Back in the saddle, again

Not so much an homage to Gene Autry as just using a turn of phrase to describe the feeling of September, 2018. I'm one month into my faculty job, and in the past few weeks I have been reminded of several things:

• Transitions are hard. No matter how many new positions I start, or how many spreadsheets I create, starting something new is all at once exciting, wonderful, overwhelming, and terrifying.

• When the going gets tough, the tough get on their bicycles. 

Finding time to ride my bike through all of the transitions of 2017 and 2018 has been really difficult. This meant that reprising my #200in2016 endeavors was all but impossible this year, and it made me a little sad to realize how long it had been since I'd ridden my bike. In fairness, only some of this was the crazy nature of my life, because some of it was just because of crazy nature. It has been so hot and humid here! Excuses aside, I've now set up my commuter bike on the trainer upstairs, so while it doesn't commute much at this point, it does provide a convenient way to exercise without leaving the house. I've also signed up for the 2018 Bike MS: Waves to Wine ride. They offer the option to ride as a "Virtual Rider," so I can train and fund raise as part of Team Menstrual Cycles, and then ride on my own in North Carolina at the same time that my team is riding up the coast of Northern California. I've not yet decided what distance I'll be riding - the Saturday routes in California are either 100, 86, 43, or 22 miles, and the Sunday routes are 63 and 42 miles. So far, I'm up to about 20 miles training, putting really only the 40-ish mile distances in range. Further reports to come.

While I'm training, however, I'd love for all of you to donate to Bike MS! I ride every year in honor of an amazing mentor with MS, with the goal of ultimately reaching a world free of MS. This is my fourth Bike MS ride, so consider donating $40 or $400, and it is the team's tenth ride, so $10, $100, or $1,000 all seem reasonable to me! And if you aren't in a place to donate right now, consider reposting this or passing it along to someone who might be.

I got a new bike-mount for my cell phone and I captured this terrible photo without stopping. I think it might be cool to try to get one from the handlebars each ride, but I already forgot to do it on today's ride... 

This is the moonset in the morning before I catch the bus for work. It's already hot out...

Down dog, a meditative cat, and a mystery

I'm truly settling in to fellowship life! Leading indicators:

1. I have been able to make progress reading a novel in more than 0.5-1 page increments before I fall asleep.  I've been reading On Beauty by Zadie Smith. I highly recommend it.

2. I've started getting back into yoga. I'm not yet back to my Ashtanga life, but I've been using this app called Down Dog that will put together a series of poses that actually make sense for almost any time interval. The dog generally sleeps through any yoga in the morning, but the cat is very keen on joining me.

3. I completed my 50 mile bike ride, and learned of an amazing mid- or post-ride snack: a spoon full of peanut butter rolled in a mixture of M&Ms, mini peanut butter cups, and pretzel bits. This was quite possibly the highlight of a rather rainy and gray ride. The sunniest bit is shown below. I have also made a new cycling friend in the triangle, and I've got plans for more rides in the coming weeks. 

We took Walter to the ocean after my ride, even though it was a rainy and gray.

And finally, unrelated to my progress toward normalcy, there is a mystery involving Clyde. He had been thriving, and even had leaves that looked variegated in color like his old self. Then, one day last week he abruptly lost all of them. We hadn't had rain in a bit, and I'm not amazing with the watering can, but I really don't think that I would have offed him that quickly. I'm pretty sure that some creature ate the stems, because I saw one laying in all of it's green and purple glory next to the pot. I'm starting again from scratch, and hoping that he can make another comeback. 

First training ride, and a Clyde update

Today was my first official training ride for Bike MS: Breakaway to the Beach! I rode a little over 10 miles, exploring some of the parts of Chapel Hill that I haven't seen before. Turns out the UNC golf course is fancy... and to put the hills in perspective, on my usual little 14 mile loop around San Francisco I would gain approximately 1,600 ft of elevation, whereas my 10 mile loop today was just shy of 500 ft. Despite the grade not even approaching that of San Francisco, I am out of shape enough to shift down significantly and pant my way up even the little ones around here!

And in case you were hoping for a reminder, here it is: Click here to help to meet my fundraising goal of $1000! Thank you so incredibly much to those of you who have donated already.

There are a bunch of lush bike paths all over Chapel Hill. Here's one I hit on my ride this morning.

In addition to doing my part to get to a world free of MS, I'm also contributing to the beautiful greenery that defines the North Carolina summer landscape! Here is my most recent photo of Clyde, who has really been flourishing in the rain. He even has some of the darker color in his leaves now!

