More North Carolina Photos

Laurel Mountain: Eric
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I posted another 30 photos or so, shots from our second ride aka "the rainy day." Go check them out.

Speaking of rain: Skipped the ride tonight, it was just to wet and cold. Going down to Porters for dinner in a few minutes, probably see Larry there.

Friday

Morning Weigh-in: 166#, 8% BF

 

Gym last night, standard endurance workout with Dawn, plus a 2 mile warmup run beforehand. Yoga didn't seem too hard while I was doing it on Wednesday, but last night I felt tired and sore, and my running speed was down a few notches. It's probably just that I'm still tired from the weekend, though that seems so far away now...

 

His XSH for dinner last night, had a chicken sandwich with a couple of Double Whites. Saw Judy, Ann and Lee, as well as Sarah (I think) and her husband whose name I don't know, but they were all finishing up as I got there. I decided to keep it pretty early -- I've been getting up at 5:30 AM -- and since they stuck around with me for a bit after dinner, I left not long after they did. Bed by 11:00.

 

Tonight is the towpath, rain or shine, then I may head downtown -- it's OK, I'll be sleeping in tomorrow, all the way until 7:00.

Deep Red Bells

Morning weigh-in: 164#, 9%

 

"It looks a lot like engine oil

And tastes like being poor and small

And Popsicles, in summer." -- Neko Case, "Deep Red Bells"

 

Worked late last night, then went to yoga. Came in early this morning, and I'm leaving at the regular time to go directly to the gym; dinner tonight will be at Christian's Spring Hotel again -- I got the call last night, some Which Brew regulars were planning a get-together there. I'll still probably go there on Saturday as well, but I also got a text from a friend, inviting me to check out a band at her bar that night as well -- I have a feeling there may be some competition for the Which Brew crowd, now at loose ends...

 

"Does your soul cast about, like an old paper bag,

Past empty lots and early graves?" -- Neko Case

 

"But Technology, alas, braidcrowned and gold-thighed maiden, always comes up for grabs like this."

-- Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow

 

Not Listening: I haven't listened to her in a while, but the other day I remembered a conversation where I used Neko Case as an example of how rock may not be dying, but it sure is calcified because the current best musical talent seems to have abandoned it. That conversation was with Jason, another WB semi-regular -- cook there too for a while, as well as at Weyerbacher -- who now hangs out at the newly-refurbished Colonial Spaghetti House. Hmmm, note to self...

 

"All talk of cause and effect is secular history, and secular history is a diversionary tactic."

-- Thomas Pynchon

Projector

Morning weigh-in: 164#, 10% BF

 

Rode last night from Joe C's place: me, Joe, Cindy, Greg, Eric B, and Scott S who I haven't seen in probably a year; we were also met on the road by Joe Viagra -- he's a drug rep, that's one of his products and the name stuck, at least with me -- who rode with us for a bit before continuing on his own way. (There's apparently a "Tuesday night crowd," and nobody besides me was surprised to see any of the others.) We got in about 31 miles total, maybe 17 mph average: a good pace, sometimes faster than I would have liked for a recovery ride, but I (mostly) avoided getting sucked into the game at the front, getting crushed anyway, and needing a recovery day from my recovery day... I should probably make this part of my weekly routine, I'd get faster in a hurry.

 

I hit Christian's Spring Hotel on the way home, got a roast beef sandwich & washed it down with an Allagash Double White. Saw Eskandalo owner Alison there, with her boyfriend Nick who used to work at Which Brew. Funny, his hair used to be so long and unkempt... They were there for Movie Night, some late-50's teensploitation flick about bad-girl HS gangs or something. I stayed at the bar, didn't check out the movie room; it didn't seem that interesting even for camp, and I just wanted to eat & get home. I'll probably be back Saturday though, when Tommy Ramone shows up to play bluegrass -- wait, what?

Doldrum Believer

Morning weigh-in: 165#, 9% BF

 

Dinner was Porters, soft tacos, and I knocked a few brews off my list (I am getting very close to earning my third mug), directly after yoga. Chatted with an older couple, a music professor and his wife/girlfriend/friend/whatever, and also Marty & Maria, who rode a cute little pink tandem down to the bar. Pretty cool, I didn't even know they rode -- actually I'm pretty sure he doesn't, but she used to: Jacobsburg, back in the day.

 

Work is very busy and very satisfying, by the way. Things are quiet; not much is happening and the drama level is dropping again (and thank goodness for that, even if it was mostly just internal drama), so postings may get a bit boring for a while. Tonight I'm riding the road with Joe C and company. It's supposed to be a "recovery ride" tonight, but I know the crowd so we'll see. I'm leaning towards beans & rice for dinner.

Dead Calm

Morning weigh-in: 164.5#, 10% BF

 

Happy Beltane! Just walked past the lobby here at work, noticed that the flags are hanging straight down. It looks totally windless out, blue skies and sunny and I'm not riding tonight -- it ain't discipline, I'm just tired from yesterday. I'll hit yoga class tonight and call it "active rest." Last night's dinner was black beans with a bit of salad, tonight's will probably be something Mexican.

 

My friend Scott rode in with me this morning; he bicycled over from Nazareth, and I gave him a lift the rest of the way. He just got back from Sri Lanka and India, and I got to hear about some of his adventures. He says he saw places that looked like Costa Rica and even Moab, but didn't do much biking, just some running and a lot of yoga.

 

Ladies, Don't Drink The Water! I think the fertility clinic must have had a wastewater spill, and it got into the drinking supply -- there are two women out on maternity at Easton Yoga (three counting Kelly who just had her baby); I saw Weyerbacher-back-in-the-day barmaids Cara and Rachael the other day, and both were close to due; and I expect to hear something from Jeff and Tracy about their new addition any day now. On the way in to work today, we listened to Social Distortion (one of Jeff & Tracy's favorite bands), to send them some good vibes.

Moving Up On My Over/Under

Bikes Allowed
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Whelp, I'm home from Michaux. The bike's been cleaned, lubed and put away, dinner's over; it's almost like Christmas has come and gone... I went down with Eric B and Joe, who both had phenomenal days (Joe actually came in 3rd in Masters), and I managed to pretty much hit the goal I was shooting for, a 3:30 finish time (my official finish time was 3:31:28). Not bad, and especially when it turned out to be a perfect day!

I felt very confident in the rough stuff (and I'm now convinced that that fork is a keeper), and found that what I call my "over/under" -- the level of technical difficulty for some physical challenge on the bike, such that I have a 50-50 chance of success given my current skill level -- has improved significantly enough that I was able to pick people off by catching and passing them when they flubbed the technical sections, actually gaining the most ground on stuff I used to dread. Anyway, Michaux is now behind us, and I think I saw what I was looking for there.

Meantime, I uploaded a bunch of North Carolina photos, maybe just less than half of what I'm going to post (so stay tuned for more), and you can find the set here. Enjoy!