Those DAMN hills: She said

Hallo! It's Regan. First off, i want to apologise for not blogging in...forever. We've been busy. Now. For this post. I'm here in Nebraska training for a 301 mile bike ride...I know, I'm crazy. My best Friend Lynne (She would like to make it known that her name is pronounced like Lin. NOT like lin-y because "You are all Idiots") is here with me. We're training here for a few days, then leaving on Wednesday for the Tour De Nebraska. This is my 3rd year, Lynne's 2nd. My grandfather (A nationally rated track runner and biker) and Lynne's mother are coming with, as well. Here's the account of what's happened thus far, to be updated daily. Multiple times.



Day one-Leaving the house:

Well. It was fun. Aidan and I had a small fight, then made up, and said heartfelt goodbye's. Then we picked up Lynne.Then a LOOONNG car ride...really..not much to tell.



Day Two- ....We don't like getting up!

"GIRLS GET UP!" My Poppa yells. I glance at the clock. 7. A.M. Fun. I roll over, and force myself out of bed, being used to getting up at 5:45 when Aidan gets up for summer weights. Lynne is a different story..."LYNNE!! GET UP!" I yell. I already have my contacts in, and am leaving for the bathroom with my biking Jersey and cycling shorts. "mmm! I AM!" she responds. When i get back there is much grumbling. Lynne's contact ripped. She has to wear glasses...Fun. I stalk up stairs, shoes in hand to devour the before-ride bagel and water. Lynne comes shortly, being coxed (Rather...pestered) by myself. We dawdle a little longer, and finally mount our Trek road bikes. All three of us have different Trek bikes...different colored shirts and helmets. But our shorts and gloves match. We ride around the city, accumulating about 16 miles. And if you think Nebraska is flat...your flat out wrong. Its not. damn the hills. We finally stop at a Highway diner. Our favorite greasy truck stop. I get two eggs, and off we go. Its a mile back home, easy as heck.



I collapse on to the bed, as Lynne calls first shower. Shrugging I call Aidan. We talk, and regretfully hang up.I jump in the shower, quickly texting Aidan when I finish.

Lynne and I...are rather addicted to four things. Books. Music. Sleep. Ramen. We enjoyed the first two for a while, the decided to go watch the ever popular Pirates Of the Caribbean. At the epic climax (STOP SHOOTING HOLES IN MY SHIP!) we stop to enjoy the latter of this list. I, true to my laziness, make Lynne cook it. And here I am....

(2nd update of the day)

-Sigh- THOSE DAMN HILLS!!! We had a GREAT encounter with hills. Tonight's ride was the "Country" part of the town. Country my arse. Highway bordering a farm. With hills. All up. NOT DOWN. LONG. AND. PAINFUL. My grandpa sarcastically/cynically states that "There are no hills in Nebraska". My bike chain falls off. I repair it...and get lube-covered hands as a result. As we approach the (no joke) 15th hill, I speed up, deciding to power up the hills, rather than taking it slow. "I hate you, Poppa." I joke as i bike past him. Sweat, by now, is pouring into my eyes. FUN FUN. Lynne and I listen to music as we bike...and i'd wondered where mine went. And my chain falls off again, as I realize that i DON'T HAVE MY HEADPHONES IN. I bike one-handedly as i chatter to Lynne about it. Finally...The pharmacy (End-of-hill-point and less than a mile home.) i speed up....entering the gated community and glancing at the pool. I flip open my phone to a sad-ish text from Aidan. "Work. I love you."...He'll get back around 9-10 Nebraska time...=[ Of course, my Grandmother has Tater-tot casserole ready for us. YUM. We devour it...run back down stairs.....put on swimsuits (At lest Lynne does, I changed before dinner) and here i am now. We're just going to the pool....More if i can fit it in to the day.....IM TIRED. AND SORE. But hey....I'm a biker...Live with it, right? Im crazy...I know =p...

The pool was fun. Then we had Red cake. Then watched Pirates 2. Then called Aidan. Not much to say.

Day Three- Ouch.
"GIRLS UP AND AT 'EM!" My Poppa says. Lynne and I tumble out of bed, again at 7:00. We get ready, and meander up the stairs. My grandparents storm radio screeches, the warning light flickers on, and "SEVER THUNDERSTORM" Flashes. Lynne and I stumble back downstairs, and fall asleep.

At about 9:45 I get a text from Aidan, waking me. We talk for while, then I drift back off, to be woken again by Poppa. We mumble, but mount our bikes, and set off.

All was well for a while. We were planning to ride about 5miles up to lunch. To one of my favorite places. We were making great time, and everything was going well, despite the crazy amount of mud and water from the resent storms. We were about 1.5 miles from the lunch joint when we started riding on a sidewalk-converted-trail (They added another sidewalk). Therefore it was uneven with a ledge in between. I tried to follow my grandfather, shifting from one side to the other. Lynne was behind me. My front tire caught the ledge, and stuck. (If you know anything about biking you know that if anything touches your front tire, your going down...) I flew off my bike, landing on the side of my helmet, and on my hip. My right knee caught the ground, and my bike landed on my leeft thigh. I started bawling, and clutched my knee. A man living in the neighborhood ran over, and tried to help. By now, blood was running down my leg. Even after Poppa had rinsed it off. We acquired ice from the friendly man, and tissues from a woman. I, of course, sent Aidan a picture right away. He promptly started worrying, asking if i was okay, and sending a million ":(" faces. We turned around, and biked to a Walgreen's, getting antiseptic and large band aids. Then we rode, NOT ON THE PATH to lunch.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, other than my ALMOST hitting a fast-speed biker.