Still not quite filling the pot, but looking more like a normal plant every day.

Third time's the charm

Click here to donate!

Two years ago, I joined The Best Team. Period. I became a part of Team Menstrual Cycles, an incredible group of cyclists that includes not only many OB/GYNs, but also a number of lovely folks riding with MS. I got a bike jersey featuring a uterus riding a bicycle. Together, we rode in the Bike MS: Waves to Wine ride in California and raised tons of money to fight MS. This year, for my third annual Bike MS ride, I'm riding as a member at large!

It's clear that moving across the country, taking boards, starting fellowship, and dealing with all of the roadblocks life throws up along the way have left me terribly out of shape. I got on my bike the other evening and panted through a 7.5 mile ride through the UNC campus... This is not how I left things after the back-to-back centuries last fall. Nonetheless, I'm committed to riding 50 miles on October 7 in the Bike MS: Breakaway to the Beach ride on the coast of my new state of North Carolina. It looks like some of the routes even dip into South Carolina, although the final details are not yet posted. I look forward the beautiful landscapes I'll see on my training rides and the day of the event!

My goal is to raise $1000 for MS research and support by October 7. While I train, you donate! Even more than wanting to train enough to breezily blow through the finish line on the day of the ride, I want to breezily blow through my fundraising goal! Every little bit helps, and if today isn't the right day for you, do me a favor and pass this along to a friend or family member.

Click here to donate!

The Final Countdown

As many of you know, I've installed the "Final Countdown" app on my phone. Filed under "wellness," along with my meditation and yoga apps, it counts down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds until residency ends on June 17, 2017 at 5PM (with the start of cocktail hour at our banquet). As of this posting I'm at 35 days, 22 hours, and minutes and seconds that count down as I type. I've set it to display the countdown in a soothing electric blue that seemed somehow less aggressive than red or green event. As we inexorably move toward the end of residency, I find that in a similarly unstoppable fashion my to do list gets longer and my desire to complete those items evaporates.

Things I've been avoiding:

• Cleaning out my closet: There are things in there that I moved but haven't worn since residency began. I know, truly, that I will never wear them and that there are others in San Francisco who would, but the effort to remove them from my closet feels Herculean. 
• Recycling my old medical journals: So many of them have not yet been read. At some point I will just need to embrace that many of them will never be read, and resign myself to the fact that they were lightly skimmed at some point and recycle them. Until that point, however, they will sit, weighing down the desk drawer and my conscience.
• Studying for boards: This is sort of happening. I'm actually doing a little bit of studying each day, but nothing feels like enough.
• Finishing manuscripts that have languished for months/years: Can a little bit more languishing really hurt?

Things I've done instead:

• Went on a little vacation to Monterey: This involved kayaking with the dog, which Lynn thought was a great idea and I was quite dubious about, but which turned out to be fantastic. It also involved a lot of lovely walking, the aquarium, and some new yarn. See photos below.
• Knit: This could be it's own list. The parade of babies continues, and I have been trying out new techniques and some bold colors. Hopefully all of the expectant parents I know are feeling highlighter florescent accent colors and/or bold stripes...
• Pumped up my bike tires: I've not been on my road bike in months, and I'm trying to motivate in that direction...

This has to be one of the most photographed trees in the US, maybe the world - the "Lone Cyprus" on the 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach. 

The jellyfish were my favorite.

This little pulpito moved around a bunch for us. I kept thinking of Inky, the one who got away, and his mate Blotchy, who must rue the day he didn't follow his buddy to freedom. 

Walter, in the kayak. There is a longer story that involves him jumping out of the kayak and (later) being spooked by sea lions. Maybe for another post...

From the other side of the drought...

For the first few years that we lived in California, there wasn't much rain. I thought this was pretty great, as I bike to work most days, but recognized that it was affecting farmers and also people with nice-looking lawns in many parts of the state. There was much discussion about how best to conserve water, and apportion the water that was available to the most necessary tasks. Enter late 2016 and on into early 2017...

We have so much rain! There have been many recent stories about the havoc the rain has wreaked across the state, from images of people being rescued from river-like streets to threats of old dams and spillways overflowing to the breaking point. Meanwhile, I've been alternately lazy, using various ride services to carpool with strangers, and super intense, suiting up in my rain gear to brave the weather by bicycle. And then there are my succulents. They cannot decide whether to be thrilled or destroyed by the rain. While some are showing a little brown around the edges and there is tropical-looking moss growing on the dirt in one, others are blooming! Lemonade, I suppose.

