Wow

With the weather warming up, I’ve restarted the habit of outside bike riding to clear the brain of the office administrivia and other real-life nagging things. It was a challenge to get motivated to go even three or four miles, a stretch at one time for this overweight asthmatic, but a couple of things changed recently to get me moving.

First off, I’ve generally a higher level of fitness at this time of year versus in the past because I spent mucho hours at the gym. Doing an hour on the crosstrainer is a snap now as long as I’ve got an iPod movie to distract me (Aliens, T2, and Die Hard are great exercise flicks), and the other machines at the gym are getting some use, too. And I ain’t doing baby levels, either; the crosstrainer fears me.

The more significant change is my doctor got me using inhalers before I exercise. I’ve never wanted to use them before because I felt that it was acknowledging the existence of my asthma and therefore acknowledging a weakness. The fact that I was spending most of my exercise time fighting back asthma-related problems so I never got the full benefits of working out. As is often the case in human nature, I was making myself weaker by not dealing with a misperceived weakness.

Since I’ve been doing the inhalers, it’s been a brand new world on the bike and at the gym. I can now make climbs and keep pedaling at a higher pace without stopping or slowing down. Yesterday, I did an uphill 7+ mile ride on the west side of town via the VT Trail that at one time would have made me suffer. This time, the ride was my bitch and I kicked ass. (I won’t mention I was in bed by 8:30ish. The point of exercise is to get in shape and help me sleep.;-) )

It’s a brand new day and I’m for some more physical challenges and am thinking about the 100-pushups challenge. I did a big whopping eight of them this morning so how tough can it be to build on that number? Look out, world!

Why did we go back to the Peppermill so soon after we went last time, you may ask? Our experience then with the monkeys and dark wood was just plain creepy, but we’d heard good things so we gave the place another chance. We were not disappointed. Everything’s been better and we’re feeling more relaxed and mellow this time. And we’re making plans to come back for our anniversary in June.

And yes: it’s snowing here. Welcome to Spring.

Scott over at Around Carson recently took some pictures of some minor downtown demolition and I hoped I might have an old picture of the place. I dug through the e-files and thought I found one until I look at the street sign on the right. Third and Fall Streets?

Courtesy of the Nevada State Library and Archives.

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Jeff Moser at Bike Carson and his lunch gang were assaulted with hard rubber balls during a ride the other day. I’ve had my share of encounters with idiot drivers but nothing on this premeditated scale and there’s simply no excuse for it, period.

On the flip side, though, we bicyclists are sometimes are own worst enemy in the way we navigate the road, ignore stop signs (guilty), and generally think we’re bigger and smarter than a two-ton SUV.

And we’re mean to each other. Watch how karma catches up with the rider who pushes over another rider.