Oh the Madness!

Well its official, March Madness is upon us, and I have only one thing to say GO PANTHERS!!! A bummer that we play Kansas in the second round, but anything can happen and I would accept the destruction of my bracket if it means UNI in the sweet 16 or beyond! You're probably wondering, what does this have to do with RAGBRAI? In short, nothing, I just really love March Madness. Living with Alexis is really what triggered this unknown passion that I had, and I can get pretty competitive about my bracket. I'll admit, I still have trouble remembering all the rules of basketball, and sometimes say the wrong thing when shouting things out in the heat of the moment. I think the reason I never really got into basketball as a youngin' is that I could never (and still can't to this day) dribble and move at the same time, and when it came to shooting the basket I was lucky to hit the rim... so needless to say I was never much of a basketball player. Also, my love of basketball really only pertains to college basketball, have you ever been to an NBA game? BORING! As a bit of a sports nut it was the only time I've ever been more entertained by the little gimicks and shows they put on during it than the actual game.

Speaking of sports, I am so glad I was raised in a family and by a mother that loved sports just as much as the guys did, thanks Mom! Also being raised in a family that regularly loaded up our bikes into the back of the trailer and drove into Davenport to ride the trails on nice Saturday and Sunday afternoons has always made me very fond of bike riding. It's really one of my favorite childhood memories, and it was always such a great bonding experience. I think that is a big reason I'm so pumped up for RAGBRAI. I think I will be even closer with Alexis and Andrea because of the experience. And as an added bonus my brother in-law Mike is riding it for a couple of days as well. He and my sister have been hard at work in a cycling class at their gym, I'm just hoping I can convince Jenni to ride it with him. Also, last weekend my little brother Jacob was visiting for St. Patty's day, he's been riding a bike to work and he mentioned maybe he'd do it a couple of days to. I think that would be great! It would be like old times! Ahh, sports and bikes bringing people together. :)

Finally, on a more funny note, I still haven't been awesome about my RAGBRAI training or exercising in general, but I did try to get myself to the gym a bit more this week, and last night I decided to take a combo class, Hip Hop Hustle and Zumba. If anyone has ever seen me dance, which is scary, they know that I am not exactly um a natural or graceful dancer, I look more like this:



Last night really wasn't any different! And I learned that of all the types of dance I'm DEFINITELY not a hip hop dancer. I did get one pretty sweet move down called the elevator, I'll sure bust it out next time I'm dancing the night away.

While I know these classes aren't exactly preparing me to ride a bike for 7 days straight, they are at least getting my heart pumping a little and I think any kind of exercise at this point is a good thing!

OH I also gave up drinking between St. Patty's day and baseball season, yes I know its only 3 weeks, but I hope that it helps me with a few different things.

1. Hopefully I'll just start feeling healthier and um, less dehydrated.
2. Saving some money towards that bike I desperately need.
3. Motivating me to work out more regularly.
4. Reminding myself who's boss, and that it is possible to have fun sans alcohol.

Now I know that last one sounds bad but I know I'm not alone in this, I think as you get older and you drink more regularly, you forget that you can go to a party or go out and have a good time with out booze... gone are the days of Mt. Dew and Truth or Dare.

I'm not so sure where all the nostalgia came from today, I guess its just one of those days!

Thanks for reading!

-Abbie

PS This weather is amazing, get outside as much as you can! Sure would be nice to have a bike right now...

OH and PPS, the route has been announced, check it here: http://ragbrai.com/data/2010/ragbrai-main-map-2010.php