The Days Drag But The Weeks Fly By

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 12% BF

Rode the singlespeed at Jacobsburg last night. Not too many people there: saw Brian's car but not him, talked to Rich B (he was leaving as I arrived), and eventually ran into Marv, Keith et al... they were looking for Lance, whom I eventually found and rode with. OK ride, but the wetter trails were a little beat-up from the recent weather, and the rocks were sweating & slimy, and my glasses fogged up from the humidity -- who am I kidding? It was a great ride.

Home, shower, laundry, then down to Which Brew to see Gonzo Project, a sort of splinter group, I think, of the Insidious Rays, with slightly different focus: they play a lot of jazz standards, some Zappa, etc. I feel vindicated in associating the Insidious Rays with early Zappa, since they're actually supposed to be touring/playing with some Mothers alumni soon.

Two WB conversations:

Conversation #1: On Tuesday, I was hanging with Scott when Christian came in. Chris is a martial arts instructor & kickboxing coach, and he recently ripped a bunch of tendons in his shoulder training & sparring with one of his pro fighters. Done with surgery and out of a cast, but he still had very little movement available, and some ability (depending on the damaged tendons) would never return. This set Scott off -- he was all like "don't listen to those doctors!" -- and eventually the conversation devolved into a discussion of the relative will to live of animals vs humans. Lots of "Suppose, all other things being equal, a coyote sees two deer and one has a bad leg, which one will he go after?"
Scott, who's an avid hunter, replied with "No! the coyote will go after the doe and follow it back to the fawn!" I think we all were agreeing with each other and didn't know it... consensus was that Chris will have to stick to his rehab work. I guess you had to be there...

Conversation #2: Last night I sat down next to Megan, a personable and pretty girl somewhere in her early twenties, semi-regular, she hangs out there with her father on occasion. Hi Megan, yadda yadda blah blah, and she says "you know, I sold tee shirts like that for [some eco-charity] in middle school," which is exactly how I got the shirt, from my friend's daugher -- also named Megan, and about the same age -- when she was in like 8th grade. Feels like yesterday to me... I suddenly felt old (to say nothing of the shirt), and must have looked it, since Jessica, sitting next to her, came to my rescue: "Yeah Don, you're old!"

That's why I go to Which Brew.

Fast Week

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 12.5% BF

Did chores (laundry, bills, garbage, cleaned out fridge) last night, skipped the gym. Dinner was a turkey & swiss sub from the corner deli. The guy slices meat, cheese, tomatoes for one sandwich at a time, uses romaine lettuce leaves instead of shredded iceburg; some hot peppers, mayo, oil & vinegar, those subs are like crack...

Had an incident on Route 22 Tuesday on the ride home: box van changed lanes without checking, forced me into the curb to avoid hitting him before he realized & swerved back (I originally thought he hit me, but it was just the shock of the curb). The guy took off, I tried waving him down but he kept going, lost him at the Delaware River bridge... too bad his employer's name and number were on the truck! I gave them a call, bitched, said I would call "tomorrow" (ie yesterday) with any damage I found. No damage, and I left a message yesterday saying so but I wanted to make sure the driver's cage got rattled. It's one thing to make a mistake, everyone makes them but it's what you do afterward, to deal with it, that counts.

If the weather co-operates I'll ride the 'burg on the singlespeed tonight, otherwise I'll just hit the gym.

Close call: went to use rest room earlier today, it had been cleaned and they'd used unfamiliar & somewhat effeminate air freshener -- for a second I thought I'd accidentally walked into the Ladies Room. Panicked glance spotted the urinals, phew...

Mid-Week

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 12.5% BF

Not much to say. Rode last night, towpath to Sand Island where I met Doug, then we rode an abbreviated Sals ride. Pretty decent, though I felt very tired afterward -- still went to Which Brew though, can't miss my Tuesday night...

Tonight is gym/laundry.

(Re)Reading: Claudius the God.

Pick-A-Nick

Morning weigh-in (Monday): 179.5#, 10.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 178.5#, 10% BF

Falling behind on my photos: Memorial Day weekend, Tom & Barbara's wedding, Dad's birthday, Mountain Bike Weekend, and now Heath & Margarita's wedding... I'll get right on it I swear...

Had a dream last night I found a kitten on the PPRAC ride. No allergy problems, dreamland is good like that (usually).

Hall of Fame: Thanks & Congratulations to my Uncle Pat, whose $250 donation is my biggest so far.

