June 17, 2008
What I’ve Been Up To
Haven’t posted for a while, and here’s why!
June 6th - 8th, I did the MS150! It’s a 150-mile bike tour ridden in two days. 75 miles on Saturday and again on Sunday. It was definitely one of the most challenging physical endeavors I’ve ever undertaken. I didn’t do much training for the event - the longest ride I attempted beforehand was 40 miles. I was incredibly sore at the end, but I surprised myself by making pretty good time on both days. I averaged about 15mph on Saturday and 17mph on Sunday. And to top it off, I was riding a mountain bike! I’m really hoping to get a new road bike for next year. I signed up to do it again in ‘09! 
In order to carry more stuff with me on the ride, I made this “box” that attaches to the top bar of my bike with velcro. The commercial version of this is called a “Bento Box” and it can be had very cheaply, but by the time I decided I wanted one, it was too near the date of the event to order and get it shipped in time. So I made my own! It is constructed from pieces of plastic canvas sandwiched between layers of heavy black canvas fabric. I added a vinyl top that attaches with Velcro for quick access. Once it’s all sewn together, it’s quite stiff and once attached to the bike, it can hold a slew of energy bars, a cell phone, tools… any small items you need on the road. Mine had a tendency to lean to the right a bit, so I think I need to adjust the way the Velcro is sewn on. Overall, it worked very well though!
After the MS150, my husband and I went on a trip to the Chicago area for the week! We visited family who live in the area, went to the science museum, ate tons of Chinese food and did a lot of shopping. One of my favorite shopping spots is Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights. There’s a great Japanese bookstore there that carries Japanese craft books. I bought a handful of crafty books and magazines that looked inspiring! I’ll definitely feature some of them here in the future.
Soooo, I’ve been busy, but I’m back in action now and should be posting regularly as before! 
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