Bike-O-Rooni

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 12.5% BF

I was going to ride the towpath last night, but blew it off in favor of errands, chores, and bike maintenance. Dinner at home: 5-grain tempeh stir-fry with peppers, onions, garlic, ginger, tamari and a little tahini, some serious eating. Worked on the bike after dinner, mainly just did a clean & lube, & gave Theresa a call: she saw that specialist, and he said she didn't have a torn rotator cuff, but it was inflamed and she probably would tear it if she didn't follow his advice (rest, special exercises); he also gave her a bunch of killer cortisone shots.

Tonight I'll be riding up at Round Valley, tomorrow and Thursday I'll be in West Virginia somewhere for work, and I'll probably be riding the towpath on Friday.

Yo, later.

A Burst of Energy

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 14% BF

Tired this morning. We (me, John C, Doug, Scott, Joe C, Rich and Bob) rode Allamuchy yesterday in the rain, a tough ride with food-coma-level meal afterward, and I basically passed out when I got home. Woke up later and had a burst of energy: I got the next set of boxes/junk ready for the garbage, straightened up the living room and vacuumed (also used rug cleaner), and did a quickie-clean of the bathroom while doing laundry; the dishwasher went on after the washing machine was done. I was sort of motivated because I spilled coffee as I left the house this morning, I wanted to get that dealt with, and I guess one thing led to another... I feel pretty good about this little project because I've been straightening and reconfiguring lately, but each step forward made things look worse as I tore into the mess, and last night I got the first payoff -- suddenly, I could see a major improvement in the place. Between the ride and the late-nite housework though, I wore myself out, overslept and woke up exhausted.

The weekend:

Friday was a towpath ride, where I met Doug and he broke his seatpost bolt. Spent about 30-45 minutes trying to put in a spare bolt he had, or at least get the broken part out but no luck -- Scott S from work rode by, on the way to Musikfest, and stopped to lend a hand and enjoy our comedic stylings, but nothing any of us tried worked so Doug had to ride home seatless. Luckily I brought lights, because the seatpost snafu put me in the dark on the return trip. I went to WB afterward, met T and her son Kyle, who was up visiting.

Saturday was "selfish day," coffee shop, gym, chores etc, but I also talked Joe C into helping me change the oil in my forks. This turned out to be a little involved but not very hard (he has all the tools and has done it many times before, half the battle), and the forks are working beautifully again. Took Joe & Cindy to dinner as a "thank you."

Sunday we rode at Allamuchy. The plan was for a 40-mile epic, but the weather wasn't cooperating, rain left over from the hurricane etc. We got in about 17-18 miles in about 5 hours; adventures on the wet slippery trails included a few crashes (standard), getting separated for a while (no biggie), some flats and broken chains (minor bad luck), and... John's frame broke. We were at maybe mile 10 when that happened, and he had to limp back to the car via the Boy Scout Camp and the road (he hitched a ride, luckily), while we worked our way back through the woods. What actually broke was his left chainstay, part of the rear swingarm so he should be able to get just that part pretty quickly, hopefully. I had a lot of trouble with visibility as my glasses kept fogging up, something I'd better solve before the race.

After that we had dinner, then home, nap, cleaned the house...

UPDATE -- more Linux: I got my internet connection to work better, and have some idea what was happening though I'm still not sure about what actually was going wrong. Basically, the PPP connection protocol has a provision to compress the packet header information -- I guess that would be information like what the packet contains, who it's from & where it's going etc, as opposed to the actual data that the packet is delivering -- which cuts down on transmission overhead on older, relatively slow dialup lines. The packet (with its normal header) routes its way around the internet and arrives at my ISP, which then compresses the header and sends it to me. My guess is, I enabled the VJ compression on the latest kernel rebuild, and either my ISP was choking trying to comply, or the data was more vulnerable in low quality phone lines. (Alternately, there may be a bug in the newer kernel.) Whatever the ultimate cause, my PPP software was picking up compression errors and stumbling...

The "quick and dirty" solution was simple: I added the line novj to my /etc/ppp/options file, which tells pppd to not use compression. I haven't noticed any real problems, and big files download pretty fast now. So far so good...

Friday the Thirteenth

Morning weigh-in: 172#, 12.5% BF

Major accident on the way in this morning, on the interstate, right at my exit for work. I took the secondary roads in just for a change of pace (no idea about the accident), found it backed up, took tertiary road and it was backed up, got to work about a half hour late. Not sure what happened, but they had the eastbound lanes all closed and there were rumors of fatalities -- possibly a westbound truck crossed the median.

Anyway, I rode Round Valley last night, and felt good though my time (and cardio/fitness) was way off. Unfortunately, my technical was off as well, since my front shock was acting funny -- not enough damping or something, felt very squirrelly in the rocks. I managed to avoid all rain, which was good, but rain got Musikfest so I didn't go last night. Passed out instead for a while, then played with the computer.

Speaking of fitness: I talked to Brian last night, who told me he saw the cardiologist that Dona recommended. The doctor gave him an echocardiogram on the spot, said his ejection fraction was actually in the upper 30's / low 40's, not 25 like that other test showed (normal is 50-60). Doc said there may have been innacuracies in the first test, or his heart has improved (pretty rapidly) since whatever virus attacked him; he's still convalescing, but that's incredible news. The doctor also said that, if it weren't for his fitness level, the worst-case scenario would very likely have meant needing a heart transplant -- Brian told me he kissed every one of his bikes when he got home.

More 'puter talk: I configured the "modem lights" applet to connect to Epix, and things look good that way but there were still slowdowns... I just happened to check out dmesg, and saw a bunch of "PPP: VC compression error" messages, took the clue and ran with it: this (I know now) is Van Jacobson compression of packet headers, and although a Google search revealed lots of problems/questions similar to mine, but few answers, I think I found a way to disable it for now. That's a job for tonight, hopefully.

Linux Voyager: Ship of Fool

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 13% BF

Playing with the computer the other day, managed to knock out its knowledge of the modem. Pretty easy to fix in the long run (restored a symbolic link), but I also got a look at how kppp works as well as the GNOME "modem lights" panel applet. (Finally -- finally! -- got that to work correctly without having to use kppp, also learned a bit about lock files. Stupid mistake, as usual.) Next up is: why is downloading so slow with my 2.4.26 kernel, especially since the 2.4.18 seems just fine? Looks to me like a bad compile, maybe module problems. (Speaking of which, I think I have a handle on my 2.6.7 problems, hopefully a little time to mess with it soon.)

Didn't ride last night, got to Round Valley and there was a lot of thunder & lightning, so I went home and threw out a bunch of boxfulls of really old computer manuals (The Internet For Macs For Dummies, Hypercard Reference Manual, Microsoft Basic for Mac, etc). I have about a roomful of stuff to work through still, either to toss it or put it in storage (toss, toss), plus lots of sweaters (save).

After that I went overt Theresa's house & watched Cold Mountain with her. It was OK: the book was better of course, and T's original assessment -- chick flick -- was pretty much correct. Pet allergy problems from the visit, sigh.

Will try for another RV ride tonight, then maybe see the Fellas at Bethlehem Brew Works (aka MusikFest) tonight.

All Quiet on the Wednesday Front

Morning weigh-in (Monday): 176#, 10% BF
Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 175.5#, 10% BF
Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 176#, 11.5% BF

Hmmm, let's see... the weekend...

Friday was a night ride up at South Mtn Park with Doug and Rich, who was riding in the dark for the first time. Interesting ride, from about 6:30 to 9:30, 16 miles total (of which maybe eight were very technical singletrack). I think Rich had himself a bit of an eye-opener in terms of both equipment and technique... Afterward, I met Theresa at Which Brew, where we saw the usual suspects as well as Doug & Lori, plus a band (Illinois Slim?). I thought I'd screwed up by arriving so late (T was there from about 7:00), but she was pretty cool about it. She and I drifted over to Porters (where it was mobbed) after WB closed, and caught a set of Leather & Lace.

Saturday was my usual "selfish day," gym, chores etc. I burned two copies of my bear photos (the big, 800k versions) for Dawn & Heather, and brought them to the gym. Theresa was going to see the Dead at the Tweeter Center with a bunch of people, so I stopped by Weyerbachers Brewery where she runs the tours, ran a few more errands and then met her and the show-goers at WB & saw them off. I went to MusikFest that night with Doug & Lori and Joe & Cindy, saw the Red Elvises and got some of that spiced corn on the cob.

Sunday I slept in until 10:00, then went for a road ride. Breakfast (brunch actually, and huge) was at The Coffee Works, kind of cool to ride downtown, get a bite and then ride into the countryside. I hit the Stockertown rail-trail for a part of the ride, which was nice but wasn't really meant for road bikes. Dinner was pizza and a movie (Clerks, now 10 years old) at Theresa's; I got to hear about the show (she loved it, was very happy with new singer). Next time I'm going.

Monday & Tuesday, not much to say: Jacobsburg "recovery ride" on Monday, Tuesday was the Democratic MeetUp at Wegmans. A little better than the last one I went to, since there were more oddballs this time (think "I have an agenda and here's my chance to hijack the meeting and rant").

