here comes the weekend

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 10.5% BF

Looks like tomorrow will be a washout, which means our plan to ride Blue Marsh on Sunday may have to be modified -- the place gets pretty soggy, and we planned to do two laps, or fifty miles. Greg M suggested a road century instead, hmmmm...

Meantime, there's tonight on the towpath, then probably WB for dinner (unless that 15DollarLime.org thing is happening tonight) -- then maybe over to Porter's Pub to see Duende? I'll have to give T a call, see what she's up to.

Worked late yesterday, then stopped at Merrill Creek on the way home and hiked for about an hour. More people than usual there, I didn't have the place to myself this time but it was still nice.

the Cheese Grate ride

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 10.5% BF

The "Wednesday Night Roadie Geek" ride last night was a little rough: we were caught in thunderstorms (which of course started when we did), taking shelter on the side of the local vo-tech during the worst of it and then riding in the rain for about a half hour. (Not really that bad, actually, once the body started cranking out the watts.) After that the weather cleared up, though the roads were wet. There were several "open grate" metal bridges which were scary slippery -- and on the last and biggest one, Greg M took a spill at speed. Knocked the wind out of himself, got bounced around and scraped up but was able to finish the ride. A little BBQ and beer at Brian's and everything was OK.

Not much time for reading or the computer lately. I get in a page or two each in Henry Adams and Mason & Dixon, at breakfast, just before bed etc. Read half of One Man's Meat at a sitting, will let that sit for a while, at least until after M&D.

wednesday, wednesday (unfinished weekend thoughts)

Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 177#, 11% BF
Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 176.5#, 10.5% BF

When I saw my trainer Dawn on Saturday, I gave her the wedding presents I bought: two Camelbacks. She and her fiancee were leaving to get married in Florida the next day, then honeymooning in St. Lucia or somewhere like that -- not the regular hotel/casino/restaurant part of the island, but some eco-resort section, nestled in the mountains that I expect she'll make her new husband climb...

She was also talking about her sister, who is a bear-control officer for New Jersey. They have a more work than ever, and a smaller budget (and staff) to do it with so they're relying on volunteers; Dawn does this occasionally, and has shown me photos of her holding bear cubs etc. I asked her to put in a good word for me, see if I'd be allowed to help one day and she said sure, though it means taking a vacation day to do it. All right!

I got an email on Monday from my Mom, saying my grandmother was not feeling too well. Her eyesight is not too good anymore, and her hearing is getting worse, and she feels cut off from the world, especially her family, who live all over. I thought it would be a good idea to write her a letter, including photos, telling her about my latest vacation. Turned out it's 16 pages, so I haven't sent it yet until I get postage figured out, but it was pretty easy to make so I think I might write a few more, maybe take pictures so I have something to send her.

Anyway, last night I went to Which Brew for Ed's birthday. Ed is reasonably regular at the WB (also a Virtual Pubster), and a good friend of T, who called me to meet her there. I worked late, then hiked at Merrill Creek on the way home to check on my friends the cicadas, and only got the message at maybe 9:00. Things were winding down by the time I arrived, but it was still pretty nice. I was starving, so I had dinner there, sure didn't bother to play "catch up" with the revelers.

Memento Mori

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 10% BF

Memorial Day, 2004. Um... rode a hard ride at Allamuchy yesterday, then had a little BBQ at the Workmans. Saturday was close to the usual "selfish day" except I hit the Quadrant. I went in to get a half pound of coffee, then I got a cup to go, then I ordered food and sat down with my cup, then I saw two books to buy...Picked up the autobiographical The Education of Henry Adams, and One Man's Meat by E.B. White.

Today will be low key if at all possible. Maybe a little food shopping, house cleaning; there are thunderstorms supposedly on the way.

TGI Long Weekend

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 14% BF

Saw T again last nite, feel a lot better for it. I stopped by her house Tuesday & hung out for a while, but felt ...stupid... last night I grabbed dinner at Which Brew, where I met her & we really "clicked" again. It didn't hurt that she was in possession of anti-Bush propaganda that she made & printed (nice job, too) -- she just reads Michael Savage because she thinks he's funny. Phew! Also saw that guy Rathi there, with his wife whose name I always forget, plus some others. Dinner itself was an appetizer of "tuna bites" (very rare pieces of seasoned tuna steak), and a bowl of chili. Their chili has less cumin in it lately, which I miss but the beans are a whole lot better.