Lynne and I arrived at home, cleaned our mud-covered bikes, and showered. I called my father to wish him a happy fathers day, and to report that my mother needed to buy new headphones for me, and send them with Lynne's mother when she came, as I had ruined mine in the crash.

We started watching pirates 2 again, then went out to dinner at a buffet...and here I am.

Aidan and I...had a small fight. It was not resolved, and we both fell asleep.


An interesting day to be sure...lets see what happens next. =p

Day four- 12 rabbits, 6 people, 2 dogs, 2 deer, and a squirrel.

Aidan apologised, as did I. All better! Aidan heads off for weights.

Well. Today (Rather...yesteday...) we had breakfast BEFORE the bike ride. Lynne and I both order the normal, a half-order of biscuits and gravy, a Pepsi for me, OJ for her. Two of my poppa's friends meet us there. One, Mr. Browning, is coming with us on ride. Poppa decides to take us to Princeton, a mere -coughnoteasycough- 17some miles from t breakfast joint. We ride there. Tired as heck, we decide not to go back on the highway to brave the hills, and rather, decide to go on a limestone-paved trail to the town. It was nice...because it was an OLD railroad-converted-trail that my Poppa helped fundraise and built all the Bridges. Lynne and I got board whilst biking and first started singing with our iPods. Then....we started (Along with Poppa) Yelling out when we saw wildlife. 12 rabbits [Three of the babies], 6 people, 2 dogs, 2 deer, and a squirrel. (Thus the title). We were...TIRED

Once home, we collapsed and finished Pirates 3.

We again, made our own lunches, and enjoyed books. Then went on a VERY short ride. I finished the book I was reading, Carpe Diem, and called Aidan. We had a quite pleasant conversation, then we had to go. He left for football 7-one-7, and I to a pool-party. Let me just say, nothing feels better than a hot tub. Wellll...other than being in Aidan's arms. Anywho. We returned home, and had hamburgers and fudge-pops. I started another book (Magic Steps). I again called Aidan. The convo was less pleasant, but still good. We hung up...and ended up calling one more time before i fell asleep.

Day 6- Oh my god...Its 6 O'clock...

We get up. At 6.To get downtown for breakfast at 7. We head to the village inn. I, again, get the same order as always, (Even though this is a different restaurant) and a pair of over-easy eggs. we head out...headed for the Mopac trail. It was fine...tiring, if anything...=( I had to text Aidan for support multiple times. Too many hills.... Anywho. We did 20-something miles. I got a flat. After rating at breakfast about never having flats and whatnot. And about having slimed (Goo that is put in your tire to STOP a flat) tires. Mr. Browning had told me that they don't always work....So. We took a while to fix it, then finished the ride. Here i am now.....By the way, today is the day I am leaving. Camping out...at the starting line. When i get back to "Verona" I'll blog hi-lights from the trip. Going to go pack...Wish me luck!!!!

As before stated, Lynne, Poppa, and I all camped out. Lynne and I are sharing a tent. At about 10:30 (Due to getting lost) Lynne's mother arrived in town. It was raining so we invited her to share our large tent. She brought a bag of my forgotten stuff with her. A letter from Aidan was in the bag. He'd sprayed it with cologne....Yum. It made me cry....

Day one of the actual ride- Um, yay?

Greetings from the first stop on my tour! We rode 61 miles today. It's quite far.... Well. Anywho. I know i said that there was no way of me blogging today, but the town we are staying at was so kind as to leave the high school computer lab open for our Internet usage.

I broke yet another pair of headphones today. At least one of the earbuds works. Yay. We stopped about 10 times on the trip (Its safe to stop about every 10 miles to check everything and give yourself a small recovery time) There were no bad hills, as we are in a Vally. We left at about 8, and arrived in the night-stay town at around 2:25 We made great time. I'm sore...Very much so. my shoulder popped during the ride and doesn't feel quite right now. My knees and hip (Left side) Hurt too...-shrugs- W/e. Get to do it all again tomorrow. Farther...And all uphill...in the sand hills. FUN FUN. I am expecting that i will SAG.... I FINISHED TODAY! um, YAY!!!

~For now, Regan.
P.S, 143, Aidan. Both Meanings!I
P.P.S, Mom, I know you're reading this...I love you! Tell the Family. And hug kitty for me.

P.P.S, To a reader who has been asking about the relationship...Aidan and I are GREAT. We haven't been blogging because we're busy. For me: Work, Biking, Sleep, and friends. For Aidan: Weights, Drum line, Football, Homework, Work, Sleep. He has promised to blog soon. My best wishes for you all, Regan.