Anyway, if the weather holds, and it probably won't, I'll be riding Round Valley tonight.

Yet Another Fly-by

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 11% BF

Suppression weight: that's the weight loss from dehydration, lack of eating (less food in the pipes) etc that comes just from trying to lose weight. Looks to be about two pounds, since I rested up and ate "normally" and that's how much of a bounce showed up this morning.

Anyway, last night I went to WB to meet T, and it was a zoo. They looked short-staffed, and the Insidious Rays were playing, which brought in a big (and very young) crowd. Margarita came in with Jay DeJ; they were going to hit Touch of Thai for dinner, but that was closed (vacation trip back to the old country) and they were starving. Good Luck! -- the kitchen was running way behind, but they eventually got their dinner.

No run this morning, I was tired & overslept (uh, got up at 6:30 AM). Car seems good though. Tonight is a team training ride at South Mountain, with lights.

Not much happening on the computer front, but I might focus on that this weekend. Time to move forward with my web project, eh?

UPDATE: Here is a race report for the Wilderness 101, with links to photos and results. Uh, what she said...

a quick flyby

Morning weigh-in: 173.5#, 14% BF

No run this AM: dropped the car off last nite for brakes/oil etc, hitched a ride in with Scott, who works in the burner department here and lives around the block from me. It was time for a rest day anyway, I ran and rode (benchmark, 1:29, good but not great, sign that recovery is proceeding), hit Which Brew to see Theresa, then dropped off the car & walked home, about two miles.

Today was very busy at work, emergency situation (customer changed their equipment in a major way, halfway through a job without letting us know, and our matching equipment is almost completely fabricated). I worked up a solution and just finished plotting out the drawing, when the project manager came by, said the customer had just called to reject that particular fix...

T is hurting today, her shoulder may need surgery. Torn rotator cuff? Bicep tendonitis? She saw the doctor yesterday, first step on the way to the specialist, and his exam may have irritated it. We were going to do the Ice Cream Ride tonight, but it may not be a good idea with the shoulder so I might just swing by & visit her at home.

Hump Day

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 13% BF

For the record, my weight was 173#/12.5% post R & D (run & dump).

Didn't do much yesterday, worked late & ran some errands, plus did a few chores etc. Dinner was tempeh stir-fry, w/ plenty o'leftovers for tonight. Ran this morning, of course.

Tonight I'll do a ride, then drop my car off (actually, reverse that: drop off car, return home via bike ride) for an oil change and a brake job.

gonna make you sweat

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 13% BF

Ran this morning, was forced to remember that when my body wakes up, everything wakes up including peristalsis... made it the full two miles without taking any shortcuts, then went home, did my duty and found my weight down to 174# (what can I say, I was curious). I suspect that a lot of the drop was water: I was pouring sweat like a fountain, body didn't calm down until I was at work. Things are a little different from the single-digit temps when I first ran...

Mug Club Night at Which Brew, had some lemony Greek soup and mousaka, plus a Franziskaner Weisbier. T was in earlier but I missed her, I arrived around 8:30 after working late and riding (short ride, slow, still suffering from the W101), and she'd had dinner with Connor at normal-people dinnertime. Hung out with Brian though, his first time out driving on his own since his cardio catheterization (he was at the party Sat, but didn't drive).

A Belly Dancer, A Party, & A Very Short Death March

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 13% BF

Got up and ran this morning, my (formerly) usual two miles which took me 24 minutes -- a little slower than my 10k target pace of 7:30 per mile. I took it easy though, first time back and it was already hot and muggy. I was a little surprised I got up without a problem, since I slept with the windows open, and the girl down the street had a party. (Parents away? Probably not, but it's a half double, and the people next door just moved out). Nothing major, just a bunch of shouted goodbyes at around midnight, then a few more around 2:00 AM. I notice that the kids on the block are starting to cluster, doing that back-to-school retribalization thang...

Anyway, the weekend:

Friday Night: I rode the towpath after work. I planned on doing a "hot lap" but ran into Joe and Cindy, who were with their dog & so riding relatively slowly. I cut my own ride short and rode with them which was just as well, since I don't think I could have held my pace/effort (I'm not yet recovered from last weekend).
After that I got ready for my evening by wrapping myself in bedsheets. It was Toga Night at Which Brew, with guest-chef Margarita's Greek recipes, togas of course (but we were actually a minority), and even a belly dancer. I met Theresa & her son young Connor there for dinner; he was in tie-dyed sheets & it looked pretty decent, but T's toga was just amazing, easily the best there. She got some fabric and actually made an outfit (complete with wig and cap) that looked like she was an extra in The Robe or something. (She said it was unpleasantly hot though.) She took Conor home and I changed out of my toga, but I only stuck around for the first set of Three Monks.

Saturday: Was my usual "selfish day," but I seemed to be just a little behind schedule all day. Went to the gym & saw Dawn, who peppered me with anxious questions about what I thought of the bear tagging program. Apparently, volunteers have occasionally gotten freaked out about the blood/DNA samples etc... I'm starting to shift towards winter and strength training (I think it may have been a mistake to let the fitness focus be on the bike so much this summer), and Saturday's workout was the first of the new program.

Afterward I stopped by T's, watched The Sandlot (which I thought would be lame but was actually pretty good) and had dinner with her and Connor. The Riglers were having a party, but T had her son and was in for the night, at least in terms of beer blowouts in the woods...

The party, what I remember of it, was great. I ended up sleeping in the Pinkerton's basement. Verrry dangerous to have those foo-foo drinks like Skye Blue or Mike's Hard Lemonade available on a hot day (mandarin orange something-or-other is what got us all)... Joe C calls them "a hangover in a bottle" but I bounced back OK, sort of.

Sunday: We were supposed to ride the Green Blazed Trail in Jim Thorpe, but the morning was very rainy. Doug called me around noon and put together a short ride up at South Mountain. Just him, me and Eric and we were pretty low-key but it was so hot & muggy (and I was still so depleted) that I felt like total death even thought the ride was only about six miles long. Technical riding though, we took maybe three or four hours to do those six miles... I got home and slept for about three hours, then woke up and had a burst of energy until maybe 10:00 PM, got a bunch of chores done.

Tonight I'll probably do a road ride, then hit WB for Mug Night.

Bear Photos

Morning weigh-in: 172.5#, 11.5% BF

I put my bear photos here, for now.

Yahoo has a pretty crappy interface, lotta bullshit to get what I wanted done, and there was no "do such-and-such to all thse files and I'll be back later," it was all very labor intensive but they're in. Not really happy with the quality of the photos I took though, kind of blurry. I still have to learn how to use that camera.

Riding tonight on the towpath, then going to Which Brew with Theresa and her son for a toga party (Greek theme actually, Margarita is guest chef w/ traditional family recipes).

I think that the race is acting like a big rock in the river: lots of turbulence and other effects downstream. Ive been very tired lately, and the weight's dropping. Shouldn't complain, eh? I want to be below 170# for Allamuchy.

Bear With Me

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 175#, 12.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 173.5#, 14.5% BF

My friend/trainer Dawn, whose sister works for the NJ Dept of Fish & Wildlife as a bear control officer, got me an invitation to help out with their annual bear trapping & tagging program. That's what I did yesterday, and it was way, way cool. I'll post more about this (including pictures) later or tonight, but I will say that: we caught two bears (both female yearlings) and saw several others; I handled, carried, measured, and helped take blood and DNA samples as the drugged bears snored away; and I have pictures to proove it. More after the jump...

By the way: it seems that I'm not allergic to the "black-faced yellow cur" dog breed (basically, a bear hound; it's the same breed as "Old Yeller"), but bears, which smell like dirty wet dog, make me itch.

More Post-Mortem

Morning weigh-in: 175.5%, 12% BF

Just a thought: with a little better time management, a few more pounds shed and some interval/hill training under the belt, I bet I could shave off another hour from my W101 time, maybe even more. Wait till next year...

Went and saw Brian last night, recovering from angiogram/catheterization or whatever it's called: he had an exploratory procedure yesterday, in-through-the-groin-and-up-the-arteries to look for heart blockages, w/ optional angioplasty if they found anything. Luckily, there was nothing to find, and he recovered enought to be sent home. Still no idea what's up with his chest pains and irregular heartbeat, but as he said, at least he doesn't have couch potato disease -- very embarrassing for a cyclist!!

I may got to the gym tonight. Tomorrow I'm taking a vacation day, and volunteering to help track/catch bears. Maybe photos?

post-race high

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 9.5% BF

Well, it's done, and it's well done too! The Wilderness 101 is over and I think I vindicated myself... results here.

My goal was to have an 8 mph average, which translates into a twelve-and-a-half-hour race. My actual time was 12:28:11, so I just made it. I also beat the two friends that I went with: I was one place ahead of Greg, beating him by less than two minutes (after more than 100 miles of racing), and unfortunately Bob had to drop out after about 60 miles.