 Some of the succulents look fancy when they bloom

 This one has grown so tall with all the water that it falls over whenever there is a lot of wind

This one is threatening to outgrow it's pot

Walter hates the rain, but on the sunny days we do have, he loves grazing in the flowers that bloom

Too tired to boast... almost...

It's already been a week since my last ride, which is hard to believe. and I'm just getting to this post. I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to everyone who donated over $2000 to two great causes, the residents and fellow who helped me to arrange my call schedules so that I wasn't working either Saturday, and to the lovely Lynn, who spent an immense amount of time helping me to get to and from the start- and finish-lines. 

On Friday, September 9 I drove directly from work to Carmel. Early Saturday morning, my cousins and I headed to the starting line for the Best Buddies International Hearst Castle Challenge. I was so nervous that I wouldn't be able to keep up! I held my own for about 65 or 70 miles, thanks mostly to their willingness to let me draft behind them, and then rode with a slighly slower crowd for the next 15 miles. We met up at the last rest stop, and they slowed a bit and I pushed myself, and we all rode in together at Hearst Castle. It was a fantastic ride! I had to work the next day, so I got on the early bus back 100 miles north back to Carmel. I picked up the car, and drove to San Jose, where I met up with Lynn so that she could drive home. I slept most of the way...

I then worked on Sunday, and started my new rotation on Monday. I worked all through the next weekend, only biking as a commuter. On September 24, early in the morning, Lynn dropped me off at Cow Palace for the starting line for BikeMS: Waves to Wine. I rode most of the ride with various Team Menstrual Cycles riders, most of whom were doing some portion of the 82-mile route. I turned off on my own for the inland loop that distinguished the 100-mile route, and found the Marshall Wall to be a scorching, miserable climb that I do not plan to repeat. I was much, much slower without the benefit of my very fast family (7:50 moving time instead of 6:43 moving time), but I still had a great time. I slept on the way home that day, too. 

#200in2016 complete!

Also, thank you to Strava for diligently recording my rides, and to my Nexus 6P which has a decent battery life that allows me to record my rides

My cousin Chris and I in the fog that engulfed almost the entirety of the Best Buddies Ride

A cute lizard that joined me at the Hearst Castle Ranch

Another Menstrual Cyclist tackling Waves to Wine

(Don't worry, I'm stopped and standing on the ground while I take this photo.)

Looking sunny in the official Team Menstrual Cycles jersey

The view from part of the hot, desolate segment of the 100-mile route on the Waves to Wine ride

How is it September? And other surprising things about the proximity of my first century of the year...

It's hard to believe it's September already, and Labor Day is Monday. My first century ride of the year is less than a week away! I just returned from a beautiful 60+ mile ride around the peninsula, and am feeling okay about the cycling part of this commitment. I am slow, for sure, and nearly got passed today going up a hill by a child with training wheels, but I'm also okay riding alone, so this shouldn't be an issue.

The fundraising, however, is painful! My personal fundraising page would have you believe that I have reached my goal, but that is so far from true! I'm responsible for the balance of the fundraising if I haven't met my goal by the ride, and that has already been processed! Please know that when you get a fundraising email from me, every little bit helps! And also please know that I hate asking you all for money, even for a good cause... So help stop the desperate emails, Facebook posts, and blog entries, and help me raise $500 more before next weekend!

Donate here

And now some photos from my ride...

 Crystal Springs Reservoir

 Deer!

 I know this gives the impression that there is not a drought... 

 Me...

 Pulgas Water Temple

Behind the water temple... 

Turns out this year is busy

I've been pretty consumed with residency these past two months, but am still biking hard! I'm exhausted, and have little time to post, but here are some recent cycling photos...

 Tiburon by bike

 Angel Island

 Me!

 In which I prevent bicycle theft and also use a state-park toilet

 The view heading toward Tiburon

San Quentin...

In case you'd forgotten, I'm bicycling 200 miles this year for good causes. Can you give $1/mile? Or just $0.50/mile? To support me, click here:

https://www.bestbuddieschallenge.org/hc/support/#200in2016

#200in2016

It's done. I've officially registered for two century rides, two weeks apart, for two great causes. I first mentioned them here, and as of today am registered for both. There are two things I'm absolutely depending on for these rides:

1. Patience: I am slow. There are not a lot of things in my life where I am content to admit that I'm slower than almost everyone else and am satisfied there, but cycling is one of them. I'll train as much as I can train, but there are certain immutable facts (namely residency) that slow me down. Luckily, I'm pretty happy riding all day all alone, so even if the friends, family, and colleagues who will be joining me on these rides are much faster, I don't mind bringing up the back.

