I Have Needs Too, You Know

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 8.5% BF

Weekend Report (loose ends): I went out Saturday night, saw The Foolz again, playing at Which Brew this time. I think this show was actually tighter and better than the one Friday at the FunHouse. Pre-show dinner was mozzerella & tomato "mini-me" salad and garlic-lime chili wings. I ended up talking to some couple next to me: they were making a short film, they were there to meet with a potential producer and, while waiting for him to show up, asked me to look over the script. Look for me in the credits, though I'm sure I won't see a dime...

Last night was spent organizing and archiving my digital photos. Everything I have prior to 2005 (incuding all sorts of stuff emailed to me) on one CD, and all my 2005 digital photos to date on another. Piece of cake.

Don Needs: Saw another game over at Pharyngula, Google "[your first name] needs" and list what comes up. Here's mine:

• Anger Management: DON NEEDS A DATE
• Reply, Elephant--Don Don needs his love--.
• Opinions You Should Have - Comment on Uncle Don Needs You
• RC Groups - Hey TAWG, Don needs one of these!
• Don needs to recognize that a variable mortgage will usually have a lower rate than a fixed one.
• Don needs our help
• Don needs a loan but doesn’t want to cash in his Certificate of Deposit.
• The Don needs underlings So hey, hey! Kiss that pinky ring!
  Give it to him baby! Uh uh, uh uh! Give it to him baby!
  Uh uh, uh uh! Give it to him baby!
• Using his wits, Don needs to rescue his buddies who have been kidnapped by the...
• The DON needs a corps of knowledge workers
• To do his job Don needs a car, a phone, a computer and a connection between his office and home.
• Big Don needs an outhouse so we are building one to house one of the two...
• Don needs more help weaving all these issues together in to a comprehensive work plan
• Darrell Beaver, a community resident, pops in to see if Don needs anything
• Don needs our help and support.
• Plus Don needs a new snow shovel.

Funny because it's true... though it's not as odd/cool as PZ's list, which may be because my name isn't as odd/cool as "PZ."

Reading: Caesar's The Gallic War. Also reread Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian on my recent travels.

Bethlehem Steel From The Armory Parking Lot

Bethlehem Steel From The Armory Parking Lot
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I took this shot last Sunday, when it was just a little better than today... rode out to Salisbury, met Doug & Rich who were finishing with trail work, took a few photos which I posted over at my flickr page.
Today was a little different: cold, cloudy & wet, no ride, and no photos, but I was up at Sals again (with Doug, Brian, Eric, both Gregs, John E and Dave L) for trailwork. We got a lot done, finished the "dead-end" trail in fact, by finally making the connection to existing stuff.

Sister Goldenhair

Back from Utah. Flew out at 5:00 PM or so on Wednesday, transfer in Chicago, landed 10:45 local time in Salt Lake City, then drove until 1:30 AM, which of course is 3:30 AM EDT... Got up, met colleagues at 7:30 & drove to plant, work work work & then drove back to Salt Lake City. Dinner at Red Rock Brewpub, then a 9:00 bedtime -- 7:45 AM flight, Chi-town layover, home by about 6:00 PM yesterday.

Getting from Salt Lake City to Provo was pretty easy, by the way, but Provo to Price was a bit tricky -- I stopped for coffee on the way, verified directions with the kid at the counter, and as I was leaving he goes "good luck going up the canyon, man." I was like "say what?" and he told me it was one of the deadliest roads in the US for 10 years running, just the thing to hear before your midnight drive... But hey I'm from Jersey -- at night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines. You know, sprung from cages on Highway Nine, chrome wheel, fuel injected and steppin' out over the line...

The road was all that though, twisty and steep, but I caught some good tunes which helped me through: singing along to the oldies ("...well I keep on thinkin' 'bout you, sister goldenhair surprise...") first, and then I found an alternative station, out of Provo I think. Jammin through the mountain passes to Nine Inch Nails, Prodigy and 311; the most perfect moment musicale was Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus, it was so Utah it hurt...

Anyway, got home yesterday evening, dinner at Porter's (with Brian, Doug & Lori and Greg & Judy) & a stop in with the crew at Which Brew, then over to the Funhouse with D&L to see the Foolz, also met Spanky there. The Funhouse, be it known, has cleaned and re-tiled its bathroom, not sure if the place'll ever be the same.

Nice Enough

No memory of weighing myself this morning...

Worked on the bike last night, after my visit to the doctor. Fingers are still pretty numb but Doc thinks it isn't too bad -- B vitamins, physical therapy are the new order of the day. I'll be starting PT sometime next week, after getting back from my trip to Utah.

Meantime, the bike: there's a squeaking & creaking, almost drove me nuts on the ride Sunday. I think it was either cranks or the suspension pivots, so I tightened this & lubed that; hopefully it'll be quieter on tonight's ride.

One Tin Soldier Rides Away

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 14% BF

Fourth Horseman: Really cool article about the Black Death and AIDS over at Daily Kos. What's not mentioned though, is the connection between rising standards of living (and population) in the 12th & 13th centuries, and the decisions, worldwide, to squander their built-up wealth and people in a series of wars -- thus making all of Eurasia ripe for the plucking when the pandemic finally came. How many horsemen?

Meantime, rode yesterday, the ride I wrote about. It was quite fun, but the weekend took its toll and now my legs are so tired they're sore...

UPDATE: Thank you, Fafblog!

Halcyon Daze

Beautiful day today. I went to the coffee shop, then the gym, then Nature's Way, then Genesis where I bought a new multitool, which is what caused me to beable to find the one I though I lost... Then I went for a hike at Dunfield Creek. That place sure looks different since I was last there, before the hurricanes of 2004. I miscalculated the amount of daylight I'd have left, and had to run down the mountain to get down before sunset but I made it in time -- good thing because all I had were my prescription sunglasses, I'd have been blind in the dark.

Now I'm off to Which Brew, where I-don't-know-who is playing (I expect the answer is "nobody") but they have Magic Hat Number 9, my all time favorite beer, on tap. Woo Hoo! Think I'll walk down... Tomorrow is a long day in the saddle, riding downtown (coffee shop brunch) then to Sals for a ride plus a little trailwork. The weather should be really nice again tomorrow.

The Beavers Are Moving East

Rode the towpath tonight, abbreviated ride because the wheel I'd had repaired had a flat, tube probably got pinched when it was put back together -- doh!! I happened to notice lots of signs of beaver along the trail, only much further east than I've ever seen them, very near to the Bethlehem Boat Club launch. Now more than ever, don't drink the Lehigh water...

Curses, Foiled Again!

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 178#, 10% BF
Morning weigh-in (Friday): 175.5#, 7% BF

Went to pick up my wheel last night. I dropped it off the night before, actually expecting the work to be done on the spot but the mechanic/owner wasn't in; when I went to the shop last night (plan: run in & get wheel, run out, rush to Jacobsburg before it gets too close to dark for a worthwhile ride) I find that the service tag left by the counter girl was cryptic, and the mechanic hadn't even started the job, "but I can do it right now for you." Well OK, but he's the only one there and a bunch of people come in, then problems arise during the fix... um, I didn't go riding last night. Very frustrating, should have just done it myself.

So instead I played around with awk, went to bed at midnight & forgot to eat dinner. Interesting tool, at least to me it was last night. Tonight is definitely the towpath, then maybe I'll go out but I'm not really in a party mood, so we'll see.

Meantime, here's more about those magic mice, and here's more about Korean stem cell medicine, and here's one about religion. In the immortal words of Emily Dickenson, slipping is crash's law...

A Fun Game for Bookworms

I found this via Pharyngula and Majikthise: the American Library Association has posted its list of the 100 most frequently banned books from 1990-2000. How many have you read? Here's the list; the ones I read are in red bold:

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

I got thirteen total, not great but then again they look like "young adult lit," with a bunch of "what is sex?" books thrown in -- in other words, the kind of stuff that:
1.a library would want to carry, and
2. would eventually get challenged by someone.

An Amazing Difference

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 12.5% BF

I got a new rear derailleur and cables/housing last night and put them on the bike, unbelievable how much of an improvement it is. Unfortunately, I found a broken spoke which I'll hopefully get fixed tonight. Went to Which Brew afterward for my usual Tuesday Night visit, and the usual crew were there. The music was pretty bad eighties, so I busted out my Rhino Postpunk Chronicles CD Scared to Dance, and we jammed to the "good eighties" for a little while. No exercise tonight, must finish up the weekend chores/errands that were pushed back by the VT trip.

Bounceback

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 11.5% BF

Ate an entire pepperoni pizza, all but one slice, for dinner last night. Guess what I'll have when I get home tonight? Meantime, I must pick up a new rear derailleur and cables on the way home, start fixing the ol' drivetrain -- other than that it's just laundry nite...

Vermont 50-Miler Photos

Saturday: Ascutney Mountain
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I posted my photos from our road trip to Vermont, you can find them here. This shot was taken on Saturday, the day before the race, by far the better day weather-wise. The sky was so blue-and-gold it looked more like California than New England.

