Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Between clouds

Date: Jan. 22
Mileage: 28.4
January mileage: 550.2
Hours: 2:30
Temperature upon departure: 28
Precipitation: .01"

Laura from NPR put together a pretty cool audio slideshow in which I retell the story of Juneau's resident wolf. You can listen to it at this link: "A Wolf Named Romeo." It's been interesting to see a bit of national reaction to the story of Romeo. I hope it's clear that I'm rehashing a local legend, and not presenting a factual timeline. There's a lot that's unknown about Romeo, and I'm certainly not an expert on his origin or needs. But I do know the wolf has co-existed peacefully with the recreational users of the Mendenhall Lake area for a least two years, and nobody seems to be clamoring to upset that balance.

I was feeling quite a bit of fatigue this morning. It could be all the training hours I've put in this week, or it could be the fact that I've been sleeping less, and generally not very well. Geoff and I are moving to another apartment at the end of January. We're trying to put together our plan for transporting ourselves and our stuff to and from Anchorage and hopefully McGrath next month. I'm still working on gear and food plans, and I'm reminding myself to practice my tire changes and bike repairs, tweak some of my gear, play with my stove and study maps. Little stressers start to build. I have this list that shuffles through my head like an animated flip chart. Some days, it moves so fast I can't even decipher where it begins and ends. Training is a good release. Often, I think training is the easy part of preparing for this bike race. Actually, I know training is the easy part of preparing for this bike race.

So I felt lucky to make a hard climb to Eaglecrest, despite some lead in my legs and a strong desire to crawl back into bed ... well, crawl back onto the Thermarest I have spread out on the carpet where the bed used to be. It sure beats packing stuff into boxes and hauling it off to the Salvation Army. And it sure beats researching plane tickets and wrenching around with the Pugsley. I felt guilty about choosing cycling over chores, so I pedaled as hard as my heavy muscles would allow, zoning in on my pain cave as my flip-chart thoughts dissolved into a soft mash. I spent some time playing on the frozen coastal mudflats before ascending the Eaglecrest road. Just like yesterday, I climbed out of a low-lying bank of clouds. Unlike yesterday, there were high-lying overcast clouds hovering above.

It seemed appropriate ... standing in the clear zone between two strands of clouds, unsure what my next step will be.

10 comments:

  1. Sure sounds like you've got a lot going on! Looks like the new camera is doing good for you even with cloudiness, some nice pictures. Take care of you!

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  2. Who needs to know the next step in the paradise?

    Have a nice day.

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  3. The next step...
    your closing comment on the audio says it..."the pug(sley) came out completely fine."

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  4. Jill, a rest day at this point probably wouldn't hurt. Your life sounds very busy. Try to get some sleep.

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  5. Hi Jill,

    Congrats on your VeloNews site of the day award! I work with VeloNews, sort of. I'm interested in buying a license to use some of your "bike on snow" photos for VeloGear.com. Could you email me? dtrendler@insideinc.com

    Thanks,

    Dave Trendler
    VeloGear

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  6. That was a great little photo essay about Romeo and Snow biking. Great pictures.
    Great commentary.

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  7. Congratulations on the "Best Sports Weblog" nomination! Again! I have a real dilemma now because your blog and Fatty's are the only two I read. At least it's good to know other people think I read top-quality stuff, too!

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  8. Thank you for the wonderful story (legend) of Romeo and the beautiful pictures. As always, I loved it all. I check the Mendenhall Glacier camera at least once a day. When I see people there, I often wonder if one of the people is you.

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  9. hey, jill, just wanted to say hi. i found this blog through a friend a few weeks ago and I've been checking in regularly to see how things are going. great pictures, and an inspiring goal. best of luck!

    cheasty

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  10. Did you observe the speed limit going downhill? :)

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Feedback is always appreciated!