2. Your money: You read correctly. I've made some rather lofty fundraising goals in order to feel good riding in both of these rides. Compared to my ride last year (40 miles), I'm increasing my mileage this year by 500%. Can you do the same with your donations? If that percent increase seems a bit steep to you, perhaps consider a 100% increase since I'm doubling my number of rides. Here are the links to my fundraising pages:

BikeMS: Waves to Wine

Best Buddies Challenge: Hearst Castle

Last weekend I rode 54 miles (all at one time!) on what was the longest bike ride my new bike has ever experienced. Apart from grossly underestimating the amount of water I needed, and forgetting to sunscreen my legs, both of which only became apparent after 95% of the ride, it was lovely.

 In which I demonstrate that even in the daylight I favor cycling safety

China Camp State Park, or, the very lovely surroundings of the public restrooms around which I planned much of my ride

Some thoughts about regional cycling culture

In Michigan, looking cool on a bicycle meant several things. First and foremost, it meant sporting a variety of cycling clothes (jerseys, shorts, socks, etc) from the various events you had previously completed. Started riding DALMAC (the Dick Allen Lansing to MACkinaw) in 1971 when it originated? Then wear that vintage jersey from the first year they made them to show just how awesome and dedicated you are. Secondly, although there were probably small subgroups of cyclists that favored the matching kit, where the jersey and the shorts are made to match, the vast majority favored mixing it up, perhaps to demonstrate the wide range of interesting pieces of cycling gear available to the enthusiastic rider. My rides would leave me asking questions along the line of, "Huh, I wonder where I can get those bright crazy shorts that guy had, so that I can wear them with my florescent pink jersey with the little devil on it from the ride through Hell, MI?"

In San Francisco, and I suspect in most of California, the approach is completely different. Fitting in and looking like you mean it on a bicycle requires a matching kit. You may select a pattern or color, and if you are part of a professional or amateur cycling team, it is acceptable to wear that jersey, but otherwise black is the preferred color. All of the fancy cycling clubs seem to produce all-black cycling gear, perhaps with accents that attempt to prevent accidents and make you more visible. While my training rides here have also prompted question asking, they have been more along the lines of "Why would you market a line of black, solid colored cycling garments in a city with so much fog?"

While I'd like to avoid high inference statements about cycling clothes that demonstrate that you have money rather than cycling clothes that demonstrate that you have fun, this difference seems stark. Am I missing something? Is there another obvious reason to eschew mismatched cycling gear in favor of the all-black kit? Help me out, dear readers. Perhaps needless to say, I continue to pair pieces of my maize and blue University of Michigan kit with other random bits, like the bright pink jersey I mentioned earlier, and my Menstrual Cycles team jersey, all with the primary goal of making myself as noticeable as possible to cars on the road, and the secondary goal of wearing clean things while riding. Look for me on the roads in an awesome kit comprised of colors and patterns that were never meant to be!

 Looking out over the Marin Headlands

 Finally biked up to Muir Woods

Clouds from Twin Peaks

Quick updates!

It's somehow suddenly very late on Sunday, so here are some updates on the posts from the past few weeks.

The baby barrage: The neonates have started to arrive, and my list of knitting to-dos grows. They are all so cute, and so far have come with only the expected amount of drama. The combinations and permutations of yarns and patterns is increasingly overwhelming...

The cycling craziness: Last week was a cycling failure. Abject failure. I'm back in the saddle as of this morning, and aiming to increase my mileage pretty significantly this week. I'm planning to register for both rides shortly, and you all can anticipate desperate fundraising pleas to come!

The pet prancing: It continues. Need I say more? This week's feature is Aleks, who is shown below snuggled into his cave bed, nuzzling the squirt gun that has quickly morphed from a disciplinary tool to a game, and with his head stuck in a bag of caramel corn.

In which the pendulum swings entirely in the other direction

Having just written about the very real downsides of setting ambitious goals, I thought I would share today some of the ambitious goals that I've set for myself. It's been almost exactly four years since I last rode in a century ride, documented here. That was during the early part of my fourth year of medical school, and I think it's only fitting that I attempt another (at least) one while I'm a resident. It's not clear to me whether I'll actually have time to train, but I'm committed to trying.