Road Trip Review

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 12.5% BF

Friday: Travel Day. Got to VT at about 2:00 AM.

Saturday: Tourist Day. We got up around 10:00, couldn't get breakfast so we had lunch at the general store, then drove around that part of Vermont, sightseeing. "Sightseeing" in this case meant: going to Woodstock and getting turkish coffee, then going to the Long Trail brewpub, then returning to the hotel for race registration, then going to the Harpoon brewpub, then having dinner in a train station in Windsor. Bedtime was 9:00.

Sunday: Race Day! The weather was mostly cloudy and a lot cooler than I expected. Since we'd have to stage before sunrise in the freezing, foggy dark, & stand around like that for about an hour, we were dressed appropriately (arm/leg warmers, jacket). The layers came off as I warmed up, but went back on as the day cooled...
The course itself was great. The first half reminded me a lot of Blue Marsh, except with hills, while the second half was a mix very hilly dirt roads, and "real" Vermont singletrack, ie hardwood forest, with lotsa roots etc. I felt better on the second half, and I think miles 30-45 were my best -- after that I was just tired and trying to get it done. Finished with a time of 7:21, which gave me 99th place in Sport Vet. I came home with a few bike problems, which gives me something to work on this week.

Sunday was also a travel day; we were home by 10:30 but that was one tough drive. Luckily, I slept through most of it...

UPDATE: Fixed some typos.

Off To Vermont

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 8.5% BF

Did a towpath ride last night, then hit Which Brew (no bands), then over to Porters (open-mic night, but it was lame). Last night was my Friday night: I expected today to be a travel day & took the day off, but we're not leaving until 7:00 or so -- been doing bills, other stuff around the house. Now it's time for prepping the bike, packing etc. VASS VT-50 is on Sunday. B'bye...

The Golden Cusp

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 7.5% BF (maybe the machine's broke)

Blasting the past: I saw this via Pharyngula....

Rules:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.

Here's mine, from this post written on Jan 4th, 2004:

I'd been to the Black Bread Cafe once or twice before and liked it, and I
think Doug & his wife (or was it Joe & Cindy?) ate there a few times as
well; it's a somewhat upscale place (though "precious" may be a better term)
with really good food.

Anyway, good meeting last night. Tonight I think I'll celebrate the autumnal equinox with a ride.

Gimme Gimme Octopus

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 8.5% BF

I got a real kick out of this. Thank you, Sadly, No!

This is funny, and so is this, and this -- face it, these guys are evil geniuses -- but this is cool.

Chain Gang meeting tonight.

UPDATE: I think I'll be going to see this show.

I'm Feeling Much Better Now

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 3.5% BF (WTF?)

Had very little to eat yesterday, just a turkey sub but I did drink lots of water, so I was very surprised by that body fat number -- in reality it's probably 12%-15% but my scale measures electrical resistance in the legs, and I interpret low numbers as a sign of dehydration. I've been trying to get that number up, drinking a lot of water lately.

Meantime, the doctor visit. I already feel better. He put me on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory stuff for my wrist & told me to get a wrist brace, wear it especially while riding (hi Karen!), then got yet another nasal spray to open my blocked eustachian tubes, and antibiotics for whatever germs are living in my ear. Like I might have mentioned, I feel better already.

Reading: Just finished Cormac McCarthy's No Country For Old Men, and I'm about to start The Kite Runner.

Wow, Monday Vortex

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 8.5% BF

Body fluids still low... It's been an eventful weekend, possibly why I'm now sick at home instead of work...

RIP Les Korcsmaros: Les was the guy who crashed the van on the PPRAC ride. He broke his leg and had other, semi-minor injuries requiring surgery, but his weak heart couldn't take it -- they had to close him up, put him in an induced coma, and wait until his condition stabilized to finish the surgery. His condition never did stabilize; he passed away, without ever waking up, on Friday. Goodbye Les, you were alright.

Anyway... the name of the band Thursday night was Odd Mercy. Very good show. No riding or other exercise Thursday or Friday.

Saturday was the gym, then a trip to Englishtown for my mom's birthday. Mom, Dad, my brother Chris & his wife Tara, and their son Chris. Nice dinner, birthday cake.

Sunday I got up late, intending to kick back, but it was so nice I went out on the Turner, got brunch at Coffee Works, went to Genesis to buy tubes & found out that it was "Bike to Brunch Day" at Hugh Moore Park so I went there, then rode to Sals & did a very abbreviated loop. Despite all the food, I felt like I was bonking on the ride home.

After that I got ready and went to Megan's going-away party over at Art's house. Very nice, lots of fun, which became craziness as Megan's college, high school and work girlfriends started getting rowdy... Waterballoon fights, dirty dancing and chickenfights, these people keep me feeling young, but also make me feel old...

Burning the candle at both ends while fighting illness, not a good idea -- I now have that vertigo pretty bad, feels like sinus situation developing as well, going to the doctor in about an hour. Strangely enough, this weekend was packed with about a half dozen other things that I blew off: that RCST Bash, the race at Bear Creek, the Hillier Than Thou road century... mother of all schedule conflicts.

Time For A Rest Day

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 174.5#, 6% BF
Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 174#, 6.5% BF

Well, since Blogger ate yesterday's post...

Rode home with Scott S on Tuesday. Friend, co-worker, he used to live up the block from me until he moved to Nazareth. (Here's a shot of him with me at Allamuchy.) Anyway, nice guy but fast, he also biked in to work & wondered if I wanted to carpool -- luckily he was into being sociable or I wouldn't have seen much of him on the ride home... He was going to Kim's Healing Center (a Chinese alt-medicine/massage/acupuncture place near me, Scott's into that kind of thing) so we rode almost all the way to my house together. We took my route through Stewartsville, which avoids the battle of dealing with traffic at the 173/US22/I-78 intersection, but took his route through Easton, via Northampton St and Pine Street (which is really an alley, the one that goes behind the old Weyerbacher location).

I went out after that, dinner at Which Brew while the laundry dried, but it became "I 'went out' went out" rather than "I went out for dinner" -- if you know what I mean -- when I ran into Scott U and Pete the radio DJ/mechanic, and Theresa came in, and we all trooped over to Porter's, and Carrie and Megan were having a bit of a goodbye party before Megan left for Seattle, and time passed, and one thing led to another... not that much alcohol involved, or even lateness, but I sure was tired when the alarm went off Wednesday.

The plan came together though: it was threatening rain, so I didn't want to bike commute, and my friend Joe wanted to ride but wanted me to be on my "real" road bike rather than the Iguana so we could fly through one of his training routes, therefore I drove in with the road bike on the roof. The weather was very iffy, I thought we'd probably cancel but Joe said "let's just do it" and we managed to miss almost all the rain. Blistering pace I thought, we rode from his house out almost to Stewartsville, then back to 173 almost to "that" intersection, then down those almost-abandoned roads and along River Road to Reigelsville, then Milford, then back through Holland Twp along roads I didn't know. A little less than 40 miles I'd guess, in about 2:15.

After that I went directly to Brian's house, where the "going to Moab next spring" crew was making travel plans & booking reservations, and after that I went home & fell asleep.

Tonight is rest/gym, then back to Which Brew to see the reunion show of some band whose name I forgot... bunch of friends used to play out around here a lot, I think they had a falling out but are back together just for this occasion.

The Weather Still Holds Steady

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 12.5% BF

Rode in to work today, pretty nice ride but a little warmer than expected, especially in town; it'll probably be hot on the ride home. Tomorrow may be the start of the rain. My plan is to bring the road bike, and ride with Joe G if it's nice enough.

Speaking of hot, this kind of thing really burns me up. My friend Heath got a new dog, a pit bull mix named Isabella. Beautiful & very sweet animal though definitely still a puppy -- Margarita's a gardener, and the dog ate some of her flowers on Heath's watch, so the both of them were a bit in the doghouse when I visited Sunday... We talked about those dudes in Bethlehem, stealing pit bulls for dogfights, jail is too good for them and they probably only got fined.

They Call It Happy Monday...

Morning weigh-in: 173#, 13.5% BF

... but for me it's just another rest day.

Well, I dodged that bullet: I got asked Thursday if I'd be willing to go into the field for a period that could last up to a month (WTF??); I said I'd have to check my situation and get back after the weekend. Today I said OK, and find out that the whole thing's been cancelled -- apparently just some kind of panic attack on someone's part...

Eric

Eric
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

My photos from our ride last week are up at flickr. Here's Eric riding through the blueberries on some rather tight singletrack. He's smiling now, but wait till he sees the scratches on his legs...

"Smashing Stereotypes, One Hit At A Time"

Saw the movie Murderball last night, about Quad Rugby aka "murderball," sort of like a cross between basketball, rugby and hockey in Mad-Max-like wheelchairs. I thought The Constant Gardener was good, but this'll probably end up being the best movie I see this year. Unbelievable, two thumbs up.

