Empower (July)

  July's theme for My Happiness Project was EMPOWER.  And I have to say that it was a very empowering month - in more ways than I expected (but more on that when I share a little about our 3 trips to Austin in my September post - DISCOVER) 

My specific goals for July were to: 

 

Empower myself to change a flat bike tire.

Empower myself to go on 10+ mile bike rides.

Empower our family to go hiking and biking (all 5 of us!)

So How did I do?  
I attended a basic bicycle maintenance class at Bicycle Village with a fellow triathlete (shout out to Kitty!). It was OK. I mean technically I've never actually changed a flat tire but I understand what to do if I need to and I'm very familiar with all the tools I need to do so.  I learned how to properly grease the chain, all about different bike tube options.  Overall, I feel more knowledgeable, but I just don't want to take apart the bike with so many triathlons right around the corner.  So in other words, I will take that risk and cross that bridge if I ever get a flat during a race (which hopefully won't happen this season)

My biggest success this month was figuring out how to take longer bike rides by myself without having to go all the way out to the Aurora Reservoir.  Here is a log of this month's cycling adventures:

July 7th:  We took advantage of the kids being at my parent's house and Tony showed me how to bike to Cherry Creek State Park from our house.  On the way home, I realize I probably should have paid attention to more than Tony's back : ) and the pavement in front of me.  But, I mean how difficult can it be?

July 11th:  Attempted to Bike to Cherry Creek State Park.  Read with the kids, threw on my cycling clothes, grabbed water and my phone, hopped on the bike and was gone by 8pm.  The sky looked pretty dark but I charged on.  Lightning.  I slowed down a bit.  Thunder, more lightning.  Screw this.  Back home by 8:10 and ran 3 miles in the basement instead.  Oh well.  I tried.

July 14th:  Bike to Cherry Creek State Park by myself.  I think I burned most of my calories being terrified of being hit my a car, oh well, whatever works right?  I'll get better.  I felt very liberated when I made it to the entrance to the park.  Only 2 phone calls to Tony to help me figure out where I the heck I was. 
Tips for Next Time:  wear a tank top no matter what the weather is, cause that sun comes out and it get hot fast especially when your huffing it up a hill.  Also, bring bike computer so that all those wrong turns can still be measured.

July 15th:  Family bike ride to Cherry Creek State Park.  Yay!  All five of us made the trip.  I was super proud of Scout.  Technically she was very safe, but she talked NONSTOP (Don't know where she gets that from?) We were on a sleepy little street when a blacked - out SUV comes racing up behind Scout and I and laid on the horn.  I mean the speed limit was maybe 25?  He obviously wasn't paying attention and didn't see Scout beside me and thought I was too far over.  It was pretty entertaining to watch Tony challenging him quite loudly with a few choice words and attempting to chase after him with the bike trailer holding River and Ryder behind him (Tony's hardcore like that)

July 16th: This one finally felt good.  Read to the kids and then headed out around 7:45 (I can't believe how late it stays light!) I like having the bike computer so all those wrong turns still count : ) logged 11 miles.  The mountains are so beautiful!  I want to try a bit of a longer route next time.

July 17th: Ashley joined me for my usual 10 mile ride to the park and back. So fun!

July 21rst:  We decided to use this as our "date night" and have our sitter come watch the kids for a couple hours so we could do a long ride together.  Tony and I rode around the lake at CCSP.  14 mile ride.  Hard but good.  I'm looking forward to doing it 1 more time with him Thursday and then trying to do it by myself.

July 23rd:  Brick workout.  Biked 10 miles and then jogged with Tony and the kids when I got back. 

July 25th:  I was hoping to bike with Tony tonight since we don't have the kids (Nana came a got them a day early to take them to Cheyenne for Frontier Days) but the weather was looking sketchy so I went ahead and did my usual 10 mile ride before the rain.  It went well; got really windy and a little rainy on the way home and I panicked a little crossing Yale because there was so much traffic but I made it home eventually.  I ran a couple miles when I got home to make it a brick workout.

July 31rst:  My usually 10 mile route.  I do want to try the 14 miles around the lake next week, but the weather has been so sketchy this week with rain showers poppin up randomly.  Got rained on in the beginning, but I pressed on and was rewarded with an amazing rainbow when I made it to the park.  Still can't believe I get to look at the Rocky Mountains on my ride.  Love. My. Life.

 Family Bike Riding: We have taking several family bike rides out at the Aurora Res which is so nice not having to worry about traffic, but it takes a while to get everything loaded up and then make the 20 minute drive.  We also biked to Meadowood Rec Center but biking besides Chambers in rush hour traffic with Scout almost gave me a heart attack.  She did great, but I could not relax.  We've done a couple of trails that are closer to the house but we still have to pack up the car and drive there.  This last ride to Cherry Creek was great and I think we will definitely try it again, especially later in the evening and on the weekends since the traffic is so much lighter.