I admit, I sometimes see pictures of women and think, “Why can’t I be like that? Why can’t my legs be skinny or my arms look like a 20-year-old’s?” Well, there are a few reasons. The reasons I can’t control are:

• My metabolism noticeably changed for the worst within the last couple of years.
• My arms can’t look like a 20-year-old’s because I’m 34.
• I am a real woman.

It is very difficult to be skinny, and while my weight is much more than I believe is healthy for my joints, the rest of me is healthy. I eat well and I exercise. I’ve cut my alcohol consumption considerably. My blood pressure is directly related to the amount of activity I get—it’s usually about 112/something.

I’ve tried things that have worked for me in the past, but they don’t work anymore. I’ve tried following Weight Watchers, which helped me lose 35 pounds in the past, but I’ve found myself very hungry in recent attempts and, when I followed it religiously, I saw no results. I very rarely drink pop or use added sugar (I only add a little sugar when I make cinnamon toast). I opt for whole grains, fresh fruit and vegetables, and lean meats. I’ve switched to organic eggs and milk. What else is there?

My personal solution is this: accept who I am as I am. At the BOW clinic, when I said that I weighed 200 pounds, I heard a couple of women gasp in disbelief while one of them uttered, “You don’t look like it!” Thank you. I guess I don’t look as bad as I thought. I know I don’t, but I don’t look like I wish I could, either. When I can afford to repair my bikes and drive to mountain bike trails, the weight will come off. I will once again take up my addiction and my favorite clothes will fit me. I don’t think I will ever weigh less than 160, although I think I look pretty fine at 160.

The following are photos of women who I think portray real beauty. They aren’t supermodels, nor could they ever be for various reasons, one of them being that they are too smart. These women are beautiful, not just because of their exterior, but because of their accomplishments, their attitudes, and their ability to “own it” on a bike. These are women who I think have been positive influences on me.

Marty Shue of the Michigan Mountain Biking Association and Kelly Bishop, formerly of the International Mountain Bicycling Association’s Trail Care Crew.

Ali is a talented racer.

Lori H. (far right) is a fierce singlespeeder and advocate in the Keweenaw.

Melanie S. is talented, adventurous, and kind.

Amanda (right) taught me to look for the good in everyone.

Di riding Copper Harbor.

Even though I struggle with the negative “self-talk” that is common among so many women, I had to throw myself in there. It doesn’t take much for me to think less of myself, but when I go through the archives of this blog, I think, “Gee, I’ve really accomplished a lot. I’ve done a lot of things. I’ve lived.” How easy it is to forget.

I include myself not only for what I’ve done, but for what I want to be. Not only do I want to get in better shape and resume racing, but I want to be a better person. I want to be better to the people around me. I want to do for those who have done for me. I want not only to experience the wonderful things I’ve experienced in the past, but I want to help others experience their own joy.

That is beautiful.

Even as a kid, I understood the benefits of cross-training. Roller skating was one of my favorite activities. I was pretty good at it. In the winter, I would try ice skating, but I always feared falling on the hard ice. My tushy didn’t appreciate that.

I knew that I would need some mad skillz to support my bike habit. One time, I even got to help my dad build a house.

Unfortunately, those mechanical abilities never translated into my adult life, which is kind of a hindrance when it comes to bike repairs.

I also understood the importance of just chillin’. In those days, I enjoyed honing my skills with the latest flavor of Bubble Yum or Hubba Bubba. These days, I prefer post-ride chill sessions with Michigan micro brews. This past winter, I really took a liking to IPAs, but now that the days are warmer, I prefer sweeter ambers.

It wasn’t until I moved to Hancock in 2006 that I rediscovered the joys of riding a bike. Until recent years, I didn’t know that I was actually “mountain biking” on that pink, banana-seat Huffy on the trails behind our house. You can see a couple of pictures of those unofficial trails at “Bicycle Tour of Durand Part I—A Photo Essay.”

