictures) and Camellia Grill - both of them - breakfast at the Camellia grill in the French Quarter, and lunch another day at the original one a street car ride away down St Charles Avenue at Riverbend.

We also did a bit of drink touring. A stop at the Carousel Bar at Hotel Monteleone, Pimm's Cups at Muriels by Jackson Square, Hurricanes at Evelyn's. And of course, I had to have blue Moon or two along the way.

We stayed at Wyndham Vacation Resorts' La Belle Maison, located at the corner of Magazine and Gravier, a block and a half west of Canal. Great location, one of Wyndham's timeshare resorts (we own points, acquired on eBay, in the Wyndham system). Stayed in a 1 bedroom "Presidential" Suite. Loved the room, the location. Would give rave reviews except for the incident where the valet lost our rental car. Could not find it for over 2 hours, long story involving a cab to the airport, the car finally recovered (they forgot which garage it was parked in among 5 or 6 options), returned to the agency by the hotel valet service. Something in all my traveling for business and personal I have never heard happen to anyone before.

And on that note, I'll leave you with the traditional photos of the accomodations:

Finding what works.....

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:04:00 +0000

At what point does something stop being a resolution and start being a habit?

8 weeks into the Resolution Solution Challenge. 8 weeks of getting back to the things necessary to lose fat. Back to meal planning, food weighing and logging, following a program of defined deficits. Back to making the right choices around food, around training, working out. At the same time finding a way to fit these habits to my life, to the increased travel, more erratic schedule than when I first began this weight loss journey.

Meeting my goal of losing 1-2lbs per week. 8 weeks in I'm down right about 15lbs. Data geek that I am, loves that the scale lines on my weight tracking graph automatically changed from being at 2lb increments to being 5lbs apart. Flirting with "the line I swore I would never cross", but did. Haven't yet dipped below it, but touched it. Still see the somewhat erratic daily weight caused by a cycling program, but good solid downward trends on the averages.

First 6 weeks I followed Leigh Peele's 6c program, but am making some changes to take me through the final 30 days of her 90 day challenge. I've started training in earnest for the Country Music Half Marathon (April 30th in Nashville, TN). I walked this half marathon 2 years ago without any real training, this time around I want to make a serious effort at the event. I'm following a run/walk training program I'd found on-line. Just started week 5. Realized quickly that I would not be able to do the weekly long/endurance runs if they corresponded to the lowest calorie day in Leigh's program. Modifying slightly to a 7 day cycle. Still trying to stay true to her plan of increasing deficits following a refeed day. This allows me to put the refeed day ahead of the long run with my second highest calorie day on the long run day. I go into the run fully fed, glycogen up.

I've also been experimenting with meal timing and frequency. I am not a grazer. The idea of 5-6 meals a day just makes me hungry and grumpy. More likely to cheat, to eat off plan. On my lowest days that would be 5-6 200 calorie "meals". Nope, not the way to go for what some refer to as a "volume whore", the type of person who likes the feeling of being full, almost stuffed. While I am not exactly doing an intermittent fasting plan, I am going long periods of the day without eating, eating very little most of the day. Very light breakfast (well if you call a 140 calorie, 10g protein non-fat latte breakfast), a 350 calorie lunch (typically 50g steel cut oats, 15g Almond Butter, and 150g blueberries or mixed berries - yes I know odd eating oatmeal for lunch). If I have a training run, I'll eat a greek yogurt (140 calories) as pre-workout fuel. Depending on the day, that leaves me from 700-1300 calories for dinner. A nice big satisfying dinner.

The other thing I've discovered is that I am much more satisfied and feel saner if I don't play around with restricting carbohydrates too much. In the past, I've gone super high in protein, moderate in fats, and low (50-60g max) of carbs. Sure I can drop a lot of water weight that way. But this time I've settled into a bit more balanced approach. Looking at my overly detailed spreadsheet tracking all my macros and calories, I average around 120g of protein a day, 150g carbs and 68g fats. My calories range from 1200-2400 a day, so those numbers change, but the ratio is pretty steady. (ok, full disclosure says that on my high calorie days there may be some opportunity to not squander so many calories on alcohol).

The other big change since my last update is getting back to a yoga practice thanks to a Groupon to YogAsylum, a studio quite close to my house. Really think I've found a home for this practice...both from the physical and spiritual aspects. Great energy there. Like they offer a variety of classes - from a Saturday morning Hatha class led by studio owner, Pamela Bliss, with a strong guided meditation piece, to the Vinyasa flow classes to the Yin yoga. My 10 class Groupon being used up quickly in 4 weeks, about to become a member with unlimited monthly classes.

All in all I feel good, that I am continuing down the right path, finding that momentum I'd lost, working my way to making this my year of Proven.