Rode today, 52 miles on the mountain bike: downtown for coffee/breakfast, then over to Bethlehem to ride the Sals trails, then back to Easton and down the Delaware towpath (bad idea, it's completely destroyed) and Rt 611 to the Raubsville Inn, then over to Heath & Margarita's (they live about a mile from the Inn, had also biked over) to see their new dog before riding home. I saw: deer, lots of clueless riders on the towpath (hey at least they're out there, they'll eventually learn to steer), a recumbent tandem, and people I didn't recognize at Sals -- cool, maybe the word's getting out.

Friday was the towpath, Saturday was the gym and also helping out at the P'burg Crit, and today was exhausting. I seized this day and throttled it.

So Much For The Rest Day

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 10.5% BF

Got an email yesterday from my friend Joe, he wanted to ride at Jacobsburg last night and wondered if I'd join him. My plan was to rest up so I could bike to work today, at most maybe hit the gym. Didn't quite work out.

Fast crowd: Greg M was there on his old hardtail, Rich B was riding his singlespeed, I was on my Turner and Joe was on his brand-new Titus. The 'burg is easy enough to allow a pretty quick pace, but I haven't done anything like that in a while -- not since I used to train with Greg and Joe, as a matter of fact. We maintained a 10.8 mph average, 15 miles in about an hour and a half, not really far but I was spent by the high level of effort (on my part). I hit Taco Hell on the way home, scarfed down my burritos and was in bed by 9:30. I'd already semi-given-up on the bike commute, but still went through the motions of getting ready -- when the alarm went off at 5:00 AM, I gave it my final answer...

Since I reckon my weekly mileage Monday-to-Monday (and this Monday was a long holiday ride), I already have 100 miles for the week, so I'll just do the towpath tonight like I always do on Fridays, get 25 miles instead of 40.

Meantime, check out this beautiful site.

Ouroboros

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 10.5% BF

Kekulé dreams the Great Serpent holding its own tail in its mouth, the
dreaming Serpent which surrounds the World. But the meanness, the cynicism with
which this dream is to be used. The Serpent that announces, "The World is a
closed thing, cyclical, resonant, eternally-returning," is to be delivered into
a system whose only aim is to violate the Cycle. Taking and not giving back,
demanding that "productivity" and "earnings" keep on increasing with time, the
System removing from the rest of the World these vast quantities of energy to
keep its own tiny desperate fraction showing a profit: and not only most of
humanity— most of the World, animal, vegetable, and mineral, is laid waste in
the process. The System may or may not understand that it's only buying time.
And that time is an artificial resource to being with, of no value to anyone or
anything but the System, which must sooner or later crash to its death, when its
addiction to energy has become more than the rest of the World can supply,
dragging with it innocent souls all along the chain of life.

- Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow

The serpent he's talking about is Ouroboros, the archetypal snake that encircles the World, devouring its tail, and the dream is the one where Kekulé, trying to figure the shapes of organic molecules, is stumped by the ring-shaped benzene, until the serpent appears to him in a dream. (If you've ever smelled gasoline, you know what benzene is.)

Anyway, rode home yesterday, but arranged via email to meet my friend Joe on the way home, do a ride with him. (Joe's a year younger than me, and we used to be pretty regular training partners at Round Valley. In 1998 he took 1st place in the Sport Senior Men class while I took 1st in Sport Vet at a race there; since then I've slowed down considerably, but he moved up to Expert and became shockingly fast: I thought I was a hero for doing the Wilderness 101 in 12:28, he did it in 9:03 this year.) He was on his road bike, but did a hard training ride the day before & would cruise along with me -- I was on the 50-pound (racks, panniers, work clothes etc) Iguana, and killing myself... We rode some very pleasant roads out near Harmony -- in other words, hilly roads -- and parted ways by the Free Bridge. I probably got about 30-35 miles in on the ride home.

Mug Club Night at Which Brew, but it was quiet there otherwise. Tonight is gym/laundry, maybe stir-fry a little of that tofu I bought before it goes bad.

Indian Summer

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 10.5% BF

Went to Cycle FunAttic last night, volunteer meeting for the upcoming Phillipsburg Criterium. Russ (the bike store owner and the guy who loaned me those wheels for the PPRAC ride) is the race promoter, so I figured I'll return the favor & help him out. Free pizza last night, free sandwich and teeshirt on race day, how could I resist?

Bicycled in to work today, awesome morning. Can't believe I almost blew it off, but that early rise is the hardest part of the whole deal.

Rocky Bastiche

Morning weigh-in: 172.5, 11.5% BF

Friday Night: Super-hot lap on the towpath, 1:25 or maybe a little less, followed by an early night at Which Brew. Another fundraiser, this time for the victims of Hurricane Katrina: whenever you bought a "Hurricane" (a popular New Orleans drink) a dollar would be donated and you'd get a commemorative glass. I almost didn't go, but at the end of my ride I ran into Mike and Carole -- normally I pass their house on my ride, this time I didn't, and there they were walking their dog down my alley; they told me about the fundraiser & said they'd be there. I got a kick out of going there, ordering a Hurricane from bartender Katrina -- her eyes rolled so hard I though they would roll right out of her head...

Saturday: Selfish day, drycleaning, coffee shop, gym etc. I was thinking of doing a road ride before lifting, but my legs were toast so I ran instead. Felt good, decent workout. Night was back to WB to catch the Insidious Rays, though it was another early night, rest up for the big ride.

Sunday: The big ride -- Doug & Lori, Eric, Brian and myself, all the way up to R.B. Winter State Park to ride Cowbell Hollow. Scha-wee-eeet! Pictures soon. Got a call from Doug when I got home: they were going to dinner at Porters w/ Eric & Kris, did I want to go? Quick shower and I get another phone call: they're at Porter's and the kitchen closed early. Another phone call: 1818 Tavern was closed, ditto Pearly Baker's... I suggested Shruty's Pub as a last resort (not quite "dinner evening out," more like "NASCAR on the big screen, Coors and bar food"), got the message to Brian who'd already gone to Porter's, and met them all at Shruty's. Pretty nice, good salvage to the evening, and of course I could walk there...

Monday: I got up around 10:00, hopped on the bike by 11:30 and rode downtown for some coffee & brunch, then took the towpath to Bethlehem and rode the Salisbury trails. Got home about 5:00, showered, then went out to see "The Constant Gardener" w/ Joe & Cindy and Brian. Very good movie, I expect at least some kind of Oscar nod, but it's definitely not "feel-good hit" material.

The Mandate Of Heaven

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 7.5% BF

Rode Jacobsburg last night on the singlespeed, had the place pretty much to myself though Lee rode in on his motorcycle to say hi. He'd taken the day off & did a bike ride earlier in the afternoon -- the bum! Saw a few Blue Mtn Ski Club riders out there, but the parking lot was almost empty (rather than the usual filled-to-capacity Thursday scene), and none of the usual crew was there.

After that was a Team in Training fundraiser at Which Brew: one of Margarita's friends/co-workers will be running a marathon in San Francisco, in memory of another co-worker who died of lymphoma. They had arranged to have some friend's band play at WB, and also to have raffles with cash and merchandise prizes. I missed the raffles, but gave a $15 donation and got a soft-pack cooler -- sweet!

Geeking Out, or, Evolution in (Virtual) Action: I took a grad-level "Computer-Aided Engineering" course in college, and one of my favorite parts was the section on nonlinear optimization and mathematical programming. I still keep my dilettante's eye on the field, and a few years ago ran into a really cool new technique called "genetic algorithms," which use data structures and mechanisms analogous to genes, mutation etc in biological systems, to allow evolutionary forces to select the optimum design. I got some killer C programs from a Navy research site, but here is a good introductory page.

Slipping is Crash's Law: The old Chinese Empire used to go through an approximately 300-year dynastic cycle (on average), ending with stagnation, revolution and the establishment of a new dynasty. The cycle was pretty much caused by the rules of inheritance, which slowly screwed up the system until it was paralyzed -- then the society rebooted, land and wealth were redistributed and the cycle started again but the Chinese explanation was that the previous dynasty lost "the mandate of heaven;" the divine universal force showing its displeasure and withdrawal of support through natural disasters etc. The number of disasters per year didn't actually rise, but what happened was that the Imperial ability (or will) to prepare for and ameliorate them had collapsed. Sound familiar?

UPDATE: forgot to post this Friday.

Moving Right Along

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 6.5% BF

Homer gets his hand stuck in the candy machine...

EMT Guy #1: We're going to have to cut your arm off.

Homer: Oh no! It'll grow back, right?

EMT Guy #1: Um, yeah.

EMT Guy #2: Mr Simpson, are you still holding on to the candy?

I see that Australian scientists have just developed a regenerative mouse. Meantime, Korea has cloned a dog and Singapore is making great strides in stem-cell research ... and here in the USA we've got Intelligent Design (I won't dignify it with a link).

Anyway, went to the gym last night, light workout. Dinner was a bit of an experiment: tuna w/ a touch each of curry, ginger & tamari, with an "early spring mix" bag of mesclin salad. Didn't quite work out, but good enough to at least finish it... I'll probably hit Jacobsburg on the Surly tonight after work.

