Category Sports

Fitness Virtual Challenge – IRELAND

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January 2021 – The start of a new year, it’s time for a fitness challenge.

My girlfriend was on Facebook and found this Run West Ireland – Cancer Fundraiser – Virtual Challenge. It was a no brainer to sign up. We love Ireland, happy to donate to cancer and need to exercise. A win/win all around.

Here’s how it works. Race Duration: January 18 – May 31. Miles: 502; however, you can sign up to do less. Doing the math, as I signed up for the 502 miles, it seems I need to walk about 5 miles a day. It’s hard to find 1.5 hours a day to devote to exercise, but that will be the challenge.

They have a Facebook group page, which is nice. So, there is some camaraderie and then other perks along the way. I clocked my 5.6 miles in today. Feeling good.

So the race begins!

2021 – Heading outdoors. Have you heard of the Origami Paddler?

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I came across this new paddle board / kayak invention by Tim Neimeir. He’s been in the kayak industry for years. Visit his site, Origami Paddler, to learn more about him. He’s had great success on Kickstarter.

I’d like to learn paddle boarding and kayaking this year. I’ve kayaked, but haven’t tried paddle boarding. I’m exploring what boards are out there to purchase that are easy to put in my car and carry.

I just bought two wonderful Paddling magazines. Life is interesting. When we put something that we want out to the Universe, suddenly we attract information on it.

Right now, it’s too COLD for boating in Chicago, but I’ve got to formulate a plan for Spring.

How about YOU? What is your big outdoor goal for this year?

With COVID, I was reading that bikes and kayaks were sold out. Even indoor bikes and treadmills have been back ordered. So, the sporting / exercising industry is changing, getting a boost and coming up with NEW ideas for how we can eat healthy and exercise in or outdoors.

2021 – On to the big adventure.

Tiger Woods – Golf -> Ultimate Victory

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Tiger Woods win in the Masters yesterday was a real victory for him and for us. It shows us that life gives us set backs (personal, physical, etc.), but through perseverance, hard work, constant belief in our goals that victory can be obtained. His last win was in 2005, this is quite a come back.

Champions never give up believing, Tiger Woods proved that!

Wonderful to see him hugging his son, his mother…

By the way, there is a story out there that says when you win the green jacket, you only get to keep it at your home for a year, then you need to give it back. WHAT? Also, that the green jacket they put on him was his old jacket, not a new one. WHAT AGAIN? I’m not a golfing fan, need to read more about this. Surprised, of course.

Congratulations!

“Afghan Cycles” – A documentary about Afghani women learning to cycle for independence and freedom…

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Afghan Cycles movie poster

Photo courtesy of “Afghan Cycles,” http://www.afghancycles.com

A few years ago, I heard about a group of women in Afghanistan who were learning to cycle. They were starting a documentary about this, but it was going to take time to produce. Good news, last year the movie Afghan Cycles, produced by Let Media made it’s debut. I want to spread the word about it.

The Bicycle Story wrote an article, “Shannon Galpin: Riding to Revolution in Afghanistan” back in 2014 to share the start of this story. Shannon Galpin is from Colorado. She is the founder and President of Mountain2Mountain, which is a non-profit focused on global women’s rights.

Galpin’s focus on Afghani women and bikes started in 2009 when she brought her mountain bike to Afghanistan. As she rode around on her bike, it sparked conversation and interest from women about riding. In 2013, she started working and training with the Afghan National Women’s Cycling Team, as well as bike clubs that had started. On her website (Shannon Galpin), she has pictures of this journey and the women cyclists!

Afghan Cycles 4

Photo courtesy of “Afghan Cycles,” http://www.afghancycles.com

Sarah Menzies, Let Media, is a Producer, Editor, Filmmaker and brilliant story teller. It has taken her five years to produce this film with many rounds of fundraising, research, and trips to Afghanistan involved. You can see this documentary was long coming. I hope you will take a moment to read their story and view the film!

Let Media is asking us to spread the word. They welcome people to contact them to set up a screening of the film in their cities.

