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.