the Y

I love the YMCA! I have never been much of a ‘joiner’, but I have been a member of either the YWCA or YMCA for my entire adult life. For one thing, they don’t just talk the talk at the Y, they walk the walk, too. At my local Y, they promote and publicize their commitment to Christian values--- and then, they PRACTICE them too! There are big signs at the Y that say “CARING HONESTY RESPECT RESPONSIBILITY” and every day I work out there, I see the staff and members advancing their mission to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all. They don’t discriminate at the Y, which shouldn’t be a big deal in this day and age, but it is. There are places in town that have newer, brighter and shinier equipment—places with tons of classes and machines and locker rooms that don’t smell like Muhammad Ali’s socks, but I know that by belonging to the Y, I belong to an organization that gives a hand up to folks who need it. People who need a break, financially, are there---and people who just need a break are there, too. I’ve seen some amazing things at the Y, and I’ve also seen some bizarre things. On a really, really good day, there are 8 treadmills that work at the Y. Most days, there are 5. Some days, fewer. Once I saw a guy on a treadmill working out like this: He had the belt going lickety split but he never stepped on it. Instead, he balanced on one leg on one of the side rails that doesn’t move. With his other leg, he pretended to be riding a scooter, feverishly kicking off the floor all the while hanging on to the treadmill handle, and riding the rail. This went on for about a half hour. I have no idea why he chose a treadmill to perform this exercise with, but he did. No one said a word about it, because you can work out however you want to at the Y.

I started using the elliptical machines last year before we hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and I pretty much kept doing the same thing until March, when I realized that other than developing a sick attraction to the music of Billy Bragg, and learning all the lyrics to the Rufus Wainwright songs on my iPod, I wasn’t getting much out of it. A few years ago I read a profile about Lance Armstrong, and I remember it saying that the ideal physique for cycling requires the upper body strength of a 10-year old girl. Good news for me!! I have that already! It probably said something else, like combining that upper body with the legs to carry you in a sprint up L’Alpe d’Huez, too, but I ignored that part. The closer this ride comes, though, the more I visualize myself trying to push my fully loaded bike uphill in the mountains, and I know I need to improve my strength. So, in March I decided to talk to the fitness director, Laurie, about personal training. She is tall, redheaded, strong and graceful. She listened to me describe what I wanted to accomplish, and quickly told me that I could do it. We developed a 12 week plan, and got right to work. Excitedly, I called my oldest brother to share the good news---he said that the plan sounded great! Too bad I only had 10 weeks before departing!!

So, I’m a little more than half way through the plan, and I’ve had some setbacks, but I’m getting stronger every week. At first, I could bench press a kitten---I don’t look at the amount of weight that Laurie puts on the machines, but I imagine it in animal sizes. I can press at least a raccoon now. I can leg press a medium sized goat, probably. Sometimes, Laurie looks at me and says something like “hammer curls!!” and I look back at her, wondering if she is talking about a new hairstyle we could try---until she grabs a huge pair of dumbbells and hands them over. I don’t know how she does it, but just when the little rat voice in my mind tells me that I can’t do it anymore, she always says “I KNOW YOU CAN DO THIS!” That’s just one more reason why I love the Y.

TRAINING

Well, we have five more weeks before we begin our cross country bike trip, and some folks have been asking about "training". Usually my answer is "huh?" accompanied by a puzzled look, but we have been doing some things to prepare. Namely, buying more things. More "stuff". Lighter "stuff", more high tech "stuff". "Stuff" I never would have imagined in a million years that I would own. Like, for instance---I now own a titanium spork. I'm not a big fan of "stuff" in general, and I'm really not into tools that multi-task. I want my toaster to make toast, exclusively. I don't want a toaster that also brews espresso. Ditto on a phone that takes pictures, a camera that records voices, a TV that plays VHS tapes, and on and on and on. I just want a simple product, that will do an exemplary job at a simple task. (Although I still think Maxwell Smart's shoe phone was way cool.) And, make no mistake, I prefer to eat with a separate knife, fork and spoon. I want my cutlery to be handsome, with a friendly grip and some heft to it. Functional, but with good form. And now I have a spork. Because it doesn't weigh very much at all and every gram counts. In addition to my new spork, we also have a new tent (more on that later), I have a new thermarest pad that is both lighter and warmer (?), we've got some spiffy new bikes, and scads of other items.

Besides buying things, we took a little tour across Oklahoma last summer to get an idea of what long distance multi-day riding is like (hard) and we toured with a great group of Adventure Cyclists in the San Juan islands learning "how to" tour fully loaded. We did a little shake down ride up to Duluth that practically killed us last September, and we put the bikes on mothballs until about a month ago. We started riding again when the snow melted and the ice receded!

I've consulted with my friends who have gone cross country, and they've shared their wisdom and advice---Kami, or "Shortcut" as I will soon be calling her, has bought two sets of maps for the Northern Tier and has studied them religiously. She almost found a way to ferry across all the Great Lakes, but that fell through and I found out the other day that we're going to ride through Canada too. I guess this is becoming a multi-national cross continent trek. I just know we're starting in Washington and we're finishing in Maine. The rest is going to be one big, fat surprise for me. Except I think there's a reason for the TWO sets of maps...