Yesterday afternoon, the Husband and I pedaled around town to do our errands. It has been awhile since the Husband and his flashy chartreuse bike came out for a ride. They did quite well in the heat and wind. Not including the time for stops and talking with people, we pedaled four-and-a-half miles in 27 minutes. This morning, Tilda-Hilda and I pedaled a bit over 10 miles in 54 minutes. It was a relatively flat ride. That's us (above photo) pedaling back towards town. I wanted to take a photo of us next to a funky sculpture made out of car parts. But, this yappy dog began racing down the driveway as we came to a stop. No way was I going to find out if he was all bark and no bite. Onward and upward.

I had to talk myself into getting on Tilda-Hilda this morning. I had great excuses. It's too hot. It's too hot. It's too hot.  And, it wasn't yet 7:30 a.m. Tilda-Hilda and I made a breeze for ourselves so it was actually pleasant. Now, stopping. That's a different story. We did a bit over 11 miles today in 64 minutes. Surprisingly, after two days away, I wasn't gasping as much as I pedaled Tilda-Hilda and me up the hills. I think it helped that the Husband and I walked under an umbrella of redwood trees on Sunday. All that wonderful oxygen. Marilyn Monroe's "We're Having a Heat Wave" was going through my head on much of the ride. At one point, Neil Young tried to come through but Marilyn overpowered him. I couldn't figure what he was singing. While looking for a video of Marilyn singing "We're Having a Heat Wave", I came across a rendition by Ella Fitzgerald. I like it far more.

The butterflies cheered Tilda-Hilda and me on as we slooooooowly pedaled up the long inclines. They flitted alongside us, weaving among the wild mustard flowers on the side of the road. A couple of the crazy butterflies played chicken with us, flying at us and swerving away at the last second. At one point, two ground squirrels popped in front of Tilda-Hilda and me, and ran, ran, ran. "Hurry up, hurry up," I called, nearly catching up with them. A vehicle passed Tilda-Hilda and me. The squirrels dived into the brush. An old guy (probably a bit younger than me) was taking photos of birds in a faraway tree with a camera with a humongous lens. I stopped to talk to him, thinking he was one of the photographers who posted their amazing photos at a Facebook group I pop in now and then. As we chatted, a woman in a red SUV pulled up beside us. "There's a wonderful picture around the curve to take. A deer is sitting beneath a bush. It's so cute." "Tha

Today's outing was more of Tilda-Hilda sitting around and waiting for me downtown. She hung out in front of a coffee shop while I was at a meeting. When that was done, we tootled around town so I could take photos here and there. All told, we were out about two hours.  Discounting the time for the meeting and picture taking, Tilda-Hilda and I pedaled about 4 miles in 20 minutes. I don't know about Tilda-Hilda, but I broke into a sweat.

The hot dog, four 4-ounce samples of different craft beer, garlic fries, grilled sirloin tips, and gooey chocolate cake with ice cream that I consumed late yesterday afternoon was my inspiration to sweat off some calories this morning. I pedaled Tilda-Hilda nearly 13 1/2 miles in 75 minutes. That's the longest we've traveled in both miles and minutes. Whooo-hooo! Yesterday was the Husband's and my 23rd-of-the-month date. Thus, all the food. We shared everything but the hot dog and beer. The hot dogs we ate as we watched Spy , starring Melissa McCarthy, and the rest of the food we had after the movie. Spy , by the way, is a very funny and wonderful movie. I like to think that I would be McCarthy's character if I was a spy. All sweet and helpful, but a bad-ass, as in don't you dare get in my way when I need to get something done now! Onward and upward.

Beeeep. Beeep. Beeep. "I think I was being followed by a drone," I said to the Husband when I got home from a bike ride with Tilda-Hilda about two weeks ago. "What?" "It started when I took pictures of the goats on Best Road. I kept hearing a beeep sound until I got to the highway." "I've heard that sound," said the Husband. "It's not a drone." "What is it then?" "I don't know." "It was a drone." Ever since that ride I have been hearing that Beeep sound on other back roads. Today I discovered the source. It's not a drone. Unless a ground squirrel is one. Tilda-Hilda and I pedaled just over 11 miles in 64 minutes this morning. Beeeep. Beeep. Beeep.

I woke up this morning thinking it was late only to find out that I'd waken up early. The bright light filtering through the side of the curtains faked me out. Just as well. We don't have a clock in the bedroom. So, I use the outside sounds as my gauge to the time. The other morning the early bird started chirping around 4 a.m. How did I know that? Because I went to the bathroom and before heading back to the bedroom, I popped into the office to stick my face right up at the digital clock on the radio. I could have put my glasses on to look down the stairs at the clock hanging in the living room. But, then I'd have had to turn on the light. No, thank you. Too bright. I wanted to fall back to sleep. And, I did to the pleasant song of the early bird. So, today, Tilda-Hilda and I zigzagged through the neighborhoods for a nearly 11 and-a-half mile ride. One hour and five minutes, thank you kindly. Forward, onward, and upward.