The weekend...

Friday night seems so long ago now. It looked like rain so I blew off riding, and later went to Which Brew to meet Brian and Eric. Talked to Hans for a bit; his brother Heath's wedding rehearsal dinner was on the back deck -- luckily, the rain never came. A Skulldiggers side project was playing, and the place was extremely crowded, so we (me, B & E) shared a table in the back with Chris & Kara, Weyerbacher manager & waitress, now married I guess, & some of their friends.

My plan for Saturday was to ride Fiddler's elbow before working out at the gym, but I blew that off in favor of my standard Sat AM: pick up the drycleaning & then have breakfast at Coffee Works. I got to the gym early enough, so I went for a 2 mile run (it felt great), had a good workout with Dawn -- except I forgot that we agreed to do a body fat test, and the run put the kibosh on accurate results so that's now scheduled for next week -- and finished with Fiddler's Elbow.

That should be a two hour ride, depending on the exact route, and the highlight is the climb up Fiddler's Elbow Road in Harmony, reputed to be the steepest road in New Jersey -- a total death march for about a mile, with the final section being so steep it's almost silly. I got there, as storm clouds started gathering, then I started the climb and the weather turned even more ominous, and finally I came around the last bend and confronted "the Wall," with lightning and thunder and swaying trees -- all it lacked was a gloomy Frankenstein castle. (Actually there is one: a house at the top where the owner, a youngish guy, is usually outside w/ a friendly greeting -- & a comment, if you're walking: the hill beat me, I had to stop and regroup before hitting "the Wall" but made damn sure I rode past the house...) Into the storm, and I decided to cut the ride short, was done in probably 1:30 or 1:45 even with the slowdown from rain/visibility issues.

Saturday Night, or rather evening, I stopped by Margarita's house, post-reception BBQ. This was the less formal thing for friends etc, pretty nice. They are now off on their honeymoon, a Windjammer cruise in Penobscott Bay. I left there and went back downtown, met Joe & Cindy and Doug & Lori at the River Grille (fancy dining, good thing I was "dressed up"), joined them for a drink there, and one next door at Montague (a disco? wha?), then headed home.

Sunday I joined up with a bunch of guys from Valley Mountain Bikers to ride at Locust Lake near Tamaqua, someplace I didn't think I'd ever been before. Serious riding, but I had been there before, knew it as "the Burma Road trails;" I guess that name should explain the difficulty level... Excellent day!

Sunday night was Paul and Mary's Heritage Day party, with burgers, dogs, orzo salad -- great tasting stuff & I never had it until this weekend, now had it two days in a row -- food, beer, etc etc, and front row seats for the big fireworks show. I hung out there with Brian, Paul & Mary, Violetta, Scott S from work, plus lots of people I sort of know as "Mary's friends" or "the Genesis crowd." Good bunch of people.

I took Monday as a rest day, worked on the mountain bike. Tonight I'll probably do a towpath/sals ride, wednesday a road ride w/ Joe G, Thurs singlespeed at the 'burg, Friday towpath...

Rainy Day

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 9.5% BF

I braved the chance of rain, which never came, to ride at the 'burg. The trails were in great shape, but the chancey weather kept a lot of people home, I guess. One or two beginner types on Wal-Mart BSO's ("bike shaped objects," I slay me), a skeleton crew from the Blue Mtn Ski Club, that's about it.

I did see Lee S on the trail, also Judy M and -- surprise! -- Janna B (nee V), checking out her new mountain bike. She's such a monster on the road, it's a shame she never developed a taste for trail riding, but maybe, now that she's on a better bike... Also ran into an old friend, Jim Y from back in the "TreadHeads" days. He was finishing as I was starting, but we exchanged numbers and we'll probably run into each other, he says he rides the 'burg with work friends every Thursday.

Dinner was Which Brew. They had the new Weyerbacher Decadence on tap, but it didn't really appeal to me: tasted almost medicine-y, too much of the herbs/spices/etc in it. The band was good though, jazz trio playing old standards ("Green Dolphin Street," fake-book tunes), Ryan Carr on the drums. His bands keep getting better, but he's still the best member in them: working his way up the food chain?

Storm Coming

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 10.5% BF (the pig has passed through the python?)

Not much going on here, especially compared to London right now. Looks really bad, and will probably look worse as information comes in.

Meantime, looks like a scary, rainy Stage Six, with a crash right at the end.