The race was great, the course well-designed (the same course as 2002 in fact) and it was in great shape, the weather was ideal, and the rest stop volunteers were literally angels of mercy -- and the post race party was excellent, with beans burgers & beer, prizes etc. Gary's girlfriend Gina took fifth in the women's division, got up on the poduim with the pros & actually won money. Others who were there: Gerry M (Gary's friend) -- who was in the bathroom for the prerace meeting, missed the special instructions re: vandals messing with course markings, and got lost for part of the race -- and also Rob L, who finished in 8:37 and then drove down to Michaux for Sunday's race (yowza).

Speaking of beer: there was some kind of brewfest in State College the same day, and some of the participants (vendors? contestants?) were staying at our motel. When we got back from the race, one group invited us to help them finish their beer, but we were too tired.  Dang! Timing is everything.

Tip of the Day: Hammer Gel is amazingly effective, if you can stomach it.

And in other news: I came home and found T at least as sore as I was -- she was going down the stairs, tripped over her new kitten and tumbled the rest of the way. Yeeeowch!! Bumps, bruises, scrapes on elbows & knees, and a nice shiner. I stopped by her place yesterday (after a good long nap) , caught the end of the Tour.

 

Slack-Jawed, Not Much To Say

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 11.5% BF

The meeting was interesting last night, mainly because there really was no meeting, just a dinner and some watching of the Tour.

Wednesday: descent into the Maelstrom

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 13.5% BF

Worked late, then picked up the Turner from Bike King: new Hope brake lever on the right side, some new chainrings & a general once-over, plus a new cycle computer. Looks good! I lubed it last night, as well as cleaning and lubing the road bike.

The Wilderness 101 is Saturday. Yesterday and today are rest days, then Thursday and Friday (which is also a travel day) are "easy workout" days -- this according to the precepts of Consistent Winning, which I think is a crock of rich chocolatey goodness but it's the only system I know.

After the bikes were ready I went to WB for a quick dinner. Ran into Joe G, and feel I would have been happier to have stayed home; I certainly don't regret our parting of ways.

And of course, tonight is the Chain Gang meeting.

Pretty Day, viewed from the window

Morning weigh-in: 174.5%, 12.5% BD
 
Rode last night, did the "benchmark" ride. I really need to get a new cycle computer, find out what my actual distance is with this, so I can start using it as a benchmark again.  
 
(This is called "the benchmark ride" because that's how I used to use it: a very well-defined course of about 25 miles, that I could compare day-to-day fitness on by checking my ride times. I started using it back when I lived on Southside, but when I moved I had to change parts of the route so "benchmarking" sort of lapsed, since results were no longer directly comparable. I moved years ago though, so I should just consider the new route the standard, and start over with the benchmarking.)
 
Anyway, my time was 1:25 for probably 24 miles. Not bad, since some of this is city riding (lights, traffic etc). I felt really good, smooth and fast, almost effortless when I got on top of the right gear -- some of those roads have recently been resurfaced.

 Dinner was the rest of that leftover Chinese food (crispy beef in orange sauce), then after the ride I had some baked stuffed tofu, plus a little saurkraut. Ran around, did some shopping afterward, hit Wal-Mart for velcro tape and played with the blood pressure machine: 121/76, with a pulse rate of 91. Pulse was elevated by riding, I wonder if pressure is the same? I once was 100/60, but my resting heart rate was 52 at the time...
 
This morning I did something I haven't done in a while: got up early and made breakfast. Coffee, oatmeal with blueberries, should do that more often!
 
I pick up the bike today from Bike King, where it was getting some stuff done that I didn't feel like doing myself, I may do a short easy ride to check it out. From the office window, today looks beautiful.
 

Linux Voyager: of mice and modules

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 11.5% BF
 
Kernel Panic: built the new 2.6.7 kernel, but forgot everything I learned on the "training run" building 2.4.26 -- mainly, I forgot to make sure there was RAM disk support. (I need that for the initrd image, which I need for treating the CD-RW as a SCSI device, which I need for ... ) The new kernel's makefile has a generic "make install" which is pretty nice, does a bit more of the actual "put the files where they're supposed to be, with the proper names" part of the install. Anyway, a quick look back at this entry got me what I needed, and the kernel booted OK ...except the mouse didn't respond, and I got some kind of error that the mousedev module couldn't be found (among a bunch of other modprobe errors). So, I'm still using 2.4, and some further research/tweaking is required.
 
Meanwhile: No exercise, or anything else really, yesterday. I did some laundry and played with the computer, ate some Chinese food on the way to the supermarket, but blew off shopping after eating. Currently re-reading A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again and the Silmarillion.
 
Dept of good news/bad news: Theresa is now working part time at Weyerbacher Brewery, for a few hours on Saturdays when they have tours. That is, tours with free samples -- uh oh! Just when I was really planning to watch my weight... 

Sunday Already

Well, looks like the rain has stopped, but I'm already in "lazy mode" today. Dinner with T last night (we walked to WB, after walking to Wordell's and not really liking the menu). Also: ran for the first time in a while yesterday, two miles before working out at the gym. Really, really slow: about 24 minutes, but it was hot and I was no way going to push it.

Linux: got the latest 2.6 kernel, ran "make menuconfig" and should be ready to build it. Maybe today? But in the meantime, there's laundry and shopping and generic housework awaiting...

Friday Already

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 13.5% BF
 
Hmmmm... looks like Blogger has been improved yet again... fonts, photos, a few more html tags as buttons, and a raw HTML editor. Verrrry interesting!!
 
Rode last night, did a loop out near my "benchmark ride," but a little bit hillier. At the end of the ride I saw co-worker Scott on his bike at the corner of 13th & Northampton. He'd done the Genesis "Ice Cream Ride" and was waiting for another rider to come up in his car, follow him home and pick up a spare pump bracket. I went with them, hung out for a bit. It was a kind of nice way to end the ride.
 
Brain rot: didn't play with the computer last night. Forgot to pay my phone bill & they turned off the line. Oh well, something to do at lunchtime. (In my defense, they now send three separate bills instead of one, I'm so confused...) Last thing I did Wednesday though, was to download the latest kernel, maybe I'll build it this weekend, get my video card back up & running. 


 

back from an involuntary hiatus

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 174.5# BF forgotten
Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 177.5#, 13.5% BF

Got knocked out by a 24-hour bug, starting around midnight Tuesday. Here's the news otherwise:

Pump it up: I went out for a towpath ride Tuesday night, but before I left I checked the tire pressure -- it was like in the mid-20 psi range! I sort of noticed they seemed mushy on the turns on Saturday, I also noticed I felt slower and more sluggish than usual but didn't bother to make the connection or remedy the problem. Anyway, I pumped them up pretty high for me lately, about 40 psi, and felt like superman on the path. I felt so good that I decided to really push it, and ended up with a 1:24 burn time (approx 16.5 mph avg for 23 miles). Nowhere near my old records (1:28 for 25.4 miles, or 17.32 mph avg), but not bad! This won't do me any good at the Wilderness 101 I'm sure, but it's still a confidence boost even if I torched my lungs a bit. I can't believe I used to ride 55 psi on 1.95" tires...

After that I hit the showers, then met Theresa at Which Brew. Typical night there, very cool especially since the Mug Club Night (already postponed from last week because of the July 4th holiday) was cancelled because Kelly Jo was sick. That night of course, I got sick too, and found that T also took Wednesday off because she got hit by something. Coincidence? Probably not, but the bug didn't get caught Tues nite, more likely it happened much earlier & was caught by all of us from some other source.

Yesterday I stayed home, played some more with sed and found I could get some rudimentary template control, but it's pretty unwieldy; I also think I have a handle on my slow internet download problem, if not the solution then at least an understanding of the problem. I also got a haircut, and dropped my bike off for repairs at Bike King. It was Heath's birthday last night and he called, so I dropped by WB one more time for a quick hello.

ONe more thing: I got an email from "PayPal," looks like someone was on a phishing expedition. More on this in a day or two maybe.

Linux Voyager: sed and awk and bash, oh my!

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 13.5% BF

OK, so I haven't played with awk yet, but I'm starting to look at sed, and I'm getting a little deeper into scripting with bash. The context, of course, is still that script to take a bunch of JPEG files and generate a photo gallery for them.

Right now the script creates a directory called "html" in the working directory, and one called "photos" (with a "thumbs" subdirectory) there as well, then for each jpg/JPG file in the working directory it makes a smaller, thumbnail version of the file in "photos/thumbs", moves the file itself to "photos", and generates an HTML file in "html" to display the original file. It also makes an HTML file in the working directory to serve as an index, which displays the thumbs as links to the display files. The display files have links to each other -- "next" and "previous" display files, as defined by their order in the index -- as well as a link back to the index.

I used this to make my "Photos of Mike" Gallery, which shows how the resulting pages work together. (The explanatory text on the display pages was put in with an ordinary HTML editor; this text, and the linking structure on the display pages, are why I used HTML instead of just displaying the photos. If you look at the navigation links on the bash vs the awk pages you'll see why I thought my link structure was a good idea.)

