From the Inside Out

I admit it.

I’ve been cheating.

My loyalties are split.

I have neglected the old one to pay attention to a newer, more attractive one.

It was bound to happen after so many years.

Yes, after years of being loyal to this blog, I have strayed. I have started another blog. Shocking…yes, I know! But those of you who are still here enjoying my infrequent updates shouldn’t worry. I’m not leaving you. I still plan to update this blog regularly with my personal updates, stories, and thoughts. I can’t guarantee that I’ll ever go back to daily updates. Once the spell was broken, it was difficult to regain the zest for updating it daily. However, I hope to post updates weekly — at a minimum — and possibly more if it’s a good week.

Now for the brand new shiny object, my new blog is focused on journaling my cycling adventures. I’ll chronicle my participation in charity rides, group bike tours, and training rides.

I’ll also share tips that I learn along the way, and point out things from a unique perspective, that of a female rider struggling to keep up with the guys. Stay tuned for product reviews, helpful tools, and insights on where to find the best cycling gear and jerseys.

If you are interested in following along, subscribe or bookmark the site at: www.cyclinginsideout.com. If you are on Twitter, you can also follow me @cycleinsideout.

On July 23, I will be cycling in the American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure fundraising event at Texas Motor Speedway. More than 23.6 million Americans — including some of my own family members and friends — suffer from diabetes. During this event, I’ll be joining with riders from across North Texas to help ride for a cure.

Gary and I will be cycling the course with the Cisco corporate team, and I need sponsors to help me reach my fundraising goal of $150. All proceeds benefit the American Diabetes Association and will help us make a difference in the fight against diabetes.

If you’d like to sponsor me, click here to visit my personal site and make a donation.

Together, we can all make a difference!

We’re spending one more night in Steyr, so our ride today started out along the Enns river and took us through some beautiful mountains, valleys and small towns.

What a view!

We ran across the largest jacknife in the world — pretty funny!

The village where we stopped for lunch

Another lovely view from the trip today

The church in Reichraming, our turn around point

The ride was supposed to be relatively flat today, but flat in Austria means something entirely different than it does in Texas. It was a challenging ride with many steep ramps. My legs were tired from all of the climbing yesterday, so I finished my ride at 18 miles. Gary rode 35 miles.

Our evening entertainment was an Apple Streudel cooking lesson in a local food and wine shop in the town square area. Our instructor made the first batch while giving tips on how to make the dessert, then she recruited volunteers to make the second batch. Gary stepped up and helped make some of the magic happen.

We were on our own for dinner tonight, so we stopped at a casual snack shop. We’re getting a little tired of the formal dinners that are part of the tour, and it was nice to just grab something simple and basic. For the most part, the food we’ve sampled is good, but I’m not a big steak, pork, or fish lover, and those seem to be the trendy items on the pre-selected tour menus. They need to add a little more variety in the options, but overall, it’s been good, and it’s definitely MUCH better than our trip to Israel.

Tomorrow, we leave Steyr and travel to Freistadt, a small town in the Upper Austria region with about 7,500 residents. We’ll also cross the Danube river and have a picnic lunch. It should be a fun day. Just say a quick prayer for my knee. It started hurting after my ride today, and I’m a little nervous about how it will hold up tomorrow. I don’t want to miss the ride, so send it some good vibes!

Sunday brought us perfect cycling weather in the form of sunny, blue skies and pleasant temperatures. It was a fantastic day to ride! Our journey would take us to Steyr after a 42-mile ride through the countryside and many small, quaint Austrian villages.

Again, the scenery was amazing. It is so much fun to journey off the beaten path, visiting villages and seeing sights that you would never have the opportunity to view on a typical vacation. We traveled a combination of country roads and bike paths which really gave us an opportunity to see a different side of Austria.

Our first stop was in Viechtwang, where we took a short break in a local cafe. A few of the locals were there enjoying some drinks, and they began to chat with people from our group. They even joined us in a sing along to one of the German songs about cycling that we learned a couple of nights ago. It was a memorable experience.

Part of our group in the cafe

We stopped in Adlwang and had a great lunch outside on the patio of one of the local restaurants. The ride today had a good number of climbs (hills), so it was nice to relax and take a long break during lunch. My legs were burning. We don’t have these types of climbs in Texas, so it was a huge challenge for me to make it over them.

Church in the middle of no where — took the opportunity to snap a photo and take a break during a steep, brutal climb

After lunch, we had about 12 miles to go until our final destination. This is what we saw when we got there. Our first view of Steyr — gorgeous!

Group photo with our new cycling buddies

Steyr, where two rivers — Steyr and Enns — meet in front of St. Michael church. This is the view from our hotel room. It’s stunning!

After dinner, we went on a night tour around the city with our guide who dressed in the part of the night watchmen who protected the city in days past. She took us to various parts of the city and pointed out highlights and interesting historical facts about the city. It was a great way to end a fabulous day.

I guess God was busy doing more important things because he didn’t have time to work on my request for sun in St. Gilgen on Day Three. The rain was constant, and the weather turned cold, really cold — in the 40s for most of the day. Once again, I opted for the warmth and dryness of the van while Gary decided to rough it with a few other riders.

Even though I didn’t ride, it was still a fun day. We traveled the same route as those brave souls who endured the bad weather, and we met up with them for all of the break points and for lunch. It was just like riding the course, but without the mind-numbing cold and brutal rain — win! Here are a few highlights from the journey to Gmunden.

Great views even in the rain

Our first regroup spot of the day in Ebensee where everyone grabbed some coffee and warmed up for the next leg of the ride

Outside the diner in Ebensee

The lake in Traunkirchen where we stopped for lunch

Arrival in Gmunden, more gorgeous views

View of the lake from our hotel room

Cycling tips and lessons before dinner

Dinner with a view!