Rode the Hellertown hill ride last night. I felt pretty good; my time was about 1:45-1:50, not my best but OK, and I felt like I was really on top of some good gears on the climbs. After that was Which Brew, but no Brian, for the Mug Club dinner -- saw a few people: Joe M, Mike & Carole, Pete R, but it was still rather quiet. Dinner was Caesar salad, bowl of chili, and an Allagash White.

If the weather holds I might go to Jacobsburg tonight, singlespeed it, but there's supposed to be some major weather coming through. We'll see.

Meantime: Happy 43rd Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

Weekend Fallout

Morning weigh-in: 181.5#, 14.5% BF

We-he-he-hell!! Nice weight gain! Nothing to report otherwise. Last night was laundry, shopping & drycleaning; tonight is road bike + gym, Mug Club Night and garbage.

That Was The Weekend That Was

So, the weekend...

Friday I rode the towpath (no Sals), then had dinner at Which Brew where I met Brian, and also Doug & Lori a little later. Easy.

Saturday I got up, did a little reading, then rode down the Towpath again, caught George Hrab and the Geologic Orchestra at the Bethlehem Block Party. Pretty cool, hung out with Greg & Judy and some of their friends, who have family connections to the band. Kris R also showed up on her road bike, and we cruised through downtown after the Geologic Orchestra show, got some ice cream and then rode through Fountain Hill, until we went our separate ways when I got to Sals. Did a pretty good ride there, maybe two hours, basically my standard loop there: Spanky to the Switchback, then Ridge, Peak, Boulder and Upper Spanky trails, and then across to the Quarry Trail, but I bailed at the scrabbly old ATV climb, dropped down that to the St Luke's trailhead where I saw John E. He was with the woman he sometimes rides with, who's a neighbor of Eric & Kris; they had just come from the block party, said it was a little more exciting than the way I remembered it -- seemed under-publicized to me, but maybe things picked up in the afternoon. Anyway, talked to them for a while, then headed back home via the towpath. Thirty seven miles total.

Got home, showered, then went over Doug's parents's house (shout-out to faithful reader Toni: yo! yo! yo!): D&L, Brian, Joe & Toni (Doug's parents), and Eric & Kris a little later, also a guy named Ron, Joe's friend from work. Doug knew his son when they were kids, & accidentally spilled the beans on some youthful indiscretion... Lots of food, plenty of cool talk around the fire on the patio, pretty mellow though this day was a little tougher than Friday.

Sunday was the hard day. Got up around 7:00 AM, got ready & met others at Joe's mom's house for the Independence Day road ride: about 70 miles including a climb up "the hard side" of Blue Mountain at Wind Gap, and a short-but-sweet 15% grade about mile 50. Very good ride, I felt strong especially towards the end, and the ride was followed by a swim (I think the chlorine messed with my skin & sinuses) and the post-ride BBQ picnic. This was great, lots of people -- there were eighteen on the ride, and more came later, big crowd -- lots of food, and when the sun went down Greg busted out the fireworks. Ohhhhh! Ahhhhh! Smaller than professional stuff, but about the same quality, and very impressive.

Things broke up after that, and I went home about 11:00. Got home, changed my shirt and walked over to Carrie's house about a mile away, where she was having a party. It looked to be (slowly) winding down, but there were quite a few people there still, and I probably stayed until about 3:00 AM before walking home.

Monday I mostly slept in until about 2:00, then did laundry and lay in bed reading (finished Pattern Recognition), until I went over Brian's to say hi: Doug & Lori were over, they were grilling chicken but I'd already eaten, drinking beer but I wanted no part of it, and they got a good chuckle over my sorry state. We went to Hartman's for ice cream, and that was the end of the July Fourth weekend! And now the summer is in deceleration...

Summer Turning Ponderously In The Sky

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 178#, 10.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Friday): 177#, 12.5% BF

Well, here it is: the Fourth of July weekend is upon us, half the summer is now past...

Rode J'burg on the singlespeed last night, starting with Brian, and Doug & Lori on the tandem, then we lost brian, then it was just me, then I ran into Lee, Marvin (Lee Marvin! Ha Ha! get it?), and Keith, who of course were hammering along. Also saw Rich B, back from Canada and riding with his girlfriend's son Romaine. We all (w/ exception of Rich & Romaine) ended up hanging at the lot, then D&L and I went to Brian's for some pizza and to try out his new picnic table. Greg M stopped by, rode over on his motorcycle.

