Roller Coaster on Two Wheels

It's thundering outside. Hopefully my computer doesn't explode. But for now I'm going to sit back, relax after a long day's cycling, and listen to the weather as I sketch all this down. Today was a lot of fun, and there was a camera involved. I took Katya to see the Shrine. We stopped for sandwiches on the way, and sat around looking over the land and the ocean in the distance for quite a while before deciding to try the part of the loop my father had shown me. It was only about a 2 mile addition, but those hills were mighty hills. On the way back, those hills were sloping down. What a thrill! On the hardest gear, peddling was still ridiculously simple. The way back was a blast, and when we approached our houses, we decided to tack on a few extra miles on the back roads. We didn't go too far, and it was very flat, but I could suddenly feel the strain after what we'd already done. I'm happy though; today was so nice, even with the crazy winds.

~Casmira

Participants today: Casmira, Katya

Miles Traveled: 22.09

Final Destination: Lady of Our Island and Beyond, round trip

Total this Summer: 84.59

Filling the Quota

My father woke me up early again to do the same loop for the third time. Next time we go out, I believe we're going a bit further. However much I want to just keep riding, I'm going to take people's word for it and start slow. Going there was especially hard today. I'd been out late the night before with friends, we started early, it's almost all uphill on the way there, and the wind was against us. Around the halfway mark, I once again got something in my eye. I had to stop at the side of the road because I was watering up. It flushed out much quicker then last time though. It must have filled the thing in my eye quote for the day too, because I got to look out over the ocean again today instead of a pool in my palm. Thankfully on the way back, it was downhill with the wind, and I was mostly woken up. Ahh, speed. Such sweet bliss. Oh, and I breached 50 miles for the summer! Probably by the time I hit the top of my street today, I'd already done it. How nice! Now let's get us to 100.

~Casmira

Participants today: Casmira-- It was a father, daughter ride!

Miles Traveled: 13.2

Final Destination: Lady of Our Island, round trip

Total this Summer: 62.5

Chimes of Victory

I woke up this morning to my father kicking the foot of my bed. It was bike time, when normally I'd be falling asleep (though, that's just because I'm prone to a nocturnal nature, making 8:30am into the weeeeeee hours of the morning.) We made the climb up to the Lady, again. I had something in my eye, so we got to sit and listen to the bells chiming for the Sunday service as I tried blinking into water cupped in my hand from my water bottle. The bells were still playing their tune when we left. On the way back, I got a refreshing taste of the cycling connection:
Guy passing by the other way: HiiiIIIiiiiIIIiiii~!!!!
Me: *laughs* Hiii~!
*a minute later*
Me: Did you know him, Dad?
Father: Nope. He probably saw your jersey and recognized you as a cyclist.
Me: It's nice, they're so friendly.
Father: Yeah, that and the fact that he's probably high as a balloon on endorphins.
The way back also yielded me, on flat land, a whopping 21MPH. That's right cars, watch out, you'll be facing me on two wheels on the Nascar track, next!

~Casmira

Participants today: Casmira-- It was a father, daughter ride!

Miles Traveled: 13.2

Final Destination: Lady of Our Island, round trip

Total this Summer: 49.3

Bravo, Lady!

Katya and I had our distance ride planned today, but things were canceled. I still wanted to go out, so my father offered to take me to a shrine about 6 miles from our house. It's up on the top of a huge hill, so it was pretty crazy cycling to the top and looking down over the island. Even highways looked like measly residential stuff through all the trees. It was really beautiful, with the ocean in the distance. Coming back was nice, too. A lot was a gentle downhill slope, so it took half the amount of energy despite being tired already and against the wind. It was my first ride in my jersey and shorts, too. It made the ride a lot more tolerable!

~Casmira

Participants today: Casmira-- It was a father, daughter ride!

Miles Traveled: 13.2

Final Destination: Lady of Our Island, round trip

Total this Summer: 36.1

Makeup and Mangos

I wanted ice cream all day. I wanted to get out on my bike too, and fresh eggs and half priced makeup sounded like good incentive. I called Katya, and did what I love to do. Spend money. Today was a series of loops. Go east, pick up eggs, return home. Go west, buy mangoes, and proceed back to the starting point via a series of twists and turns in the form of an adventure. It was really pretty, and we both had a nice time. It was our longest run so far this summer, and I don't feel the least bit sore, either. I'd be rearing to go tomorrow if not for my poor butt. That seat's hard! I won't be doing any rearing until Thursday, when her and I break out of our near-by habits and go get lost out east on our bikes, in a fun attempt to simply see how far we can go. I'm looking forward to that! The weather is supposed to be nice, so it seems like an ideal day! Just like today was.

~Casmira

Participants today: Casmira, Katya

Miles Traveled: 12

Final Destination: Mangoes for $1

Total this Summer: 22.9

An All Day Escapade

Once again, a late night post. Today was a lot of fun. It was more of a joy adventure then a ride, but who says the two need to be separated? We rode around, stopping at the beaches along a street. We collected some nice shells, saw some non-local birds, and once night fell we bought sushi and brought it down to a closed restaurant. They light their deck and leave tables out at night, so we had a high-class, beach front dinner. Needless to say, we didn't exactly have to wait on line because we didn't have a reservation. Ahh, wheels!

~Casmira

Participants today: Casmira, Adam

Miles Traveled: 4

Final Destination: The Beaches

Total this Summer: 10.9

Day One

Seeing as it's 3:30, it's technically not the first day we went out on the road anymore. But, it was a good first day out. For two girls who haven't been very active, 6.9 miles is a good start. Today we were just visiting a friend, but coming up soon we're going to take our first length test. Since it's still the beginning of summer, we're going to choose a nice day and ride as far out east as we can. We'll have someone come pick us up when we can't go any further. At the end of the summer, we'll do the same. Hopefully the end of the island will be far enough away for us. Here's to the start of a summer of biking, traveling, working, and dreams.

~Casmira

Participants today: Casmira, Katya

Miles Traveled: 6.9

Final Destination: Next town over, round trip