Ride Like a Girl...Ray's Women's Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 00:04:00 +0000

Seriously, they expect me to ride up that ramp the very first thing...don't they realize topping little steep hills is one of my weaknesses...I am going to embarrass myself right from the start...I have to get to the top.....

Ok, I know what to do, pedal hard, shift weight forward when losing momentum towards the top, keep pedalling.....

And so began the day at the Women's Weekend Ride and Clinic at Rays Indoor Mountain Bike Park in Milwaukee. I'd read about the women's weekends (they also do one each year at their Cleveland location) on the forums of Team Estrogen and MTBR.

I was both nervous and excited about this day. Kiddo and I have been talking about checking out Ray's since it opened, but I've been a bit too intimidated by my lack of experience and fear of riding ladders to go on my own. However, when I saw they'd be having the park closed down to women only with a free clinic, I jumped at the chance.

I arrived as the day's format and trainers were being introduced. I chose to rent a bike for the day. I'm trying to get a feel for what kind of MTB to invest in, and want to ride as many as possible. I choose a XC (cross country) style bike - dirt jumpers were also an option.

I'd estimate there were close to 75 women in attendance - all levels from "1star" beginners like myself to "4-5 star" advanced riders looking to hone their skills on the expert jumps. Many had traveled several hours to attend, were making a weekend of the event. In addition to the women only clinic day, the weekend included half price admissions for clinic attendees on Saturday and Sunday plus a party on Saturday night.

After the introductions, the groups split into different areas of the park based on ability and goals for the day. Some headed upstairs to the pump track, others to the more advanced sport/XC area, a group on the beginner jumps, an advanced jumping group, and the beginner XC group I'd joined. We'd been told to meet at the top of the ramps by the beginner section. Somehow, I made it up the ramp (I really have struggled with powering up short inclines). In fact getting up the ramp was easy.

Then it hit me, the other half of the equation. That the MTB mantra of "Momentum is your friend" meant...

Oh shit, they expect us to ride down the ramp to hit the ladders....now I'm seriously freaking. I don't know how to do this. The one time I tried to ride the wooden skill obstacles at Muir had been a bit of a disaster.

I must not have been the only one with a bit of fear showing on her face. When Tania and Jeni, our coaches, arrived, they sized up the group, moved us off the ramp, and over to a flat area to work on beginner skills. Tania and Jeni are both graduates of the International Mountainbike Instructor Certification (IMIC) program and followed that program for beginners. We learned bike-body positioning from neutral to attack position, how to brake, steer, shift weight forward and back, stop fast bracing our heels down, and began to work on front wheel lifting. Tania or Jeni would talk us through the skills, demonstrate and then have us practice on the flats, offering comments and suggestions to each rider individually.

Quickly our confidence grew and the group headed back over to the ramps, to the beginner sport area. It was time to use our new skills on the trails. The coaches stayed down on the runs. This position allowed them to coach the riders as they passed; often giving extra pointers as the rider headed back up to the ramps. They encouraged us to try increasingly difficult obstacles. The teeter tooter, going over a small log, a larger log, riding over a boulder, pedaling our way through a rock garden.

Before we knew it, it was time for lunch, and then the group picture. Finding a spot to get this many people in one shot was difficult, but the expert BMX area provided a decent set up.

After lunch the group headed back over to the Sport/beginner area. Much of the group was ready to progress from the beginner area, a couple of us did a few more runs in the beginner area. Jeni went with the more advanced group, Tania stayed with the rest of us.

Eyes up, Kim.....

I think that's my new slogan. Somewhat of my Achilles heel. When I get nervous I look down. Not sure how many times Tania had to tell me that. I can't say enough about how great and patient she was with me. How encouraging. Pushing me when needed, talking me through my first time down the steeper ramps, helping me find lines, determine where to look.

Even "picking me up" when this small patch of rocks, taught me a slightly painful lesson about momentum... specifically what happens when the bike stops and you don't, my first "endo". Not going fast enough, looking down, my front tire stopped by a rock, me flipping over the bars, hitting my head. Being both embarrassed and just slightly disorientated. A quick check over by one of the Ray's staff. Then being encouraged by Tania to try a slightly easer run to get my confidence back. And finally moving back to this line to make it through, prove to myself that I could do it.

I feel like I learned so much on this day. I'm getting more confident in trusting that I can look ahead, becoming more aware of my position on the bike. Understanding a bit more of the difference between controlled momentum and out of control speed. That much of this sport I am enjoying learning is a mental game, pushing both physical limits and those set by our minds.....which makes it all that much more appealing to me.

Ray's has done a great job in building this facility. There's something for all skills levels. A great option during the cold and snow. And this women's weekend a perfect way to get acquainted. I can't wait to take these skills out on the dirt. And am even more excited for the Midwest Women's Clinic in June; an event hosted by Sub-9 productions, a company owned by Tania and her husband. Can't wait!