It's Been Forever!

So...we kind of got off the biking bandwagon after the accident.



BUT 3 weeks after The Accident, I did start my daily workouts again.



I wasn't able to find Cize when I finished Insanity Max 30, however, I did have the 21 Day Fix Extreme, so gave it a go.



As it was only 21 days, I decided not to note every single workout - it kind of takes away from it all.

Autumn Calabrese kind of annoyed me at first, but she grew on me eventually.  She sounds like she's from Minnesota with a Canadian Accent.



And she's a tough cookie.  She brought back the weights, and maintained the squats, lunges, and goddam tricep dips.

I didn't realize how much I missed the weights (Shaun T doesn't generally use weights - only in the Gamma Round of T25).



I didn't do the diet part, as I'm not that hard core.  I'm okay with a long term maintenance plan vs a short term plan.  That's just me though - some people just do the diet part.  I don't need more tupperware, and we generally watch what we eat, with some cheating (wings and beer anyone??).



I didn't really like the app, as the days I didn't workout (there was a wedding in the middle, so I had to remember which day I was on, as the app just assumed you didn't skip a day):

The bridal party

I think my arm looks dented - you can kind of see it in the top left - yeah!

And someone actually commented on how muscular my back looks - sweet!  All my hard work the last 10 months is finally paying off.  Being not-20-years-old, it's a lot more difficult to get rid of those unsightly bulges and bumps.  Husband still says I'm hot no matter what, but it also matters what I think.



I want all the muscles!



And working out also gives me more energy, makes me happy, and fills in that time I used to spend bird toy making for Crystal's Bird Toys.



CBT feels like a lifetime ago since I closed down the store.



Anyhow, back to Apps - I like Apps for my workouts, so I can check it off there.  I'm horrible with paper. Even if it's posted on my fridge.



Like now.



I tried Cize for 2 days, and just missed the weights, squats, and lunges - it's mainly cardio and co-ordination, and a whack load of fun....but I need more than that to meet my targets and not get bored.  Doing the same workout every day for a week is one way for me to just stop doing it.  It's boring and repetitive.



So, I found a schedule that incorporates the 21 Day Fix Extreme WITH Cize.  It's perfect!  3 days of weights, lunges, and squats, 1 Yoga day, and 3 Cize Days a week.



I think I might do this with Body Beast (a program I haven't attempted as I don't want stupid huge muscles, and NEED my cardio to get best results) - a bit of T25 or P90X3 and Body Beast together?


 Yes please!



Cize is basically 30-40 minutes learning a 45 second dance.  My favourite move so far is the row-boat move - it took me about 4 days of Cize to figure it out, but now it's fun.  Again, I trip over my own feet and am not that co-ordinated, so this is a great challenge for me to attempt and succeed at.

I start the new dance (week 3) today, so I'm stalling for time.  New moves in Cize scare me a bit.


 This is good - to challenge yourself to do things you ordinarily wouldn't do.




I also only had one pair of workout shorts that wicked sweat away - my other two were old pant cut offs, and not working for me at all.  I'm a fitness clothing snob. I admit it.  I like my Lululemon. It does exactly what I want, and I shop in the We Made To Much section, so the pricing is actually much better that normal priced fitness clothing, at a quality I have become accustomed to.



So I saw some shorts on sale that might work better than the last pair I got (I need to shrink a tad bit more for those ones to fit - fitness goals!).



They are Amazeballs!

A workout is not complete without a Ridgeback aka Lumpy Fynn

The only problem with shopping in the discount section...you have to wait. And wait. And wait if you want a not-size 2 or 4.  I'm an 8 in tops (which are getting flowy) and 10 in bottoms right now - the 8s don't like my hips, which seem to be holding on for dear life.



A bit of a long winded analysis of the last few months, but I'm still journeying along :)



There are no excuses acceptable (beyond having no limbs) to not putting yourself, your mental & physical health, and overall well being - first.  Do it for your family and do it for yourself.



Keep fit, smile, and remember - if you have 30 minutes a day to watch tv, you have 30 minutes a day to workout in your living room.

Insanity Max 30 - The End!

