Myrna CG Mibus - Idyllwild

30 Days of Biking begins tomorrow, April 1st, and I'm ready! I'm actually on vacation right now in Florida. We're in a darling little rental on Anna Maria Island. Normally it's sunny here but today it's raining like crazy. Tornado warnings. Extreme winds. It's weather we are used to having in Minnesota. Oh well. We're hoping things clear up by tomorrow so I don't have to bike in the rain. If it's still raining I'll still be biking. And when it's time to ride I have a nice little island cruiser ready for me. I rented a nice little ladies bike from Fun and More Rentals for Day 1 and Day 2 of 30 Days of Biking . It's pretty - and it even has a basket! Even with the rain we're having a fine time. We've had to regroup a bit on our plans - instead of hitting the beach today we played games indoors. Rose and I planned to take the island trolley to the store but we haven't had the rain let up enough yet to go anywhere. Granted, the...

Yesterday my family headed to the Mall of America to check out the Lifestyle Bike Experience - an expo type of event put on by HaveFunBiking.com , "Your News Source for Bicycling Information." An article on HaveFunBiking had information about the event. Here's an excerpt of what the event had to offer: "Those who visit MOA will have a chance to explore some of the latest bicycle opportunities: Try out easy to ride bicycles; find ideas for comfortable clothing; take in a five-minute clinics for safe and healthy commuting to school or work; discover great places to bike; plus... many bicycle related games and prizes." We would not normally head to the Mall of America on a Saturday afternoon and it was an absolute zoo - we almost turned back when we saw how busy the place was - yet we heard about the event from our friends at Valley Bike and Ski and wanted to check it out. We're glad we did. The Best Buy Rotunda section of the MOA was full...

I took my Specialized hybrid to Milltown Cycles a few days ago for a tune up. While it was there I had Ben and Curtis put new tires on it and a set of fenders. Replacing the tires was a no brainer - they've been on the bike since I got it, in about 1994, and the rubber was literally crumbling away. The tread was also very smooth, not just from wear but by design, and I wanted to get something that would work for riding gravel. Ben suggested a tire with a smoother tread in the center and a bit more tread - and therefore grip - on the outer edges. New tires for the gravel roads - complete with dirt from my morning ride! I decided to put on fenders because I want to seriously start riding the gravel roads near my home. Without fenders gravel, mud, and dust from the roads sprays up all over my back, my legs and on the bike. Ben suggested a nice inexpensive pair of fenders for my bike and I told him to go ahead and put them on. I dropped off my bike on Saturday and Milltown had i...

Guess what? I'm going to do it again - The third round of 30 Days of Biking starts up on April 1st and I signed up to ride my bike every day for 30 days. I'm crazy like that. I can honestly say that 30 Days of Biking has changed my life for the better. I suppose that sounds overly dramatic. But it's true. I've become a more active person because of 30 Days of Biking. I've never thought of myself as an athlete, still don't, really, but I certainly have changed my activity level and I exercise almost every day now. That's a pretty big deal for me. I even think exercising is kind of fun. I certainly think bicycling is fun - though I'm not yet fond of going uphill. I'd like to believe I've also become a more positive person - probably because of the wonderfully positive people I came to know through the challenge. People like Darryl of www.lovingthebike.com who shared his bicycling knowledge and encouraging words from the moment we connected ...

I don't often blog about my writing work but figured I would today. Why? Well, I had a story published in the March issue of Minnesota Good Age and I'm excited about it. In addition to that news, I've been writing for a new online publication, Northfield Patch . Oh, and I'm taking a Mother Words writing class taught by Kate Hopper and have been to two writing events at The Loft . Lots of writing stuff going on and it's all good! But, I don't want to stay up too late or write too much so will focus this entry on the Minnesota Good Age news. A while back I pitched a story to Good Age's sister publication, Minnesota Parent . The editor didn't go for the idea but asked if I was comfortable writing for the over 50 audience, the target market for Minnesota Good Age. I responded that I was married to a member of the over 50 crowd (Owen is 55 - hope he doesn't mind me announcing that) so, yes, I was comfortable writing for that audience. Much to my...