Why Venngirl?

Why venngirl?  A unique nickname?  Self-given or given by someone else?  Venngirl is self-given, my given nickname is The Muffin.  I like that nickname.  But Venngirl means something else to me.  I have a double major in mathematics and art education.  My artwork reflects both of these interests.  The last few years my paintings have been loosely based on Venn Diagrams.  These diagrams are often used to compare and contrast different types of information.  They are also used to organize information.  I use them to play around with color.  What happens when I uses different colors in the same plane, dividing them up by circles and horizontal and vertical lines?  Can I uses math to build a better painting?  These are questions I ask myself when working with one of my paintings.  Anyways, the self-given name of Venngirl began with the paintings.

7/22

Still recovering from an absolutely kick butt weekend.  This past weekend was the Eureka Springs Fat Tire Festival.  I raced in the sport women's class, got myself totally kicked up one side and down the other--and boy was it great.  It has been several years since I have done any racing, I did not realize how much I missed the competition.  Being fat and out of shape, the competitive side could not be properly addressed.  It will take some time, if I can keep on track the rest of the year with the same kind of riding I have done the past month, that would be nice.

Friday was the short track race, short means short.  Each lap was about six tenths of a mile, with a little, fast down hill.  The women started with the men and we raced by our experience level.  I got dead last, but loved every minute of the race.  It is a good feeling to remind yourself you have a body that is supposed to be active and pushed to its limits.  I have not done this in a long time.  

Saturday was the children's ride and the pre-ride of the XC course.  The boys did awesome on the ride, along with four other young men.  To bad there were not any young women.  The pre-ride later in the day went well, although I am glad that we did not pre-ride the whole thing, I might not have competed on the Sunday race.  Let's just say that there are a few climbs.

Sunday was the race.  Started off well, stayed with some of the women, always my goal to keep in touch.  It worked out until the flat.  Fortunately I had all my tools with me, I wished I had left my extra thumbs at home.  At any rate, got back under way.  The race was about eighteen miles long, with about 6 good climbs, most of which I walked.  Gotta get started somewhere, even if you have to walk.  Lots of time to think.  By the time I was finished I was afraid the officials were going to tell me that I wasn't really finished and would need to ride a little more.  You know what made the weekend even more special, getting to spend it with my parents and the boys.  My dad is a racer and racing together reminded me of the countless races we went on ten-fifteen years ago.

7/16

Has more than a week flown by? I can't believe how time flies. This past weekend was the Leaming family reunion. The past few years we have done a theme reunion. This years was western. What fun. I hope to add more info. about the reunion tomorrow. For now I have a few pics with more to follow. Other than the western theme the resort offered tug-o-war and mud wrestling. What a blast! It was held at the MarVal Resort in Gore, Oklahoma. A pretty neat place, perfect for hosting a reunion with family members of all ages.

In other news, this weekend is the Eureka Springs Fat Tire Festival. My body is not in shape for this, I have not been on the mountain bike for some time. This race is so much fun, I cannot deny myself.

7/8

Today's ride was short.  My biggest question is why the most perfectly layed plans unravel.  The plan was to ride with the Tuesday night family ride.  We were going to ride from the house to the shop in time to catch the ride.  The first thing that happened not in the game plan was the weather.  Hit and miss showers.  I worry enough about the traffic and bicycles let alone poor weather and riding with two young men (ages 10 and 7).   The other problem is a mechanical one, sort of.  In order for the boys to keep up with the adults, the younger rides a tail-a-bike, the older rides the cutest road bike in the world.  The oldest has grown out of his shoes, so no road bike, only mountain bike.  The mountain bike slows him down too much.  All in all, I gave up and we stayed and home.  The boys wound up having their cousins over, and I wound up on the rollers.  There is nothing quite like rollers in the summer. UGGH.  

The good news is I got most of the lawn work done.  In order for the boys to join the ride, we need to get the shoes updated.

Milage for the day--9.  UGGH.  The last few days have been awesome.  26 on 7/7, 35 on 7/8.  It is amazing how good it feels to get those bigger miles in (for me).  I wonder if it is possible for me to maintain good milage for an extended amount of time--you know like a few years.  Ok, I would be happy for a few months of consistent milage.

7/3

It has been just over a week of not blogging.  I was gone for a few days for boy scout camp.  When the tiger cubs have resident camp they request that a parent accompany each tiger.  No complaints here, I love camping and I love scouting.  One of my first scouting adventures was in high school when I joined a high adventure explorers post.  It was probably one of the best things I ever did, joining that post.  At any rate the camp was awesome.  In the next few days I would like to post some photos.  

This week I have been working full time at the bike shop.  Not much riding time, OK NO riding time.  Today I was able to get in a measly 8 miles.  My DH always says some riding is better than no riding, so 8 miles is better than 0 miles.  This weekend family will be visiting, so riding will once again be hit and miss.