I finally finished Insanity Max 30 - about 4 weeks later than anticipated due to our poor Truck accident.

I lost a few inches throughout this workout program, fit loosely into capris I bought last summer (no more muffin top!), and can hold my squats.

This program was awesome for my legs and caboose, but for my arms - I preferred P90x3. P90x3 used weights, and I had better results in muscle building/fat burning. I also didn't have to spend 5 minutes doing Pushups - which I regressed at in Max30, as I really didn't have the strength to attempt them without being on my knees. I always Maxed Out on the push Up and Tricep Dip portions. Thank goodness that wasn't every day.

But hey, I got out there and did the best I could do.

Now to decide - do I want to try out the 21 Day Fix workouts to break away from Shaun T for a few weeks before I start his new program, Cize? I am SUPER excited about Cize - it comes out this week. Shaun T used to be a backup dancer for Mariah Carey back in the day, and Cize is basically the end of Exercize. Turning basic cardio moves into dance moves to popular songs in 30-40 minute workout sessions over a period of 4 weeks.

I used to be a good dancer back in the clubbing days of Toronto. Back then I also didn't care what other people thought of me, and I just went out and felt the music. Being in darkness and funky lights also helped.

Now I'm insecure with my dance moves, and aren't quite as agile as I used to be. I have to stop being paranoid about what others think of me, and just get my head back into feeling the music.

I'm hoping Cize will bring my rhythm back. 

 

21 Day Fix....

OR

 

Cize?
 

 

***************************************

I ordered my FREE Insanity Max 30 t-shirt from Beachbody last night - I should be sporting it within the month.

All I need for motivation is free stuff. And getting back my rock hard body.

There really aren't any negative aspects of doing these workouts. In the comfort of our home. With my own private audience consisting of Gideon, Fynn, and Merlin.

I'll post in a few days which workout I decided on - stay tuned!

 

My Favourite Chili

I admit that some mornings, I just can't do it all in under an hour.

I am out of bed by 5:20 and out of the house by 6:20 at the LATEST.

In this time, I have to shower, make myself look presentable, hope I can dress in clean clothes that look ok in the dark, feed the birds, go downstairs and feed the dogs, make lunches, let dogs out, remember pants, and take my vitamins.  

I usually remember my pants.

And normally don't have matching socks.

And yes, I know I should make lunches at night, I just don't always have the enthusiasm after biking, making dinner, possibly working out with my man (Shaun T), and having some R & R time with my other man (aka Husband).

So I have a back up plan for morning that don't include an extra 5 minutes.

Beef Chili with Beans!

I revamped the original recipe a bit (*) and cook it in the crock pot, as I generally cook spaghetti sauce at the same time (ingredients are fairly similar).  Two of our stove burners don't work, so I can only cook in one big pot at a time.  It's called kitchen compromise.

Gather

1 pound lean ground beef (I use 1/2 to 3/4 of a family pack)

1 Tbsp. oil

1 medium onion, diced

*2 sweet bell peppers, diced (red, yellow or orange)

1 12 ounce can or bottle of beer (lager, pilsner or pale ale) ***BEER IS A MUST!

1 to 2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. coriander

*4 Tbsp. chili powder

¼ tsp. chipotle chili powder (I use this instead of black pepper)

1-½ tsp. salt

*1 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes

1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce

*2 cans pinto, kidney, and/or black beans, and/or chick peas, drained and rinsed

* 1/2 cup Sliced mushrooms 

Step by Step

1. Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over high heat. Add the oil and the ground beef to the hot pot allowing the meat to brown and caramelize slightly before stirring.
2. When meat has finished browning, remove it with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate. The paper towel will absorb any excess grease and oil.
3. *Put everything in the crock pot on low for 4-6 hours.
4. Eat with nacho chips. You'll never eat Chili without them again!

Nutrition

WW PP 8; Calories 342; Total Fat 8.0g; Saturated Fat 2.2g; Trans Fat 0.0g; Cholesterol 68mg; Sodium 968mg; Total Carbohydrates 31.3g; Dietary Fiber 7.8g; Sugars 5.7g; Protein 32.4g

I'm making this today, as Friday I was in a rush, and realized I had no chili as a quick lunch back up and had no time time make my salad medley.  

