Unconnected is how I feel when I leave our driveway on Tilda-Hilda. The further away we get from neighborhoods and busy streets, well, you can guess, the more my soul smiles bigger. Unconnected has been the Husband's and my world the last few days. Our phone and DSL lines went dead. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. Big fat zero. The first day I panicked. The second day I relaxed and watched 1960 caper movies with the Husband in the afternoon. The third day I was a bit more responsible and went to the library to use a computer to access my email. The last email was from the Husband who wrote that the lines were working again. I was relieved, at the same time bummed. Unconnected. It's nice every so often. It's the letter U at ABC Wednesday . Click here to check out other paticipants. This weekly meme was started by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt and administered today by the ABCW team under the helm of Roger Green. Thank you, all!

Riding Tilda-Hilda gives me the opportunity to think. Riding her also lets me not think, if that's what I need at the moment. Thank goodness that I have Tilda-Hilda. She has been with me for almost 13 years. By golly,  gee, she's the oldest bicycle I've ever owned. As some of you know, I signed up for the National Bike Challenge to keep me motivated to take Tilda-Hilda out of the garage. The challenge runs from May to September. Its goal is to sign up 100,000 riders who all together will pedal 75 million miles by the end of the challenge. As of the 15th day, 32,181 riders have signed up and we have pedaled 2,322,172 miles. Tilda-Hilda and I have gone out six of the 15 days thus far, pedaling 48.3 miles. Whooo-hooo! The past two weeks, the mornings have started in fog so Tilda-Hilda and I haven't gone out as much. The fog lifted by mid-morning today, so, weather may be changing. We shall see. I'm linking up with Seasons , a weekly meme hosted by Jeanette

I signed up for the 2016 National Bike Challenge, which goal is "to unite 100,000 riders to pedal 75 million miles from May 1, 2016 until September 30, 2016," according to its web site. The challenge has competitions for prizes. It would be nice to get one, but that will only happen if my name is drawn randomly out of the hat. The reason I'm participating is to help maintain my motivation to pedal Tilda-Hilda on a regular basis. Tilda-Hilda and I started out again the day after the Mama's funeral services. The short uphill ride to the cemetery was simply hard. Pufff, pufff, pufff. Over the next two weeks, we rode a little bit further every day, stopping by to see the Mama and the Daddy at either the beginning or end of the fun. If I could've done it without hurting myself, I would've pedaled all day. There is comfort in mindless pedaling, as well as seeing the countryside. As it is, I came down with a cold so today is the first time Tilda-Hilda and I h

I'm feeling productive and accomplished right at the moment. I worked in the garden with the Mama for 90 minutes, as well as took a ride on Tilda-Hilda this morning.  Whooo-weee. My "No-this, No-that Food Program" must be working. I got a lot of energy on this 15th day. It also helped that I fell asleep at 9:30 last night. Zzzzzzzz.  Because I want Tilda-Hilda and me to be able pedal our longer routes, I decided this morning we had to tackle our first hill. Heck, simply pedaling the first block on flat land had me wanting to go home. Puff, puff. We rode 5.77 miles in about 36 minutes. We stopped several times so I could take photos of the gorgeous views this morning. Would you like to see the most amazing sight we saw this morning?  Click here then. Tilda-Hilda says, "See you in a week or so after the rain." Yipppieee!

Let's see. The last time time Tilda-Hilda and I went out for a ride was the first week in January. Yup. Pedaling was crazy tough. Puff. Puff.  Incline or flat land. Tough. It felt mighty good though. Big smiles. I don't know when our next ride will be because I need to do some garden stuff over the next few days. Then this weekend is supposed to start the first of several days of rain. Yaaay for the rain! We need a lot of rain. It would be fun to rid in a light rain.

When I woke up this morning, the streets were wet. We must've had a pretty good rain because all four us of slept later than usual.  Tilda-Hilda and I took a chance that it wouldn't rain and it didn't. We pedaled nearly six miles in 34 minutes. I was looking for a big puddle to take a reflection photo of Tilda-Hilda. No luck. Maybe next time we go out after a rain, which may be at the end of the week. Whooo-hooo! (For the rain, that is.)

A new calendar year means the start of another round of Tilda-Hilda's and my work-outs. This morning, we braved the cold and pedaled 6.11 miles in 37 minutes. Pretty good, considering we've been lazy the past three weeks. In 2015, we pedaled about 516 miles in 84 days. More than half of the mileage was pedaled in June and July. The goal in 2016 is to ride steadily throughout the year. I can already tell you that I'm thinking excuses not to go out tomorrow or the next day or the next.  We shall see.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that the Husband and his Sun Flame and Tilda-Hilda and I took a short ride this morning. We rode about four miles to and from the library. It was a pleasant ride and I borrowed another book in the Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes suspense series by Laurie R. King. One of these days I'll write about the books I've read. I'll tell you this much: The series is set in the 1920s and Mary Russell is Mrs. Sherlock Holmes, who is 35+ years younger. Off I go now to bake persimmon breads and cookies.