A Small Rain

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 5% BF (say what?)

Watching the current situation down in New Orleans, it kind reminds me of Pynchon's story "The Small Rain." Plenty of stuff going on but the premise, based on a true story (told to him by a friend who was in the Army when he was in the Navy), is that a hurricane wipes out the Louisiana town of Creole, and the army flies in as part of the disaster relief. The interaction of soldier "Lardass" Levine with the disaster, and with the disaster relief, is what drives Pynchon's version, which can be found on Slow Learner. This time, the disaster is a little bigger -- a large US city has essentially been destroyed -- but I think the same grinding human tragedy and class-based callousness will be played out. (Others have noted the same thing here, and here, and here, and here...)

Meantime, what you can do to help: Donate to the Red Cross.

My Allamuchy Photos

Some Selected Chain Gang Racers
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

My photos are up! All the good ones anyway, which aren't all that many but you can see them here. Enjoy!

Still No Photos, But You Can Call Me

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 10% BF

Unpacking (found my phone), laundry & other chores, no chance to put my photos up, but you can see the official Allamuchy results here, and check out official photos here. Enjoy!

Next up, the Vermont 50-Miler (at the end of September).

UPDATE: If the photo link doesn't work for you , try navigating to the Allamuchy photos via ImageExtreme.

Back From Allamuchy

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 10% BF

Wow, another Allamuchy come and gone... Very good course, probably the best ever, great campsite and some serious, fun racing, marred only by ...rain. Tough weekend of camping and riding because of it, but it was still a good time -- better than the one being had in New Orleans right now. Everything I brought is slightly damp... I've still got a ton of unpacking, cleaning & maintenance to do tonight, but should be able to get my pics online.

Some selected results: I believe we (Spaceballs) took 5th of 17 in the 4-Man Masters division, with 16 laps; not sure how many laps but Flaming Balls (not Exploding Balls, sorry) took 2nd in their 4-Man division, Men's Solo's Napoleon Dynamite and Team Slo-Mo both got in 5 laps, and Hot Double-Team Action -- the announcer refused to say their name correctly -- and surprise solo contender Karen W both took 1st place, in the Tandem class & Solo Women respectively. Nice job everybody!

Vay-cay-cay-cay...

No morning weigh-in. I'm home from work, on a mini-vacation. Out the door in a few minutes for Allamuchy. I'll be back Monday; expect pictures.

Final Countdown

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 12.5% BF

Got the bikes ready last night, bringing the Turner (to race) and the Surly (to cannibalize, and also maybe to race). I also packed up my tools and did the food shopping for the weekend; tonight I'll finish the laundry, pack the car etc, maybe get my Which Brew fix.

Teams at the Chain Gang Disco Aliens Camp

Space Balls: Me, Eric, Rich B, and his bud from Mack Trucks,
Hot Double-Team Action: Doug & Lori on the tandem,
Napoleon Dynamite: John C racing solo,
So-Slo: Brian racing solo, and
Exploding Balls: Scott S, Bob, Greg & Joe C make up the other 4-man team.

Hurricane Weather: Katrina and the Waves

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 10% BF

Getting ready for the maelstrom of Allamuchy, weather should be good throughout the weekend... tropical storm is heading for landfall somewhere down south; when it hits land they'll probably name it Katrina... had dinner at Which Brew last night, caesar salad & a bowl of chili, Brooklyn Lager & a Weyerbacher Autumn Fest, and Katrina was the waitress...

Rode the road last night, did the "1-hour loop" from the gym, did it in 50 minutes and felt pretty good. Legs suddenly seem very happy to spin up the hills, fitness was good but my high-intensity endurance is still not 100%, blew up on some of the climbs. I should peak by January... I followed the ride with a light workout in the gym, then as I said, I had dinner at WB. Nothing excessive, I expect that the jump in weight was from the multiple midnight bowls of GOLEAN Crunch! (or as I call it, "crack in a cereal bowl") that I scarfed down.

Shopping tonight, packing tomorrow, taking Friday off to show up early for the race.

When Is A Cigar Just A Cigar?

Morning weigh-in: 173.5#, 10.5% BF

No ride or exercise last night, played with computer instead.

A few guys at work have recently gotten into that antique/restored auto thing, which seemed to fit a pattern I noticed a while ago, but now I'm not so sure what the pattern is...

Back when microbrews became big, and even more so when the cigar craze came along, I kind of assumed that the driving force was a bit of backlash to the growing awareness of health risks, like "I know that drinking/smoking are bad for me, so I'll cut down my quantity, but switch to microbrews/cigars and savor the quality." The restored cars might follow the same pattern, what with gasoline prices and all, but I wonder if the trend, and in fact all three trends (plus that poker craze) aren't just symptoms of anxious masculinity -- well maybe not the microbrew, that's a metro thing after all...

Steve Gilliard has an interesting take here on when the cult of manhood collapsed in Nazi Germany.

Meantime, yesterday's post was going to be about something else, but after yakking about the weekend I didn't feel like following through, only the title survived: "No Gods, No Masters" was the motto of Margaret Sanger's magazine The Woman Rebel from her early radical days, and it was a sad tip of the hat to the women of Iraq.

No Gods, No Masters

Morning weigh-in: 173.5#, 13.5% BF

Looks like I came throught the weekend intact, weight-wise...

The weekend:

Friday night I blew off the towpath ride (looked like rain), blew off pretty much everything else as well, to just kick back & do laundry. Stopped in at Which Brew for a bit while the clothes visited the dryer, but it was a fairly early night -- I ran into Arnie L there, made plans to meet him for a morning bike ride.

Saturday I got up early, got a quick breakfast at Coffee Works, then met Arnie at the gym in Phillipsburg. I've known him for years, talked bikes many times but we never rode together until this. Older guy, just became a grandfather but he's a solid rider. We rode out behind Baker Chemical, came up Marble Hill Rd to Route 519 & took that to Foul Rift Road, then returned to P'burg via the river roads (like, past where the S.S. Diane used to be). Almost two hours of riding, first time on the road bike since the Perimeter Ride, and it felt good. After that was a gym workout.

Saturday Night was also quiet, also with a rather perfunctory visit to WB, where I hung a while with T and Ed.

Sunday was a "stop and smell the roses" ride with Brian up on Broad Mountain in Jim Thorpe, trails neither of us have done in a while -- PA Game Committee, access issues, yadda yadda. Moderate pace with plenty of breaks, including stops at the overlooks. Good to see the old place again, hasn't changed all that much. Lunch on the way home, then the rest of the day was naptime...

An Evening Out

Morning weigh-in: 173.5#, 13.5% BF

Rode Jacobsburg on the singlespeed, say 6:00 to 8:30, which was actualy close to full dark -- goodbye summer! -- trying out my lights. Again, the handlebar battery died after about a half hour, it's only holding a quarter charge. I have another battery for the bar light, but would have preferred two. I'll try cycling the battery a few more times, charge/discharge, see if I can wake it up.

Rode with Joe (on his new Turner 5-Spot) & Cindy with their dog Tally, also Rich B on his Surly; Rich and I were the only ones w/ lights. Scott S was up there as well as the whole Lance/Marv crew, Terry M, and also Doug & Lori, big crowd really. That was just us: there were other groups there like Blue Mtn Ski Club etc; the parking lot was almost completely full.

Dinner was Which Brew: Tuscan bean soup & hot wings, a Troegenator & a Small Craft Warning, eaten/drank to the tunes of the Skulldiggers, which seems to be morphing into a Deadhead band... Good times, good times. Good conversations inside, w/ the usual crew, but also saw Hans w/ Heath & Margarita outside, as well as Stu & Kathy, all leaving as I got there.

Sketches From A Life

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 9.5% BF

Today's featured Wikipedia article is a good one: George F. Kennan. Interesting guy; somewhere in my parents' house is his book of diary excerpts, Sketches From A Life, that I got my dad for his birthday once.

No ride last night: I blew off exercise in favor of getting my act together before the VMB emergency meeting -- looks like Bear Creek will be hosting the final MASS race this season rather than Spring Mountain, and Valley Mountain Bikers will be doing a lot of the work to get it done...

Riding tonight, SS'ing at the 'burg. I'm going to start at 6:00 (the usual time), but ride into darkness, test out my lights/batteries. I may travel into Emmaus afterward to see Dave J's band play at South Mtn Cycles & Coffee, but that's a long way & it may be over by the time I'd get there, so we'll see.

Salisbury After Dark!

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 7.5% BF

Rode last night, but felt very tired and my average speed was way down -- probably fallout from Monday's nutritional follies, and maybe some lingering effects from whateveer sinus thing is going on. I also had the full complement of lights/batteries with me, since I wanted to start getting ready for Allamuchy, and that could have -- rather, it did weigh me down...

