How did I let six months go by?

It has been almost six months since I have posted, and in that time, I have had a new granddaughter born, ridden my bicycle many miles, and enjoyed life with my awesome husband! Life is good and I cannot say that I would change much in my life. All my boys are doing wonderfully. Ben loves retirement and I am cycling, quilting, gardening (in season!) and enjoying my volunteering. It is hard to believe that I have been at the hospital nearly 17 years, and over 4500 hours. It has been fun and I plan to continue, for sure.

Ben and I went to FestiVELO in Charleston, SC last weekend and had a great time with old and new friends. It was fun. ...but a bit like riding on the trainer for 6 hours in a row! ...FLAT. We rode a century, a half century, and then a 3/4 century in three consecutive days, all the while camping out in the cold, and learning about cycling in the cold. We met some great people, rode with our good friends Randy and Seba and had lots of laughs, lots of good times.

Today I received a check in the mail from RoadID, who gives 10% of sales via my website to Hospice. I do not even know who has bought something but it is wonderful to receive a small check for Hospice each quarter.

Next summer, we plan to ride Bicycle Tour of Colorado with two of our sons. It is an epic ride with big miles and lots of climbs. I feel very confident that I will be up to the challenge. I would NEVER have said that two years ago! Cycling has been the most wonderful addition to my life and health in the past few years. I hope I can continue for many years. We have several rides planned in the spring as a lead up to the Colorado ride. Bring 'em on!

Wishing anyone who happens upon this blog a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Wellmont Hospice House Honor

The newspaper had a wonderful article this morning and I was honored, along with Ben to have the newly renovated lobby of the Hospice House named for us. I have not kept up this blog as I am not doing long rides, only 30-75 miles in our local area! However, do not give up!! I do plan another long ride and this will be where you read about it when the time comes!!! Thanks to everyone who has supported me during the last three years with donations to hospice. They have used the funds well and the Blue Ridge Quilter's Guild has made the most amazing quilt for the house as a tribute to my journeys and to the journeys that are made in the lives of the many people who pass through the Wellmont Hospice House each month. I can never give credit to everyone who has been so generous to hospice over the three years. It has been a humbling experience.

THANK YOU!

January

Well, I have not been very good on the blog this month. From Thanksgiving and the death of Ben's mom, it has been a whirlwind of visitors and family. We had a quiet (?) Christmas, hosting Laura, Robert and their twin 3 yr. olds, and their 5 yr. old for dinner. Laura is the new Hospice and Palliative Care physician for Wellmont, and Ben is totally retired. I cooked food from the 26th to the 31st in preparation for the arrival of all the Cowan clans.

On December 31st, Blair and Reid arrived after driving from Colorado together with Nash, the chocolate lab, in the back seat! They had a layover day in Nashville and swapped cars with the Cowans in Nashville, getting their big van and bringing the four cousins to Bristol. Graham, Sherri, and Morgan also arrived the 31st. This was the first year in over 10 that Hans and Mary were both on call in Nashville and could not come up. The kids would have none of it, so the pickup-carswap plan was hatched! Mary sent a complete dinner with them so I did not have to cook for the whole crowd. Thanks, Mary, that was such a treat!! We loved it.

Aggie arrived late on the night of the first with her two boys and we had our big New Year's Day dinner on the night of the 2nd after Mary arrived from Nashville in Reid's Subaru. Everyone enjoyed the usual puzzle, only this year it was a very hard 2000 piece one with lots of SKY!! Graham brought some movies which the kids enjoyed and we all went for a hike to the spillway.

On Sunday afternoon, the long awaited piano moving took place with Graham, Blair, Reid, and Nicholas putting it in Ben's truck, all of them padding it and tying it down and then driving it to Knoxville. We got to keep Morgan in Bristol, though! Later, Mary left with her kids, and Sherri drove her car back to Knoxville. They unloaded the piano in Knoxville with more help from Sherri's cousin and Blair, Reid, and Nicholas came back in the truck after pizza and a movie!

My boys really enjoyed Morgan and really had a chance to get to know her. After all, it was a full year ago that they saw her, as a one year old. Now she is a potty-trained, talking, walking, and delightful two year old!