The first ride is the Best Buddies Challenge from Carmel to Hearst Castle. The possible routes are detailed here, and I'm hoping to complete the 100 mile ride with my cousins. Both Matt and Chris are in much better shape than I, but hopefully they will ride slowly with me! If all else fails, I'll drive a little further down the coast (maybe Big Sur) and meet up with them for the last 62 or 30 miles, which I can definitely complete.

The second is a reprise of last years Waves to Wine with Team Menstrual Cycles. Last year I rode 40 miles on the second day, and this year I'm hoping to ride on both days, ideally completing the 100 mile ride on the first. I'm already registered (the link goes to my fundraising page!) but have realized that my clinical schedule may be all but impossible on that weekend, so keep your fingers crossed for me. Here is a flashback to last year's ride:

Chris and Matt, if you're reading this, you, too, could rock a cycling jersey with a uterus riding a bicycle!

On the perils of goal setting

Most people, including myself, would place the setting of goals solidly in the Venn diagram circle of "good" things. Today, however, I found myself reflecting that goal setting might instead be more accurately placed in the Boolean intersection of the circles encompassing "good" AND "bad" things. Some thoughts I had today while on my bicycle:

PROS Simply by setting goals I find myself to be more motivated to meet them, and doubly and even triply so if I've articulated them aloud or in writing and shared them with someone else There is almost nothing that I love more than checking things off of a to-do list Writing down specific goals often helps me to break up a task into more doable sections

CONS Sometimes goals cannot be met for an assortment of good reasons, and one can undertake crazy or unreasonable things simply for the sake of meeting a previously stated goal Items piling up on a to-do list are overwhelming Even the broken down goals may be way too much

Here I am at the top of Twin Peaks. You cannot see anything around me (nor could I) because I am surrounded by fog. I am soaking wet from the rain, and did not wear my bright green cycling rain jacket. I was inside the clouds, and not in a euphoric, cloud nine kind of way. In my defense, it was not raining when I left the house, and having recently created some very large cycling goals (more on that later), I couldn't bear the thought of missing out on a ride today. About 12 miles in, I am trying to look happy in this photo, despite being very cold and wet. Check?

The return of the post-call bike rides

My third year of residency has truly been a tour of models of resident coverage in a variety of different settings. At different points throughout the year I've worked in clinic only without any call, I've been the covering resident for anyone who is ill or otherwise unavailable, I've been on a night float team, and I've taken 24 hour call every three days, and I've been part of weekend call teams. There are definitely pluses and minuses to each one, and frankly all of them are exhausting in some way. For this current six week block, I'm on a (seemingly) random 24 hour call schedule, so I'll have non-weekend post-call days again! 

I'm definitely not in Hawaii anymore, and my post-call surrounds are distinctly more suburban versus exurban than tropical, with some agricultural sights thrown in for good measure. I'm also driving a car belonging to my amazing and gracious co-resident that does not hold my bike. These facts have necessitated a reconsideration of my previous (island-bound, Prius-driven) cycling regimen. I have dreams of a century ride (or even two!) in a few months, so we'll see if I can make those come true. 

 First post-call ride was a jaunt through Golden Gate Park and down the beach. Sometimes I forget that we live in a really beautiful place...

Second post-call ride was a painful reminder through the Presidio that my night float biking was really only my short nightly commute and that I am profoundly deconditioned...

The clouds of SF

I've continued to lament the lack of breathtaking beaches and mountains in my bike rides since returning from Hawaii. There is nothing quite so satisfying as sharing not only that I biked some longer-than-expected mileage, but that I also saw an oceanscape that would make most postcards jealous. After moping about this for some time, however, someone wiser than I suggested that most people consider Northern California to be quite beautiful in its own right, and that I might be selling the Bay Area a little bit short. Since that conversation, I've gone on some pretty spectacular rides - through the Marin Headlands, around Twin Peaks, up and down in the Presidio, just to name a few - and must begrudgingly acknowledge that San Francisco is quite a lovely place to ride. Lately, in particular, I've been noticing that while the fog is not generally considered beautiful, it seems to sometimes lead to lovely clouds. Some examples below.

 Over Sausalito

 From the lookout in the Presidio

 On Ocean Beach

 From Twin Peaks

At the corner of Gough and Eddy