I'm thinking of adding some of our garden items, like green onions and spinach, but am not sure if that's too weird or not.  We'll see how I feel in an hour.  

More great recipes to come from my old school binder cook book.  I got rid of the cookbooks I had, and just print out recipes I will use, and keep the recipes I like in plastic pages - to prevent ripping and splashes.  If I don't like a recipe after eating it, I just recycle the paper.  

My old school binder from when I had a personal trainer in...2002?

The Accident - Bye Bye Useful Pick Up Truck!

So, on June 13th, we were on our way home from MEC (aka Westboro) with some new biking gear. We were JUST going to pop into the house to change my shirt as Husband slobbered ice cream over it - The Merry Dairy ice cream to be exact - so we could satisfy our desire for a nice steak dinner.

See - ice cream on my face that drooled onto my shirt right before the accident

Yeah - that didn't quite pan out the way we anticipated.  Two rights and a left away from our house, we were stopped at a red light.  Light turned Green and there were 3 or 4 cars ahead of us, thus, Husband's foot was still on the brake.  I looked at the rearview mirror, and saw this big pick up truck coming towards us, and thought nothing of it.

2 seconds later, all I heard was a crash, and I started screaming for some unknown reason for 1-2 minutes.  Husband was scared, as he had no idea why I was screaming or if I was hurt.

The pick up truck, on a nice sunny day, with no sun in his direction, somehow missed the brake lights on our BRIGHT RED pickup truck, and hit us (0KMH) going about 50-60KMH.

The result? Husband was really confused and sore, my right leg was bruised and swollen, the back of my head hurt like a &#$*%, and I had no idea what had just happened.

I was mixing up my words WAY more than normal, and delayed in my responses to people asking me questions.

I couldn't remember which was my Left or Right (even doing the old make-my-fingers-into-an-L-to-figure-out-which-is-left childhood trick).

An Ambulance arrived quite quickly, as did the hot police officer.  I remember that.

I was the only one injured enough for the ambulance to take in.  They asked me questions, did some tests, and told me I had to go to the hospital.  As we were so close to home, and Husband would have to pay for parking anyhow, I declined, as Ambulances charge $45 for a ride these days, and I could walk (painfully) - I wanted to avoid my leg from stiffening up.

They need Uber ambulances I think.

I signed my Waiver, and saw the aftermath.

Rear windows smashed out

Rear bumper. Poor bumper.

The car in front of us saw the driver not stopping, and had enough time to pull up, thus they only had a minor scratch on their Audi.  They stood with us, and were quite irked at the Truck driver.  None of us really talked to him.  I never did find out if he was looking down, texting, or just zoned out at the time of the accident.  The Audi couple suspect he was texting, as he was looking down as he approached us. Only the police and insurance know (and the guy) for sure.

We gave our statements (well, Husband more than me, as he was driving and coherent), and Husband and I walked away.  The truck was undriveable.

Little did we know at the time, the whole front end was shot (we were able to change gears without the clutch - not good in a Standard vehicle), it was buckled at the front, passenger side was buckled out all the way (like at a 45 degree angle in the middle), the truck bed pushed into the back of where we were sitting (hence smashed glass, and injuries)....and the repair shop stopped counting repairs without even taking into consideration the internal damages.  Little Truck was a write off :(

This isn't what was supposed to happen - Truck is paid off this month (July), and we were supposed to use its payments towards replacing the 2003 Mazda Protege (my car) which has about 285,000KM on it.  Great car...just that was the one that required replacement!  When it dies, we'll figure out what to do - will we just stay with the new vehicle, or replace the car too?  Maybe if I get a super grand raise at work or something (ha ha) that could compensate for a second car payment (ha ha).

Sad to say goodbye to trucky at the repair shop. Notice the glass shards in back of bed.

Back to my injuries.  We spent 3 hours in the emergency room from beginning to leaving the hospital.  It was not too bad - we even ran into one of Husband's old friends who had moved back to Ottawa.  Small world!

