Let the training begin

I never think I'm doing enough for the people who sponsor the tour - so this year I pledged 10,000 push ups before I leave in June for Nova Scotia.
                                                                             

No, I wasn't drunk when I made the pledge. This is to help me get in shape for the 1,700-plus miles that lie ahead. At least that's what I'm telling myself

Training is pretty basic. Turn on WISN and Mark Belling at 3 p.m. Listen to the podcast on my computer while completing 10 sets of 20 military push ups. Throw in some arm curls with my sand-filled Flintstone weights, maybe a set of dip off a chair (those are tough), some random cleaning during set recovery to spice things up and by 6 p.m. I've got the first phase of my winter workout complete and the house isn't as messy.

I'm sure this scenario is similar to how Vin Diesel trains.

I scratch notches in my daily diary. Stay consistent - which is the secret anyway, right? Reviewing my stats from 2009 are incredible; my God I was sculpted. Knocking down 250 push ups a day with my toes on a step in an attempt to ramp up the level of difficulty.

Starting over now and completing 100 push ups on my knees was a harsh reality check. I watched YouTube videos of guys doing push ups just to get inspired. Three weeks before the announcement I managed to complete 1,900 push ups on my knees so I could be ready to go with a full military routine once the pledge was in place.

I'm at a 'little pink girl' stage of training but I'm making progress. As of today I've completed a total of 880 push ups with 142 days left before I leave.

Things like this note from Natalie that I received while biking in Alaska keep me focused.

Judy  Wow! What an accomplishment. I enjoyed following you every step of the way. You inspire me.  In the midst of struggling with my training this summer you have put my mind in a different place to move forward. Thank you for that. Your perseverance has motivated me beyond what my mind is telling me I can do right now.  You are a blessing to many, that is apparent.  So many qualities. You have found your gift and are using it with purpose.  Be Epic  Natalie :-)

This is me working to 'Be Epic.' Next week I start my program with ThedaCare. They've selected members of the media to participate in a pedometer challenge. Walk/run 10,000 steps a day. They supplied me with a $15 pedometer. I also had to find a training buddy. I put a shout out and a man named Mark said he'd be game.

Mark is 53 years old..... he's also a mailman and walks 10 miles a day. That'll push me!

I'll close today with another favorite note from a guy named Mike. He followed my last tour in Alaska.

"I am happy and relieved that you are back home safely..... It is amazing to me that you manage to make it through these trips without getting raped, mugged, or just plain run over...... When you are gone it takes up a lot of my time just praying for you......"

-Sincerely, Mike

It's official: Nova Scotia to Wisconsin

Hundreds in attendance today at Cedar Ridge for big announcement.
                                                                               

Me and my dad, Al Steffes, posing with the tour logo and primary sponsor for this year's Amazing Ride for Alzheimer's. Behind the scenes my mother is taking the picture with my iPhone. I told her to take several shots. After the first she stopped and looked at the camera. "How do I wind it forward?"  Isn't it fun when grandma learns newfangled stuff.

                                                                       

A HUGE thanks to Helen Reinke, a 20-year resident at Cedar Ridge. She donated $10,000 to the tour. Sooooooooo GENEROUS! Helen hoped her gift would encourage others to support the ride. I told Helen I'd knock out 10,000 military push ups before I left and I'd dedicate them to her. Helen was touched. "You're crazy - but do what you want."

GREELY, CO (CONT.)

CRABTREE BREWING...

Crabtree Brewery is an independent craft brewery in Greeley run by Jeff and Stephanie Crabtree. Jeff left the corporate world four years ago to follow his dream. "The only thing I regret is that I didn't start this sooner," he said

Some of his creations include Boxcar Brown, Jeff's Pale Ale, and a fantastic beer with a ginger base.

Although Crabtree Brewing has grown 40 percent over the last four years, Jeff's biggest challenge is nudging further into a market dominated by Colorado brewing giants Coors and Budweiser.