Anyway, the plan was to ride the towpath out to Sals, do my "short loop" there and head back, Sals & return legs being in the dark. I left around 6:45, crossed the Lehigh at 7:49. As soon as I got into the woods I ran into a group of three riders, two dad-types and a boy, fixing a derailleur. They were OK, done w/ repair by the time I got there, but I stopped & said hi, then turned on the lights. When I left, they said their friends were up ahead, and could I let them know the situation? No problemo, and I was on my way.

I ran into two more guys out there, but they weren't the ones... then ran into another dad & two kids, boy & girl down by the pavillion -- not quite dark yet, though my lights were on... the guy commented on my specific brand/model headlamp, so they weren't clueless... rode the trail down to the Spanky, but only rode partway up when I felt too tired, it was too dark & slippery, and I just wimped out, turned around... ran into the first group of riders again, now with their lights on...

On the way out I surprised some local semi-hoods walking the RR tracks:

Hood 1: Hey what's that?
Hood 2: Oh, just one of those bicycle guys.

Was out of there by 8:30, so it couldn't have been too dark, but it was a strange world for a while...

I went up and I told them I was new downtown,
And I didn't know the proper spots to hang around.
Well they were awfully cool, those guys they answered me true,
They said "Just stick with us man, we'll show you what to do!"

They took me to a rock club where the girls were the most,
And we imported all our beers from the midwest coast.
I never knew I was a young fresh fella etc.

- The Young Fresh Fellas, "Young Fresh Fellas Theme" (near as I can remember it)

Dinner was at Which Brew: tomato & mozzerrella salad, garlic pizza, two Troegenators. Quiet night unfortunately, none of the usual Tuesday night crowd, though there were some college-age kids, mixed group from all over the world (Australia, Europe, various USA etc). They'd all just finished working as camp counselors in Maine, ended up in Easton somehow before heading their separate ways. Nice bunch of kids, wanted to know the cool places to hang out while they were here, I was glad to oblige. Also had a pleasant & interesting conversation with the owner of the Stockertown beer distributorship.

Situation Almost Normal

Morning weigh-in: 172#, 13.5 % BF

Well, it took a week, but things are settling in pretty well after the Cancer Ride. Rode last night on the towpath, will probably do towpath-plus-Sals tonight -- longer ride, bringing lights, getting ready for Allamuchy. Hand is starting to feel better.

I may be coming down with a cold though: been very sneezy the last two days, suddenly lotsa "evidence" of sinus infection today. I was pretty tired last night, went to bed at 9:30 w/ out dinner.

Like I said, ride tonight, and then laundry.

Rodale and Horseflesh

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 12.5% BF

Friday night was Which Brew -- "Greek Night" as Margarita (aka "Mrs. Kneller" these days) did guest-chef duties. They also had a bellydancer, same one as for last year's Greek Night. Woman I was sitting next to, turns out she was once a stripper/pornstar (now a grandmother), starts whacking me on the arm: "Give her a dollar! C'mon Don, what are you, cheap?" Well, the bellydancer had a few dollars already so I figure "when in Rome, do like the Romans do" & slipped one under her bra strap, though I'm pretty sure that's not how they do it at the Aladdin... Interesting conversation with the stripper about her life (me: "Wow... Naked? Really?"), then in comes Tom, dude who's my age but only now getting into triathlons & adventure racing -- I sometimes characterize him as "hungry." Different kind of "flesh as horseflesh" conversation, as we talked about competition, training, etc.

Saturday I spent trying to hide from the heat, then went straight down to the furnace -- aka MusikFest -- to check out the scene. Seemed a little dead, but crowds grew as the evening progressed. I got my souvenir beer mug, some beer, a little dinner, and George Clinton / Parliament tickets, then met Doug & Lori for the the show, which rocked in a major way. The band seemed a little disappointed in the lackluster crowd participation though, and it was funny the way George Clinton actually reminded me a little of Gerry Garcia.

Sunday afternoon I went to Dave & Selene's new house for a post-PPRAC BBQ. Me, Brian, Dave, and a dude named Dale did a quick (& very hot) ride up at South Mountain, then it was back for the cookout and a little swimming-pool action. Funny hanging out with so many Rodale and ex-Rodale people, ordinary people really but super-super-fit, but fitness is their job after all.

In My Hometown

The return of morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 8.5% BF

(I am waaay overweight right now, don't be fooled by body fat... scary "wake-up call" pics on the PPRAC rides pages.)

Looks like trouble in Easton: mayor's girlfriend got caught writing "WTF?"-style graffitti on the eyesore that is Drinky Drinkerson's (a relatively new, and shabby, bar downtown) -- they'd "renovated" by covering some neat architectural facade with painted plywood or whatever... I guess now we know what (or who) was behind that "historic downtown" push, c'est ne pas?

Bringing it home: Ride days five and six... I'll just say that day five almost broke me but not quite, and day six I rode well, but it was mostly horse-smells-the-barn motivation. Tired.

Mason and Dixon and Michaux, Oh My!

Well, let's see... ride days three and four...

I brough two books to read during any downtime: Cloud Atlas because I'm rereading it, and Mason & Dixon, uh, because I'm obsessed. (I was going to bring Blood Meridian to get in the mood for Cormack McCarthy's new No Country for the Old, but I forgot to pack it. Also forgot soap.) At the Scout camp I put CA to one side to read M&D, since the next day we'd be crossing repeatedly between Maryland & Pennsylvania -- couldn't see the line, no real landmarks on those rurual roads -- you'd just notice the road signs were PA-style, then a little later they'd be MD-style, etc. Another hard day of riding, another 100+ miles.

That night at dinner I wore the latest Michaux race shirt, since we'd be going up PA233, right through the middle of Michaux, from Caledonia State Park through Pine Grove Furnace and continuing on. This was, after the Skyline Drive, my favorite part of the whole ride: beautiful, and very cool, almost chilly temps from all the springs and roadside streams. As usual, the ride got much much tougher after lunch.

Back in the real world: I still have numbness in my left hand fingertips, will see a doctor about it. Went out last night to Which Brew (Mug Club Night), may check out MusikFest tonight.

Three States And A Few "Incidents"

Something I didn't mention about the Skyline Drive leg, a bit of bad news: One of our drivers, was injured in a pretty serious accident. No one really knows what happened, but aparently Les failed to negotiate a turn and hit a tree, breaking his pelvis and femur and trapping himself in the van. He was medevac'ed out but has a weak heart and when they tried to operate he couldn't take it, so they put him in an induced coma. Word is, he's going to be fine, but he's a long way from there right now. Nice guy too, older German dude, kind of a wistful air about him but you can see he has hipster tendencies...

Anyway, Day Two: This was shorter, 93 miles total but it was just as hilly -- and the hills were steeper -- and just as hard as the first day. We rode through Virginia and West Virginia, and ended up at a Boy Scout camp in Maryland, just getting closed down for the season. I slept in the building used for nature studies; as we were setting up they were removing the snakes and letting them go -- the rats, guinea pigs and fish stayed with us.

The days are blurring, so I'll just mention these incidents here...

Incident One: At lunch one day, we were set up at a crossroad, and some guy in an SUV ran the stopsign & hit a pickup truck. I heard the crash, saw the SUV airborne & landing on the lawn across the street as well as the truck spinning around in the intersection. Minor injuries, but if we'd been on that lawn instead of this one, we'd have all been dead. Strangely enough, the lunch crew originally wanted to set up in the bad spot, but Brian dissuaded them...

Incident Two: This was actually day three I think, but we had to go through a covered bridge; and one of the slower/later guys neglected to take precautions (like slow down, put a foot down etc), got his wheel stuck in a plank, flipped & broke his collarbone.

Skyline Drive

The first actual ride day on the Perimeter Ride took us from Waynesboro to Front Royal, both in Virginia, via the Skyline Drive. The ride was 113 miles long, and, though the grades were comparatively shallow, maybe 6%-8% max, there was 15,500 feet of total elevation gain on the ride. This was my best day: I was fresh and the type of riding suited me well.

By the way, you can see my trip photos here.

PPRAC Recap (first impressions)

No morning weigh-in, but I don't think I lost any weight on the trip...

Well, 575 miles in six days, some of the biggest, hilliest (steep hills too) rides I've ever done, I'm glad I did it but I'm also glad it's over.

I'm having trouble really gathering my thoughts on this, so I think I'll let it sort out some more.

"Once Upon A Time, There Was A Terrible Disease Called Cancer"

I'm back. Wow! What a week, more on this later... spent the day sleeping, eating and doing laundry, and am back to work tomorrow.

Keep It Coolie, Baby

I'm outta here, logging off and powering down, "see" all y'all in a week or so...

Fourth (but not last) Loose End

Sports at the Wedding
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I just posted my wedding photos from Heath & Margarita's wedding, the good shots anyway. Plenty of loose ends left I'm sure, but at least the photos are up to date...

Loose Ends #3: Mountain Bike Weekend

MBWXX: Me and a Wierd Root
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Photos are now on Flickr. That finishes up my June shots.

