Greetings From North Carolina

That's a big 10-4 good buddy, comin' at ya through a 14.4k modem on Windows 98...

The trip down was long (11 hours or thereabouts) but mostly uneventful, maybe a little too much Mexican food, but we only found that out later.

Today was a 19 mile ride in Pisgah, maybe 8 miles up then mostly downhill from there. Killer downhills too: steep, roots & rocks, real fun screamers. A good day overall, then we hit yet another Mexican place, for 46 oz margaritas. Now we are just chilling on the North Carolina porch & rocking chairs.

By the way: me, Rich, Doug, Eric, Bob R, Greg H, and Dave L. We are having fun. Yo later.

Yet Another Milestone

Leopard Suits You
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I can't figure out why people keep checking out this photo, but it just passed 200 hits. Actually, I don't know this girl, but ran into a friend of hers a few days ago who said she had a bit of a self-image problem -- girlfriend, you rock, and don't let anyone tell you different!

Out of here in about 6 hours; posting may be sparse, ie nonexistent, for a few days. See you

Pack And Go

Morning weigh-in: 166.5#, 8.5% BF (not bad considering I ate an entire Pepperoni pizza last night)

 

Wheels Go Around In Circles: So it turns out that the fork I want (the Fox TALAS) is basically unavailable anywhere, and is on backorder nationwide -- I will not see mine until the 16th. But that's OK, I can borrow Doug's spare fork in the meantime. I was over there last night, we swapped out the forks and I started to realize that maybe the TALAS was a bit more than I wanted -- the pressure was off, I could think rationally again, and I noticed that I never actually used the length adjustability feature on my current fork. Several people had suggested the FS 100 RLC as an alternate, the main difference between that and the TALAS being that the TALAS was adjustable. OK, I don't use the adjustability, so I called the bike shop this morning and changed my order -- and it turns out, they have my new choice in stock. Oh well, I arrived at this point in a roundabout fashion, but if I'd made this decision yesterday I'd already have my new shock...

 

The hell of it is, I am about to go through the same thing with my riding glasses (ditto my regular glasses), my crank/BB, my riding shoes... hey, I notice I don't own a suit anymore...

 

Tonight is voting, drycleaning, the gym, then Which Brew for dinner. Tomorrow we go to North Carolina, next week is Michaux, and the following weekend is the PA trail summit in State College.

 

If I get a moment to breathe, maybe someday I'll get some mathematical biology off my chest...

Taste The Warm Wet Life

Morning weigh-in: 166#, 9% BF

 

Somewhere in Idoru the protagonist sees a Japanese soft drink, apple juice of some kind with "Taste the Warm Wet Life In [whatever brand apple juice]!" as its catchphrase. That was the frame for a flashback to his previous job, as a spy/analyst for some entertainment network (he had an uncanny knack for finding info through traces left in credit records, Internet searches etc): he had discovered the identity of some entertainer's young mistress, and, through her record purchases, realized she knew she was being watched, and was about to kill herself -- he rushed to her home, but was too late to stop her. (This was the incident that got him fired.) The girl's name was Alison Shires, and he thought "Taste The Warm Wet Life In Alison Shires."

 

Anyway, I was in McDonald's yesterday morning, running late and I needed some kind of breakfast. I couldn't help but notice how broken and defeated the workers there seemed, all stooped and overweight and shambling about like sleepwalkers -- and all the while some Disneyesque pop song played, Mariah Carey or similar made-for-TV hottie. These looked to me like two sides of the same coin, and the phrase "Taste The Warm Wet Life" popped into my head.

 

The Madness Of My Need: I am trying to track down a bike store that has the fork I want in stock. I can't believe no one has it, it's driving me nuts.

 

 

More Photos

I Can Lick A Hundred Tigers!
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I just uploaded the photos from yesterday's big cleanup (and ride) at Sals. You know what to do...

I am exhausted. Did another solid ride today, Lehigh and Sals, with some pretty big dogs: a bunch of Bob's NJ friends came out to see the sights. Some fast, hard riding, and I was pretty squirrely in the rough stuff -- I did not feel confident at all, especially in the beginning. (It might have just been fatigue, but I think I'll have to bite the bullet and get a new shock tomorrow. I am leaning towards Fox; Marzocchi may be played out about now.) We were all pretty tired by the end, our total mileage was over 20 and for that kind of technical riding that's brutal.

Doing laundry now. Will hit Porters for dinner while it dries, and then it'll be time to hit the hay. Tomorrow is when I get ready for North Carolina.