The Doctor was actually one of the best doctors I've seen in years, besides my Naturopathic MD.  She was funny, asked questions, and had great bedside manner.  It made a frustrating and scary experience better.

I was diagnosed with a Mild Concussion and told to basically sit in the dark and rest for the next 7-10 days.

I could watch my tv series on Netflix for short periods of time during the day (in the dark living room), stayed off my phone and computer for the most part, and finally had a coherent conversation with Husband 5 days after the accident happened.  My brain literally hurt.  If I exerted myself, it pounded to let me know, "slow down".  The best way to describe it is a numb throbbing.

I couldn't multi-task until the following Thursday (so almost 2 weeks after the accident) - I'm all about the multi tasking, so this was weird to NOT do it.

I didn't bike until 2 weeks after the accident (a lowly 30km), and we turned around when I started feeling weird.  I didn't work out with Shaun T for the first time until this past Wednesday, as I couldn't - I got way too confused and my head throbbed.

I credit the fact that I only had minor pain in my shoulders, back, and neck from the impact to actually being fit.  I literally have been strengthening my shoulders, neck, and back with working out almost daily since the end of October 2014.  I am SO surprised my injuries weren't worse than they were.  Who knew being fit could also help you recover from or have reduced injuries from an accident?

I'm pretty much back to normal now, but it shows you - every choice you make, place you go...it can change your plans in a flash.  Take each moment and live it.  Don't live with regrets and "I'll change it later" attitude.  You have to choose what you do today - because life's nails in the road come without notice.

Do you really want to look back and not be happy with your entire life?

I think not.

I am thankful we only lost a vehicle, 3 weeks of my "normal" life, and some financial insecurity.  A week after our accident, a friend's sister was in a car accident where she was airlifted to the hospital, was in ICU, and has months of recovery ahead of her.  I also lost a human Ridgeback acquaintance of mine during this time - not much older than we are.  That's terrifying.

Live in the (logical) now.

Favourite Breakfast Recipe: Healthy Instant Oatmeal Packets

Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.  

One of my go-to breakfasts, that I can keep in my desk at my Clark Kent Day job is Oatmeal. 

Blech - Oatmeal!? - you ask?  Yes.  

I wasn't too sure about it at first, but needed an energy spike first thing in the morning, and I'm rather OCD about my food.  I enjoy preparing it, and lots of it.  

It means I save time in the long run, and can concentrate on other things. Like biking. Or reading. Or gardening. Or this blog.

I got this recipe from The Yummy Life, and have been making oatmeal packs for about 3 months now.

Ingredients

• BASIC RECIPE FOR A SINGLE SERVING PACKET:
• 1/3 cup rolled oats (instant or quick); old fashioned oats may be used for microwave and refrigerator oatmeal
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds or ground flaxseed (optional)
• 2 teaspoons oat bran (or wheat germ/bran)
• 2 teaspoons powdered milk (omit for non-dairy, vegan)
• 1 to 3 teaspoons brown sugar, sucanat, pure maple sugar, coconut sugar, or other preferred sweetener
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 
  
• TO MIX A PACKET & MAKE OATMEAL:
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup water (amount of water may vary depending on dryness of ingredients)
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (for refrigerator oats only)

Directions

Combine basic recipe ingredients in individual snack sized zip top bags. Add additional flavor ingredients, if desired--see suggestions below.

To prepare 1 serving of hot oatmeal:
BOILING WATER METHOD (not recommended for old fashioned oats): Add 1 oatmeal packet to mug or bowl. Pour in 2/3 cups boiling water and stir. Let instant oats stand for 3-4 minutes to soften and thicken; stir, and they are ready to eat. Quick oats may need to soften an additional minute or two.

MICROWAVE METHOD: Add 1 oatmeal packet and 3/4 cup cold water to microwave safe mug or bowl. (The container needs to be large enough to allow for mixture to expand while it cooks. It can bubble up and double in size in the microwave.) For instant oats, cook uncovered on high for 1 minute; stir, and it's ready to eat. For quick oats, cook on high for 2 minutes, let stand 2 minutes, stir, and it's ready to heat. NOTE: Microwave power and cooking times can vary; adjust cooking time if necessary.

