Question: What’s a menopausal woman’s dream sport?
Answer: Bicycling!
Sometimes I want to crawl into the refrigerator. Quite often I want to crawl out of my clothes. If I could, I’d mount a fan permanently (or at least until this ordeal is over) about 6 inches from my face. I am perpetually hot… and no longer er… hot.
I wasn’t sure I’d like bicycling, but I knew that if I was to train at all for the upcoming Danskin triathlon, I’d have to get my butt on a bike and start pedaling. After shopping with Peter for a bike two weekends ago and relenting to his instance that I really should get a fairly good bike, I’ve been riding three times and I’m actually quite surprised to say that…
…I love bicycling! Why? Because cool air blows right onto my face – and there’s nothing THIS menopausal woman likes more!
(Here’s a secret for you: if you’re sitting in a business meeting and a woman nonchalantly uses the papers in front of her to fan her face – and the world is not sweltering in a heat wave -- she is most decidedly menopausal!)
So today I rode the Sammamish River Trail again, but this time I headed northward from Woodinville …
…toward Bothell.
These geese and ducks just hung out along the trail…
…completely unfazed when people rode by!
You know those gorgeous houseboats in Sleepless in Seattle? Well, these are nearby Bothell’s version. (They’re trailers, not houseboats.)
The trail parallels the freeway for a bit…
…and goes right under a major interchange. It’s amazing, the beauty and recreation you can find near Seattle freeways! Remember my post about kayaking the Seattle Arboretum?
I rode to where the Sammamish River Trail meets the Burke-Gilman Trail in Bothell, then turned around and headed back to Woodinville… but wasn’t ready to stop riding yet, so I headed south towards Redmond.
Mt. Rainier was out again in all its glory! I will never get over this mountain’s majesty and beauty! 
As I was taking pictures a woman rode by and then stopped, saying, “I really should do that too.” We started chatting and she offered to take a picture of me with the Mountain behind me…
…which I told her I’d only accept because I have a blog and it might make a good part of the story.
We continued to chat came to realize that we have a few mutual friends! She knows of The Gottman Institute and John’s research and we enjoyed chatting about that for a while. After talking for about 20 minutes we decided that it’d be fun if she joined Elisabeth and me on our Green Lake walks -- and that she might want to do the Danskin too!
Yes, Seattle is definitely the friendliest city I’ve ever lived in!
7 comments:
That really does look like a lot of fun (especially on a beautiful day like today!) And on a trail that appears to be FLAT! I would like that a lot! It's so dang hilly around here. Not even sure where (or if) any bike trails are, and no way would I ride in traffic. What kind of bike did you get? (I noticed from a photo that it's a "guy's" bike with the bar. Uhm, is that an issue?)
Loved tagging along for your bike ride! It looks like so much fun! I remember those hot flash days all too well. Ugh. Dealing with it in central Florida was definitely not fun. I don't think even a bike ride would have helped in that heat & humidity!
It was a beautiful, perfect day yesterday! We spent the day walking around the Greenwood Car Show with Jill & Matt--about 4 miles of walking, including to and from their house. I've never seen so many gorgeous classic cars in one place! The ferry ride home to Poulsbo was just as beautiful as earlier in the week after the baseball game. Mt Rainier was incredibly splendid both times. We are so fortunate to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Lynn
Tonya, the trail is flat -- and wide, and easy. Perfect for this novice! Of course, I'll have to start riding on some hills soon...
I got a "Giant" (brand) bike. Last Saturday, Peter (who works at REI's bike repair shop) took me all the hell over Seattle and I tried a million bikes. This is the one that just felt best (and had all the features he urged me to get, including very light weight). I got it at Bothell Bike & Ski. Great place with really nice, very helpful people!
Lynn, you and John really should "tag along" for real with us! Tom has been sick so he hasn't come with me, but once he's back up to speed, we'll ride the trail together. Maybe the four of us could ride to Redhook, grab a beer and lunch and go on to Marymoor!
Actually, the SIX of us should do that! Tonya and her John, Lynn and her John, and me and my Tom. :-) I have a feeling we'd have an absolute BLAST!
Carol
To my faithful Taiwanese (?) reader: would you mind please writing your comments in English? You comment often and I wish I could read what you write, but alas... (and the online translators basically suck!).
Carol
I wonder if your Taiwanese reader is not actually a SPAMMER.
How wonderful for you! The great weather, fresh air in your lungs (and in your face) will most certainly help you toward your goal!
Cheers to you!
glad you enjoy it so much. I surely would enjoy bycicling in such beautiful scenery as well!
and yes that unreadible comment is spam. Each dot links to probably very doubtful sites. I always delete such comments (fortunately I rarely get them)
Carol - yes the Chinese characters comments are spam. Our bicycle website blog gets a lot of them. The more links they can get back to the spam sites elevates them on search engines "most linked to" rankings.
Sooo - I'm doing the Danskin as well and would be in your same age group... but I think you'll be in the "mixed" group (not age group) start so you can Elisabeth can do it together. How're we going to meet up amongst those 10,000 people, anyway???
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