My day 83 ride with Tilda-Hilda was yesterday. It was my birthday ride, from our house to my favorite coffee shop just over 13 miles away. Whoo-hoo! Starting off! We've done longer rides, but this is the first time I've ever pedaled Tilda-Hilda to San Juan Bautista, which I've been wanting to do for three years. I was hoping to accomplish my goal this past August, but my knees got all whiny and worrisome. For about four months, we mostly pedaled around our neighborhood and it wasn't until the end of November that I ventured out and about. Although I only worked up to a few miles per trip, I decided last week to simply do this ride on my birthday, if the weather is good (no rain nor thick fog) and my knees are in good order. Looking back from whence we came: The highway we crossed at the end of the field. I admit I was a bit scared leading to yesterday, although I have often driven the path I would be taking. I would be crossing a highway, which worried

I'm writing this yesterday. Not caring about proper grammar. Because today is my birthday. Giggle.  This old lady is a young 6-2. Ha! If the weather and my body cooperated,  and I didn't chicken out, Tilda-Hilda and I have begun my new adventure around the sun by pedaling our way over to San Juan Bautista for breakfast. The Husband shall have driven over and met us there. And, together we shall have figured how to tie Tilda-Hilda into the trunk for our trip back home. Knock on wood . Until later, dear friends.

"I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus's garden in the shade.  . ." That Beatles' song was looping in my head as Tilda-Hilda and I pedaled up and down hills this morning. Over 8.5 miles in 53 minutes! Perfect song for the ride. Today, I'm hooking up with two cool memes. Click on the links to check out other bloggers. One meme is Our World Tuesday . The other is Creative Every Day . See you tomorrow with Jane Austen, Action Doll.

Tilda-Hilda and I pedaled just over seven miles in 42 minutes this morning. Hurrah!

Brrrr.  The frost was heavy on the roof tops and fields this morning. Maybe if I hadn't eaten that second helping yesterday, I wouldn't have insisted on going.  Hilda-Tilda and I pedaled 6.5 miles in 42 minutes.

Tilda-Hilda and I pedaled nearly six miles in 41 minutes this morning. We managed to get up a couple of hills that we hadn't done in a few months. I am very thankful that we still have the power. To break up the difficulty of the first hill, we popped by to say hello to the Daddy. Tilda-Hilda requested a photo with him. I think the Daddy would've been happily surprised that Tilda-Hilda is bright pink. Best wishes and Happy Giving of Thanks Day to you all, Dear Readers!

Tilda-Hilda and I went out for an early ride this morning, just over four miles. We went downtown so I could take photos for my other blog, Take 25 to Hollister . We did a lot of stopping, so I figure I got a bit more exercise in from getting on and off Tilda-Hilda and walking her along the sidewalk. It was a nice brisk morning to be out there. We even got to ride through a few rain puddles. Yay!

This morning I took Tilda-Hilda out on a spin because I wanted to get some early morning photos that I might use for my other blog, Take 25 to Hollister . I caught a scene that I liked, which is here . Tilda-Hilda and I pedaled through some of Hollister's original residential neighborhood and then out towards new development. All in all, we traveled about five miles.  It felt wonderful being out in the crispy Autumn morning. By the way, Tilda-Hilda is posing in front of the high school where I went. San Benito High School. Haybalers, aka Balers, are us!

Tilda-Hilda and I pedaled nearly four miles today, back and forth to downtown to pay a bill. So inconsistent, we are. Not paying bills, but working out. At least, we are getting out there now and then. It feels good when we do.

The Husband and his Sun Flame rode with Tilda-Hilda and me today. Hurrah! That's always fun. We pedaled nearly six miles on as flat of a route as we could find. There were a couple of hairy spots with inattentive drivers. Silly people. The lighting was strange this morning because of a fire about 20 miles away to the south of town. It's very dry out there; unfortunately, the fire has spread over 300 acres, the last I heard. Hopefully, the firefighters can contain it today. Talk about being brave. Those men and women are the best examples of courage. See you tomorrow with Jane Austen, Action Doll. Update: The fire has now spread to 600 acres, eating up hillsides and mountainsides. More than 200 fire fire fighters, including firefighting pilots, are working on the blaze. According to afternoon news reports, only 10 percent of the fire was contained by mid-afternoon.

Yesterday, Tilda and I pedaled more than 2 blocks. The last time before that was 2 weeks ago. I contracted that silly bug that lingers in your throat and chest, which causes you to cough and cough.  Fortunately, I didn't have a horrible bout of it and, best of all, neither the Mama nor the Husband caught it. Even though I can still feel something in me, I decided to go for a bike ride that meant putting on shoes rather than sandals today. Tilda-Hilda and I pedaled 4.6 miles in 24 minutes. We are stronger than I thought. Hurrah! Who knows, we may be able to pedal longer miles by the end of the month. We shall see.

Hurrah, I went beyond the neighborhood today. Tilda-Hilda and I pedaled 3.33 miles in about 18 minutes. Going up slight inclines was a challenge, but, oh so good for me.  We stopped at Sunnyslope School for a picture. That's where I went to 4th and 5th grade. The door on the right was my 4th grade classroom, where I suddenly went from being one of the tallest kids to one of the shortest ones. The door on the corner opened to my 5th grade classroom. I loved going into that door. So much imagination went on in there for me. I was introduced to writing make-believe stories and buying my own books through the monthly Scholastic book club. Mrs. Patterson, our teacher, calmed us down from lunch break by reading to us. Freckles , The Girl from the Limberlost , Anne of Green Gables , and The Secret Garden were the ones I recall. My world opened up in 5th grade.