Tilda-Hilda took off later than usual this morning, because I was debating whether to take today as my rest day. I almost talked myself into skipping, but then I reasoned I would be rushing tomorrow as the Husband and I are going to see the air show at the airport. Hence, patient Tilda-Hilda and I pedaled off for a short ride. So, I thought. Maybe if I didn't want to go up this hill (the one in the photo), it would've been a sweet, short, not-so-hard ride. But, then, no hard work, no healthy gain for me. Chug, chug, chug. I'm not a pretty pedaler going up hills. I gasp. I growl. I spit. I looked up at one point and saw a woman biker also pedaling a cruiser going down the other way. "Hello," I said. No response. She kinda had a disgusted look on her face. Oh-oh. She must've seen me spit. Oh well, as the Husband says, better out than in. Anyway, we had another delightful work-out. Tilda-Hilda and I went about 9 miles in 49 minutes. By the way, I actually

Today, Tilda-Hilda and I reached one of our mileposts (lamp posts?). No, milestone. We pedaled to Tres Pinos and back. Our loop was about 12 1/2 miles, which we did in 71 minutes. From the photo, the downtown area looks like it's far away, but it's only a few 100 yards from the sign. For a tiny downtown, it has four of the best restaurants in the area. If you're interested in knowing more about Tres Pinos, check out my post at Take 25 to Hollister . Two things to note about this ride was that I pulled 10 goat heads out of Tilda-Hilda's tires and we came across a partially decomposed deer carcass. Shudder.

Don't you just hate it when the thing you wanted to tell someone slipped deep into the recess of your mind? Maybe it'll come back to the top. Maybe not. Which makes me wonder, how deep are our minds that a forgotten thought gets lost. Anyway, we'll never know what it is I wanted to write about from Tilda-Hilda's and my ride this morning. Oh, well. Cool station wagon, don't you think? It reminds me of the station wagon we had for a short while when I was kid. Our was beige with a tan top. I like station wagons even more than pick-up trucks. The last car I owned as a single woman was a used white Volvo station wagon. That was fun to drive.  Today, Tilda-Hilda and I pedaled nine miles in 49 minutes. I was going to say 9 minutes per mile, but then that would make 81 minutes. My arithmetic skills are truly getting bad. But, I won't get into that. Instead, enjoy the bicycle song and video that Widdershins of Widdershins Worlds suggested the other day when I me

This morning, Tilda-Hilda and I came across modern cowboys building fences. Instead of wooden posts, they used steel posts. They dug the holes with a big drilling machine. No back-breaking digging for them. More than likely, they'll put up wire fencing between the posts rather than three parallel lines of barbed wire. I notice that a lot more fencing is going up around fields in the area. I suppose it's to keep out the wild animals and humans.  There have been two or three fields that the Husband and I used to bike through that now have fences. Tilda-Hilda and I pedaled a 9 1/2 mile loop in 53 minutes, much of it uphill. As the saying goes, what goes up, must come down. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee. . . .

Tilda-Hilda and I thank the Wind for giving us a boost up the hill. Without it, I doubt we would've got to the barn with the cool mural this time round. Notice how the artist drew the hills so their lines matched those of the actual hills beyond the barn. Our valley was souped in with fog this morning that I couldn't see the nearby mountains. So, Tilda-Hilda and I took off just before noon for our ride. We pedaled nearly 11 miles in 59 minutes. Whooo-hoooo! Today's song was "Take me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver. This video of him and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is from a live performance for Farm Aid in 1985.

This morning Tilda-Hilda and I chased after the fog, but it rolled? flew? floated? faster than we could pedal. You can see some of the fog breaking over the low hills. It's heading back towards the Pacific Ocean, about 40 minutes away. That is, if it rides in a car. Can you imagine a bank of fog squeezed inside a car, say an oldie VW bug? We rode about 10 miles in 55 minutes. I counted 15 hills. Some were slight and long. Some were very short, but steep. And others were in between. We definitely got a good workout. For me, pedaling Tilda-Hilda out and about is better than a stationary bicycle. I pedaled one a couple months ago when I won a free weekly pass to a local gym. It was totally not my style, the stationary bike or the gym.  I tried nearly everything the gym had to offer—the treadmill, the row machine, the scary weight machines, boot camp, and zumba. The trainers and teachers were young sweethearts. They realized I was older and out-of-shape than I did. I enjoyed the

This morning, Tilda-Hilda and I pedaled about 10 miles in 58 minutes. I'm two pounds lighter, too. Tilda-Hilda must be happy about that. Our photo opp today was at St. Benedict Catholic Church. The song going through my head on the ride was the first verse and chorus of Lady Marmalade. Enjoy Patti Labelle's version from 1975.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrroooooooooowwwwwwwwwwllll...cough, cough. The dinosaur was rather rusty. He didn't scare Tilda-Hilda and me. He and his friends hang out by the road north of town until it's time to slink off into the Swank Farms ' intricate corn maze in October. Tilda-Hilda and I had a good ride this morning. It was mostly flat (for once), but the wind was against us half the way. We pedaled and sweated about 12 miles in 65 minutes. Hurrah! Until the next time.

Thinking about eating a peanut butter and chipotle spread sandwich for breakfast is what inspired me to keep pedaling up the steepest part of my ride this morning. Today was about a 9-mile ride in 53 minutes. We stopped in front of some plastic tunnels for Tilda-Hilda's photo. Every year, more farms in the area are using these tunnels for growing their crops. By the way, the sandwich was delicious.

Tilda-Hilda and I rode almost 10 miles today. Yay! Today is National Doughnut Day. I didn't stop for doughnuts. Yay! But, I still have the rest of the day to go.

It was a good ride this morning. The wind was with us as we went up the hills. We pedaled up the road along that hillside. It looks likes we traveled far. All in all, we did about a nine-mile loop in 51 minutes.  Pretty darn good for us old gals.

Seven days back on the saddle. Yay! About 39 miles in all. Hurrah! Wish there was a way I could write while I pedal. My thoughts are mostly all forgotten by the time I get back home.  I don't want to talk into a tape recorder because it would distract me too much from the road.

Tilda-Hilda and I did a short ride today. We headed downtown to the bicycle shop. And, now the girl is looking happy with a brand-new front tire. No more bump, bump, bump for her.