To prepare 1 serving of refrigerator oatmeal:
Add one oatmeal packet to a pint or half-pint jar (or other covered container). Pour in 1/2 cup cold water, add 1/4 cup yogurt, cover tightly, and shake vigorously until well mixed. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, overnight, or up to 3 days.

12 FLAVOR VARIATIONS (use the basic recipe ingredients, plus these additions):
1. Plain -- Use basic recipe ingredients.
2. Apple Cinnamon Maple -- 2 tablespoons dried or 1/4 cup freeze-dried chopped apples; additional 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon; use maple sugar for sweetener
3. Blueberry --  2 tablespoons dried or 1/4 cup  freeze-dried blueberries.
4. Cherry Almond -- 2 tablespoons dried or 1/4 tablespoons freeze-dried cherries; 1 tablespoon sliced or slivered almonds.
5. Apricot Ginger -- 2 tablespoons chopped dried apricots; 1 teaspoon minced crystallized ginger.
6. Cranberry Orange Pecan -- 2 tablespoons dried cranberries, 1 teaspoon dried orange peel bits, 1 tablespoon chopped pecans.
7. Pineapple Coconut -- 2 tablespoons dried or 1/4 cup  freeze-dried chopped dried pineapple, 1 tablespoon freeze-dried coconut
8. Raspberry Vanilla Bean-- 2 tablespoons dried or 1/4 cup freeze-dried raspberries, 1/4 teaspoon ground vanilla powder
9. Peach (or Mango)  Macademia Nut -- 2 tablespoons chopped dried peaches (or mangos), 1 tablespoon chopped macadamia nuts
10. Cocoa Banana -- 1/4 cup chopped freeze-dried bananas (dried banana chips not recommended), 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
11. Peanut Butter Banana -- 1/4 cup chopped freeze-dried bananas (dried banana chips not recommended), 1 tablespoon PB2 peanut butter powder
12. Mocha -- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder, 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder


Make-ahead convenience. These bags may be made, tightly sealed, and stored for several months, depending on the shelf life of the ingredients used. May be stored in freezer to extend their life further.

To make oatmeal packets gluten-free, use gluten-free oats and oat bran.

Nutritional data for the basic oatmeal packets  (without fruit or nuts). There is 1-1/2 teaspoons of brown sugar for the sweetener in these calculations. For one plain oatmeal packet: 160 calories, 2.8g fat, 53mg sodium, 28.6g carbs, 3.9g fiber, 7.6g sugars, 6.5g protein. Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 4.

So, I use the Cherry Almond recipe, but use Cranberries instead of Cherries.  I add the boiling hot tea water from the coffee maker at work until it JUST covers the oats, cover the bowl with a paper towel for 5 minutes, stir, and voila!  Instant breakfast!

I tried the Apple Cinnamon Maple version, but the apple pieces were awful, so I took them all out.

I'm not ready to venture to other flavours yet, as I'm boring like that and stick with what's good.  I'm sure I'll eventually switch things up, but for now I'm happy with Cranberry Almond!  

I make 3-4 weeks worth of packages, and it takes me about half an hour.  

Enjoy!  

The Naturopathic Doctor Visit

I know there is a LOT of controversy between seeing an Medical Practitioner vs a Naturopathic Doctor.  

I spent 10 years going from Mainstream Doctor to Mainstream Doctor.

I was told to:

- Drink Milk

- Read a boring book

- Get more sleep

- It's all in your head

- Here's some anti-depressants 

- Take another sleep test

- There's nothing wrong with you

...and so on.

I've been to 4 Sleep Clinics (one in the day), the Cardiopulmonary Specialist, Walk In Clincs, General Practitioners, Respiratory Therapists and more. 

I never felt comfortable enough or could remember enough of my symptoms in the 5 minutes mainstream doctors seem to have for a patient before they just stop listening.

I was on "keep me awake" pills for about 6 months. Then they stopped working, and I started falling asleep everywhere all over again.  What did the doctor do? Prescribed me the EXACT SAME PILL after it had been rejected by my body as a solution after 4 months! 