My problems with the script as it stands are mostly related to its lack of flexibility. I'd like to have more control over the photo file selection, and maybe have the index and page display files be written from templates; I may also make a lot more of the "hardwired" stuff be variables, with default variables that can be superseded by a configuration file. These can all be command line arguments, options etc, and the configuration file could be just another shell script, but the templates may be tricky... hence, sed and awk.

In the long run, it may be easier to just port this to perl, but in the even longer run, an entirely new web page structure, based on CGI or CSS, may be the smarter move. (I spent some time experimenting with forms last night.)

Half-past Summer

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 10.5% BF

So the Fourth has come and gone, and now Heritage Day has passed...

Friday: nothing much happened. I worked late, went to Which Brew and then crashed early.

Saturday: I felt tired but went to the gym anyway, then when Dawn didn't show (& I remembered we'd cancelled) I just blew it off. Some housework, then I did a slow, medium-long ride on the Lehigh towpath: brought the camera, took pictures of Bethlehem Steel, the new trails behind St Luke's Hospital, and the trainyard west of Sand Island.

Sunday was pretty interesting. I went with Theresa and "Murph" (aka Mike Murphy -- I've known him for years & just found out his real first name) to a brunch at Margarita's house -- where Jay DeJesus showed up on his road bike, then to Mary Merritt's annual party to watch the fireworks. It was pretty cool, saw Violetta (who will be leaving for Alaska soon), and also John & Sue Zorn with their daughter Kayla, who is probably about 2, maybe a little older. And of course, the fireworks were awesome.

TGIF, PART UMPTEEN

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 10% BF

Very busy at work this week, trying to get something out by today. That is all.

the bounceback

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 9.5% BF

I set up a yahoo photo page here for my public photos. Still not sure how big I should make them: I want the best possible quality & yahoo's storage space is "unlimited," but bandwidth, on dialup at home, is not. Also, uploading to yahoo is a big pain unless I find a way to automate the process.

My current strategy should be, to set up galleries of "good enough for the web" image files at SDF, then put the bigger image files at yahoo, where they also have photo ordering features -- like, who doesn't at this point?

Felt tired, somewhat under the weather again last night -- possible food allergy from lunch? Worked late, got home & took a nap, then ate a falafel wrap and some Taco Hell & played with 'puter. I felt much better after eating the greasy bad food...

UPDATE: Thought I'd mention what I'm reading: One Man's Meat by E. B. White (Charlottes's Web, The Elements of Style -- that E. B. White). Wry and clever urban writer relocates to a Maine coastal farm in the late 1930's, writes essays about his experiences that are later collected in book form. I wouldn't call it great because it wasn't meant to be "great" (its tone is casual & informal) but it is thoughtful, clear, vivid, compelling... in a word, well, great.

post-Indie Day

Morning weigh-in (Mon): 172.5#, 10% BF
Morning weigh-in (Tue): 172.5#, 13% BF

So, the holiday weekend...

Friday night: blew off riding to play with the computer. I put some of my recent digital photos onto the hard drive, then experimented with some command-line image manipulation utilities, mainly pnmscale. I'd like to keep my photos in the big (~800K) format, but make smaller copies for posting on the web; I'm also trying to find formats other than JPEG, that I can use for interim storage (ie, between bouts of "image manipulation") that don't cause a loss of image quality...

In other news, I set up a Yahoo group account for my family (mainly to get them to join Yahoo so we can share photos better), we'll see how that works out. And one final geek-out: I sent the $36 one-time fee to the Super Dimension Fortress via PayPal, now I have a full account on their machine w/ 300MB storage and access to the full set of UNIX commands. First thing I did was change my shell to bash.

Late-nite dinner at Which Brew, which was quiet.

Saturday I had breakfast at the coffee shop, then went to the gym; I saw Dawn for the first time in about a month -- she just got back from her honeymoon, with many stories including her own lost luggage tale. I spent most of the rest of the day cleaning the house: took a bunch of garbage bags full of old clothes to the charity dropoff, threw out a pile of old boxes, and cashed in all my loose change lying around. The place still looks like a disaster area -- worse than when I started, actually -- but progress was definitely made.

Dinner was Which Brew, again.

Sunday was the July 4th road ride and barbecue. The ride was about 70 miles, hilly, and hot -- a beautiful ride! About fifteen people did the long ride, the usual suspects plus John C, Tiasha, and Chris from the Bulldogs; a few others did shorter rides. We met back at Joe's mom's house, big BBQ, pool party, major fireworks... Theresa came later with Connor, & that was pretty cool because there were a bunch of kids he played with.

Monday: I sort of slacked, but dropped my bike box off at Doug's for his use on their upcoming trip to Vail. We grabbed lunch in Bethlehem at that Mexican place on Main Street, then hit a CD store. I got an Echo & the Bunnymen re-release and the soundtrack to O Brother where Art Thou? Not sure what Doug got but it was good.

I became kind of energetic later in the day: cleaned/lubed the Turner, then rode down the Delaware towpath -- something I hadn't done in years -- to just past Riegelsville and back, maybe 30-35 miles total. On the way back, I stopped at the Raubsville Tavern (you ride right past the outdoor bar) and got a margarita and a Lynchburg Lemonade -- wow!

After the ride I stopped off at T's and watched The Big Lebowski.

duh, part 2

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 12% BF

Recommendo: Saw Fahrenheit 9/11 last night. Incredible movie. Vintage Moore: viciously partisan (of course), manipulative (somewhat), maybe misleading (time will tell -- but I'd heard most of his revelations years ago, and most of them seem pretty true), but much better than his usual stuff. Very powerful, funny at times but in the end really sad.

Anyway, I was supposed to go riding at Round Valley tonight, but I'm working late, didn't bring bike and will instead hit the towpath. There's a reception for "Taming the Bicycle" tonight at the Banana Factory, and I think I'll head down to see it.

The Tour starts tomorrow.

these 4-day weeks are pretty nice

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 12% BF

Rode last night from Eric's house: me, Doug, Greg, Eric, Janna's Eric, and Joe & Cindy. He lives in the "hilly zone" south of the Bethlehem-Allentown border, and the ride definitely had its share of ups and downs... very difficult I thought; though I felt like I was riding OK I felt a little tired & out-of-sorts (poor sleep, stomach problems). Something nasty has been going around, fever/chills, sweats, fatigue & muscle aches. It got Doug & Joe, and reportedly Greg H as well; Doug's mom has something similar right now but also with upset stomach!! -- watch the paranoia...

duh

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 14% BF

A little dull today, not much to say... got my luggage back -- made them deliver it to the office, worked a little late but not too, rode last nite on the towpath (brought lights, used them for the last little bit), and met T and her neighbors/friends at the Riverside, a place with a deck overlooking the Delaware River.

Back From Florida

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 13.5% BF

Not a bad trip, though I'm still missing my luggage (nice move US Airways). I guess I should be thankful it happened on the return trip though...

I flew down Friday, after a bit of an impromptu party Thursday night at Which Brew with T (we went for dinner after riding the towpath)and a couple of others (Ed, Murph, Margerita). I had the next day off, but I still had to pack and my flight was 6:50 AM -- ouch! The flight was pretty uneventful, ABE to Ft Myers w/ connection in Pittsburg, then car rental & the hour or so drive to Marco.

Saturday was downtime, so I worked on my sunburn, then went out to dinner with all involved in the Christening. Baptism on Sunday, followed by barbecue at Kevin's, and I flew home yesterday. Plenty of photos, maybe I'll post a few here.

I stopped at Doug & Lori's on the way home, ended up in plans by Eric to see Fahrenheit 911 but it was sold out so we went to Tulum for dinner. Real food, real beer...

week's winding down already?

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 175#, 11% BF
Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 175#, 11% BF

Last night was the Chain Gang Time Trial, on an approximately 14.5 mile long, hilly loop from the C's house. Joe & Cindy, Greg, Doug, Eric and myself, and Judy kept the time. I did it in 42.09, for an average of 20.6 mph -- not too shabby, except that I came in 2nd to last...

After that I went to Which Brew. It was Rachel's husband Bill's 50th birthday party -- Rachel was the first bartender at Weyerbacher: pretty girl, super-smart. I met T down there, and I finally wheedled out of her that she was fairly expert at UNIX printing, especially using nroff. I knew there was something I liked about her!

When I got home I signed up for a free account at the Super Dimension Fortress, a public-access UNIX system.

This is probably my last post for a few days, as I'm going to Florida tomorrow morning for my niece's baptism. See you next week!

they call it stormy monday, but tuesday's just as bad

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 11% BF

Rode last night at the 'burg with Brian and Curt. Curt (owner of Curt's Cyclery)was on his Surly singlespeed, similar to the one I plan to buy soon from him; Brian was back on his usual bike after getting his rear hub replaced, and I ... forgot my Camelback. I actually rode pretty good without the extra weight, but I felt naked without it and of course had nothing to drink. Luckily, it was pleasant and cool out, and I grabbed something afterward at the first convenience store I passed on the way home. I'll probably hit the gym tonight, avoid the rainy world outside.

Meantime, books: now that Mason & Dixon is out of the way I can continue in earnest with The Education of Henry Adams, and pick up One Man's Meat where I left off.

