Beyond irritated at this cold or flu or whatever that’s got me on the disabled list. Will spare you the detail of the yuckiness but the fun part is my legs are trying to convince the rest of the body that it’s time to go outside and everything else is having none of that. As a timekiller, let’s peruse the headlines.

Much e-ink has been spilled on the Michael Vick thing and almost every printed opinion has a dog disclaimer: “I love the puppies.” Have yet to read an article where an author says he/she could live with or without them, so why waste our time with the disclaimer? Be original and say you hate the furry little maggots. (By the way, I love the puppies.)

(more…)

At the beginning of July, I set what seemed to be an unrealistic goal of biking 300 miles in 30 days. Four weeks later, I be done.

I’ve been chipping away at the mark all month and it helped that there were five days with 24 or more biking miles but I was getting discouraged because I felt I was stagnating and today’s hot weather wasn’t going to help. Somebody must have been listening because the sky clouded over, the heavens opened up and the rain poured down. What had been 95+ degrees turned into the low 80s almost instantly. I stocked up on bike lights (including a helmet light from my birthday) and hit the road. There was no riding yesterday but I felt really strong tonight and even did a victory lap around the neighborhood when the odometer clicked over to 20 miles, signifying the finish line.

I wish I had some road pictures for you because it was the night for it. The air was clear with no wind, and there were rainbows to the south and dark clouds with lightning far off to the north. Instead, you get this little map from the GPS and MapMyRun that shows my trip around town.

I’ll post the monthly stats in a few days and will decide then if I’m going for another 300 miles in August. For now, it’s time for a victory dinner of PBJ and milk.

Tonight’s ride:
21.29 miles
1 hour 32:32 minutes
1,105 calories burned

I’m turning into a grouchy old bike rider. “Your saddle is too low, you need to use hand signals, and WHERE’S YOUR FRICKIN’ HELMET?” ;-)

On Tuesday, July 21, I packed up the car and Dollar and we headed down to the Bay Area for the annual birthday trip. The plan was to visit relatives, as well as get some biking and ball games under the belt. Traffic was light all the way down thanks to most decent folks being at work and I got into town way early, so I did a quick walking tour of beautiful downtown Berkeley.

If you haven’t experienced this East Bay town, you’re missing a lot. They don’t have a “big box” store so they haven’t lost their small business store culture and community identity to the Wal-Mart and CostCo giants (yet) and here’s hoping they never do. Pictures cannot do it justice but one thing that stood out was the amount of building construction; these folks never got the memo that there’s a depression or economic downturn or whatever.

There are houses for sale if you’re interested.

Made me laugh.

(more…)

I’m taking tomorrow off from riding to let the sores heal and to drive down to the Bay Area for the annual birthday trip. I’m going by myself and feeling a major guilt trip because the original plan was to make it a family trip with everyone. However, our financial reality changed (thank you, economy and Nevada Legislature) and our next payday will be different, to put it lightly. Also, The Bride is in an intense three-week class at the University of No Respect and cannot sneak away. Even so, the reality doesn’t ease the guilt but there you are.

Since I’m taking tomorrow off, I did an early ride on the west side on the Kona and, on a spur of the moment, did a breakfast run on the Trek. The Dew Drop is my primary ride for exercising and I’m almost relaxed on it now, but the Trek feels more solid and more comfortable (not surprising since I’ve done a gazillion miles on it). I’m faster now since I’ve been riding the Kona but getting up to the speed on the Trek is a struggle and I have to be careful on my gears after waiting on a stoplight.

Which brings me to the subject of rides and fitness. There are far more accomplished and experienced riders reading this blog now, and this thought may have crossed their minds: “what a wuss”. It’s hard to disagree with that, especially when I get passed by other riders who barely seem to be working while I’m sweating buckets. Nobody has to tell me I’ve a ways to go to my goal of average physical fitness.

So I’m okay with y’all’s opinions because Man is a judgmental creature by nature (I’m just as guilty), and my philosophy on opinions is pretty simple:

1. If you’re a stranger, I’ll listen with a critical ear but won’t feel the need to agree. And I’ll ignore you as only a deaf guy can if you’re bellowing or gesturing at me from a car.
2. If you’re a colleague, I’ll carefully think about what you said.
3. If you’re family or a friend, you have my undivided attention and appreciation.

So if you’re a new or old reader and want to constructively criticize my rides and training, drop me a line and tell me how to improve. Be a friend instead of a stranger. Thanks much.

Today’s rides.
(more…)