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.