TALL BIKES IN GREELEY...

Headed out of Greeley around 8 a.m. during the July 4th weekend and caught up to Darin who was riding a tall bike.

"I know how to weld, so over the last three days I built this bike for today's parade," said the 24-year-old dressed in a tie-dye t-shirt, black skinny jeans, and reddish-brown Vans tennis shoes.

Darin had a full Paul Bunyan beard, plugs in his ears the size of spools of thread and big sunglasses that screamed 1976.

His 5-and-a-half-foot-tall bicycle featured a red Volkcycle on top of his mom's green bike. He had a cloth Rolling Stone bag with a photo of Sean Penn hanging from the handlebars, and about a dozen medium-size flags he was taking to sell at the parade.

Darin also had his Jamaican tunes on board with 6-inch speakers mounted to the front stem; he was jamming to Toots and the Mayfals.

"It's amazing and one of the free-ist feelings," he said about riding two-stories tall in traffic.

"I just really like riding and seeing how happy people are to see it."

TIDBITS...

- The train depot in Greeley serves as headquarters for the Chamber of Commerce. Bill Sterling was on the clock and so was Bella, a 5-year-old English bulldog. "She's the director of greeting," said Sterling. Bella was a beast - about 80 pounds packaged into a 2-foot-long frame, she reminded me of a sack of potatoes with deep brown eyes and an extremely sad underbite. Bella would have been the last kid picked on the playground, so it was a good thing she was adopted by Greeley.

DAY 8 July 2, 2010 "RATTLESNAKE KATE" ~ GREELY, CO

GREELEY - One of the gems of Greeley, Colorado is the Greeley Museum. Located off 8th Street, the museum features a tremendous collection of history, including a fragment of a noose from 1888 used in the city's only lynching, a three-foot-tall silver trophy from 1912 awarded to Sidney and Harley Dickey for "The Best Sugar Beets Grown in the United States." There is also a photo of Joseph "Toots" Mondt, a farm boy from Eaton who beat a carnival wrestler in record time in 1912, took his job, and later cofounded the World Wide Wrestling Foundation.

The best exhibit is Katherine McHale Slaughterback, who made a name for herself in 1925. The 31-year-old nurse and mother found herself and 3-year-old son surrounded by snakes.

Kate and Ernie had been out looking for ducks left behind by hunters, but soon were surrounded by a spaghetti-plate full of hundreds of rattlesnakes.

Using her .22 Remington rifle, Kate unloaded on the pool of snakes, but quickly ran out of ammo.

With glycerin madness in her eyes, Kate pulled a 'No Hunting' sign out of the ground and went Chuck Norris on the snakes, clubbing the rest of them to death. Two hours later the score was "Kate 140; snakes, 0."

Rattlesnake Kate gained fame across the country. She also made fashion history using over 40 snakeskins and her best Betsy Ross skill set to build herself a dress. It was flapper-fashion with Crocodile-Hunter flare; accessorized by snake-skin-covered shoes, a rattlesnake "rattle" necklace, earrings and a headband that contained 37 rattles.

Kate pioneered a work-from-home business hunting snakes, collecting venom for a research lab and crafting and selling snakeskin souvenirs.

According to researchers at the museum, Kate was a handful; married six times and possibly into prostitution. Questioned whether she was ever bit by a snake, all signs point to 'no'; however, Kate was struck by lightning... and lived to tell about it.

Another historical treat in Greeley is the Centennial Village; a 5.5-acre museum with 26 buildings.

The village is an up-close Home and Garden experience where you can examine the living quarters of immigrants and families from 1860 - 1930. The wood-frame farmhouse of Rattlesnake Kate is one of the buildings on site along with a board-and-batten one-room structure popular during the dry land homesteading era. The inside may seem roomy, but that's because only the essentials were needed for survival, that being a bed, stove, table and chairs and a few tools and cooking utensils. Newspapers were used as wallpaper, insulation and caulking; survival depended upon resourcefulness and creativity.