Since I worked late (until 7:00) I went home past Merrill Creek Reservoir and stopped in for a quick hike. (I did the same thing on Tuesday.) The cicadas are a little behind schedule there, compared to the woods near work: no song, mostly just nymphs crawling around. The woods are full of them, it sounds like rain as they crawl through the leaves. I guess they can't see too well, and head for any tall tree-like thing to climb and pupate (or whatever). If I got close to some and stood still, they would take me for a tree; I got one or two to climb onto my boots, before looking around and realizing I was the center of a slowly converging circle of creepy crawlies... The deer there are pretty tame too, just placidly watching as you walk by, literally within yards of them.

Tonight I'll be hitting the towpath, then uh, back to WB where Duende will be playing.

Flying Bike Alert

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 11.5% BF

Wow! Fast ride last night. The usual Wednesday night crew (Doug, Brian, Joe C, Eric, Greg M, Greg P, Pete H and yours truly), only we rode from Doug's house. He had a seriously hilly route figured out: through Lehigh & up South Mountain, then on roads near my "Hellertown ride" route. Since I forgot my Camelback (I usually wear it, full of tools/food/parts/clothes, plus 100 oz water, even on the road) I was traveling light, and was extremely competitive even with the fastest riders, especially on the uphills. The weather was a little cool, and we were all really pushing, so things moved very fast. I still can't believe how fast we were going, and how good I felt doing it.

Afterwards was a cold-cut supper at Doug's, also good times. Lori told us she did her usual ride with Judy & Donna at the 'burg, and (as usual) saw the VMB crowd -- she said they saw Joe & Dave on the ride...

On the bedstand: I'm rereading Mason & Dixon, and enjoying it even more than usual. I can't believe my friends (those who tried it) didn't like it.

flying pig alert

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 12.5% BF
(looks like I've re-inflated from the long ride)

Finished Uzumaki last night: it was OK but not spectacular, really just a collection of weird (well OK, stupid, for the most part) horror stories set in a remote Japanese village, all of which involve spirals.

Dinner: lemon-poppy baked tofu, sauerkraut, & rice. Kickass!

Hell just froze over, since I seem to be dating someone, or I'm on the verge of a relationship, or... something... She has four cats, a dog, and a copy of Savage Nation though, so I'm not too sanguine about long-term prospects but I like her and (much more important) I think she likes me...

Tonight is a road ride, this time from Doug's but once again it promises to be a suffer-fest.

nothing to see here, move along

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 12.5% BF

A good ride last night at Jacobsburg, nice and easy. Scattered thunderstorms were blowing through the area, so there was hardly anyone there, and of the Chain Gang only Brian, Rich B and myself. We chanced a ride anyway though, and lucked out with perfect weather even if the trails were wet in places (probably from the night before). Later on I grabbed dinner at Porters while laundry dried. Excellent food: blackened tuna w/ pineapple-orange salsa, plus string beans in an orange glaze, & rice. Tonight is a "rest nite," working late.

Just finished Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, which was really good but dragged right at the end, and am now reading Uzumaki, a "graphic novel" about a small town possessed by the idea of the spiral. So far it's neither good nor bad, just wierd.

So Tired...

Morning weigh-in: 173#, 12.5% BF

...but it's a good kind of hurt!

Rode yesterday with Doug, we did a metric century on the mountain bikes: from my house to Coffee Works downtown for breakfast, then to Jacobsburg (via Bushkill Creek trail and a few roads), where we rode with a few friends who happened to also be there; from there we took the road, past Nazareth Speedway, down to South Mountain Park at Lehigh, before heading back to Easton via the towpath. A total of 63 miles: 15 at the 'burg, 6 at Lehigh, maybe 12 offroad on the towpath, and the remainder on paved surfaces of one kind or another. It was a hot day, and a long hard ride, and we were spent by the end of it.

Doug & Lori invited me over for a casual post-ride dinner, but Eric & Kris had an impromptu BBQ so we cleaned up, hit Wegmans for some supplies and met Lori over there. The usual suspects: Greg & Judy and Janna & Eric, as well as myself, the Riglers & the Pinkertons. Very pleasant. Lori's birthday is Tuesday, so we had a little cake.

Some catching up:

Friday was also a tough ride: a road loop from Jacobsburg, maybe 2 hours long and brutally fast. Very big crowd too, "slow" & "fast" rides both had about 10 people each. After that they all went ot Cannons while I went to the Which Brew Party.

Saturday I mostly slept, except for going in to work for a few hours, and a little 'puter play -- my Tux Racer skillz have really gone south, ditto SameGnome -- but my bills are done, & I now have one of my fave vacation shots as background and it's beautiful.