I met my first Homeopathic Healer then (she wasn't an ND - Naturopathic Doctor who requires the same extensive education as an MD), and saw my first glimpse of not feeling like crap. Then I moved back to Ottawa, and just floated by until I hit rock bottom again.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - your worst flu symptoms x 10.  

Where you fall asleep on your friend's couches on a regular basis in the middle of the day and can't remember your words halfway through a sentence (so embarrassing).  Heck  - I fell asleep last weekend on a friend's couch at about 8pm. I just couldn't keep my eyes open.  I woke up 2 hours later, drove home, and went right back to bed. 

I was sleeping because I couldn't stay awake...Husband had enough booze.

There's lots of pictures like the one above. Systic sleeping.

Me when I used the nickname Systic. Sweet 16.

Anyhow. I met my current ND about 2.5 years ago.  She specializes in treating Lyme disease and Mould induced illnesses (aka me).  Husband and I call her my Voo Doo Hoo Doo Doctor.  She's awesome, but whatever she does is weird. And it is slowly working (I tried to go cold turkey last summer, and ended up getting sick and regressed rapidly).

I have gone from walking Zombie to almost normal. Well, as normal as I can be (if you know me, you know I'll never be normal - ha ha).

Today I saw her for the first time in 4 months, as she felt I could go that long between visits.  It was every 1 or 2 months prior to that, so progress is being made!

The appointment starts with discussing how I'm feeling, what symptoms are quite evident, and my diet - food plays a big factor in that whole staying healthy thing.

I need more Protein (chicken, ground beef, etc.) at lunch time to avoid that lunch time slump I have between 1-3 pm. 

I lay on the examination table, put my left arm above my head on the pillow there, and she checks my heart rate and other things.  

I close my eyes, as it's too weird to keep them opened.

She has these plastic letters with different metal abbreviations on them and lightly throws them at my side - weird, right? I've never asked her why...it's JUST what she does.  Apparently where they land tells her what is stuck or elevated in my system, so she can formulate the proper supplements.

Then she pops a few homeopathic ball thingies in my mouth, and uses this laser thing on my ear.  This is to cleanse the crap out of my lymph nodes.  I LOVE this.  It feels like an Ear Orgasm running through my head.  That's the only way I can describe it. 

Then she sticks an acupuncture needle in my ear, as the laser isn't working well enough.  This just sends tingles throughout my body.  I don't know if I'd prefer this over massages, as I LOVE me my massage time!  It just feels awesome. 

She usually uses this cleansing time to grab whatever supplements she feels will help me.

I leave with a more effective Probiotic Powder, and a bottle of drops to help with my Cognitive Function as I'm having a lot of troubles remembering my words and keeping focused.  

Yeah. You know what you get covered by your Benefits for Medical Prescriptions?  Have you ever looked at how much you're saving?  For these two bottles of Supplements, I'm paying your prescription fees out of pocket, as Medical Benefits don't see Naturopathic Medicine as something that should be covered other than the visit itself (which I have to Claim for). 

It's NOT cheap to go this route, and it really sucks that my visits are clumped under the same benefits group as Chiropractor and Masseuse.  I gave up my Chiropractor this year so I can get massages, but probably won't get another massage until August because we just paid out-of-pocket for two supplements.

And she knows I'm on a budget, and would prescribe more, but it's not possible, and she's cool with that. 

I do still use a General Practitioner for one of my prescriptions (she checks my lymph nodes every time), and I totally believe in Vaccinating your kids (we shouldn't have outbreaks of diseases that were eradicated decades ago), and when I get Cancer (it runs on both sides of the family) I'll go mainstream and pray that I won't be ignored yet again.

It still terrifies me that I've had to fight to make no headway in 10 years, but have made so much progress in the last 2. Will Mainstream medicine be there for me and listen when it's something more life threatening?

Bicycling Goals - To Infinity, and Beyond!

So after every bike ride, Husband and I decide what our next goal will be.  Where do we want to go next?

We're in it for the distance, and speed is coming along with it - I still feel slow, until we start passing people.  People in full on bicycling gear and speed bikes fancier than ours, people on cross country bikes, and the typical slow family bicyclists.