Love and Mortality

Just finished Mason & Dixon. Wow. That has probably the most bittersweet ending of any book I know. Gravity's Rainbow is still Pynchon's most brilliant and involved book, but M&D, despite the rollicking, complicated fun along the way, is deeper and sadder and far more beautiful. G'night.

Back From Camping

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 12% BF

Wednesday Night was the Chain Gang meeting. It seems so long ago now...

Thursday: was spent running around, getting ready for camping, then my neighbor's wake (pretty rough: his wife, even though sedated, lost it at one point), then I swung by Theresa's to check out her new car, a Volkswagen diesel station wagon, then "dinner" and drinks at Which Brew -- gotta love vacation!

Friday: I got up to the campsite in Jim Thorpe about noon, met John C and his friends/co-workers Bruce and Mark, set up camp and hit the trails by about 3:00. We rode Psycho Betty's Revenge and Bob's Option, which is only maybe a 6-7 mile loop but fairly technical, then cooled off in the lake. We biked downtown for dinner (and we also grabbed a few beers with Rich B, Greg H and his friend Mike at the Hotel Switzerland) and returned via the Switchback Trail in the dark. I went to bed, but those guys stayed up a little later...

Saturday: We drove to Tamaqua, the new local hotspot, to ride the trails near Bungalow Park. No other Gangsters showed up, but somehow I became "leader" for a pretty big group after Greg H told everyone I knew the trails there... we did the racecourse, then stopped for lunch when we found ourselves back at the park -- and suddenly our picnic tables had at least 40 people hanging out, friends of friends, a "six degrees of we camped with you last year" sort of thing going on. Our plan after lunch was to try and find the big field, a reclaimed stripmine that covered half the mountain, and the trails beyond it on the powerline ridge. Lots of backing and filling, and we finally discovered the powerline but not the trails I wanted; instead, we rode a cool downhill to Tuscarora Lake Park, found a trail around the lake and took a fun road descent back to Tamaqua. A shout-out to the Jersey Action Riders, especially Barb, Mary, Andrea and What's-Her-Name, who kept the ride fun and on course.

We ate in-camp Saturday night, then Mark and Bruce took off for home. John and I paid a nominal visit to the VMB campsite after dinner, but we were both tired and crashed early.

Sunday: John left in the morning, and I packed my stuff up but went for a ride with Rich B, Beth McG, and Joe G (yup); we did the Switchback to Summit Hill, then the Ridge Trail and other singlerack on Pisgah Mtn. When we got back I hopped in the lake, grabbed a burger and hit the road for home.

Dinner was an entire pepperoni pizza, with Gatorade and some Czech beer and Mason & Dixon, followed by an early bedtime.

Happy Bloomsday!

Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 172.5#, 12.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 174#, 10% BF

Not just any Bloomsday either... 100 years ago today was the day, in fictional Dubliner Leopold Bloom's life, that James Joyce immortalized in Ulysses. Bloomsday is now a holiday in Dublin, and in this centennial year it's an even bigger celebration than usual. So go out and lift a Guinness for old James & Leopold, or (if you're brave) maybe a Bushmills or a Jameson's -- it'll be easier than reading the book!

Got my plane tix for Florida last night, then had dinner with T since I'll be gone camping this weekend, and tonight is the Chain Gang meeting; tomorrow and Friday I'm on vacation. This weekend is Mountain Bike Weekend in Jim Thorpe, but my original plans to go up Thursday afternoon have been changed: my neighbor Ted died last Friday of injuries he got in a truck accident. The wake is tomorrow evening, so I'll probably get ready for camping in the morning, then go to the viewing, and then head up to JT on Friday morning.

an interesting (and busy) weekend

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 12.5% BF

Friday: Towpath ride, then ...what? Chores or something, I already forget, but I ended up at Which Brew (of course) for dinner. Hung out with T, some others.

Saturday: A beautiful day. In the morning was the Aloha Ride, a 50-miler through areas north of Hackettstown/Blairstown, the hilly back roads near Walpack Center (ie in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area). This was just a great ride.

The afternoon was at the 15DollarLime fundraiser for MoveOn.org, then came naptime, then later some pizza and "The Great Escape" at T's.

Sunday: The morning was spent looking at a new park where bikers have permission to build, maintain, and ride on a trail system. A bunch of us did a walkdown of the park, terrain, inventory of existing trails, etc... In the afternoon I went on a ride with Theresa, got her bike in working order and we rode the bike paths from Hugh More Park to the Chain Dam.

UPDATE: Rode Jacobsburg tonight after work, then came home and read these words in Mason & Dixon:

On June 14th, they stand atop the Allegheny Divide.

Sweet! By the way, The Education of Henry Adams is better than I remember it (though I do remember it as only bogging down near the end, and I'm at the beginning right now) -- every page, every paragraph, has its gem.

Friday (Thank God It's)

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 12.5% BF

Not much to say. All quiet on the Linux front (NVIDIA servers were cranky last nite so I didn't download the new driver software), stopped by T's to exchange her bent wheel with a loaner from me, and her bike (a Wal-Mart Mongoose) has 24" wheels -- WTF? Riding the towpath tonight, maybe WB (again) for dinner, maybe not.

It's official: I just mailed my entry for the Wilderness 101. Gulp!

Day of the Locust, a Day of Song

Morning weigh-in: 174.5%, 12.5% BF

The heat must have finally got them going: yesterday and today the cicadas were extremely loud near work.

Rode yesterday on my own, did the Hellertown loop but started late so I skipped the Morvale Road "Hill Climb of Death" -- the ride was hilly enough even without it. Funny though, and I can't say whether I'd attribute it to my new gearing or some newfound climbing strength, but this ride doesn't seem so hellishly tough anymore.

Got home, did more laundry including my Camelback, went to laundromat to dry it and had a late dinner at Which Brew -- busted! Theresa was there: I didn't tell her I was going & she didn't tell me, like that commercial where the couple breaks their date (each claiming sickness or something), and then they accidentally meet at a nightclub... To be perfectly honest, I think the "interpersonal compatibility index" between us isn't all that high.
Oh well.

On the Linux front: still messing with NVIDIA & the new kernel, still unsuccessful.

Linux Voyager: win some, lose some

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 7% BF (WTF?)

Went to that Democratic meetup last night, but it was kind of lame, everyone seemed tired.

Came home, did more laundry and recompiled the kernel -- this time I got all the bugs out of my procedure; the installation was actually easy once you know how to do it right. Should have read the HOWTO before starting...

Unfortunately, something went wrong with the next step, video card installation. I thought I totally lost everything for a minute, but reconfigured X to think I had just a generic monitor, and I was back in business, sort of. Now I have sound, but the 3D graphics accelerator has vanished -- no GL, thus no cool games for a while.

Tonight I may run through the process one more time, make a new kernel but modularize it a lot more than I did, then try again with the Nvidia driver install. I'm supposed to do an offroad group ride from Eric's, but it looks like it's becoming a big production ("bring lights," BBQ afterward) and I have things to do, like drying my clothes (otherwise I'll literally have nothing to wear tomorrow), food shopping, and fiddling with the 'puter. I think I'll just do the "benchmark ride" on my own after work.

PS Happy Birthday Dad!!

Transit of Venus

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 11.5% BF

Got up this morning to watch the Transit of Venus, but my "light from pinhole in one paper plate shines onto the other paper plate" method of viewing left a lot to be desired. (I'll get another chance in eight years, so I have time to find a more effective viewing method.) There are some great shots here, though. This is especially interesting to me right now, since I'm in the middle of Mason & Dixon, whose main events are bracketed by the celebrated Transits of 1761 & 1769.

Ride: I rode at the burg last night. Myself, Rich B, Greg P and Kathy S (who was hurting, suffering from allergies/asthma worse even than mine, and in the throes of a medication change). We took it pretty slow, and I skipped out at 7:45. A nice ride, but the place was a little muddy. Actually, a lot muddy. Ran into Rob L and his wife Sarah, both wearing Campbell's Soup jerseys. Rob broke his collarbone racing a few weeks ago, and was riding one-handed -- the animal!

Dinner: was Mug Club Night at Which Brew. I met Brian there, also Theresa. Brian was a little miffed when I told him about T, wouldn't come over to meet her. She also seemed a little distant or preoccupied...

Computer: I think I have it (Nvidia vs my system upgrade) figured out, but I haven't done anything about it yet. I must recompile the kernel once more anyway, I may do that tonight when I get home, before running back out.

Tonight: I'll be going to the Democratic Meetup at Wegmans.

Linux Voyager (part umpteen)

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 11.5% BF

Saturday night I had dinner with T at Which Brew, then went home and studied the situation with the new kernel. My strategy: delete the image I made already, recompile with new configuration (specifically: I neglected to allow for RAM disks last time), use something called mkinitrd, and set up LILO read the image file thus created. (I really think I ought to take a look at this. When all else fails, read the directions.) I got the kernel recompiled, modules done etc, then Sunday morning I installed the new modules and ran mkinitrd, but I was also going for a century ride so I had to put it aside for a while...

