My Biking "Adventure", re-lived

I am still sweating, panting, my thighs still shaking and my heart still racing from my bike ride.

I took the path that Chris and I went down the other day - Friday afternoon. It starts of as a nicely paved road, large enough to make way for a rural two lane road, and leads into a dirt path about half a foot wide. The path changes from smooth and even, to pebbly, then gravelly and finally rocky and dirty. Today, it was a bit muddy from the heavy rain over the past few days.

Before I headed out for my bike ride, i decided to bring my camera along to take a few snap shots of what my adventure entails. I only took photos of the trail though. I didn't get to capture a 'First" moment that I had!
I'll share the photos, then talk about the my exciting, and breath-taking (literally, it left me panting and exhausted) moment.


This is where the journey begins.











And, of course I need to take a picture of my bike! Well, at least as much of it as possible without getting OFF the bike.










This Picture is taken along the way to the 'trail'. see that slope? It's actually quite steep. And, not as easy as you think to bike back up.





This is not 'the trail'. The gates, as usual are locked, and instead of breaking the lock, or sawing through the chains, taking this little path here is a slightly easier way to gain access to the trail.

And, this is what I mean by 'locked'.







See the nicely paved road? Well, this HUGE puddle was gorgeous!
You can see the reflection of the scenery in it!





The road gets a bit narrower, but is still nicely paved. I'm holding the camera in my had as I bike. Not something I would recommend.


Then, I can no longer hold the camera as I bike. Se the pebbles and gravel on the road? It gets better!!






Now, this is some path that we're looking for!!!


Wait, there's more!










see the path getting really narrow?
It's really nice there though. I'm not sure if you can see it, but near the back, you can see that the path goes down ad then back up again. This slope doesn't look that steep, but really, you get enough momentum to rush all the way back up without pedaling at ALL.



This is a picture of the same part of the trail in the previous picture. But, after I rush down it, and back up!
It was exhilarating. It's strange, the first time I went down it, I lit up my eyes and gave me this sort of excitement. You're sitting on a bike, you might get thrown off and all scratched up. The path is really bumpy. I Didn't know whether to brake, or to hold onto the handlebars for dear life. I ended up holding onto the handles FULLY. I felt that I needed to hold onto it so tightly, hoping to at least be able to steer it, even if I couldn't control the speed. it was fun!



after the rush up.






And, the end. So many branches. This is where I got bitten. Probably because I kept stopping to take pictures. Well, at least the mosquitoes here are nicer than the ones that reside in the visitor's parking outside my house. The swelling and itching are gone already!



Getting out was difficult. I couldn't bike up this slope.






Shot of the same slope from the other side.




great to know!!









The trail leads me to a Golf Club. Before Chris and I biked here last time, I had no idea I lived that close to a Golf Club. some photos of the club.














So after the trail, I decide to head home. From the trail, I suppose it's around a 3km ride home. I bike along the side walk, since Steeles is an extremely busy street. When I reach the next intersection, I head North for home. I reach a traffic light, and passing it, I continue on the sidewalk. Then, it occurs to me that, it's nice and clam, not too many cars: I can bike on the road! So, I did!

This is the first time that I bike on a large road. Steelecase, does not count as a large road, since it's like a residential road (no traffic lights etc. Speed Limit is probably 50kmh). Anyways, my new challenge. That uphill that you saw in the first few pictures, was the uphill that I needed to bike on the road to get home. And, it was a long, hard bike (for me), but I made it! I feel so proud of myself!

note: uploading these pictures takes EONS. I don't think i'll be uploading so many for blogs now.

Surgery and Sutures

I just got home from the dentists. And, I must admit that... i hate going to the dentist. I hated it from when I was a little kid. From those cleaning moments, to the whirring of some sort of strange saw (or so I thought/imagined) to the doctor saying that I need to get braces. Then to carry those horrific memories from childhood to teenage and adulthood. I still don't like going to the dentist - even if it's just to see the dental hygienist. By the way, the last time I went to get my teeth scaled was not that great of an experience. Hearing the constant scraping and screeching sound of metal against my teeth just didn't give me a lot of room for visual imagery. All I could think of was that she was scraping and scraping with those metal picks at my teeth. And my teeth being sheared and ugh. It was not a lovely picture. Even the paintings of Tigger and Winnie the Pooh, Bugs Bunny and Tweety on the ceiling was not enough to quench and relish my vivid imagination. I wish she talked to me and said something to me to help ease and perhaps even wash away my disturbing imagery pictures.

Well, today... Today was different. I must admit that I was nervous, and scared. Because, i do hate going to the dentist's office - regardless of the dentist and what I'll be doing. It just gives me the chills. This Dentist, located at Midland and Finch, was a little different. I agree with Hei, he is really nice. He talked to me and made comments and jokes. It was nice to hear a person say something to me while I'm laying there with my mouth open. Eyes open but having no visual input of what's going on. Ears open only to hear noises from happenings that I cannot see, and my mind wide-awake trying to make sense of the noises I'm receiving. The dentist helped me make sense of the noises I was hearing. He talked me through the procedures and what he was doing. He communicated with the hygienist that was his right-hand helper (left-hand, rather).

He told me what he was doing when he did what he did. For example, applying the greenish-blue paste. This was some Topic, he explained, which will help ease the pain of the anesthetic needles. Okay, I relax a bit.

-Oh, it's time to change the gauze I need to bite on -

Then, there's this drill that's kinda hot. I think I feel it on my gums, I feel something. And, i say "ow ow ow ow ow". And, the dentist chuckles, "Ow?!". "Yes I feel something". "You feel the pressure?", he asks. "Yes, I think so". I believe it was more the hotness of the instrument aginst my lips/corner of mouth that I was feeling. But pull, and the tooth was out. It was FAST. So fast, that I looked surprisingly at my dentist and asked "it's out?!". I was quite excited at the prospect of having one of my teeth pulled out. there was a big smile on my face and I was more excited for the second one.

The second, bottom tooth was a bit more stubborn than it's previous sibling. It took a while for him to get it out. It was already loose and out of place but... yes, I could understand the dentist. There was no space for the tooth to be clipped onto. There was gum covering it and stuff. But, it did come out! And, it's BIG. A big tooth for a small mouth. I don't have a tiny mouth, but I do find it difficult to floss near the back.

And, I got sutures!!! Who gets excited about getting sutures?! Well, I was! My first sutures!

Because of that, I get 2 birds with one stone. My first surgery, and my first sutures (or stitches). And, these stitches will dissolve themselves. He told me they were made of lamb gut/intestines. Wonderfully brilliant! I get to have lamb gut on my gums!

p.s. i decided to make a label called "firsts". This one is really not the first 'first' that I've blogged about, but I think today is a good place to start. I'll add the labels at a later time (if I ever get around to doing so^^.

Edit: My teeth are HUGE, and I'll post a picture of them to show it to you. It's kinda gross, but I'm holding them, so you don't see them all. Tylenol and Ferrero Rocher - my two companions.

My first photo upload on blogger!

OH, I hate how "A Beautiful Mind" always makes me cry - especially near the ending! It's so good! I love it!

So, here's a preliminary photo view of my bike - this is how I lock it up:

Doesn't look too good without a seat. HAHA.