Ahhh, Friday!

Morning weigh-in: 181.5#, I forget the % BF

Busy here today, getting some stuff out the door.

No workout last night, did some Xmas shopping instead, then played with the computer and finally Which Brew for dinner. Standard Thursday night down there, Leechboy was playing -- he's actually very good, now if he would just play the goddamn songs instead of screwing around...

Tonight is the towpath, then the VMB party. I re-registered at their website, so I guess I'm a member again.

That Guy's A Good Salesman

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 14.5% BF

Did the South Mountain Cyclery night ride last night with Mark, the shop owner, and a kid named Steve. I felt pretty good, they took it easy on me for the most part and we avoided the really log-strewn sections until later in the ride, when at least my confidence level was higher. I'm thinking of getting a new rear tire, asked in the shop about the one I usually get, and the other dude who works there recommended -- strongly recommended -- some old-school Ritchey tire that's all the buzz among that crowd. Pretty good tire I'd guess, but I was simply looking to replace my Velociraptor & said so... out on the trail we stopped for a minute, and Mark all of a sudden starts talking up that Ritchey tire. One of the big problems with the WTB tires is how hard they are to get on & off the rim, and he says the Ritchey is super-easy in that regard, then a few miles later he gets a flat and demonstrates. Sold! However, at the end of the ride we all went our separate ways, the shop was closed anyway & so I'll just pick it up some other day.

On the ride we once again saw other lights in the woods. I said I'd invited Heath & Hans, (who start later from a different trailhead) but Mark said he told them to call his cell if they were riding, and maybe it was Jon G. We wait, the lights get closer, and the lead light suddenly goes airborn... yep, it's Jon, Joe G's younger brother and one of the best cyclists I ever met, riding down the trail and jumping rock ledges in the dark. I said hi but I don't think he recognized or remembered me.

I'll probably see him Saturday: his brother Joe emailed me a party invite; unfortunately, I'd already accepted an invite fro a party the same night from Gary & Gina (two more of the really good cyclists). I'm surprised they didn't coordinate their party planning ahead of time since they're all really close. Well, as a compromise, I'll go to both parties. There's also the VMB party this Friday night, at Spanky's house. Gotta love that Christmas season.

Tonight is Christmas shopping, then the gym, then Which Brew for dinner and entertainment: Leechboy is playing, not my total favorite but at least it's interesting.

Lake Woman River

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 10% BF

Coldwater, lake woman, loudwater, laughing water... I like the look of the water when it's very cold out like it is now, but my favorite is late winter, when the river is still cold but warmer than the air, and its color is like greenish-gray rocks, and milky, almost luminescent. I like driving along the river in the morning, and riding along it at night.

Hit the gym last night (excellent workout), did some chores & errands, then went down to Which Brew for dinner, got there around 9:45. Tuesdays for a while were the night for regulars (weekends it gets too crowded), but the past few weeks it's been almost deserted on Tuesdays -- except last night the bar section was full (Scott, Ed, T, Joseph of Nazareth, Rachel, etc etc), though the dinner area was pretty sparse, and K-Jo was in da house, working behind the bar. Dinner, good conversation, some attempts to decorate for Christmas... They're having a "Festivus, for the rest of us" party on the 23rd, so I must get one more gag gift.

Saw something interesting about Mohenjo-Daro the other day. I forget what the point of the article was, but what caught my eye was some new theory on why Harappan civilization might have collapsed. Nobody knows, but I've seen speculation that it might have been an invasion of Indo-Aryan nomads, or maybe agricultural collapse when irrigation caused the soil chemistry to change (hello, California!). This new theory said that the civilization was not centered only around the Indus, but also around a second life-giving river, which dried up when seismic activity diverted its headwaters into the Ganges. Like the other theories, this one fits pretty nicely with someone's political agenda: Indian nationalistic propaganda is now pushing the view that the Indus Valley civilization was actually the one mentioned in the Vedas, and this dried-up river has been identified with the mythical Sarasvati. (Judging by the wikipedia articles, it looks like I'm the last to find out.)

An interesting thing I heard the other day: the DJ on WNTI had a contest, played a song & asked "who wrote/sang the original?" The original singer was Pete Seeger, and the song was "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy." Pretty cool, check it out, wish I caught the name of the singer on the radio because he was good too.

Riding tonight, South Mountain. Oh, and one more thing about the rivers: Rumpelstiltskin is my name...

Weekend Update

(Oops, no morning weigh in.)

Friday night I went to Cannon's (voted "Best Dive Bar in America" umpteen times in a row), met a bunch of friends for dinner. The place is just a hole-in-the-wall, one of many in Allentown, but their cook is a chef from some 4-star restaurant who got burned out, and left the rat race behind to cook for us dive-bar types. The food as usual was excellent, good beer and great company but I made it a reasonably early night.

Saturday was errand day, first breakfast at the coffee shop, then the gym (more vertigo problems), then a bunch of errands followed by some online Christmas shopping. That night was the Chain Gang Christmas party, at Madison on Main: very appetizer-oriented, very good but pricey. Lotsa fun, especially the gift grab-bag.

Sunday was more trail work at Salisbury, maybe four hours of moving/breaking rocks and armoring the trails, followed by a one or two hour ride. That place is sweet. I went home, tossed on some laundry and napped until 9:00, when I went to bed...