I now realize that the times in my life when I truly enjoyed bicycling are linked by one common thread: mountain biking. Finally, I can understand this kid’s enthusiasm:

He figured it out, early in life.

Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit in April 2007.

Last night’s Super Bowl sucked. It just sucked. The national anthem was butchered by Christina Aguilera; the half-time show sucked, and not because of microphone problems; and the commercials left a lot to be desired. Probably the two best commercials were weapons in the battle of the car companies, mainly Chrysler and Volkswagen.

The VW Darth Vader commercial definitely elicited a giggle and is well worth watching:

…but it was the Chrysler commercial that is the talk of the town, or the state:

I have to embarrassingly admit that the Chrysler commercial brings a tear to my eye. In fact, they (my eyes) well up with pride. I am much more sentimental than I prefer.

I love Detroit. I want to see that city flourish, but I also recognize that is quite a dream, especially since Detroit’s current condition is the result of ignorance and racial disharmony that was wholeheartedly embraced by its residents.

The commercial mentions Detroit has been to hell back, and some of you may be with me when I say that the sentence ended with, “Detroit has been to hell.” I’m not so sure it has come back.

“Di, how can you talk about Detroit like this when you started out by saying that you love Detroit?” you ask. Well, it’s a simple answer, and I think you might be with me on this, as well. Detroit is so much more than its political and cultural struggles.

On the surface, Detroit looks like a barren wasteland to some. Driving through, one usually isn’t surprised to see burned out houses, broken windows, and drabness. If one looks deeper, however, there is a flame that continues to burn in Detroit and its suburbs. “Detroit” (I put it in quotes to refer to the Greater Detroit Area) is full of all kinds of people who are loyal to their home and all that it has to offer. Even those of us who don’t live in Southeast Michigan can be included in the “we” when I say that “we” love our crappy Lions, our mediocre Tigers, our awesome Red Wings, our historical architecture such as that found within the Fox Theatre, and our wonderful ethnic food, such as that which can be found in various Greek, Polish, and Italian restaurants.

A Tiger game at Comerica Park.

Detroit is also seeing new life in unexpected ways, such as urban farming that is an alternative use for some of the abandoned property in the city. More important, Detroit has a bike culture that I really don’t know too much about, but it is there. Beat the Train is something I hope to check out, this year. I certainly know that the mountain biking culture in the Greater Detroit Area is huge, friendly, fun, and fueled by excellent trails built on challenging terrain–something that really surprises people who don’t know that Southeast Michigan does have big hills, and that there is a lot of green space dotted throughout the urban jungle.

I could continue to babble on about Detroit, but I really don’t think I can adequately put into words what I truly feel about the city and suburbs. I can only say this: you must experience it for yourself. For those of us who do “get it,” the Chrysler commercial did a remarkable job of bringing some of that je ne sais quoi to the television screens of a tremendous audience, most of whom don’t really know anything about Detroit.

The Compuware Building outside of the Hard Rock Cafe.

Sure, the point of the commercial was to sell Chrysler cars, a product that I will never buy. “But the thematic message was way bigger, especially for people with a Detroit connection,” said Associate Editor Ron Dzwonkowski in his Detroit Free Press article, “Did you feel it? Chrysler Super Bowl ad says Detroit’s back.”

“Don’t know if it will sell cars,” said Dzwonkowski. “But Sunday night, it sold a city. And a lot of people were watching.”

The Tree Farmers are very safety-conscious. Trust me. These guys were model safety practitioners at the summit. For example:

…and…

Yes, they wear helmets when they drink. Talk about safety!

The only questionable activity I saw was when one of them hijacked the Ditch Witch:

CAMBr is the Chicago Area Mountain Bikers. I really have no clue where the “r” comes from. Perhaps they were just riding along, one day, with hydration packs filled with beer and said, “Hey, ‘camb’ is boring. We could call ourselves ‘camb-ER.’ Hey, I need to find a place to refill my pack. Who has the cheapest taps?”

Perhaps.