Birthday Pics (Loose Ends #2)

Out by the Pool
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

The day after Tom's wedding was a small party at my parents house, combines birthday for my dad & also Father's Day: hanging out by the pool, cake & ice cream...

Loose Ends Tied #1: Tom's Wedding

On the Threshold of Married Life
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I just posted my pics from Tom & Barbara's wedding (way back in June, remember?) on Flickr. I'm clearing the decks for vacation, and I'll be posting more of my stuff today as time allows, but right now I'm off for brunch and a haircut.

Busted, Burned, Breaking Down

No morning weigh-in. Forgot to do it this morning, and forgot yesterday's numbers.

I take the Free Bridge across the Delaware from Phillipsburg to Easton every day. It's the last exit off US22 before the toll, just as US22 is the last exit off I-78 before its toll... Small suspension bridge, with a stoplight at each end as well as several commercial/industrial driveways (gas station, restaurant, truck depot driveway, boat ramp access road) tucked into the approach on the Jersey side; there's also a RR crossing just as you turn onto the bridge. Needless to say, it gets very crowded, especially at rush hour, and especially since they raised the tolls from 50 cents (or two $0.10 tokens) to a dollar. Usually it moves pretty fast though, maybe a 5 minute wait -- it just seems like you sit still forever -- unless a train comes along. Then you're stuck, especially if it's a coal train, they can be huge.

I got skunked twice this week. Wednesday was a coal train right at the peak of rush hour (PPL is probably working overtime, restocking all their plants after the heat wave), then yestersday was a bunch of sodium hydroxide tankers, but that was at 7:00 PM or so.

PPRAC Countdown

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 12.5% BF

Nothing much happened yesterday, just errands/chores left over from the weekend, plus bills, basically clearing the decks for vacation next week. (I also worked on the Turner, of course.) Tonight I'll probably do an easy road ride, then go on a buying spree for the trip -- I don't need much, just some travel-size toiletries, allergy medication, a few snacks (maybe some granola & beef jerky, useful for "a little more than a snack" duty if necessary), and a travel-worthy fan. Bike is ready, clothes, including bike clothes, should be ready, not much left to do...

An Interesting Diversion: I checked out TWENEX.org, which allows you to telnet into a TOPS-20 system. I remember that shyte! Kickin' it old-skool...

Weekend Update #25 (#26? #56397?)

Oops, no morning weigh-in. [steve-martin]I forgot![/steve-martin]

Friday was a really good ride out to Sals, super-hot lap there: was riding well, probably 10 minutes ahead of normal schedule, until I ran into John E who engaged me in about 10 minutes of conversation. Flying home, passed a couple of guys -- nothing overt or hostile, we were just moving at different speeds -- and one of them, the one in the "biker clothes," grabs my wheel. That's all the encouragement I need... I brought it up to about 20 mph and kept it there for a few miles, noticed he was no longer in sight. Heh.

Anyway, went to Which Brew, nice night & I sat outside with Mike & Carole & their friend whose name I can never remember, also Stu & Kathy, and Joe M, Hans and Megan. Good conversation, dinner was beef & veggie stir-fry over saffron rice. Woman came over & sat down, friends w/ Joe & others, she was still agitated from the earlier part of her night, apparently the blind date from Hell...

Saturday was the "brew ride": bunch of guys from the VMB were riding from Allentown to Easton to take a tour of the Weyerbacher brewery; I rode to Sand Island & met them there. The tour was very nice, new guy (or new to me) working there, gave best explanation I'd heard so far of the brewing process and equipment... Theresa was working, got us some samples, coupla guys then bought cases. I had parked my car there early in the morning, to do storage/transport duties, but another dude from Allentown skipped the ride & met us there; his car became the delivery wagon.

Lunch at Which Brew, where we saw a few other tour-takers, then we rode along the towpath some more until it was time to separate. Shower, chores, nap and then I met Doug, Lori & Brian -- you'll never guess where! ...actually, it was Porters, where they'd had dinner, but we did walk over to WB for dessert.

Sunday was trailwork at Salisbury: Doug, Eric, Brian, Rich, Greg H, myself and Dave. We did about 200 yards of bench-cutting and fairly hardcore trail-building (sometimes all you have to do is rake leaves and you have a "trail," but this was heavy pick-and-shovel work). Lunch break, and then Rich and I went back for a little ride. We met Joe G, rode together until Rich's rear hub crapped out, and then it was me and Joe and the pace picked up noticeably... Split up at the Brighton Street trailhead where he rode home and I started back to my car. Problems with shifting but it was still a good ride. I drank -- and by "drank" I mean "chugged uncontrollably" -- a half gallon of Gatorade on the drive home.

The rest of this week will probably be fairly mellow, as I count down to the Perimeter Ride which starts next weekend.

Full Moon Boogie

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 9.5% BF

Jacobsburg last night, on the Surly. I got there & realized I forgot my front wheel, so I had to return home to get it -- thus I was about a half hour later than I wanted to be. My first arrival had Rich B, Brian H, and Greg & Judy in the lot & ready to ride; my second arrival got me there at the same time as Scott S (6:30-6:45), so we rode together until we ran into the others. As usual, I saw Marv, Lance (as he was driving home) , Lee, the Blue Mtn crew, etc etc, typical Thursday mob scene up there.

A little BBQ at Greg & Judy's afterward, then good night. Tonight I'll probably do towpath/sals.

Meantime: I posted all the halfway-decent shots from Memorial Day on my Flickr account. Enjoy!

Hot Hot Hot

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 9% BF

Rode Towpath/Sals last night: 30.02 miles in 2:59... Started at 5:40, and according to the Fritch Fuel clock I crossed the Hill-to-Hill Bridge at 6:33 (temp 88 degrees F); after riding Sals I recrossed the bridge at 7:43 and 86 degrees -- these times are now pretty much par for the course... I run out of steam though, same place (Upper Spanky Trail) every time, then get it back just enough to finish, must be the heat.

Today is supposed to be less humid than it has been, but hotter.

When I got home I got a call from Doug; they were going out to eat and would meet me at Which Brew. They went to Porters for food (they like the menu there better) but I was faster than they were, got to WB and had already ordered so we ate dinner together in different restaurants... they stopped by WB after they ate, but it was an early night. Poor Lori got an earful, Doug on one side, me on the other,of politics/religion/gasohol/etc.

I should be able to pick up my road bike tonight, then I'll go to the gym, maybe do the short Harmony ride beforehand.

C'mon Kids, Don't Be Down! It's Salisbury Steak Day!

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 13% BF

Not much to say. As you can see, I spent the evening playing with the computer... I also brought the road bike in to Cycle Funattic yesterday for its pre-PPRAC check-up, & to get a cyclometer and some required blinky lights, then cleaned/lubed the Turner after Sunday's ride. Plus laundry, yadda yadda.

Tonight if the weather holds I'll ride the Towpath to Sals.

Re-reading: Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell. There's a group reading on the Pynchon mailing list, while everyone waits for Tom to write another one. (Hint for the book club: this one's a keeper.)

Back Through Time Via Photos

Still experimenting. In reverse chronological order: Joe G and Pete H at our campsite (Mountain Bike Weekend), my nephew Chris swimming at my parents's house (my dad's birthday), Tom & Barb's wedding, biking in Burlington, and Kris R at the finish line for the Burlington Marathon.
Update: Dang. This isn't what I wanted, it's not even in order...

More Linux Voyager, Only In A Speedboat

Boy, sure wish I had access to this kind of power back in college. I saw a reference to this program over at SDF, didn't even realize it was already on my machine! Lotta fun playing. (Wow, must be a full moon, I'm turning into -- not even a geek, a nerd...)

Meantime, here's a picture from Heath and Margarita's wedding -- just experimenting with Blogger's new image features, I'll add the full set into my Flickr account later in the week. This was the weekend before last, a small party/BBQ at her house after the ceremony.

All Picnic'ed Out

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 11.5% BF

Yesterday was the Chain Gang annual picnic (and rides, of course). Great day, riding was good despite serious eyeglass-fogging visibility issues -- not to mention total body sweat-soak -- in the moderate heat but near-100% humidity. We got back, hopped into the lake, then observed the "eating phase" inside the pavilion, to avoid the intermittent downpours. I was totally drained, went to bed by 8:30 last night.

Other than that, the weekend was uneventful: Friday night towpath ride, Saturday "selfish day."

I've been to an average of more than one picnic/party/BBQ per weekend since late June, think I've finally gotten all the burger & dog & potato salad cravings out of my system...

The Days Drag But The Weeks Fly By

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 12% BF

Rode the singlespeed at Jacobsburg last night. Not too many people there: saw Brian's car but not him, talked to Rich B (he was leaving as I arrived), and eventually ran into Marv, Keith et al... they were looking for Lance, whom I eventually found and rode with. OK ride, but the wetter trails were a little beat-up from the recent weather, and the rocks were sweating & slimy, and my glasses fogged up from the humidity -- who am I kidding? It was a great ride.