It was a delightful, if crazy weekend, but we all enjoyed each other and everyone had a blast. Each year, I get so nervous about having such a big crowd here, but each year it gets easier. The kids all help, Morgan is older, and Ben was here 24/7 and willing to do anything and everything to help me.

Cowan update and Ben's mom's passing

It has been a while since I updated this blog, mainly due to many events happening recently. Ben's mom passed away in the wee hours of Thanksgiving morning and we have been very busy since then with all that an event like that entails. It was a blessing for us that her life has ended as she would never have wanted to live the way she has been in the past three years and especially in the past year. We have received so many cards and notes, food, and donations to her favorite charities. We will continue to provide dinner at our house for Ben's dad, as we have been for these three years. I am now doing his grocery shopping for him as it is just too hard for him.

Most of the family came in for the visitation last Monday night, and went home the same day! The Nashville Cowans had a very long drive that day, coming up and driving back. Graham and Sherri came from Knoxville and Sherri got a bug that had been going around her family so she went back early with her cousin who kindly drove up for the visitation and her son stayed to drive back with Graham. Thanks, Michael. Then I went down to pick up Morgan on Tuesday morning from Sherri's parents so that Sherri did not have to deal with Morgan while being sick. Morgan already had the bug right after Thanksgiving!!

Morgan stayed all week and then Graham and Sherri came on Friday. Sherri and I had a ladies night out in Johnson City, with dinner and a trip to a craft show/sale being run by some friends of mine, and then the computerized light show in Bristol, which we loved. On Saturday, we had a great trip up to Whitetop to cut our Christmas trees, then back to decorate ours. We had a 2" snow and Morgan had a blast playing, throwing snowballs and making a snowman. Later in the day on the 5th, some of their friends and two daughters from Knoxville drove up for dinner and then went to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Fantasy in Lights show. It was four miles of Christmas lights. It was wonderful but the wait was really long for the three little girls. Once in, it was fun and the guys driving the two car loads loved speeding down the dragway and around the racetrack and up on the banked turns within the track! The friends left to drive back to Knoxville and we started home and then decided to go to the "other" light show here in Bristol which is all computerized to music. It was terrific (2nd time for Sherri and me!) and all the adults seemed to enjoy that one much better than the lights at the speedway.

It has been a busy and emotional two weeks and I am barely thinking of Christmas. But having Morgan for the week last week made me get out the decorations and she helped put them up!

Happy Birthday, Granddad Cowan

Two of Ben's siblings and their families, as well as Graham, Sherri, and Morgan, and several friends came to dinner last night (Thanksgiving dinner for us) to celebrate Granddad Cowan's 90th birthday. Since he was born close to midnight, he is not sure which day is really his birthday. His birth certificate says the 21st, and his mother told him it was after midnight, so the 22nd! It doesn't matter which day...we celebrated on both! It was a delightful day yesterday, with tons of food, and almost everyone staying here at the house. It was a zoo, as it always, is when all the family is together. The food intake by 6 teenagers is unfathomable! Most of them are coming back for New Years. Plus, Blair and Reid will be here, too.

Today we ate all the leftover Turkey and dressing, cranberries, etc. Yum. Lots of plans brewing on how to get the Nashville cousins to Bristol for the New Year, with both their parents working that weekend. We will work it out. It will be another crowd here!

Warmshowers.com and 4000 miles

We have been long time members of two websites for hosting visitors to our area, with warmshowers.com being specifically for cyclists, and couchsurfing.com for other visitors. We have hosted several people from CS and know a couple from Bristol who also host. Last night, we had a young (25-ish) Polish couple, Ania and Kris, stay with us. They had ridden from Toronto, Canada, leaving there on September 1st. They contacted us a few days ago and needed a place to stay for one night. We read their profile and their story and welcomed them here yesterday afternoon. (We had just arrived home from a ride ourselves!)

What a delightful pair! We, of course, had a lot in common as cycle tourists ourselves, and were happy to see their bikes and gear. After a huge meal, we talked late into the evening. This morning, after much discussion, they determined their route was going to be 11W all the way to Knoxville. (they are headed from there to Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, and then back to Florida, the Caribbean, and South America. They will do the Western half of the USA on their next trip. I decided to ride out with them, through the downtown Bristol sign and then out State St. to 11W. I rode about 15 miles west towards Kingsport with them before turning around. Their bikes were really loaded but they are prepared for all weather.

