The countdown is on

Really short post – I should be in bed. In 48 hours we’ll be somewhere in the air on the way to Edinburgh then England en-route to Girona. It’s not really real right now – it hasn’t sunk in. We’ve been planning this kinda mellow for the past 3 months and now it’s right around the corner.

I’m a little off my game because I didn’t get to ride my bike to school this week. It’s rained every day – maybe not Monday but I was trashed from the ride on Sunday so I didn’t want to push it then. I’m realising just how much my body needs exercise even if my brain prefers sloth. Hopefully we’ll get a good balance of exercise and sloth in Spain.

I’ve started knitting another pair of socks to take with me. I think my sock mojo might be about to wear out, but socks are so small and weigh so little that they’re the best thing to have in my can’t weigh more than 25 kg suitcase. I could risk taking them in my carry on, but I’m not going to risk having it confiscated. It’s a British airline and the directions say “any pointed object” and 2 mm double pointed knitting needles are definitely pointed objects. They look like skewers for satay.

No pictures tonight. I haven’t taken any lately and I don’t want to go surfing through my directories at this point.

toodloo

<yawn>

The Monkey Socks are DONE!

They’ve been hanging around on the needles for a few months – I even had one half knitted on a smaller needle at one point, but I finally finished the pair yesterday morning and got pictures of them today.

These are Monkey Socks from Knitty, knit in Regia Bamboo, colour “Passion”. I started on 2.75 mm clover needles, but the fabric seemed a bit loose, so I started the second sock on 2.25 mm needles. That one wouldn’t fit around my heel, so it got ripped out and restarted on 2.75 mm needles. I see the recommended needle size is even thicker, but I wouldn’t go that far. I haven’t washed the socks yet, so no comments on the washibility or wearing. The yarn was a gift from Bronwyn, my SP from the Knittyboard’s SP8. Thank you AGAIN Bronwyn!

I think they’re pretty spiffy. I took them out to visit the crab-apple tree that’s blooming in the yard. Then I stuffed them in shoes and went out into the world knowing I was wearing the first pair of socks I knit ALL FOR MYSELF!!

I now have a ball of Tofutsies in colour 718 from Bronwyn that I have to figure out what to do with… I’m wondering about Pomatomus.

On the biking front I’ve been out on two rides since I last wrote. 27 km with a friend who is just getting into riding and 23 km with my brother (D was along on both rides as well). The 27 km was a gorgeous loop I found on www.bikely.com. Check that website out for your local area – it uses Google Maps to trace out routs and tell you something about them – onroad, offroad, difficult or not etc. The 23 km today was a slog. I had to check on an experiment at school so we started from there. We know a nice road we wanted to get to from school but the usual way there is a bit of a pain. We saw a different route posted on http://www.bikely.com, so we tried it. Well, it was WAY worse. I can make it up almost any hill now- but today I considered getting off and walking. At one point, I was going up so much that my front wheel came off the ground. It was tough. But I did it and it will only get me in even better shape. So far this year, I’ve done mainly flat rides, so getting some hills in is good.

That brings the TdF bikealong to 236.95 kms. I’m FINALLY done the first stage (and the prologue, but that was only 7.9 km, so I was done that long ago). I’ve crossed the English Channel and I’m 26 km from Dunkerque, heading for Gand in Belgium. Stage 2 is the longest of this year’s Tour so I might be here for a bit (that and we leave for 10 days in Spain without bikes on Friday!)

Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows

OK, there were no rainbows this weekend, but there were lollipops at the barber and LOTS of sunshine.

Spring has really sprung and it’s about time. We spent Saturday running around and biking, then Sunday we went to Toronto to Mountain Equipment Co-op and Romni Wools, then spent the afternoon on the patio.

Biking wise, I rode to school one day last week (another 34 km). Our Sunday ride was short due to stuff happening (that’s why you bike FIRST, so it’s the other things that get cut short). It was 22.15 km. That brings the total to 152.95 km for the year so far. Tomorrow I’m going to bike, that will get me to 186.95 km – Still in England. Stage 1. The Tour riders will be caught up to me in the first 4 hours of riding. How sad is that? Better get a move on. We’re supposed to go riding with a friend on Thursday, but it might rain. Please do a rain dance in your town so it doesn’t rain here (unless you live here as well!).

This is what D did on Sunday. You have to look after your steed!

On Monday, my sister ran her marathon. She finished with a really good time that includes 7 minutes under an awning when it started to HAIL. yes, HAIL. It stopped, she kept running and then it started again and she kept running. Good work Mags! Ginger and Fred partied ALL NIGHT. I’m paying for it today.

Knittingwise, I’m onto the foot of the second monkey socks. Get’em done. House is on right now, that should get another repeat or two done, then 2 or 3 more, the toes and they’re done. Phew. Not sure what I should take to Spain though. I’ll figure it out – 10 days and counting!

For the Magster

Ginger and Fred heard that Maggie is running a marathon on Monday. They wanted to come and cheer her on.

Ginger started looking into the travel situation

While Fred made some signs

Ginger was waiting to congratulate Maggie at the finish line on the kitchen floor.

She got tired, so Fred took over.

I think they understand a marathon is a long way, but I don’t think they realise that it’s not long enough to get Maggie to come and visit.

Good luck Maggie!