Home, shower, laundry, then down to Which Brew to see Gonzo Project, a sort of splinter group, I think, of the Insidious Rays, with slightly different focus: they play a lot of jazz standards, some Zappa, etc. I feel vindicated in associating the Insidious Rays with early Zappa, since they're actually supposed to be touring/playing with some Mothers alumni soon.

Two WB conversations:

Conversation #1: On Tuesday, I was hanging with Scott when Christian came in. Chris is a martial arts instructor & kickboxing coach, and he recently ripped a bunch of tendons in his shoulder training & sparring with one of his pro fighters. Done with surgery and out of a cast, but he still had very little movement available, and some ability (depending on the damaged tendons) would never return. This set Scott off -- he was all like "don't listen to those doctors!" -- and eventually the conversation devolved into a discussion of the relative will to live of animals vs humans. Lots of "Suppose, all other things being equal, a coyote sees two deer and one has a bad leg, which one will he go after?"
Scott, who's an avid hunter, replied with "No! the coyote will go after the doe and follow it back to the fawn!" I think we all were agreeing with each other and didn't know it... consensus was that Chris will have to stick to his rehab work. I guess you had to be there...

Conversation #2: Last night I sat down next to Megan, a personable and pretty girl somewhere in her early twenties, semi-regular, she hangs out there with her father on occasion. Hi Megan, yadda yadda blah blah, and she says "you know, I sold tee shirts like that for [some eco-charity] in middle school," which is exactly how I got the shirt, from my friend's daugher -- also named Megan, and about the same age -- when she was in like 8th grade. Feels like yesterday to me... I suddenly felt old (to say nothing of the shirt), and must have looked it, since Jessica, sitting next to her, came to my rescue: "Yeah Don, you're old!"

That's why I go to Which Brew.

Fast Week

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 12.5% BF

Did chores (laundry, bills, garbage, cleaned out fridge) last night, skipped the gym. Dinner was a turkey & swiss sub from the corner deli. The guy slices meat, cheese, tomatoes for one sandwich at a time, uses romaine lettuce leaves instead of shredded iceburg; some hot peppers, mayo, oil & vinegar, those subs are like crack...

Had an incident on Route 22 Tuesday on the ride home: box van changed lanes without checking, forced me into the curb to avoid hitting him before he realized & swerved back (I originally thought he hit me, but it was just the shock of the curb). The guy took off, I tried waving him down but he kept going, lost him at the Delaware River bridge... too bad his employer's name and number were on the truck! I gave them a call, bitched, said I would call "tomorrow" (ie yesterday) with any damage I found. No damage, and I left a message yesterday saying so but I wanted to make sure the driver's cage got rattled. It's one thing to make a mistake, everyone makes them but it's what you do afterward, to deal with it, that counts.

If the weather co-operates I'll ride the 'burg on the singlespeed tonight, otherwise I'll just hit the gym.

Close call: went to use rest room earlier today, it had been cleaned and they'd used unfamiliar & somewhat effeminate air freshener -- for a second I thought I'd accidentally walked into the Ladies Room. Panicked glance spotted the urinals, phew...

Mid-Week

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 12.5% BF

Not much to say. Rode last night, towpath to Sand Island where I met Doug, then we rode an abbreviated Sals ride. Pretty decent, though I felt very tired afterward -- still went to Which Brew though, can't miss my Tuesday night...

Tonight is gym/laundry.

(Re)Reading: Claudius the God.

Pick-A-Nick

Morning weigh-in (Monday): 179.5#, 10.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 178.5#, 10% BF

Falling behind on my photos: Memorial Day weekend, Tom & Barbara's wedding, Dad's birthday, Mountain Bike Weekend, and now Heath & Margarita's wedding... I'll get right on it I swear...

Had a dream last night I found a kitten on the PPRAC ride. No allergy problems, dreamland is good like that (usually).

Hall of Fame: Thanks & Congratulations to my Uncle Pat, whose $250 donation is my biggest so far.

The weekend...

Friday night seems so long ago now. It looked like rain so I blew off riding, and later went to Which Brew to meet Brian and Eric. Talked to Hans for a bit; his brother Heath's wedding rehearsal dinner was on the back deck -- luckily, the rain never came. A Skulldiggers side project was playing, and the place was extremely crowded, so we (me, B & E) shared a table in the back with Chris & Kara, Weyerbacher manager & waitress, now married I guess, & some of their friends.

My plan for Saturday was to ride Fiddler's elbow before working out at the gym, but I blew that off in favor of my standard Sat AM: pick up the drycleaning & then have breakfast at Coffee Works. I got to the gym early enough, so I went for a 2 mile run (it felt great), had a good workout with Dawn -- except I forgot that we agreed to do a body fat test, and the run put the kibosh on accurate results so that's now scheduled for next week -- and finished with Fiddler's Elbow.

That should be a two hour ride, depending on the exact route, and the highlight is the climb up Fiddler's Elbow Road in Harmony, reputed to be the steepest road in New Jersey -- a total death march for about a mile, with the final section being so steep it's almost silly. I got there, as storm clouds started gathering, then I started the climb and the weather turned even more ominous, and finally I came around the last bend and confronted "the Wall," with lightning and thunder and swaying trees -- all it lacked was a gloomy Frankenstein castle. (Actually there is one: a house at the top where the owner, a youngish guy, is usually outside w/ a friendly greeting -- & a comment, if you're walking: the hill beat me, I had to stop and regroup before hitting "the Wall" but made damn sure I rode past the house...) Into the storm, and I decided to cut the ride short, was done in probably 1:30 or 1:45 even with the slowdown from rain/visibility issues.

Saturday Night, or rather evening, I stopped by Margarita's house, post-reception BBQ. This was the less formal thing for friends etc, pretty nice. They are now off on their honeymoon, a Windjammer cruise in Penobscott Bay. I left there and went back downtown, met Joe & Cindy and Doug & Lori at the River Grille (fancy dining, good thing I was "dressed up"), joined them for a drink there, and one next door at Montague (a disco? wha?), then headed home.

Sunday I joined up with a bunch of guys from Valley Mountain Bikers to ride at Locust Lake near Tamaqua, someplace I didn't think I'd ever been before. Serious riding, but I had been there before, knew it as "the Burma Road trails;" I guess that name should explain the difficulty level... Excellent day!

Sunday night was Paul and Mary's Heritage Day party, with burgers, dogs, orzo salad -- great tasting stuff & I never had it until this weekend, now had it two days in a row -- food, beer, etc etc, and front row seats for the big fireworks show. I hung out there with Brian, Paul & Mary, Violetta, Scott S from work, plus lots of people I sort of know as "Mary's friends" or "the Genesis crowd." Good bunch of people.

I took Monday as a rest day, worked on the mountain bike. Tonight I'll probably do a towpath/sals ride, wednesday a road ride w/ Joe G, Thurs singlespeed at the 'burg, Friday towpath...

Rainy Day

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 9.5% BF

I braved the chance of rain, which never came, to ride at the 'burg. The trails were in great shape, but the chancey weather kept a lot of people home, I guess. One or two beginner types on Wal-Mart BSO's ("bike shaped objects," I slay me), a skeleton crew from the Blue Mtn Ski Club, that's about it.

I did see Lee S on the trail, also Judy M and -- surprise! -- Janna B (nee V), checking out her new mountain bike. She's such a monster on the road, it's a shame she never developed a taste for trail riding, but maybe, now that she's on a better bike... Also ran into an old friend, Jim Y from back in the "TreadHeads" days. He was finishing as I was starting, but we exchanged numbers and we'll probably run into each other, he says he rides the 'burg with work friends every Thursday.

Dinner was Which Brew. They had the new Weyerbacher Decadence on tap, but it didn't really appeal to me: tasted almost medicine-y, too much of the herbs/spices/etc in it. The band was good though, jazz trio playing old standards ("Green Dolphin Street," fake-book tunes), Ryan Carr on the drums. His bands keep getting better, but he's still the best member in them: working his way up the food chain?

Storm Coming

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 10.5% BF (the pig has passed through the python?)

Not much going on here, especially compared to London right now. Looks really bad, and will probably look worse as information comes in.

Meantime, looks like a scary, rainy Stage Six, with a crash right at the end.

Rode the Hellertown hill ride last night. I felt pretty good; my time was about 1:45-1:50, not my best but OK, and I felt like I was really on top of some good gears on the climbs. After that was Which Brew, but no Brian, for the Mug Club dinner -- saw a few people: Joe M, Mike & Carole, Pete R, but it was still rather quiet. Dinner was Caesar salad, bowl of chili, and an Allagash White.

If the weather holds I might go to Jacobsburg tonight, singlespeed it, but there's supposed to be some major weather coming through. We'll see.

Meantime: Happy 43rd Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

Weekend Fallout

Morning weigh-in: 181.5#, 14.5% BF

We-he-he-hell!! Nice weight gain! Nothing to report otherwise. Last night was laundry, shopping & drycleaning; tonight is road bike + gym, Mug Club Night and garbage.

That Was The Weekend That Was

So, the weekend...