Here is how you can watch the film:

Available On Demand

The film is available for purchase on the following platforms:
US: iTunes, Microsoft, Google Play, Vudu and Amazon.
Canada: iTunes, Microsoft, Google Play
UK: iTunes, Amazon Microsoft, Google Play
Ireland: iTunes, Microsoft, Google Play

MY FINAL THOUGHTS…

When I was young and learned to ride a bike… IT’S TRUE, it gave me confidence, after I fell a zillion times, of course! A few scraped knees and elbows never stopped me. I had freedom and independence to go where I wanted in our neighborhood. I had a newspaper route where I made money, riding the bike also taught discipline and respect for my vehicle. How many times did I learn to put the chain back on, oil the chain, put the bell and basket on my bike and fix a flat tire (too many to count).

I loved the feel of the “fresh air” (spring, summer & fall) as I rode along Lake Michigan. Riding a bike was, and is, a powerful feeling. I can understand woman around the world wanting the same freedom and independence that I had.

If any of you (male or female) have had these same feelings of bike riding than you can understand how important this documentary is, so please… don’t be shy… share with others!

Football: Notre Dame v.s. Northwestern University

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55E8AB61-E124-4291-A275-7521F8F7FEC3For those of you who follow football, this weekend (November 3, 2018) the University of Notre Dame plays Northwestern University in Evanston (North of Chicago). It supposed to be a BIG game, we have not played them in 40 years and we lost last time. Of course, I am an ND fan. Game Day t-shirts are on sale now. ND fans, wear your blue/gold with PRIDE!

Go IRISH!

Chicago to Mackinac Island – Sailboat race starts tomorrow…

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sailboats-1375064_960_720The race from Chicago to Mackinac Island starts tomorrow (Saturday, July 21, 2018). If you are in the area, head down to Navy Pier. It’s exciting and beautiful to see all the boats lining up to take off. They have different sized boats, so they leave at different times to make the race fair.

The reason this is exciting is because this is the oldest freshwater race in the world, it started in 1898. If you enjoy sailing, you might like to see this online tracking of the race. If you click on the “online tracking link,” you can see a picture of Lake Michigan with a line showing you how they will sail from Chicago to Mackinac Island. They sail nonstop, so they use spotlights at night. I believe there are about 340 boats and approximately 3,000 sailors.

Weather forecast not looking so good, rain and high winds.

So, you see, Chicago is known for a little bit more than just “Al Capone / gangsters.” Ah, I’m kidding, but did you know that Walt Disney was born in Chicago, 1901, and grew up here? He studied drawing at the Institute of Fine Arts. I leave you with Frank Sinatra’s song, “My Kind of Town (Chicago is)!”  AND The Blues Brothers with “Sweet Home Chicago.”

Let the race begin!

Diet & Exercise – TIME TO COMMIT!

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Spring is around the corner. Do you struggle with diet and exercise? I just read a motivational post by CrossFitMomm: One Mom’s Journey with CrossFit. This Mom is definitely ON FIRE. Her post called, “You Can’t Exercise Away a Crap Diet…” was a right on target.

I found inspiration in her post, because she thrives on exercise. She is fanatical about it, like a drill Sergeant. That is the type of trainer I would need. Someone to push me to the next level. As I keep reading her posts I see the difference in “her thinking” versus “my thinking.” I enjoy exercise, but I am not driven by it. She is driven by exercise, I like her energy.

It would be amusing if she and I went bicycle shopping together. At the store, I would go to the LEFT and she would go to the RIGHT. I would be looking at the old fashioned leisure bikes with a pretty basket in front, she would be looking at the high powered racing bikes. This is why I like her posts! Her energy is so high and focused on exercise that I would slowly concede and buy the race bike.

She points out that if we find an exercise or sport that we love to do then it is not a chore. I agree with this. If you are looking for motivation and a little bit of “tough love” in the exercise department, you’ll like her Blog.

Ok – this little bird needs to pick up the pace. Spring is here, the birds are chirping like crazy outside. Let’s GO!

Are there any sharks? Boating in Wilmington, NC.

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IMG_1546I grew up swimming in Lake Michigan. Swimming in a Lake is carefree. You might run into some minnows, or step on a big brick – YES, there are bricks at the bottom of the Lake, but you would never run into a shark.

So, when I get to an ocean, my first instinct is to dive right in UNTIL a warning sound goes off in my brain that says, “WAIT, are there any sharks?”  That’s what happened on my trip to Wilmington, North Carlolina. I soon overcame any fears as my friend jumped in without hesitation and started bobbing up and down in the waves looking like a fish. I followed.