On the way back to Bristol from riding with them, I realized that I would pass my goal for the year, 4000 miles. Wow! I was not sure a week ago if I could do it but five straight days of gorgeous weather and 175 miles and my goal was met! I am really pleased with that total. I love to ride and don't know when my next trip will be. It has been hard watching Ben planning for his Southern Tier ride, knowing that I probably will not go. I will have to ride alot of miles to catch him next year! The year I did the ST, my total was over 6000 miles!

 

Ania and Kris at the Bristol sign

Trip Journals

My three major trip journals are now easily located with the links on the right sidebar. Just click on the trip you would like to read about and it will take you to that journal. You can also look at this year's trip journal on this website by clicking on the blog archives for August. Thank you for your interest in reading my journals.

Donations to Hospice are also easily accessed by the links on the sidebar.

A gorgeous weekend!

With Ben being gone since the 31st, it has taken some motivation to ride by myself. However my friends came out in force this weekend and I racked up 90 miles in two days! I rode from my house yesterday and found that the extra 14 miles to the ride start were very nice. It makes me crazy to DRIVE 7 miles to the start of our ride! The route is nice, a good warm-up, and not a bad return home after the ride, provided it is light enough.

Today, two of my friends had 25 and 35 miles each to get to 3000 miles for the year! It was fun to see them make that goal. This has given me lots of motivation to ride the last 200 miles to make it to 4000 miles for me this year. While adding the extra miles to finish, Randy and I rode up the Holston River 6 extra miles and I broke a shifter cable at the far end! Fortunately, the road back to the car had only moderate rollers. I did have to stand on every hill, though, as the chain was stuck in the little ring in the rear! A trip to Boyd's Bicycle in the morning will have me back on the road by tomorrow afternoon when I plan to ride again. Then the prediction is for rain for two days. I volunteer at the hospital on Tuesdays anyway, so wouldn't be riding!

Last night, I went to the Kingsport Bicycle Association pot luck supper as I am now a member. It was a nice evening and Bob and Ellen did a great job on the photo presentation of their bicycle trip in Montana and up to Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper. The pictures of Glacier were awesome and really brought back memories of the fantastic trip Ben and I made out there in 2005. We hope to cycle there in the near future as our last trip was a hiking adventure!

New Total for this year...

My new total for this ride is now $20,505!!! Many thanks to everyone for their support.

- Posted very slowly using BlogPress from my iTouch.

Totals

I have an updated total for the three ride, three year, 7700 mile bicycle rides for the Wellmont Hospice House....over $88,300!! Wow.

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed, supported, and otherwise given me encouragement during these rides.

Have a great day!

Oh, and Morgan came to visit for a few days and what fun we had!!!

Joining the 21st Century

I bought an iTouch and am now learning how to use it for lots of things, like blogging! Right now it is pretty laborious to type but that will come, I am sure. Never having sent text messages before makes this alot harder!

My favorite part is having music to listen to in the car. Once I get playlists figured out I will be doing well.


- Posted laboriously using BlogPress from my iTouch.

I did it!

Well, I made it over $20,000! Donations are still arriving and I am up to $20,350 and change!!! Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed. The thank yous are done and I am back riding on a regular basis now, having recovered fully from my fall a month ago. It is a nice feeling to be back on the bike.

Ben is going to be fully retired on December 15th. He has had enough of the 24/7 on call schedule and has taken off some time lately...ridden 5 days in South Carolina from State Park to State Park, ridden Cycle North Carolina, all this in between traveling to various locations to judge beer competitions. He took the judges certification exam in May (after his 1000 mile self supported ride) and STILL has not gotten the results. However, he is still allowed to judge and had a great time this weekend doing the judging thing!

Big news is that he is planning to ride the Southern Tier next March. He has had an ad on the ACA and Crazyguy websites and has gotten a nice group of men and women (total of 9) to ride. He is so incredibly excited! I know now first hand how he must have felt as I prepared for my Southern Tier ride. Maps, gear lists, plans, training, and the start is less than five months away! The emails are flying back and forth among the group and the excitement is palpable. This will be an entirely self supported ride, so there are many questions from the group about gear, camping plans, etc. I will plan to train alongside but will not be going as I am going to be the designated home person! Life is like that! Someday we will be able to ride together on the same trip and the Northern Tier is at the top of our list!