Tonight, if the weather holds, I'll be doing a Towpath/Sals ride, otherwise it's a gym night, then off to Which Brew -- word is, the new Mug Club mugs have finally arrived...

Listening: Yes's Close to the Edge, Stan Ridgeway's greatest hits CD (both solo work & w/ Wall of Voodoo), Songs That Made This Country Great.

It Didn't Feel Like A Hot Lap

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 10.5% BF

Rode the towpath last night, had a 15.1 mph average over maybe 22-23 miles, 1:28 total time. Not bad! I was drenched in sweat afterward, literally standing and dripping for about a half hour in the backyard. Shower, some phone calls, laundry, and then I hit Which Brew for dinner: no lime-chili wings, but I had the sesame-ginger ones and a cold avocado-cucumber soup, plus an Allagash white. A number of people were there, but none were my "typical Tuesday night crowd," no reason to stay so I left a bit early (relatively speaking).

By the way, yesterday was the retirement luncheon for my boss's boss, the guy I've worked for since I got here -- and my fifteen year anniversary just passed. Things will sure be different around here.

Re-reading: William Gibson's Pattern Recognition. It's really a rehash of several of his other books -- and some day I'd like to sit the author down and explain how stupid the phrase "long-chain monomers" makes him look -- but definitelly a compelling read.

Down at Ragged Rock

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 11.5% BF

"Ragged Rock" is what Chabon calls the end of the world (or "worlds," as in all the different planes of existence) in Summerland; it's a play on the old Norse legend of Ragnarok (aka "gotterdammerung" or "doom of the gods") the final battle at the end of the world, which makes sense, since a good chunk of the backstory & infrastructure in Summerlands is based on a mix of Norse and Native American legends: Coyote (the trickster, Loki of Outgard, Satan) is trying to kill the tree that holds up the four worlds...

But this got me thinking about another meaning for Ragnarok, or rather, another reference to it. I once read a sci-fi story, involving gangs, an intelligence-enhanced gorilla (whose intelligence the govt destroys, as a feasability study on how to defeat the gangs) and a computer system, reminiscent of ENIAC (or maybe Vonnegot's EPICAC), called RAGNAROK. Good story, sure wish I could track it down but can find no reference anywhere.

A short trip on the SS Linux: I spent a fun evening playing with this program last night, didn't even know I had it on my machine. Kind of clunky I thought, but amazingly powerful, and wicked fast even on the 3D stuff. So, what does cos(x*y)*exp(x**2+y**2) look like?

Summerland

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 12.5% BF

Friday night I rode the towpath, but was too tired to do Sals so it was just a trip out to Sand Island and back. I ran into Greg H running at Sand Island, talked for a bit, then ran into Joe G on his 'cross bike, stopped and talked to him too, so there was a big chunk of non-ride time in there, but I was out for two hours on a ninety-minute ride, not good, not good...

I went to Which Brew for dinner, saw Theresa there, first time in quite a while. She still had a bit of throatiness when she talked but was mostly better (she'd had mono, & it did a number on her voice). I decided to see what was up at Porters, ran into Terry Briggs who bought me a beer, so I bought him one, yadda yadda. Never really talked to him before, interesting character -- he owns the building that Which Brew is in, had his own bar there for exactly 10 years.

I got home late but not too late, then blew it by opening up Michael Chabon's Summerland: I read half of it before I quit for the night.

Saturday was the usual "selfish day:" coffee shop, then gym, then errands. Saturday night was Eric & Kris's party, where the Insidious Rays played. Very nice, lots of people were there that I didn't really expect to see. The band was awesome, better in fact than they usually seem in their usual haunts, and these guys are really good.

Sunday I went to help out at the monthly Allamuchy trail maintenance, which was followed by a very strenuous ride (the pace wasn't bad, or wouldn't have been under ordinary circumstances, but it was ridiculously hot and I had nothing). Back home, turkey sub for dinner, then sat on the porch and finished Summerland. Still can't figure out if it's an adult book (not porn, but written for grownups) written to seem like a children's book, or a children's book written to seem like an adult book written to seem like a children's book...

...And The Whole World Smells Like Strawberries

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 178.5#, 8.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Tursday): 177.5#, 8.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Friday): 176.5#, 10% BF

Not much to say. Rode Tuesday (towpath/Sals), gym on Wednesday night, then Which Brew for the new improved Mug Club Nite, on Wednesday instead of Monday -- chili-lime wings & tenderloin salad, wow-level yummy -- and rode Jacobsburg last night. I love summer, and I especially love the woods in early summer.