As I was diving into the water, I was reminded of a time I was diving into the Lake with my brother. We had found a red brick at the bottom of the Lake in the sand bar area. My brother had picked it up and brought it to the service, PROUD of what he had found. We decided to play a game. We would throw the brick in the water and BOTH of us would dive in the water after the brick. Whoever got to the brick FIRST would be the one to throw it in again.

Well, this game was working out well until my brother, being extremely fast, dove in just in time for the brick to come crashing on his head. Luckily, this was not a bolder, but still, he came up out of the water with blood on his forehead. We immediately went out of the water. My mother was horrified and off to the emergency room we went for him to get stitches. So ended our fun brick game.

IMG_4493We also did a lot of boating on Lake Michigan, but I was not prepared for the boating they do in Wilmington. Wow – we went out on Saturday and there were boats everywhere. It’s “the” thing to do on the weekend. I felt like we were on a busy water freeway. The boats were very orderly, just like on a normal road, staying in their lane. Of course, there are always the “hot rods” even on the water.

IMG_4495There were the party looking boats with a lot of young people. They were doing water skiing and water tubing. There was a little island with a palm tree. As the day went on and the water started rising it covered the little island. We drove by a red Tow Boat, and later in the day hurried to dock the boat as we could see a storm coming in.

IMG_1547There have been a lot of thunder storms this summer. That day we could see the dark clouds coming in over the Atlantic Ocean. The lightning looked like fireworks in the sky, similar to this photo. Every few minutes behind the clouds we would see a flash of pink and silver. The thunder was incredible, so loud too. When I lived in California we had rain storms, but no thunder or lightening.

If you haven’t been boating or swimming in a while, it’s great fun, GO DO IT!  Be careful of those BIG waves though, they can knock you out… seriously, they can.

 

Italy: The 2017 Mille Miglia auto race takes off in Brescia

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It’s that time of year again. The Mille Miglia auto race just took off yesterday. I was there and captured this quick clip as the cars were speeding off.  It’s wonderful to be in Brescia and see 460 vintage cars around town all getting ready to compete in the race, which goes from Brescia to Rome and back to Bresica about 1,000 miles.

IMG_1253

My friend said to enter the race a card must have been made before 1957.  The race is not about being the fastest, it has to do with car performance. At each stopping point the car is checked for various things. It’s critical to have a co-pilot to help with this. Also, the drivers are going through small towns, mountains, etc., so they have their mechanical team close behind, in case assistance is needed. Cars do break down even before they start.

IMG_1254This is quite a race. Think about it… for each nightly stop they make, ALL the drivers/co-pilots, mechanics, race organizers, etc. must be fed and put up in different hotels for the three different nights. Also, there must be a big enough space for all of the cars, so that the mechanics can do their tweaking, testing, etc. of their cars at night, so car is ready to leave next morning.

Clearly, this is a passion these owners/drivers have for their cars. While most car drivers are Italian, there are many other countries entered to race (Holland, Germany, United Kingdom, United States and more).

The race finishes on Sunday!  If someone gets a channel and can post an update on the race, we would love to see progress reports.

Go Mille Miglia!

French artist Clet Abraham gives traffic signs in Florence, Italy a “new look.”

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street-signs-florence

While I was walking in Florence recently, I “did” notice the traffic signs had art on them and thought it was graffiti. Then a friend told me it was actually a French-born artist, Clet Abraham, who had been going around town placing stickers on traffic signs.

Clet has lived in Florence over 20 years now and started this street sign art about five years ago. He has had a little trouble from the police, but it seems that has been sorted out and now he is famous for his art. He created the art as stickers, so they can easily be removed and he has expanded to other cities in Italy. If you are visiting Florence, he has a studio close to Piazza Michelangelo and he sells some of his stickers there. So, you could pay him a visit, see his art and speak to him in person.

You can follow Clet on Facebook. I just visited his site and was amused at other stickers he has come up with. He had visited New York, so he has one of the Statue of Liberty. There was a funny post there where Clet went to buy a pizza and they surprised him with a pizza that had a traffic sign on it. Be warned, if you don’t speak Italian, you will need your Italian dictionary to understand some of the conversations; however, you don’t need to speak Italian to enjoy the pictures he has posted. Good news – some of the discussions are in English.

Enjoy looking at street signs in a whole new way!