While Ben has been beer tasting and visiting with Graham, Sherri, and Morgan, I have been playing with my new toy, an iTouch. After my OLD Palm Zire refused to hold a charge for any usable period of time and all my data was lost (I did have it backed up on the computer) I decided to start looking for a device a bit more up to date. I did not want to have everything in my life, contacts, music, email, etc on a phone so I wanted a separate "thing". My phone is a small simple, make a call kind of device...that is all I want for a phone. The iTouch has all the music I have had on my computer, all my contacts and the biggie for me...my calendar. It also has weather, email (with a wireless connection if available) and a note taker...which I use constantly, as I cannot remember anything for more than a nanosecond these days! It also holds the 3GB of music I own!

Since it was raining yesterday, (no bicycle ride) and I had laundry and other stuff to do, I played with it alot, really alot. I finally got ALL my contacts in one location, with phone numbers, emails, and info, including all my friends from my rides (so Ben can call them on the ST!!!) I hope it will suit my needs and it plugs into the car jack to play music while I am driving. I can download audio books (some free) or music that I used to have when I had my van with a cassette player..remember those? I had a nice little collection of cassettes and I do miss them. My collection of Irish music we bought on our bike trip and tons of other CD's have been loaded on my computer over the past two years and now they have a home on the iTouch. Am I happy about this..you betcha!!

Now I just have to learn how to use all the features, and I have heard that you can use it as a phone with Skype, so I will have to look into that...but I need a wireless connection to use that feature. My little simple phone is fine for me!

Well the sun is trying to peak through and I am going for a ride. :-)

Time flies!!

Well, here it is the 26th of September and I have not posted for a while. So here is an update.

On the weekend of the 12-13 we had a simply fantastic overnight ride from Abingdon, VA on back roads to Marion, VA, through Saltville, where we visited a fascinating local museum, ate lunch, and then rode on for Marion, coming over Little Walker Mountain (very steep for 3 miles!) and into the back of Hungry Mother Park. We stayed overnight at the Francis Marion Hotel which is quite delightful, despite the small rooms. We locked our bikes in a building next door that is under renovation and belonged to the hotel.

There were 10 of us, 8 riders and two spouses driving the SAG/luggage vehicle. After a delightful dinner with the group, some specialty beer tasting, led by Ben, we turned in, ready to sleep after the 56 mile 4,000' climbing day. Sunday was another gorgeous day and we returned to Abingdon via Rt. 16, past the MT. Rogers ranger station, down towards Troutdale, VA, and then 603 past Fox Creek, the horse camps, Konnarock, and down 58 to Damascus where we had lunch at our favorite place, "In the Country". It was then on to Abingdon on back roads I had never been on, just an all around lovely trip, totaling 120 miles.

Thanks to Bob of Kingsport Bicycle Association who put the route together and did a wonderful job on cue sheets, hotel, meals, AND weather! We had a great time and were glad to be invited to join the group.

The next weekend, the 19-20th, Graham and Morgan came to visit and go to Rhythm and Roots Reunion Music Festival here in Bristol. We had a blast and Morgan seemed to love the music! I sure loved going with her.

I am over all my injuries from my fall in Astoria on the next to the last day of my long ride except for the thumb which will only be totally better when the nail grows back. It is still really sensitive but the bone is healed now.

Ben and I have been picking raspberries non-stop and getting a gallon about every other day. We now have over 24 jars of jam and at least 3 quarts of sauce made. It makes the best sauce for ice cream and/or cake and is the most requested dessert at my home!! I will be picking berries and making jam alone until October 4th as Ben has gone to Cycle North Carolina which starts in Blowing Rock, NC tomorrow. It has poured rain, nearly 2", all day so I am totally ready to ride tomorrow if the roads dry out. I wussed out on the half century I was going to do today with a friend in Johnson City as I did not want to ride in the rain, remembering the bad fall I took just three weeks ago on wet roads. I think I made the right decision!

FInished my letters!

