Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Wet Ride, Shelburne Museum, A Race


A Wet Bike Ride

Tuesday I threw my bike in the car hoping to ride in Middlebury on one of my favorite routes. Well it was POURING so I decided to head home.  Once there I did change into biking clothes, grabbed my hybrid (set for water right) and took off.  I don't mind getting wet especially if the run/ride finishes at home. I actually had quite a good time.  I didn't hurry and because I was on my hybrid took some of my favorite dirt roads, a route I hadn't gone on this year.  I got filthy and I do mean filthy!  It was mostly on my rain pants (best investment ever), my raincoat, my glasses and my bike!  I did as good a job as I could cleaning my bike once I got home.  At different times during the ride it misted, was precipitation free, sunny (for about a minute)  and poured.  I wasn't crazy about the pouring but the rest was quite fun. I had quite a time avoiding pot holes as the road was FULL of them.  This is a busy week and I was glad to get a workout in on a not so great day.

Another Good Field Trip

Wednesday we went to the Shelburne Museum once again lucking out on the weather. There has been a lot of inclement weather lately but not during our field trips.  We had lots of chaperones on this trip so there were very small groups and you could really enjoy the kids you were with.  They were probably surprised every time they asked me if they could go somewhere I told them sure. I was very relaxed and had no agenda.  The students did have passports they got stamped at different buildings/workshops and those motivated them very much.  They had lots of good questions and were eager to participate. I teach a great age student but I think most teachers think that.  We seem to find the age that suits us best.  

One of the more popular exhibits at the museum is the Ticonderoga.  I wrote about this after I did a race last fall on the route they used to haul the ship overland to the museum site.  Unbelievable.  Here's what I wrote about it last fall. This 1.1 mile route was created decades ago for moving the steamship Ticonderoga from Shelburne Bay to its home at Shelburne Museum two miles away.. The gravel path starts on Harbor Road and and continues to Bay Road via field, wetland and forest.  The Ticonderoga was pulled from the lake and moved two miles overalnd to Shelburne Museum where it is a National Historic Landmark! 





The students loved exploring all levels of the Ticonderoga although they had no interest in watching the film about moving the Ticonderoga to the museum. I guess I'll have to go back and see it on my own. They loved most of the exhibits but one thing they were determined to do was ride the carousel.  Again - I love the age I teach. They are independent yet very much (at times) still little kids.

One last thing......tomorrow night I have a race. I would never prefer to race in the evening being very much a morning runner by choice the Corporate Cup is in the evening. I love running with friends and it is a blast to run with co workers so race I will.  One person on my team has only run one time and raced one time and that was last year in this same event!  The other woman is a runner but has never raced.  There is a walking team of 3 people and only one of them has raced.  The final threesome has raced and is excited to race together.  This race messes up my training schedule for the week but I'm still looking forward to it.  No huge goals.  I remember being disappointed with my time last year. I'll have to go look it up.  It is  a very crowded start and you don't get out of the crowd and trying to get  around people for quite awhile.  I'll aim for having fun, watching my colleagues have fun and improving last year's time.

12 comments:

Jill said...

It's funny to see a ship in the middle of an open grassy area :). I bet it's pretty cool though and how neat that your kids enjoyed it so much. Aside from the movie ;).

The night race sounds like a lot of fun with your friends. Thursday night is sort of odd night for a race, though?? One of my favorite 5ks is a Halloween one on a Friday night...it starts to get dark by the time you finish, which I guess sort of adds to the whole Halloween spookiness of it. Good luck, girl!!!

Ransick said...

Your ride sounds like an adventure! Don't forget to lube your bike chain after a wet ride like that. It will rust in a hurry.

Agree with Jill that the boat in the grassy field does look surreal. Sounds like a nice field trip though.

The night race sounds like fun. Racing with friends is always fun.

Char said...

You could have given your wet suit it's first workout in that downpour.

I hope you have fun with your run. I'm not a big fan of evening races either but you don't always have a choice.

Michael said...

Have fun at your race this weekend! I am definitely a morning runner too, but evening races are always a little different and fun.

That ride sounds awful to me, but glad youd could still enjoy it!

Ewa said...

Biking in the rain is fun! No rains here for months now... oh, well.
That race sounds like fun. Enjoy!

Johann said...

You are brave to bike in the rain like that but I can imagine it can be a lot of fun as well. I've done many night races and always enjoy them. Ours are mainly on Wednesdays with a few on Fridays. Enjoy!

BabyWeightMyFatAss said...

Good luck at your race!

It is weird seeing the ship on dry land but we have a viking wood ship up in Chicago that I grew up seeing like that under a hut. Anyways the pic is just calling for "imagine I'm in the water" vibes. lol

Fran said...

Have fun at the race. I have done 2 evening runs and they weren't that bad. I'm a morning runner like you. There's once race here in Holland I would like to do someday. It starts at 9.30 pm and the route is lighted by candles. Think it will be great.

Generation X (Slomohusky) said...

what age do you teach?

i agree with Jill. just the mere sight of a landlocked ship/boat like that - has to draw the attention.

fun!

Amy said...

What a cool museum!

How did the race go? I find races that don't start in the morning are strange, but a lot of them here start in the afternoon.

HappyTrails said...

Good stuff, especially riding in the rain :) How did the race go last night???

Black Knight said...

I hope that you have run a good race.
Always interesting to read and to see pics of a ship: I will always be a sailor even if now I sit in an office.
The workouts under the rain are the best.