Overlord

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 10% BF

Friday night was semi-drizzly, so I didn't ride, then I stayed home and played with the computer: not an early night exactly, but definitely more restful than some of the alternate scenarios. I spent a lot of the time looking into how printing works, and things like lpstat & lpd, probably things I should have known a long time ago.

Saturday was a trip to Coffee Works, then to the gym, and then I went over to Bethlehem. Got a burrito at Tulum and met Dave at Salisbury for some trailwork. Nice stuff, I hadn't seen this particular trail yet, and it looks like it'll be sweet. I stopped over at Doug's on the way home, he and Lori were working on the tandem so I tossed my two cents into the project. They got a good laugh since I was apparently as filthy as a hog... Heavyweight Lunacy and then an iced coffee, hung out a while, then decided to clean up and meet them for dinner at Which Brew, very nice. I am not a seafood person, but WB has paella as a regular thing, and I hear it's awesome. Lori got it & loved it.

They left, but I spent a few more minutes before leaving myself, had a snifter of Prophecy and sat at the bar. Pete was there, but he seemed ticked off, his girlfriend was bartending and they had some kind of fight, and he just walked out. Great guy, very fun and interesting company usually, but I think I'll avoid him when she's around: their relationship is crashing and burning and I don't know him (or her) well enough to want to have to deal with it...

Sunday I got up reasonably early, rode the towpath down to St Lukes with the intention of doing some Sals riding, but got a flat and that was exactly the over/under, I went from "I have plenty of time" to "if I turn around now I won't be late," so the actual singletrack part of the ride was aborted. On the way back, some dude caught me napping, gave me the same "f--- you pass" I laid on that youngster the other day. So, uh, naturally I gave chase, grabbed his wheel, and he hammered away with me right there on his ass -- he would look over his shoulder every so often too, tried to be subtle about it but would hammer even harder after each time, wore himself out & slowed down each time as well, until we caught up with a few others riding slow in a narrow area. Rest and respite for him, but as soon as it opened up he took off in a sprint, and I uh, naturally stuck like glue. I could tell he was giving it everything he had, so I pulled up next to him and started a conversation... I followed him into the one technical section on the trail, a spillway made of little concrete squares, and he took it fast like he expected me to choke but I was still right on his tail. I think that was the last straw, he blew up immediately afterward. I passed him & asked if he wanted to grab my wheel but he just stopped and shook his head, panting like he was going to puke his lungs out. I'm such a bastard...

Kind of funny, I noticed he talked to no one else while he rode, maybe what I though was a "f--- you" was just social ineptitude -- I certainly would not have ridden as long as he/we did behind the slower group if I were alone, but would have announced myself and asked for a good passing opportunity; also, he didn't say hello to anyone we passed going the other way. Flat pedals, no helmet, full suspension bike, quick but clueless, I was getting some mixed messages. I wonder if I'll see him again out there.

I got home and bought a 2 liter bottle of Sprite at the corner deli, then found Dapper Dan next door and a bunch of other people working to remove the huge (approx 1500 lbs), 125-year-old player piano from their house. I got dragooned for a bit but I had to keep moving, had to go to Madison, NJ for my cousin's wife's memorial service. I'll have more on the service, but later.