Happiness today! I finished writing all the thank yous for my fundraising! That was really a job but I am thankful for all the wonderful donors to Hospice during my ride.

Here is the latest update:

This ride $19,700

The total for the 3 year, 3 ride, 7800 miles is, drumroll, over $87,500

I am so thrilled with the support I have gotten. Thanks again to everyone.

Thank you!

I have received so many calls and emails asking how I am, and I am doing fine! My thumb will just have to heal on its own time and the soreness of my right elbow, shoulder, and leg will go away when it is good and ready. The ding on my head is slowly healing in.

It was back to the real world today as I did a huge grocery order to prepare for the upcoming Labor Day weekend. Graham, Sherri and Morgan are coming tomorrow morning and Ben's sister and one of her sons will arrive tomorrow night. So, I am cooking and getting ready for that.

I visited Hal today, my favorite bike shop owner and let him know of my bike's arrival soon, (I hope), and of its wheel out of true and a bent spoke. Once that is done, I will be good to go and hopefully ready for next weekend's rides. Back to work...

Last day of the month post for Hospice

As in the past, I have made my plea for donations to the Wellmont Hospice House on the last day of the month. Since this is primarily a bicycle journal, I have no intention of pleading for funds. Today might (!) be the last one you will hear as my ride is over but I am still hoping to make my goal of $32,000. It is a long way off. However, I never give up hope and think that there are some of you who might have delayed your donation until I was finished or until the journal was finished! My total as of today is $18,545 and I have two checks totaling $120 in my hand to mail.

I am delighted with the support of friends and family who have supported me so well. Thanks to everyone who has supported the Hospice House in honor of my Northwest Loop Ride.

Y'all have a great day, now!!!

Portland, OR to Bristol, TN

Well, I am home, feeling much better and so very happy to be here with my dear Ben. I flew to Atlanta which had the airport closed for a while before I arrived due to thunderstorms. When I arrived the airport was like the Sunday after Thanksgiving. There was not a seat in the place and passengers for dozens of delayed or canceled flights waited in lines to appeal to gate agents for flight status and standby possibilities. I patiently waited when I realized that there were two flights to TRI before my scheduled flight at 11 PM, hoping to fly out earlier. The gate agent actually changed my flight for free and then the wait began, and the gate changes started, and the times changed, and changed again. Finally, I was on the plane and arrived in Bristol at precisely the time I was supposed to arrive without any changes, midnight. Also on the plane were my neighbors, Steve and Alice, returning from a hiking trip in Wales, their friends, another doctor and his family from here, and an oncologist from Abingdon! I think I have never been on a plane back to TRI without knowing someone.

We gave Steve and Alice a ride home and I dropped into bed for the best sleep in 30 days. It will take me some time to get all my thanks yous out but I do so appreciate all the emails and notes regarding my fall. I will be back on the bike in a few days and enjoying it as much as ever and planning the next adventure.

Thanks for tuning in. My blog will be staying up as it is not just a trip blog! I report on some other trips, too, so stay tuned if you wish for other updates. I will certainly have a donation update in the next few days.

Astoria, OR to Portland, OR

Miles: 103.4
Total miles: 1491.6
Climbing:3578’

Well, I can’t say that I had a very restful night. There was not a comfortable position that did not either entail lying on a sore spot or rubbing on an abrasion. The mist and rain out of the window did not make for a very easy decision about whether to ride or not. The helmet issue was already resolved…the glasses cut my head and the helmet was not broken. I would wear the helmet rather than trying to use a borrowed one from someone not riding in the rain. Usually, the rule of thumb is that if a helmet is in any sort of fall, it gets replaced. This one was examined by several people as well as me and my peace of mind relied on using my own fitted, sized helmet. The tour leaders recommended a new helmet but I had neither the bike shop for buying a new one nor the will to wait until it opened.

We started from Astoria a bit after 7 AM as it was dark, misty, and not a great cycling day. I had gotten up early to bandage my thumb and head for the long ride ahead. My elbow seemed to be the sorest thing on me and it was increasingly bruised and ugly! So off Kathy and I started, with Astoria fading in the mist and Portland in our gun sights!