The ride: we started from Greg's house around 10:00 AM, and Greg (uncharacteristically) opted for a less structured ride. Myself, Greg, Joe C, Doug, Brian, Bob W and his friend Chris from the Bulldogs. It was a pretty decent ride, lots of fun and at a pretty fast pace even if it ddn't feel that way most of the time. Brian dropped out before we did Blue Mountain, and Doug & I left a little after that (we ended up with 82 miles), while the crew continued, looping around back roads in the Slate Belt to get up to their 100-mile quota. We had a little lunch/dinner afterward at Gregs, burgers etc.

When I got home, I tried my new kernel, but it failed to start the X server (I think I have to deal with Nvidia 3rd-party modules), and I was too tired to do anything about it...

Rainy Day

no morning weigh in, ahhhh...

Rode the towpath yesterday, ran into Joe and Cindy, riding with Talley their dog. I totally did not expect them, but they say they ride there almost weekly now; I guess this is a good substitute for Cindy's "real singletrack" fix until her neck situation is resolved. We met at the Bethlehem Boat Club boat launch, and I turned around & rode with them to the baseball field, then back towards Bethlehem on the singletrack, parts of which I never rode on before last night, though I have jogged the entire thing. We got to Freemansburg before I decided I'd better head home.

During the ride I had a later Mozilla version downloading (v1.7, release candidate whatever); when I got back the connection was broken but the (13 MB) download had already completed, luckily. I then re-connected and started downloading the latest 2.4 kernel (2.4.26, another 30 MB), showered and went over to T's for a bite to eat, a few Sierra Nevada Pale Ales and some Raiders of the Lost Ark on her new TV. I got home around 12:30 and found that the kernel download was fine as well...

When I got up this morning I blew off the gym, instead installing the new Mozilla (it went just fine, though some of my favorite themes are now obsolete), and the new kernel (it went not-so-fine). Make xconfig, make dep, make bzImage, make modules, make modules_install, yadda yadda, put new image in boot directory, upgraded lilo.conf, rebooted and -- got a kernel panic. More fiddling with lilo didn't help, so I may start over from source.

here comes the weekend

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 10.5% BF

Looks like tomorrow will be a washout, which means our plan to ride Blue Marsh on Sunday may have to be modified -- the place gets pretty soggy, and we planned to do two laps, or fifty miles. Greg M suggested a road century instead, hmmmm...

Meantime, there's tonight on the towpath, then probably WB for dinner (unless that 15DollarLime.org thing is happening tonight) -- then maybe over to Porter's Pub to see Duende? I'll have to give T a call, see what she's up to.

Worked late yesterday, then stopped at Merrill Creek on the way home and hiked for about an hour. More people than usual there, I didn't have the place to myself this time but it was still nice.

the Cheese Grate ride

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 10.5% BF

The "Wednesday Night Roadie Geek" ride last night was a little rough: we were caught in thunderstorms (which of course started when we did), taking shelter on the side of the local vo-tech during the worst of it and then riding in the rain for about a half hour. (Not really that bad, actually, once the body started cranking out the watts.) After that the weather cleared up, though the roads were wet. There were several "open grate" metal bridges which were scary slippery -- and on the last and biggest one, Greg M took a spill at speed. Knocked the wind out of himself, got bounced around and scraped up but was able to finish the ride. A little BBQ and beer at Brian's and everything was OK.

Not much time for reading or the computer lately. I get in a page or two each in Henry Adams and Mason & Dixon, at breakfast, just before bed etc. Read half of One Man's Meat at a sitting, will let that sit for a while, at least until after M&D.

wednesday, wednesday (unfinished weekend thoughts)

Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 177#, 11% BF
Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 176.5#, 10.5% BF

When I saw my trainer Dawn on Saturday, I gave her the wedding presents I bought: two Camelbacks. She and her fiancee were leaving to get married in Florida the next day, then honeymooning in St. Lucia or somewhere like that -- not the regular hotel/casino/restaurant part of the island, but some eco-resort section, nestled in the mountains that I expect she'll make her new husband climb...

She was also talking about her sister, who is a bear-control officer for New Jersey. They have a more work than ever, and a smaller budget (and staff) to do it with so they're relying on volunteers; Dawn does this occasionally, and has shown me photos of her holding bear cubs etc. I asked her to put in a good word for me, see if I'd be allowed to help one day and she said sure, though it means taking a vacation day to do it. All right!

I got an email on Monday from my Mom, saying my grandmother was not feeling too well. Her eyesight is not too good anymore, and her hearing is getting worse, and she feels cut off from the world, especially her family, who live all over. I thought it would be a good idea to write her a letter, including photos, telling her about my latest vacation. Turned out it's 16 pages, so I haven't sent it yet until I get postage figured out, but it was pretty easy to make so I think I might write a few more, maybe take pictures so I have something to send her.

Anyway, last night I went to Which Brew for Ed's birthday. Ed is reasonably regular at the WB (also a Virtual Pubster), and a good friend of T, who called me to meet her there. I worked late, then hiked at Merrill Creek on the way home to check on my friends the cicadas, and only got the message at maybe 9:00. Things were winding down by the time I arrived, but it was still pretty nice. I was starving, so I had dinner there, sure didn't bother to play "catch up" with the revelers.

Memento Mori

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 10% BF

Memorial Day, 2004. Um... rode a hard ride at Allamuchy yesterday, then had a little BBQ at the Workmans. Saturday was close to the usual "selfish day" except I hit the Quadrant. I went in to get a half pound of coffee, then I got a cup to go, then I ordered food and sat down with my cup, then I saw two books to buy...Picked up the autobiographical The Education of Henry Adams, and One Man's Meat by E.B. White.

Today will be low key if at all possible. Maybe a little food shopping, house cleaning; there are thunderstorms supposedly on the way.

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.

The Days Drag But The Weeks Fly By

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 12.5% BF

Well here it is Friday again... a quick recap: Tuesday I worked extra late, then had dinner at Which Brew... Wednesday was the Chain Gang meeting... yesterday I rode the towpath, where I met Doug. We then ran into Judy M & her friend, who were hanging out at Sand Island after leading that "First Strides" women's running clinic. Judy was showing her vacation pics from the Islands, which was way cool -- I'd told Greg I'd go crazy on a trip like that, but it looked really fun in the pictures -- but that broke my time budget and I really had to haul ass to get back to Easton before dark. Dinner was a bowl of chili at Which Brew, and a snifter of Legacy Euphoria.

Tonight I'll be meeting a bunch of people at Jacobsburg, for a road ride with Janna. She's moving to Hawaii soon (poor thing), and I think this is the start of the farewell. They're all going to Cannon's for dinner, then to see some band (the Joes?), but tonight is the Mugger's Ball at -- you guessed it -- Which Brew. Mug Club & investors only, closed to the public, should be good.

I think I'm detecting a pattern to my life.

Heading for an Inevitable Crash

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 11.5% BF

I'm running out of things to say again, so I think things'll quiet down here (again) for a while...

Rode last night at the 'Burg with Curt, and Greg & Judy. Luckily everyone was agreeable to the idea of "easy, social ride" -- I was hurting! -- but then G&J just got back from a sailing vacation, and Curt was on a singlespeed and also on his second ride of the year, or so he claimed.

I'll have to remember this, dinner was excellent, and really quick/easy: lemon-poppy baked tofu (pre-baked of course!), rice, and saurkraut, and a salad. I grated some ginger onto canned peaches, and sprinkled it with cinnamon & sage, then put it in the fridge to save for dessert but forgot about it. Oh well, it'll be there tonight.

Ran this morning, but just got in one mile before peristalsis reared its ugly head and I cut things short ... went in to work an hour early, will probably stay 2 hours late. Sigh.

UPDATE: This is my 100th post.

Not very manic, but just another Monday

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 14% BF

The weekend: Friday was dinner at Which Brew ("Meet the Brewer Night" with Legacy Brewing), Saturday was drycleaning/coffeeshop/run/gym/work, then bike prep and finally Which Brew again for dinner; I wasn't feeling up to snuff, so I split early.

Yesterday we (me, Doug, Brian, Rich B, Joe C, and Bob) went up to Fell Mountain (aka Merli-Sarnoski Park) outside Carbondale. That place is just awesome, and even though we all agreed it really isn't that far away (no worse than French Creek or Blue Marsh), I'm kind of glad it's too far to get regular visits: it's a small park, and I don't want to see it become boring from overuse. Hard technical riding too, it's good to have some recovery between trips...

I'm not sure who can make it tonight, but I'm going to Jacobsburg for the Monday night "recovery ride," hopefully it'll live up to its name and be easy.

ummmm...

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 12.5% BF

Not much to say.

Yesterday I worked until 7:00, then went home & played with the computer (first non-thunderstorm day this week); dinner was tuna & wilted greens over fettucine after 10:00 PM. Today I came in at 7:00 AM, tomorrow I'll be working a half day. I could say "CHA-CHING!" but in reality it's just starting to piss me off...

Tonight I'll be riding the towpath, then probably hitting the WB or best offer if anything else turns up. Tomorrow some friends and I may get together for dinner somewhere in Hackettstown.