Meantime, here is the greatest Wikipedia article ever.

Who Won the Kentucky Derby?

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 8.5% BF

Charley Horse, that's who! I have a nice scrape/bruise on my right bicep, feels like I lifted too hard after taking off for a few weeks. Riding green Blaze on Sunday, going uphill (uphiller is supposed to get the right-of-way) when a slightly out-of-control kid came down, and I moved to the side but didn't see the broken tree limb, caught in the brush on the side of the trail -- it hit my arm like a spear and stopped me dead.

So, anyway... rode last night with Doug & Lori (who were on the tandem), also Greg's wife Judy, reasonably mellow ride over at Jacobburg. Judy's very fit (running, road biking), but she's not as skilled or confident in the woods as some others. Last night though, she rode well and had a blast, and her fun & enthusiasm were very infectious. A very pleasant ride, then we all went to G & J's for some burgers -- Greg had gone out to dinner with an old friend, but he came home not long after we finished eating, and we hung out & BS'ed for quite a while. Nice night!

Goodbye To All That

Morning weigh-in: 179.5%, 9.5% BF

Well the 20th and final Jim Thorpe Mountain Bike Weekend has come and gone. It was one of the better ones too, even though I didn't ride as much as in other years...

I took off Friday and went up, getting there around 1:30-2:00, did a minimal setup and hit the trails with Rich B, Shaft and a guy named Drew -- Rich had gone up earlier, and managed to upgrade our campsite to one of the regular spots, next to others (like Drew and Shaft) in the VMB. Meantime, a bunch of Dirt Devils -- a VMB splinter group -- were camped next to them on the other side, so there were a bunch of us all together. In our campsite were myself and Rich, Pete H who came up later, and -- Joe G, who had set up his camp but was at a memorial for his dad.

Anyway, we rode Psycho Betty & Mauch Chunk Ridge to Bob's Option, and got back in time to catch the Jeff Lenosky trials/stunt riding demo. Back to the campsite, and Joe shows up & asks if we'd like to ride with Jeff, do about an hour ride to show him around, so we hit Lungbuster / Green Blaze / Marble Trail. Not bad, and it was fun to watch somebody really good ride the technical stuff. Friday night was pretty mellow, hanging out by the campfire.

Saturday was myself, Rich and Pete; we did two laps of the race course at Bungalow Park, which is a lot like riding a roller-coaster. That was only only miles or so though, much shorter than the Saturday epics of previous years... We stopped for lunch in Tamaqua, said goodbye to Rich who was leaving for a Canada fishing trip.

After the ride I stopped by the expo area, bought a set of Kenda tires (Kinetics for the front & Nevegal for the rear, the new buzz product), then got a massage. Saturday night was the dance party and raffle on the beach -- and I won a set of Bontrager wheels, a $300 dollar value. Pretty cool! That made up -- almost -- for the fact that I went to bed early, and missed the dozen girls riding naked through the camp...

On Sunday morning Pete and I rode to Summit Hill for the church breakfast, all you can eat and I sure did my best, then we rode the Pisgah Mtn singletrack (ie that unnamed trail behind the cemetery, the Ridge trail, and the Green Blaze). Coupla lost groups up there, kind of cool to be the "expert" who could tell them how to get back to camp. We finished on the Switchback, and then the party was over, pack & go. I was home by about 4:00.

Word on the street is, the town of Tamaqua is looking to host MBW next year, though Dave B has retired and will not be the organizer, and Mauch Chunk Lake Park will be hosting their own event in September -- is that why they wouldn't renew the event permit?

Anyway, tonight is a recovery ride w/ Doug & Lori at the 'burg.

