My First Time and I Survived!

Today I got to try something completely new.  Mountain biking!

I've wanted to try this for years now but just hadn't.  

Today changed all of that and I was pretty excited.

It certainly helps that this during this past year I have become friends with Julie who is totally into mountain biking. (We met through our husbands, her husband is also currently serving a military deployment in Iraq with Jed.)
Julie was just the push I needed.   She also brought her son along for the ride too.

Since Julie had biked this area before, I had no problem letting her to choose which path to take. 

Although I must say, when she mentioned doing the "911" ride, I wasn't so sure a path with such an ominous name would match well with a novice.  We ended up choosing an easier ride - whew!  (Actually, I would have happily done it, I like challenges.  I'm just not sure I would have finished in one piece.  Which I was ok with.)

We're off!

It didn't take long to realize a few things:

#1. I am WAY out of shape for something like this!  It was kicking my butt within the first 4 minutes.  No amount of Zumba could have prepared me for this.  (I think I've found my new, exciting exercise challenge for the summer.)

#2. I am so glad Julie brought her son, so I wouldn't be the only one saying, "Hey, can we walk up this hill instead of pedal it?"  or  "I need to take a quick break!"

Feeling the burn!



I knew Julie was in better shape than I because she competes in marathons and triathlons.  Still, she amazed me.  Here she is, pedalling up those steep hills like it was an absolute breeze.

I told her she is my "Go-For-It-Girl." She'll get out and try anything she thinks would be fun or challenging (including motorcycle lessons!)  Gotta admire a girl like that.

Photo op during one of our many short breaks.

Perfect day for mountain biking - 65 degrees, overcast, and a breeze to cool you off.

Along our way, we came across the 911 trail and so Julie and I decided to try a portion of it out.  Wow!  This trail lives up to it's name, and I only tried about 2 minutes of it. (Julie says it's gets worse the further you go.)  Sooo fun!  It wet my appetite, but I'm not ready for it yet.  I am definitely going to need to hone my skills to do well on that one.

 

My new goal:  Be able to complete the 911 trail by the end of summer without actually needing to call 911.

Our way down the trail was fast and furious through a lot of thick trees, sudden turns, blind corners, steep edges, and tiny, 12 inch wide bridges to pass over.  I almost biffed it a few times.  Which leads me to learning a few more important things:

1. Having excellent brakes are your friend!  I certainly would have gone over many-a-ledge or crashed down into the creek and rocks had it not been for being able to slow down on steep, rocky slopes with sharp, blind corners at the bottom.

2. Wearing a helmet and gloves are a must!  Julie's son crashed once but came out fine with no abrasions.

One of the easier places of the trail.


Luckily, the bridges got wider the closer we got to the bottom of the hill.

I am happy and also surprised to report that I made it through my first moutain biking experience with no crashes!

To sum this all up in two words: I'm hooked!

We ended our trip with a cherry on top:

Tonight - I am feeling the soreness starting to seep into my thighs and buttocks.  Exactly where I want it.  LOVE IT!

If I Can't See You, Then You Most Certainly Can't See Me

Recently I was calling for Rigdon to come to me (for dinner, change his bottom, something to that effect) and he took off running. 

He went into deep hiding.

He stayed so still.....letting out a  tiny, little giggle.

Even after I told him that I had found him, he didn't let on that I REALLY knew his location.  After all, HE couldn't see me.  So he stayed exactly where he was, determined that he, indeed, had not yet been found.

After several minutes, he finally peeked out and "let" me find him.


This kid is such a kick in the pants.  Seriously love this age!

And then I nibbled on those cute, little, stinky toes. 

DING, DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD

Osama's last Facebook post:

NEWS THAT MADE MY DAY TODAY!  EXCELLENT JOB US MILITARY!  IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING.

BIN LADEN IS DEAD!  
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42852700/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/?gt1=43001


STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
May 1, 2011: Earlier this evening, President Obama called to inform me that American forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda network that attacked America on September 11, 2001. I congratulated him and the men and women of our military... and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission. They have our everlasting gratitude. This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.
By: George W. Bush

U.S. officials say the photographic evidence shows bin Laden was shot above his left eye, blowing away part of his skull.  He was also shot in the chest, they said. This, near the end of a frenzied firefight in a high-walled Pakistani compound where helicopter-borne U.S. forces found 23 children, nine women, a bin Laden courier who had unwittingly led the U.S. to its target, a son of bin Laden who was also slain, and more.

Bin Laden had lived at the fortified compound for six years, officials said, putting him far from the lawless and harsh Pakistani frontier where he had been assumed to be hiding out.

They said SEALs dropped down ropes from helicopters, killed bin Laden aides and made their way to the main building. Obama and his national security team monitored the strike, watching and listening nervously and in near silence from the Situation Room as it all unfolded.  "The minutes passed like days," Brennan said.

U.S. officials said the information that ultimately led to bin Laden's capture originally came from detainees held in secret CIA prison sites in Eastern Europe. There, agency interrogators were told of an alias used by a courier whom bin Laden particularly trusted.It took four long years to learn the man's real name, then years more before investigators got a big break in the case, these officials said.

Sometime in mid-2010, the courier was overheard using a phone by intelligence officials, who then were able to locate his residence - the specially constructed $1 million compound with walls as high as 18 feet topped with barbed wire.

U.S. counterterrorism officials considered bombing the place, an option that was discarded by the White House as too risky, particularly if it turned out bin Laden was not there.

Instead, Obama signed an order on Friday for the team of SEALs to chopper onto the compound under the cover of darkness.

In addition to bin Laden, one of his sons was killed in the raid, Brennan said. Bin Laden's wife was shot in the calf but survived, a U.S. official said. Also killed were the courier, and the courier's wife and brother, U.S. intelligence officials believe.

Some people found at the compound were left behind when the SEALs withdrew and were turned over to Pakistani authorities who quickly took over control of the site, officials said. They identified the trusted courier as Kuwaiti-born Sheikh Abu Ahmed, who had been known under the name Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti.

Within 40 minutes, the operation was over, and the SEALs flew out - minus the helicopter that had to be destroyed. Bin Laden's remains were flown to the USS Carl Vinson, then lowered into the North Arabian Sea.

Bin Laden's death came 15 years after he declared war on the United States. Al-Qaida was also blamed for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors in Yemen, as well as countless other plots, some successful and some foiled.