Friday I rode the towpath (no Sals), then had dinner at Which Brew where I met Brian, and also Doug & Lori a little later. Easy.

Saturday I got up, did a little reading, then rode down the Towpath again, caught George Hrab and the Geologic Orchestra at the Bethlehem Block Party. Pretty cool, hung out with Greg & Judy and some of their friends, who have family connections to the band. Kris R also showed up on her road bike, and we cruised through downtown after the Geologic Orchestra show, got some ice cream and then rode through Fountain Hill, until we went our separate ways when I got to Sals. Did a pretty good ride there, maybe two hours, basically my standard loop there: Spanky to the Switchback, then Ridge, Peak, Boulder and Upper Spanky trails, and then across to the Quarry Trail, but I bailed at the scrabbly old ATV climb, dropped down that to the St Luke's trailhead where I saw John E. He was with the woman he sometimes rides with, who's a neighbor of Eric & Kris; they had just come from the block party, said it was a little more exciting than the way I remembered it -- seemed under-publicized to me, but maybe things picked up in the afternoon. Anyway, talked to them for a while, then headed back home via the towpath. Thirty seven miles total.

Got home, showered, then went over Doug's parents's house (shout-out to faithful reader Toni: yo! yo! yo!): D&L, Brian, Joe & Toni (Doug's parents), and Eric & Kris a little later, also a guy named Ron, Joe's friend from work. Doug knew his son when they were kids, & accidentally spilled the beans on some youthful indiscretion... Lots of food, plenty of cool talk around the fire on the patio, pretty mellow though this day was a little tougher than Friday.

Sunday was the hard day. Got up around 7:00 AM, got ready & met others at Joe's mom's house for the Independence Day road ride: about 70 miles including a climb up "the hard side" of Blue Mountain at Wind Gap, and a short-but-sweet 15% grade about mile 50. Very good ride, I felt strong especially towards the end, and the ride was followed by a swim (I think the chlorine messed with my skin & sinuses) and the post-ride BBQ picnic. This was great, lots of people -- there were eighteen on the ride, and more came later, big crowd -- lots of food, and when the sun went down Greg busted out the fireworks. Ohhhhh! Ahhhhh! Smaller than professional stuff, but about the same quality, and very impressive.

Things broke up after that, and I went home about 11:00. Got home, changed my shirt and walked over to Carrie's house about a mile away, where she was having a party. It looked to be (slowly) winding down, but there were quite a few people there still, and I probably stayed until about 3:00 AM before walking home.

Monday I mostly slept in until about 2:00, then did laundry and lay in bed reading (finished Pattern Recognition), until I went over Brian's to say hi: Doug & Lori were over, they were grilling chicken but I'd already eaten, drinking beer but I wanted no part of it, and they got a good chuckle over my sorry state. We went to Hartman's for ice cream, and that was the end of the July Fourth weekend! And now the summer is in deceleration...

Summer Turning Ponderously In The Sky

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 178#, 10.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Friday): 177#, 12.5% BF

Well, here it is: the Fourth of July weekend is upon us, half the summer is now past...

Rode J'burg on the singlespeed last night, starting with Brian, and Doug & Lori on the tandem, then we lost brian, then it was just me, then I ran into Lee, Marvin (Lee Marvin! Ha Ha! get it?), and Keith, who of course were hammering along. Also saw Rich B, back from Canada and riding with his girlfriend's son Romaine. We all (w/ exception of Rich & Romaine) ended up hanging at the lot, then D&L and I went to Brian's for some pizza and to try out his new picnic table. Greg M stopped by, rode over on his motorcycle.

Tonight, if the weather holds, I'll be doing a Towpath/Sals ride, otherwise it's a gym night, then off to Which Brew -- word is, the new Mug Club mugs have finally arrived...

Listening: Yes's Close to the Edge, Stan Ridgeway's greatest hits CD (both solo work & w/ Wall of Voodoo), Songs That Made This Country Great.

It Didn't Feel Like A Hot Lap

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 10.5% BF

Rode the towpath last night, had a 15.1 mph average over maybe 22-23 miles, 1:28 total time. Not bad! I was drenched in sweat afterward, literally standing and dripping for about a half hour in the backyard. Shower, some phone calls, laundry, and then I hit Which Brew for dinner: no lime-chili wings, but I had the sesame-ginger ones and a cold avocado-cucumber soup, plus an Allagash white. A number of people were there, but none were my "typical Tuesday night crowd," no reason to stay so I left a bit early (relatively speaking).

By the way, yesterday was the retirement luncheon for my boss's boss, the guy I've worked for since I got here -- and my fifteen year anniversary just passed. Things will sure be different around here.

Re-reading: William Gibson's Pattern Recognition. It's really a rehash of several of his other books -- and some day I'd like to sit the author down and explain how stupid the phrase "long-chain monomers" makes him look -- but definitelly a compelling read.

Down at Ragged Rock

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 11.5% BF

"Ragged Rock" is what Chabon calls the end of the world (or "worlds," as in all the different planes of existence) in Summerland; it's a play on the old Norse legend of Ragnarok (aka "gotterdammerung" or "doom of the gods") the final battle at the end of the world, which makes sense, since a good chunk of the backstory & infrastructure in Summerlands is based on a mix of Norse and Native American legends: Coyote (the trickster, Loki of Outgard, Satan) is trying to kill the tree that holds up the four worlds...

But this got me thinking about another meaning for Ragnarok, or rather, another reference to it. I once read a sci-fi story, involving gangs, an intelligence-enhanced gorilla (whose intelligence the govt destroys, as a feasability study on how to defeat the gangs) and a computer system, reminiscent of ENIAC (or maybe Vonnegot's EPICAC), called RAGNAROK. Good story, sure wish I could track it down but can find no reference anywhere.

A short trip on the SS Linux: I spent a fun evening playing with this program last night, didn't even know I had it on my machine. Kind of clunky I thought, but amazingly powerful, and wicked fast even on the 3D stuff. So, what does cos(x*y)*exp(x**2+y**2) look like?

Summerland

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 12.5% BF

Friday night I rode the towpath, but was too tired to do Sals so it was just a trip out to Sand Island and back. I ran into Greg H running at Sand Island, talked for a bit, then ran into Joe G on his 'cross bike, stopped and talked to him too, so there was a big chunk of non-ride time in there, but I was out for two hours on a ninety-minute ride, not good, not good...

I went to Which Brew for dinner, saw Theresa there, first time in quite a while. She still had a bit of throatiness when she talked but was mostly better (she'd had mono, & it did a number on her voice). I decided to see what was up at Porters, ran into Terry Briggs who bought me a beer, so I bought him one, yadda yadda. Never really talked to him before, interesting character -- he owns the building that Which Brew is in, had his own bar there for exactly 10 years.

I got home late but not too late, then blew it by opening up Michael Chabon's Summerland: I read half of it before I quit for the night.

Saturday was the usual "selfish day:" coffee shop, then gym, then errands. Saturday night was Eric & Kris's party, where the Insidious Rays played. Very nice, lots of people were there that I didn't really expect to see. The band was awesome, better in fact than they usually seem in their usual haunts, and these guys are really good.

Sunday I went to help out at the monthly Allamuchy trail maintenance, which was followed by a very strenuous ride (the pace wasn't bad, or wouldn't have been under ordinary circumstances, but it was ridiculously hot and I had nothing). Back home, turkey sub for dinner, then sat on the porch and finished Summerland. Still can't figure out if it's an adult book (not porn, but written for grownups) written to seem like a children's book, or a children's book written to seem like an adult book written to seem like a children's book...

...And The Whole World Smells Like Strawberries

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 178.5#, 8.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Tursday): 177.5#, 8.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Friday): 176.5#, 10% BF

Not much to say. Rode Tuesday (towpath/Sals), gym on Wednesday night, then Which Brew for the new improved Mug Club Nite, on Wednesday instead of Monday -- chili-lime wings & tenderloin salad, wow-level yummy -- and rode Jacobsburg last night. I love summer, and I especially love the woods in early summer.

Meantime, here is the greatest Wikipedia article ever.

Who Won the Kentucky Derby?

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 8.5% BF

Charley Horse, that's who! I have a nice scrape/bruise on my right bicep, feels like I lifted too hard after taking off for a few weeks. Riding green Blaze on Sunday, going uphill (uphiller is supposed to get the right-of-way) when a slightly out-of-control kid came down, and I moved to the side but didn't see the broken tree limb, caught in the brush on the side of the trail -- it hit my arm like a spear and stopped me dead.

So, anyway... rode last night with Doug & Lori (who were on the tandem), also Greg's wife Judy, reasonably mellow ride over at Jacobburg. Judy's very fit (running, road biking), but she's not as skilled or confident in the woods as some others. Last night though, she rode well and had a blast, and her fun & enthusiasm were very infectious. A very pleasant ride, then we all went to G & J's for some burgers -- Greg had gone out to dinner with an old friend, but he came home not long after we finished eating, and we hung out & BS'ed for quite a while. Nice night!