The Days Drag But The Weeks Fly By

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 12.5% BF

Well here it is Friday again... a quick recap: Tuesday I worked extra late, then had dinner at Which Brew... Wednesday was the Chain Gang meeting... yesterday I rode the towpath, where I met Doug. We then ran into Judy M & her friend, who were hanging out at Sand Island after leading that "First Strides" women's running clinic. Judy was showing her vacation pics from the Islands, which was way cool -- I'd told Greg I'd go crazy on a trip like that, but it looked really fun in the pictures -- but that broke my time budget and I really had to haul ass to get back to Easton before dark. Dinner was a bowl of chili at Which Brew, and a snifter of Legacy Euphoria.

Tonight I'll be meeting a bunch of people at Jacobsburg, for a road ride with Janna. She's moving to Hawaii soon (poor thing), and I think this is the start of the farewell. They're all going to Cannon's for dinner, then to see some band (the Joes?), but tonight is the Mugger's Ball at -- you guessed it -- Which Brew. Mug Club & investors only, closed to the public, should be good.

I think I'm detecting a pattern to my life.

Heading for an Inevitable Crash

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 11.5% BF

I'm running out of things to say again, so I think things'll quiet down here (again) for a while...

Rode last night at the 'Burg with Curt, and Greg & Judy. Luckily everyone was agreeable to the idea of "easy, social ride" -- I was hurting! -- but then G&J just got back from a sailing vacation, and Curt was on a singlespeed and also on his second ride of the year, or so he claimed.

I'll have to remember this, dinner was excellent, and really quick/easy: lemon-poppy baked tofu (pre-baked of course!), rice, and saurkraut, and a salad. I grated some ginger onto canned peaches, and sprinkled it with cinnamon & sage, then put it in the fridge to save for dessert but forgot about it. Oh well, it'll be there tonight.

Ran this morning, but just got in one mile before peristalsis reared its ugly head and I cut things short ... went in to work an hour early, will probably stay 2 hours late. Sigh.

UPDATE: This is my 100th post.

Not very manic, but just another Monday

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 14% BF

The weekend: Friday was dinner at Which Brew ("Meet the Brewer Night" with Legacy Brewing), Saturday was drycleaning/coffeeshop/run/gym/work, then bike prep and finally Which Brew again for dinner; I wasn't feeling up to snuff, so I split early.

Yesterday we (me, Doug, Brian, Rich B, Joe C, and Bob) went up to Fell Mountain (aka Merli-Sarnoski Park) outside Carbondale. That place is just awesome, and even though we all agreed it really isn't that far away (no worse than French Creek or Blue Marsh), I'm kind of glad it's too far to get regular visits: it's a small park, and I don't want to see it become boring from overuse. Hard technical riding too, it's good to have some recovery between trips...

I'm not sure who can make it tonight, but I'm going to Jacobsburg for the Monday night "recovery ride," hopefully it'll live up to its name and be easy.

ummmm...

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 12.5% BF

Not much to say.

Yesterday I worked until 7:00, then went home & played with the computer (first non-thunderstorm day this week); dinner was tuna & wilted greens over fettucine after 10:00 PM. Today I came in at 7:00 AM, tomorrow I'll be working a half day. I could say "CHA-CHING!" but in reality it's just starting to piss me off...

Tonight I'll be riding the towpath, then probably hitting the WB or best offer if anything else turns up. Tomorrow some friends and I may get together for dinner somewhere in Hackettstown.

A Mighty Road

Morning weigh-in: 175.0#, 14.5% BF

I left work "early" (ie at the proper time) yesterday, and finally hooked up with the Wednesday night road ride crew (Joe & Cindy C, Brian, Doug, and Scott S) despite threatening thunderstorms. They start/finish at Joe & Cindy's house, and wind all around the backroads just south of Blue Mountain (Jacobsburg to Point Phillip, rolling terrain). Many of these guys spent the winter hammering this ride on their fixed-gear bikes, and use it as a hard training ride; they also sprint to township line signs for points, and push each other pretty hard generally.

Needless to say, it was a fast ride. We did about 33 miles or so in about two hours; Doug & Brian both got average speeds of 17.3 MPH, which for this course was fast. I held my own, though I didn't bother even trying to win the sprints (just grabbed the last wheel & held on until things slowed down again), but by the end I was totally used up -- I felt like death for about a half hour after we finished.

J & C had an impromptu barbeque after the ride, dogs, burgers, beans, beer and chips.

No running this morning, and tonight I'll be working late.

A Busy Evening

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 14% BF

I went to the Democratic Meetup last night, but first I worked late, then swung by the ATM & the drycleaner, then grabbed a mini-dinner at Wegmans Cafe (where the meetup was held). I only got to eat part of it before the meeting, & finished the rest afterward before doing my grocery shopping. Wegmans is an amazing place.