Now, the thing that just might support my story is the fact that these guys brought a huge box of Palos Meltdown Mountain Bike Race pint glasses to GIVE AWAY! You guys rock. Who doesn’t need a pint glass?

CAMBr’s Palos Meltdown, Velocity, and Barney the purple…wait, that’s a voodoo monkey!

The voodoo monkey in the Barney the purple dinosaur suit enjoyed drinking Founders IPA out of his brand new, free Palos Meltdown glass courtesy of CAMBr.

This CAMBr guy put the Velocity wheel through a series of difficult tests.

Can you believe that this guy had a mishap with the tap? Yeah, those CAMBr guys just don’t know how to pour their own beer.

This is me showing off the cooler full of Founders IPA and the Palos Meltdown pint glass.

Saturday, September 11 was disappointingly rainy. I still made my way to the Grand Rapids Bike Park to see what would happen to the Midwest Mountain Bike Summit schedule for the day. I ended up standing under the Alger Cyclery easy-up with the Velocity guys enjoying beaucoup Founders IPA. This is surprising because IPAs and pale ales have always been too bitter for me, but I finally developed a taste for Founders.

Now, it is possible that my sense of smell has once again taken a vacation, which is why I would like Founders, or my taste has simply evolved. It’s happened with wine; there’s no reason why it couldn’t happen with beer. I do like variety.

Anyway, these Velocity guys were something else. Not only did our cups runneth over, but so did the cooler.

The Velocity wienermobile was set ablaze in preparation for a tasty treat!

People at the summit really enjoyed the free hot dogs and hamburgers.

Sure, it looks like lovable Barney, but this thing morphed into some scary, voodoo monkey.

The wheel was hungry and stole our hot dogs.

This dude looks super serious on the Ditch Witch.

This gentleman is demonstrating the versatility of the Slingshot – it doubles as a bow for those who like to mountain bike during hunting season.

THE cooler.

“Kick the bottle.”

After spending the day at the Grand Rapids Bike Park, we took the Velocity wienermobile and THE cooler over to the local park to watch the cyclocross race. That looks like Dave Staublin on the left.

The guilty one:

Ali…

…owner and lifelong companion to…

…the Willow…

…and friends.

They look pretty evil, don’t they? You can just see that evil laugh of Andrea’s.

What you are about to see is not for the faint of heart. Some photos could not be shown.

First of all, I have to thank Mike Woods for posting his relationship status on Facebook. I remembered seeing it so long ago, and I thought, “Hey, I could screw with my friends with an awesome Facebook status that says, ‘Diane is in a relationship with Jake the Snake.’”

Well, apparently, Jake would have to be on Facebook in order for that to work. He personally does not care for that geeky, desperate social networking thing, so he won’t be having a Facebook page anytime soon.

Anyway, I went ahead and edited my Facebook relationship status to “in a relationship” and even carefully typed in “Jake the Snake.” What I got was this:

Talk about a backfire. In spite of how Facebook failed me, yet again, three of my friends were savvy to my crap:

In the end, Jake and I decided it simply was not going to work. We called it off – something about “bike rights” and Jake not being able to visit me if I ever went into the hospital.

Although the rail trail wasn’t paved, Jake was decked out in his ultra, super-click tires:

He handled pretty well and even hit 20 mph at one point. I had to hold him back on occasion. He really felt good and wanted to go.

We rode to Topinabee where we hung out for snacks and beverages. Jake decided to get a little sun on the public beach:

Jake really liked the nice people we rode with. He really wanted a keepsake photo with them:

Jake also wanted a picture with his new friends:

Jake loved the scenery on the rail trail and wanted to pose on a bridge with Mullet Lake in the background:

Of course, everyone wants to see the beautiful Mackinaw Bridge. Jake is a Yooper who dearly misses his homeland, so he really wanted a picture with this wonderful gateway into Michigan’s greatest and most upperest peninsula:

Jake and I had a wonderful time, and we look forward to future excursions in Cheboygan County and around the state.