Yes, we do get passed by the occasional hard core biker - and that's okay - it keeps us reaching further.

I'm slower than Husband, and some days I think he holds back, other days he waits ahead after a good sprint.  He wants to beat his Strava goals.

The vortex of Strava.  It's a nice little App we put on our phones which tracks our rides - kms, calories, average speed, where we went, and personal records for sections we ride.

Our goal is to get this loop bigger and bigger each time.

We do want to begin biking to other towns, stay overnight, then bike back home - explore new paths and regions!

This is a bit scary, as Husband doesn't like to not know where we are.  Maybe this will help take away a bit of that anxiety and worry.

I, on the other hand, drove past Chicago 3 years ago, certainly having no idea where I was going.  That's the beauty of a GPS - generally they won't lead you into the middle of an Isle beside the Atlantic Ocean telling you that the banana ice cream shop is to your right (happened in Delaware).

***************************

Last weekend, our goals of reaching Parliament Hill on Saturday & the Aylmer Marina on Sunday were kyboshed by bike issues, forcing us to turn around at the 20km mark each day.

All we wanted to do was to exceed the 45km "longest ride ever" from the previous weekend.

I was kind of creeped out early on when we reached Andrew Haydon Park.  Some guy had stopped behind Husband at the lights, and I just waited in line vs going up beside Husband.  I am still getting used to proper biking etiquette.  Husband went off, and I was a bit slower...then the guy started drafting Husband REALLY close.  Husband just kept going faster & faster - I couldn't keep up (keep in mind, I'm about a foot shorter than him).  Creepy guy kept drafting Husband and I had no idea if he knew it wasn't me behind him.  Eventually Husband stopped to wait for me at a Stop Sign, and the guy veered off to the left.

You can draft someone (a stranger), usually in a bike pack situation, IF you ask permission.  It was really creepy that he didn't ask Husband first.  So don't do what this guy did - it's just creepy.

I blame it on the fact that Husband wore just his biking shorts vs biking shorts with shorts over top.  His butt looked pretty amazing.

So. We biked past Island Park, behind Parliament Hill, and up that damn hill.  They put SPEED BUMPS in the middle of the path right when we were able to get a bit of momentum.  Stupid safety and speed measures!  Do people not realize how much energy it takes to get up that hill??

So much energy, that we deserved Street Meat.  We found a vendor quickly - so surprising, as Ottawa in the past has been horrible for Street Eats - they're apparently improving this.

Nom Nom Nom.

In front of the Chateau Laurier

We decided to go alongside the Canal.  It was nice to see a few eateries alongside our journey - good pit stops for next time.

We were aiming for the path along the Canal past Dow's Lake, but the path kind of stopped, and we were forced onto the scary road.  At least there was a bike lane.  I'm ok as long as there's a bike lane, but even that doesn't guarantee a car isn't going to smash into us. I'm so thankful for the Trans Canada Pathway system so we can have a safer bike ride!

We went on this fancy new road (aka newly paved) in the Experimental Farm, went through a random mountain biking easy trail in the forest, and ended up on Husband's normal path he takes from work.

He found a neat area that we'd love a house in (houses built in the 60's - bungalows!! - right off the green belt) during his adventures home - he was so excited to show me his discovery :)

Then we eventually ended back up on the path we normally take alongside the Ottawa River home.

So our goal was 50km - we exceeded said goal by 12 kms.  We exceeded our previous Longest Ride Ever by 17km.

On our Mountain Bikes (previously used for road/path riding too), 17km WAS a long ride for us.  They are heavier, and even with smaller tires on...just don't have the same feeling as our Road Bikes.

I'm in love with mine - she's helped make biking fun and adventurous again!

I think next weekend we will investigate the Quebec side of the river more and see what excitement that unchartered territory holds.  Or bike to Ashton on a mission with a pit stop at the Ashton Station Pub where we will drink Diet Coke instead of Ashton's Amber Ale because we'd have 20km to bike back home afterwards...

Keep on challenging yourself - you'd be surprised at what you can achieve!