The meetup was OK, if nothing spectacular. It was equal parts boring (when people vented on various issues, or engaged in Bush-bashing), unnerving (when they started soliciting for volunteers for the phone banks or whatever), and interesting when party officials or candidates' aides spoke about various things. There were a few flakeballs there too: one independent looking for Democratic support for his state senate run (so OK, be a Democrat), and one independent who was actually running for President.

When I left for work yesterday morning, I put some laundry on, and when I got home from the meeting I did another load, then took them both to the laundromat to dry (I still haven't fixed my dryer). I stopped by Which Brew while the clothes were drying, but it was pretty quiet.

(One of the couples at the Meetup are also Which Brew regulars; the husband was actually a "guest chef" there one Friday night. They are hosting a fund-raiser party for MoveOn.org, I think I'll probably go.)

I left WB, retreived my laundry, and then hit Taco Hell on the way home, oh well. No running this morning, but tonight is a group road ride.

and now for a Tuesday fly-by...

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 15% BF

Rode last night at Jacobsburg, supposedly a "recovery ride" (in other words, slow pace, active rest), but it quickly degenerated into the usual "pissing contest" speedfest. Of course, the usual suspects were involved: myself, Brian H, Bryan K, Doug, Rich Butz, and Joe C on a single-speed. We were flying, but only had about 14 miles total because we stopped so much. (By contrast, Brian and I rode up there a few weeks ago, with less available time and a much more sedate pace, and we managed the same distance. "Fast & steady" beats everything, but "slow and steady" beats everything else, especially "sprint-rest-sprint-rest.")

Ran two miles this morning, took 23 minutes to do it. Sunday's ride hurt me last night -- it was supposed to be easy!! -- and the two conspired against me this morning. After the run and my morning constitutional, I weighed myself again and got 173.5#. It's not an official weight, but -- woo hoo!

UPDATE: I checked the results for that 5K, and gained 26 seconds for an official finish of 25:32. Not bad!

Tonight I'm working late, then going to the Democratic Meetup in Bethlehem, see what's up with that.

Monday Morning Fly-By

Morning Weigh-in: 179.0#, 14.0% BF (bleagh)

The weekend, hmmmm...

Went to Which Brew for dinner on Friday night, then drifted across the street to Porters Pub. Very punkish drum/bass duo, "Sudden Death," actually very good. Two beers there, plus two beers earlier, and in the morning I'd be running...

Saturday morning was kind of tough, but I only ran a 2 mile warmup then hit the gym. After that I went in to work, for a half day of OT, then got home to find an invite to a BBQ at Brian's, w/ the Pinkertons & Claasens, and a screening of "The Triplets of Belleville" DVD that Brian just bought.

Sunday I was moving slow, ate a huge brunch at the Quadrant, then worked on the bike & went riding at Round Valley Reservoir. I haven't been there in over a year -- more like two years, & this after averaging more than one visit a week for probably the preceding seven years. It was as fun (and stinking hard) as I remembered/expected, but I'd forgotten how beautiful Round Valley is. The best trails are still closed, while the bald eagles nest along the lake; they should be open by August.

Sunday night I ate at Porters (yeah I guess I do like the place after all), another huge meal followed immediately by a trip to Taco Bell. Sigh.

Books: the gifts that really do keep giving

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 14% BF

Reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything (which is mainly about the history of scientific discovery), and just got to a section about leaded/unleaded gasoline, CFC's and the age of the Earth. Bill Bryson rules.

Rode Tuesday at J'burg, fast fun ride where I met Rick Hauser riding w/ some friends of his, including Curt Miller's son Matt. Friggin fast kid... Last night was 2.5 hours OT, ditto tonite. I may run tomorrow morning, and will ride the towpath tomorrow nite.

What A Difference a Day Makes

Morning Weigh-in (Tuesday): 178#, 14% body fat
Morning Weigh-in (Wednesday): 175#, 13.5% body fat

I can live it, or blog about it, but not both

Busy weekend, but now I'm a little tired so this'll just be a quick recap:

Friday night I rode the towpath (duh).

Saturday I ran my first 5K race. My goal was 25 minutes, but I got 25:58. I was still happy: it was a hilly course and I was satisfied with my effort. Saturday evening was a picnic at Mike and Carole's place, a couple I know from Which Brew who live in my neighborhood. Nice people, good time.

Today was the NYC 5-Boro Bike Tour. Up at 3:00 AM, on the road with Brian H by 4:00 to catch the first ferry into Manhattan, and then 42 miles of riding through the city with 30,000 people.

I might write more about this stuff some other time, but for now I just want to crash.