Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Exercise in frustration?

Monkey Girl begged us to get a new bike 2 weeks ago. Her other one had been so well used that the bearing case died a fast death and locked the pedals. For the age of the bike and the other abuses it had seen in its early days as Hamster Boy's bike, I can rest easy knowing it is replaced. That being said, SHE wants to bike to school each day, so that means that Mommy has to as well. Not a bad thing,really, I like my bike. I just hate the first few days of riding it as the body remembers what the seat feels like and the knees remember what it is like to pedal.

I am determined to not just bike the 2 blocks to school (and that is the long route) and then park the bike. Yesterday I left early to pick her up and did a couple of blocks beyond the school and then doubled back and did a circuit around the school track. Today, I dropped her off and took another long way home. It felt like it was forever with the wind in my face on that last part of the trail. But I felt like I was getting a workout. I figured that since I had not measured out the mileage, I should wear my pedometer tomorrow. I must have been going for about 30 minutes or so by the feel of it ... Then the bubble burst. Just as I was approaching the turn that would take me to the bottom of my street, I see another mother from the school. I know the distance she had to walk, including a drop off of another child at a neighbouring school. She is fast walker, but she has 2 other kids in tow, so she is limited in speed somewhat. But not limited enough to mkae my ride the 30 minutes I thought it was. When I got home, it turns out I was only out for an extra 15 minutes ... Talk about deflating my ego! Oh well, at least I know that is a good baseline. Now I can plan a longer route to get me that 30 minutes each morning (except coffee Thursdays!).

I posted my Dragon Pants review over at PR. Debbie C. seems to have picked something up that I missed, that being the back waistband dips, more so when hiked. She recommended I revisit my curve and add more length. I have not yet done this, but have seen how others have had success looking at this. Also, when I put them on today (fresh from the dryer) I really noticed the dip. I also noticed that they are too big all over. The new curve I am not sure on, but I am willing to take another look. I think that once the younglings are in bed, I will head to the workshop with the tin foil and check my crotch curve. I think that in order to put the Dragon to rest, I am gong to have to pull out that Tencel and sew up another pair in a smaller size with a new crotch curve, made from the foil experiment. I have some fabric in the washing machine that I bought from Ressy just for these pants, in a nice Khaki green and also in a dark tan colour. She called them "Misty" and here is her description:
50/50 cotton/microfiber Water Resistant....soft with nice
drape..could be used for light weight jackets, trench coats (with
interlining), sportswear, jogging outfits etc..etc.. Very breathable
while being moisture resistant.

That should do it drape-wise. Can't wait to see how they feel once they come out of the dryer! As I like the green better, I think I will use the tan as the next muslin, without any topstitching.

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