A Mighty Road

Morning weigh-in: 175.0#, 14.5% BF

I left work "early" (ie at the proper time) yesterday, and finally hooked up with the Wednesday night road ride crew (Joe & Cindy C, Brian, Doug, and Scott S) despite threatening thunderstorms. They start/finish at Joe & Cindy's house, and wind all around the backroads just south of Blue Mountain (Jacobsburg to Point Phillip, rolling terrain). Many of these guys spent the winter hammering this ride on their fixed-gear bikes, and use it as a hard training ride; they also sprint to township line signs for points, and push each other pretty hard generally.

Needless to say, it was a fast ride. We did about 33 miles or so in about two hours; Doug & Brian both got average speeds of 17.3 MPH, which for this course was fast. I held my own, though I didn't bother even trying to win the sprints (just grabbed the last wheel & held on until things slowed down again), but by the end I was totally used up -- I felt like death for about a half hour after we finished.

J & C had an impromptu barbeque after the ride, dogs, burgers, beans, beer and chips.

No running this morning, and tonight I'll be working late.

A Busy Evening

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 14% BF

I went to the Democratic Meetup last night, but first I worked late, then swung by the ATM & the drycleaner, then grabbed a mini-dinner at Wegmans Cafe (where the meetup was held). I only got to eat part of it before the meeting, & finished the rest afterward before doing my grocery shopping. Wegmans is an amazing place.

The meetup was OK, if nothing spectacular. It was equal parts boring (when people vented on various issues, or engaged in Bush-bashing), unnerving (when they started soliciting for volunteers for the phone banks or whatever), and interesting when party officials or candidates' aides spoke about various things. There were a few flakeballs there too: one independent looking for Democratic support for his state senate run (so OK, be a Democrat), and one independent who was actually running for President.

When I left for work yesterday morning, I put some laundry on, and when I got home from the meeting I did another load, then took them both to the laundromat to dry (I still haven't fixed my dryer). I stopped by Which Brew while the clothes were drying, but it was pretty quiet.

(One of the couples at the Meetup are also Which Brew regulars; the husband was actually a "guest chef" there one Friday night. They are hosting a fund-raiser party for MoveOn.org, I think I'll probably go.)

I left WB, retreived my laundry, and then hit Taco Hell on the way home, oh well. No running this morning, but tonight is a group road ride.

and now for a Tuesday fly-by...

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 15% BF

Rode last night at Jacobsburg, supposedly a "recovery ride" (in other words, slow pace, active rest), but it quickly degenerated into the usual "pissing contest" speedfest. Of course, the usual suspects were involved: myself, Brian H, Bryan K, Doug, Rich Butz, and Joe C on a single-speed. We were flying, but only had about 14 miles total because we stopped so much. (By contrast, Brian and I rode up there a few weeks ago, with less available time and a much more sedate pace, and we managed the same distance. "Fast & steady" beats everything, but "slow and steady" beats everything else, especially "sprint-rest-sprint-rest.")

Ran two miles this morning, took 23 minutes to do it. Sunday's ride hurt me last night -- it was supposed to be easy!! -- and the two conspired against me this morning. After the run and my morning constitutional, I weighed myself again and got 173.5#. It's not an official weight, but -- woo hoo!

UPDATE: I checked the results for that 5K, and gained 26 seconds for an official finish of 25:32. Not bad!

Tonight I'm working late, then going to the Democratic Meetup in Bethlehem, see what's up with that.

Monday Morning Fly-By

Morning Weigh-in: 179.0#, 14.0% BF (bleagh)

The weekend, hmmmm...

Went to Which Brew for dinner on Friday night, then drifted across the street to Porters Pub. Very punkish drum/bass duo, "Sudden Death," actually very good. Two beers there, plus two beers earlier, and in the morning I'd be running...

Saturday morning was kind of tough, but I only ran a 2 mile warmup then hit the gym. After that I went in to work, for a half day of OT, then got home to find an invite to a BBQ at Brian's, w/ the Pinkertons & Claasens, and a screening of "The Triplets of Belleville" DVD that Brian just bought.

Sunday I was moving slow, ate a huge brunch at the Quadrant, then worked on the bike & went riding at Round Valley Reservoir. I haven't been there in over a year -- more like two years, & this after averaging more than one visit a week for probably the preceding seven years. It was as fun (and stinking hard) as I remembered/expected, but I'd forgotten how beautiful Round Valley is. The best trails are still closed, while the bald eagles nest along the lake; they should be open by August.

Sunday night I ate at Porters (yeah I guess I do like the place after all), another huge meal followed immediately by a trip to Taco Bell. Sigh.

Books: the gifts that really do keep giving

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 14% BF

Reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything (which is mainly about the history of scientific discovery), and just got to a section about leaded/unleaded gasoline, CFC's and the age of the Earth. Bill Bryson rules.

Rode Tuesday at J'burg, fast fun ride where I met Rick Hauser riding w/ some friends of his, including Curt Miller's son Matt. Friggin fast kid... Last night was 2.5 hours OT, ditto tonite. I may run tomorrow morning, and will ride the towpath tomorrow nite.

What A Difference a Day Makes

Morning Weigh-in (Tuesday): 178#, 14% body fat
Morning Weigh-in (Wednesday): 175#, 13.5% body fat

I can live it, or blog about it, but not both

Busy weekend, but now I'm a little tired so this'll just be a quick recap:

Friday night I rode the towpath (duh).

Saturday I ran my first 5K race. My goal was 25 minutes, but I got 25:58. I was still happy: it was a hilly course and I was satisfied with my effort. Saturday evening was a picnic at Mike and Carole's place, a couple I know from Which Brew who live in my neighborhood. Nice people, good time.

Today was the NYC 5-Boro Bike Tour. Up at 3:00 AM, on the road with Brian H by 4:00 to catch the first ferry into Manhattan, and then 42 miles of riding through the city with 30,000 people.

I might write more about this stuff some other time, but for now I just want to crash.

Here Comes The Weekend

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 178#, 14% body fat
Morning weigh-in (Friday): 178#, 13% body fat

The weather has been beautiful the last few days. Wednesday night was a road ride, and last night I went running along the Lehigh; I also cleaned/lubed the mountain bike, still dirty from last Sunday's Michaux race. I got up early this morning, but didn't run: did an hour of overtime instead. Tonight I'm riding the towpath, tomorrow is that running race (also Mike & Carole's party), and Sunday is Bike New York. Looks like the 'puter work is getting saved for a rainy day...

Tonight is also Beltane (aka Walpurgisnacht), so I may drop by Which Brew to see what's cooking -- probably something Mexican, in honor of Cinco de Mayo.

My Linux Voyage: Heading for Rough Water

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 14% body fat

Worked overtime (2 hrs) last night because it was supposed to rain -- it didn't -- then went to gym but was too tired to get in a good workout. Instead, I went home and decided to actually pay attention and figure out my sound problem. And of course, I found out, and it's fairly simple: there is a sound card on the motherboard, and there are kernel driver modules for it but they (& the kernel) are too old, incompatible with the new hardware. So, I have to upgrade my kernel. No big deal I suppose, it's just a bit of a pain, and more than a little scary if I screw up.

I've been trying to get up at 5:00 lately, but no dice. I remember trying to adjust to 6:00 and running, but this may be just too hard. This morning I also felt extra-tired, calves/achilles tendons felt tight so I didn't run. Got an email from Greg saying I probably made a mistake going for that confidence builder yesterday. Oh well.

I'll probably do a road ride tonight, then work on the mountain bike.

Uh-oh

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 8% body fat

Ran this morning, my normal route (approx two miles) for time. Last time I did this I got 16:44, which was good but not a fast enough pace to break 25 minutes in a 5k. Today I tried harder, and ended up with 17:15, not quite the progress I was hoping for... Judging by my body fat, I think I'm dehydrated, and I'm still feeling the effects of Michaux, so I don't think I really have grounds for worry yet -- except that this is it, tomorrow and Thursday are easy runs and the race is Saturday, so this morning was the last chance for a confidence boost.

The Dave situation continues, building towards its climax. Doug called me last night, said he talked to Bob who eventually said the same thing as most other club members: "I don't want him in my home." Doug will now talk to Joe C, and the two of them will have to talk Dave out of being a member. Despite the fact that I don't like being around the guy, I didn't want to have any rejection be this hurtful to him. A little more graceful method might have been found, but that's all water under the bridge.

But that leaves Joe G. I still think this was a hostile (or rather, militant) act on his part, but I also think that it was a lot like Tim S from Englishtown. That guy used to bring up uncomfortable subjects all the time: if there was something you didn't want mentioned in front of a particular person, and that person showed up, you could be sure Tim would ask you about that thing. Coincidence? Maybe he could claim that, the first 1000 times it happened, but I think it was more like he enjoyed getting his covert digs in, fomenting trouble between people, and watching them squirm... Anyway, I think Joe (strangely enough, he, like Tim, was "the different one" in a large Catholic family) might have done the same thing here, deliberately foisting Dave on a bunch of people who don't like having him around -- but here's the cruel part: he may also be doing this to mess with Dave.

