Tonight I'm going to order a new saddle for my bike. Since L. and I took a 30-mile ride last month I've known that I could only ride the Mongoose saddle for 25 miles before being in pain, but good saddles are so expensive and I just kept putting off buying one. Until yesterday, when I accidentally biked 71 miles. Suddenly I'm completely willing to pony up for a new saddle, so to speak.

Sometimes it's difficult for me to remember what I could do pre-MS so I can compare how I'm doing post-MS. In many cases, I do things so differently now that it's hard to make comparisons, but in this case I can definitively say: I never biked 71 miles pre-MS. Of course, I didn't actually mean to bike 71 miles...but anyway.

So, I had this idea that my parents' camp is about 35 miles from my house, and since I'm trying to get stronger this summer, it would be fun to see whether I could bike to the camp, stay overnight, and then bike back, and see how I felt doing two 35-mile days back to back. Looked like nice weather, so off I went on the Xtra, with food, water, gazeteer, tools, a couple of books to read, my journal, and a few things Mom wanted me to bring up there.

Ah, what a day, not too much traffic, lovely scenery...at mile 30 I realized that I'd been concentrating so much on the journey that I'd forgotten about the actual destination, and I had forgotten my keys. Huh. Oh well, maybe there would be a key hidden somewhere or a window open or something. Nope. Locked up like Foht Knox. I had a nice break on the dock, though, and then figured, well, it's not hot and traffic is light, if I make it back I'll be home by late afternoon...and bolstered by the spirit of adventure, I set off for the unplanned same-day round trip. I made it. Very tired (neighbors said: "you were walking around more slowly than usual...")

I always love being on the bike, but until yesterday I hadn't done a whole lot of long rides. Mostly I'm riding in traffic, stopping at stop lights, but yesterday once I got out of town, I just had to...ride. And then ride some more. In the places where there was actually a shoulder, I could just enjoy the scenery and let my mind wander. Wow. And holy smokes, talk about some long inclines. The thing about biking from sea level towards the mountains is, er, well, you're going up a lot. And then down--whee!--and then up again. Whew. After mile 50, I was starting to get into the rhythm of the uphills, after I discovered this secret: when going uphill, pretend you're on a stationary bicycle at the gym. Then you'll be pleasantly surprised that you're actually moving! It sounds ridiculous, but it instantly changed my mindset. I wonder what other expectations I could change like that?

Today, slightly sore muscles. Waiting for tomorrow. The second day is always worse.

It's summer and there's a whole lot of culturing going on here. Here's a list:

1. Kombucha! Kombucha is so fun. Waaaaaay more fun than sourdough or yogurt cultures. Way. Because when you make kombucha, a new culture grows right on the top of your jar full of sweetened tea. Into a thick rubbery pad that you can't believe is made of living bacteria and yeast. And when it really gets going, you can see bubbles forming under the culture, trying to find their way out, until two weeks later you have a fabulous carbonated beverage. Sometimes when I'm upstairs getting something from the closet I'm distracted by the glimmering jar of kombucha-in-the-making, and have to lie on the floor for 5 minutes watching it. I think maybe I need to get out more.

2. Buttermilk. On the counter in a quart jar, culturing a quart (duh) of unpasteurized whole milk. I'll let it sit until it starts to curdle and then put it in a towel-lined colander to catch the whey for upcoming dill pickle projects. The stuff in the towel becomes a soft cheese with a definite kick.

3. Beet kvass. Fishbowl Farm's beets were so beautiful that I had to get some at Wednesday's market. They're now peeled and quartered in quart jars, and mixed with water, whey, and sea salt. They'll sit on the counter until little bubbles rise to the top, and then into the fridge they'll go to sit for drinking as a tonic.