Birthday Weekend

Thanks for all the birthday wishes...and the phone calls and texts...you guys are awesome.

Friday we just went to Lowe's to get the accessories for our bathroom (they finished it!!)

Saturday I went to do a 5K with Ali in the am (that is our 3rd one in 4 weeks) and it was pretty chilly...I did ok in it but we think that the clock was messed up. They didn't have a clock at the start and we both had a minute less on our Nike+ at the end. Oh well, it was for a good cause and it was their first one so they will learn. After the race Ali and I went to the farmer's market here. It is in an old train depot maybe??, anyway, I love these pretzels that they have there...they are huge and they are delicious! We got come mochas and pretzels and then walked around tasting other yummy breads and cheeses. Then the rain came :-( Craig and I went on one more trip for our bathroom stuff and then I spent the rest of the night being sort of lazy.

Sunday was beautiful here!! When we went out to do our bike ride it was 74 degrees and a little over 2hrs later it was 85...that is pretty hot for April here. Don't worry it is back down to 60 today :-) I think that I have talked a bit about the clipless pedals that I have on my bike (sort of misleading since you clip them in but the name has to do with the lack of toe clips like in the old days). Anyway, you basically have a cycling shoe that you wear with a little medal thing on the bottom that clicks into the pedal on your bike and then you have to move your foot in a reverse clicking your heels together motion to get them back out...you can't just lift your foot up to take your foot off the pedal. That means that at every stop you have to remember to do that little foot action or you will be laying on the ground with your foot still attached to the pedal. I tried this last year without knowing what I was doing and I couldn't get my left foot out (got the right one out) and fell to the left hitting my knee really hard on the pavement. I don't know how many of you have skinned your knee since you were 10 but it HURTS and then it dries and cracks when you bend it and hurts in the shower and on top of all that I bruised it really bad. I was just not interested in having that all over again so I was too chicken to try it. On Friday I had practiced the motion to get my foot in and out of the pedal. Sunday I decided that I wanted to ride 32 miles for my 32nd birthday and that I was going to clip in my shoes. Luckily my fear subsided long enough for me to do it and I didn't fall at all! There were a couple close calls when crossing streets and a couple times where I had to stop suddenly that weren't fun but overall, I think that I did really well. When you are clipped in you are 20-30% more efficient then when you aren't. When we started our ride I couldn't believe how easy it was to pedal!! I am pretty excited now to get better on the bike.

After we biked we grilled out that night and then went and got custard...it was a nice relaxing birthday (with a hot 2hr bike ride in the middle).