Weekend Update

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 13% body fat.

Friday Night: I worked on the bike, then continued reading Maus; I didn't go out. I've been screening my calls to avoid Joe; got a few rings (no message, and I don't have caller ID) on the house phone, then one on the cell that was from him. (Didn't return the calls & haven't heard back from him since.) I did get a call from Doug though, where he said he found out from Cindy, that Dave has joined the Chain Gang...

Saturday: I went to my nephew's 1st Communion luncheon (didn't go to the church ceremony). The luncheon was held at the same place as my brother's wedding reception. Kind of low key, but pretty cool. One interesting thing: my dad mentioned that we were right up the block from where he and my mom met, in 1960 I think, when he and his friends rented a bungalow on the Jersey shore, and my mom and her friends happened to rent the bungalow next door... Just before I left we walked up the block to take a look. My mom's bungalow was gone, but I got a photo of them in front of the one my dad rented.

Saturday Night: More bike work & reading (finished Maus, picked up Persepolis), then I went out for a bite & some company, ended up at Which Brew (surprise) where I had an extremely pleasant and interesting conversation with Virtual Pubbsters Mike and Carole -- mostly Carole, she's the talker of the two. They recently moved into a fixer-upper a few blocks from me, so they've been pretty busy lately.

Sunday: I raced at Michaux. Conditions were tough (a cold rain started just before the race) but I actually had a great time. I was the only one of my friends to go, though Chain Gang junior member Matt Miler was there (he took first in Junior Expert), and I saw Dona (3rd place Expert Women) and Rob Lichtenwalner (1st place, extra-long "monster course" race). My time was 3:00:45, which was good for me but nowhere near podium speed for the Sport Vet class. Still, a fun day.

Early to bed last night, no run this morning.

Tonight: Busy, Busy, Busy

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 11.5% body fat

It was rainy last night, so I blew off riding & worked a little late, then played with the computer. Two miles running this morning, easy pace.

Computer: I started playing with Perl again, turning the little program, that I copied from Learning Perl, into a more useful tool. The program basically takes a bunch of files and renames them -- say, all the "*.new" files into "original_filename.old". This isn't too hard; the code snippet they provide uses regular expressions and string substitution on the filenames. Their example is hardcoded though, so you have to rewrite it for every new use; what I did was set it up to take the "old" and "new" patterns, and the files to change, from the invocation arguments. My next step I think is to add some switches to control behavior (more or less verbose output, confirm filename changes or not, copy rather than rename), plus more effective error handling.

In other news, I think I just need to get some kernel modules and I'll be able to get sound again. I still can't get the mouse wheel to work, messing constantly with XF86Config but no dice. Maybe I'll just buy a new mouse; the mouse I have is some cheap Chinese no-name brand, and that may be the cause of the problem.

Tonight I have to burn two CDs: one of my vacation photos for the parents, and one of my Mike photos for Joann. I will probably stop by her house & drop it off tomorrow. It'll be nice to see her, but I'm still not looking forward to this visit.

Bike: rear tire had a slow leak so I replaced the tube last night, which is when I noticed that the brake pads are pretty worn & need replacing. That plus generic Michaux prepping is tonight.

Not A Happy Camper

Morning weigh-in: 179.5#, 12.5% body fat (doh!)

Looks like my buddy Joe "jumped the shark" last night, bringing Creepy Dave to the meeting.

Dave is a wierd-looking guy with a reputation as a stalker, and he has said things to me -- and other people I know -- that creeped me/us out, basically involving what he'd like to do to some of our (married, female) friends. He also has a habit of finding out what you're doing and inviting himself, or showing up various places (mostly Bethlehem) and insinuating himself into whatever's going on, and he's expressed an interest in joining the Chain Gang... He also smells. I avoid him, and if I see him somewhere I'm pretty evasive about any future plans (also, I do not talk about any women I know, & especially don't mention their names, in his presence).

But Joe seems to think he's an OK guy, hangs out with him and, if Joe knows what I'm doing, may bring him along or even tell him so ol' Dave can show up on his own. Joe knows how I feel about Dave, and how others feel about him (the nickname "Creepy Guy" didn't come from me). I have to think at this point that bringing Dave along last night was, consciously or unconsciously, a hostile act on Joe's part. Looks like the best way to keep Creepy Guy out of the picture is to avoid Joe, and all of a sudden I don't seem to have a problem with that.

Except... last night was also the night where we distributed hard copies of our membership roster, which is more like a phone tree. (As an aside, we don't have membership info -- phone numbers, home & email addresses etc -- on the web, because several [female] members have expressed strong opinions on privacy issues.) Last thing I saw last nite, I could have sworn Dave had a copy of one of our membership rosters in his hands...

Other than that, the meeting was really cool: we had dinner, a few beers, looked at pictures from the trip, & just had a lot of fun though the meeting itself wasn't all that productive.

In other news: ran this morning, 2 miles slow pace.

Moving Forward While Backsliding

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 11% body fat (woo hoo!)

I felt like I was on fire last night at the 'burg, riding really well and fast, though I was with Brian and he doesn't ever really open the throttle (he lost quite a bit of weight lately, but he's still a big guy, and he doesn't get competitive on "pleasure rides"), so it's hard to make a judgement. Still, we rode almost every trail there, 14 miles in just under 1:30. Bike needs a little TLC: a few creaks & squeaks have developed and the bushings on the rear shock need to be replaced. I think I'll also get that brake lever replaced soon.

Some old faces: we ran into ex-Chain Gang member Dave Jones (in a team jersey!), riding with Rick Hauser last night. We exchanged pleasantries, then went our separate ways. They both looked like they're doing pretty good, though Dave said he's just getting over a bad sprained ankle (screwing around while coaching boy's wrestling).

As for backsliding: when I got home, I burned a CD of my Moab photos, then did a whole lot of other fooling around (backslide #1: didn't eat dinner during the "glycogen window") before realizing it was getting late (backslide #2) and I had to take my wet laundry to the laundromat -- dryer is still not fixed. So at 10:30 I head out, then decide to check out Which Brew (backslide #3) while the dryers did their thing. Before picking up my laundry I stopped and ordered a pizza, ate half of that for dinner (backslide #4), while staying up late reading (backslide #5). I was a little afraid to get on the scale this morning...

Between the late bedtime, the speedy ride and yesterday's run, I was feeling pretty tired this morning, so I only ran a mile, at an easy pace. It was drizzling, but still pretty pleasant. Right now it's beautiful out; my plan was to stay a little later here tonight, then go to the Chain Gang meeting (at Which Brew), but I think now I might do a quick road ride after work.

Finished Uncle Sam, now reading Maus: My Father Bleeds History and Persepolis. I have a feeling Maus is going to mess with my head.

Time's Running Out

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 14% body fat

Ran "for time" this morning: 16:44 for a little over 2 miles (I think). Not bad for my somewhat hilly route, but I still have to get the speed up -- and I was pretty spent afterward, overheated too. Two weeks to go until the race...

Tonight is Jacobsburg, probably with Brian, maybe others; for me it's a dry run (equipment-wise, anyway) for Michaux this weekend.

Back to Reality

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 9.5% body fat

Nothing much to report. Skipped running this morning (way too tired, got up early but body really needed a recovery day), picked up & built bike this afternoon. I'll hit Jacobsburg tomorrow after work.

Got home tonight and found a pleasant surprise: a package from Mom & Dad, full of Amazon wishlist goodies for my birthday. The new Bill Bryson book, plus a whole bunch of comics er, graphic novels... Maus, Persepolis, a whole bunch of others I wanted. Thanks Mom & Dad! Already finished one, no big words to slow me down...

Nice Ride!

I usually weigh myself at the same time every day, and under the same circumstances: immediately after getting up, no clothes, before eating, using the bathroom or exercising. This "official" weight should have most day-to-day variations at least partly nullified, but the downside is that if I forget to do it (like this morning), any weight measurement I take will not be "official."

Last night I went out to dinner, stayed out a little late (and I think you know what I mean), and woke up this morning tired, headache-ey and running late for a ride. Breakfast was a Clif bar and some water, then I was off to ride with the Cycle Funattic crew down to "The Baker" in Milford (coffee & muffin break, thank God) and back. These guys are hard, fast road riders, and the pace was blistering for almost all of the 35-40 mile ride -- the roads we took were very suitable for fast smooth flying. It was a great ride, and I felt pretty strong after I warmed up (major feeling of "this day is wonderful" while eating a blueberry-cheese croissant in the sunny MIlford street, sitting on the stoop at the Ship Inn, feeding the ducks in the stream), but it was a hard ride.

When I got home I did some reading in the bathroom (and I think you know what I mean) then got ready for a shower. Just for laughs I got on the scale: 173.5#. Like I said, not official weight, probably dehydrated and in a different part of my food input/output cycle, but so what? For one brief shining moment I was under 175#!! WOO-HOO!!

Just an observation: I did notice on the ride, that all these guys and gals have their roadie technique and interpersonal riding skills down pat -- unlike me, and I stuck out like a (possibly dangerous) sore thumb in the tight pacelines...