For me the ride was one of endurance more than anything else today as I definitely did not feel my best. Within eight miles, we entered a “no-car” kind of area where only support vehicles for the Hood to Coast Relay Run could drive! That was great for us...no traffic to worry about in the same direction as we were riding. The relay consisted of teams of 12 who began the run on Mt. Hood the day before and were to run 197 miles in 4-8 mile blocks, depending on the terrain, to Seaside, OR. We had seen the preparations yesterday! For the next 40, yes FORTY, miles, we passed runners on the road going the opposite direction, over 12,000 of them. Their support cars were on the other side of the road, humorously decorated with all kinds of signs, stuffed animals, blow up mannequins, and other hilarious items, all to support their teams. We passed tent cities, feed zones, water trucks, and port-a-pots, which we used, too! We and our support vehicles were the only ones allowed on the roads going toward Portland.

Several people asked if we were having a relay! I wished! Others asked why we EVER scheduled a ride on the same day as the relay, but they did not realize it was the last of a 30 day ride of 1500 miles!! Some of the runners wished us well as we climbed steep hills, and they were running down, and we encouraged them as we were riding down and they were running up! We were all enjoying our own sort of misery (or fun?) in the mist and intermittent rain. What a day! But, all the activity kept us interested, (and my mind off my various aches of the day!) and definitely very alert, as runners approached the relay points. They had to take off a bracelet and pass it to the next runner on the team. We had to pass through these points numerous times during the day. There was very little to see in the rain but the forests were lush and green! I took very few pictures all day as the effort to stop and get the camera out of the dry bag was more than I could do.

We finally met up with our first SAG stop at mile 21 at the top of a big climb and she had cookies made by Linda as a surprise for us. Amazingly, the organizers of the race allowed our van and trailer on the road as about the only vehicles on the road! Kathie and I caught up with them at mile 40 where I ate a peanut butter sandwich and refilled my water bottles. I was doing ok and Kathie was staying close by. It was possibly my last opportunity to SAG into Portland in the van but I chose to ride.

The runners kept us on our toes but the downhills were hard for me as the roads were wet and I could not shift into my big ring due to thumb issues. Coasting down the wet roads worked out fine. There were way more hills than I expected, though!

Later on, the sun began to creep out a little bit, and then we had some more showers. I looked for rainbows as I sign that I would be able to finish but none appeared. However, this bicycle made me realize that I could finish! I don't know why, but I just figured it was a sign!!!

The Golden Bike

It was a very mixed day of rain, mist, and a bit of sun. There were 17 miles of busy road riding before the final five miles into Portland with multiple turns and cues!

The most welcome sign of my life, with 5 miles to go!

Anne and Kathie, my ride partner arriving in Portland

Kathie and I rode into town with Barb S. and when we arrived at the Marriott, Ken, Kathie’s husband was there, and Barb’s family (with three granddaughters) was waiting. Our bikes were a mess with mud so we cleaned them up and I rode to the bike shop for shipping. Ken drove several of us back to the hotel where I got everything packed up!

The banquet was delightful, but always a bittersweet moment for us all. There was a wonderful meal followed by the riders telling something about themselves that no one knew, and then any other comment. The overwhelming thoughts were that it was the best group any of us had ridden with! I wholeheartedly agreed and thanked all those who took care of me after my fall! After the meal, we went back to the room, where I was with Barb S, the last woman I had not roomed with during the trip. We both agreed that the group could not have been more supportive of each other and more friendly. I fell into bed, awaiting the early wake up call for the WomanTours shuttle to the airport.

Astoria, to Portland

Miles: 103.4
Total miles for trip: 1491.6
Climbing for today: 3578'
Total climbing for trip: 63,843

Well, I did it. I rode the century. Never mind that I could not shift into my big chain ring all day because of my left thumb, and never mind that my thumb was a real pain (literally and figuratively) and that it rained and misted for half the day. I made the 100 miles (plus the 3 to the bike shop to get my bike packed and shipped) Kathie was great and rode with me all day. It took me 7 hours and 41 minutes of ride time. I sure was glad to get there.

Our banquet was last night and I am now at the Portland Airport trying to finish this before I board. If not, I will try to post pictures when I get to Atlanta tonight where I have a three hour layover.

Thanks for all your support and comments. Thanks for all your donations. I will give a report later regarding my totals.