Tell Your Mother That You Walked All Night On Velvet Green

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

The Wedding: Tom's wedding was great, good thing I checked the invite and realized it was on Friday! Ceremony in Pompton Lakes, reception at Skylands manor (ie Ringwood), and the hotel we all stayed at was the gigantic Sheraton near Mahwah, the one you can see from I-287. Lots of people I haven't seen in years, including John Briley and Kathy Baggsarius, plus of course Tom, Barbara, their families, Kevin & Betsy, John and Greg & Gia, Danny B, etc etc... Very different format for the reception: all sorts of small rooms, each with its own style of food, all sit-down and big-meal-like, but also very much like an extended appetizer hour or buffet, drifting from room to room or hanging outside, grazing and mingling, until they called us into the ballroom (the only room w/ AC there, whew) for coffee, cake and dancing. The big event though was the excitement waiting for the shuttles to take us to/from the reception -- were they late? were they coming at all? did we miss the last one? will there be room for everyone? The high point of the ride home was Kathy B, with her husband doing a slow burn beside her and me dying of mortification, telling my parents exactly who did or didn't sleep with whom in what room of their house, during the parties we threw while they were on vacation... Uh, thanks Kath... oh well, statute of limitations, 'n'all that. It was nice though to see how well liked my mom and dad are by my old friends -- when I went to bed my dad was still hanging out -- hey! hey! they're my friends! Get your own!

Saturday: was spent down at my parents, where we had a little get-together for my father's birthday. Mom, Dad, my brother Chris & his wife Tara, and my nephew Chris. Chris & Chris just got home from camping, and Chris & Tara only stayed a short while because they were going to see Van Morrison in AC, so it was total fly-by for a while. In the end it was me, young Chris and my parents playing "monkey in the middle" with badminton stuff. Chris wasn't too happy to see me go, but I hadn't planned on staying and I really felt a need to get back to my own space.

Home by say 10:00 or 11:00, went to see if anyone was out, hit Which Brew (quiet) and Porters, where I ran into a few friends and also heard Steve Kelly sing "52 Vincent Black Lightning," good ending so I went home then.

Sunday morning found me riding downtown to Coffee Works, then down the towpath to Sals, where I met Eric and then Doug & Lori a little later on. The heat really put a beating on me though, I was slow and very fatigued. Drank an entire Camelback (100 oz) then a 16 oz Gatorade, then filled and drank the Gatorade bottle several times at a water fountain, then filled the Camelback and drank most of that on the way home. Home, shower, laundry, then over to Eric (the other Eric) and Janna's for a BBQ, walked down to "The Cup" for ice cream afterward.

Monday was internet/email catch-up, more laundry and shopping for this weekend's camping trip.

Close to the Edge

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 10.5% BF

Gym last night, then hit Which Brew. A Three Monks side project was playing, pure jazz. I've been listening to Yes (also Jethro Tull) a lot lately, amazing stuff, was thinking that they's never let that kind of music be made nowadays...

Tonight is Tom's wedding (stayed home from work to get ready), tomorrow is Englishtown.

So Much For Getting Home In The Daylight

Morning weigh-in: 172.5#, 11.5% BF

I was planning to ride with the South Mountain Cycles ride in Emmaus, but they leave at 5:30 and I couldn't be there until 6:30, I would have to ride in (somewhat unfamiliar area), use the cell to find them so I blew it off. Good thing too, I was pretty tired.

My alternate ride was to go down the towpath to Bethlehem, then ride the trails behind St. Luke's before returning. Given 45-60 minutes to get there, ditto for the return, and I would have daylight minus two hours for "the real ride" (sun would set at 8:30, figure 9:00 for full dark). Leaving at 5:15 or even 5:30 would give plenty of time, at least for an abbreviated Sals lap... except I didn't actually start until 6:20...

I had no strength to hammer, my average was probably 14-15 mph and I crossed the Hill-to-Hill Bridge at 7:10, then rode in behind St Luke's, only got partway up the Spanky before I realized my time was running out and bailed. I got further than last Sunday, but still spent a lot of my ride on the intermediate/ATV trails rather than the new singletrack. Oh well, maybe next time -- like Friday.

Cruising home, I decided to skip the Palmer bike path, since it's a little less direct and would put me in some high traffic areas just as the sun went down; instead I rode back along the ruins of the canal, retracing my steps to Riverside Park. This would have saved some time... except that as I got to the new boat launch, there were two teenage girls sitting there who asked to borrow my cell phone. Turns out they lived nearby, had gone swimming, weren't sure how to get back, and were out of non-emergency (ie non-911) minutes on their own cell. They called their moms, but got no answer; I offered to show them back to the trailhead but I guess they were leery of walking off into the woods with a stranger as the sun went down... I gave them directions and wished them luck, then rode off.

A few hundred yards later my phone rings. One of their mothers had called back, so I rode back to the girls, and just as they were calling home one girl's brother bicycled up with his sidekick: "You are sooo in trouble! Mom's going to kill you!!" All was well once again, and the boys knew how to get them all home... Dealing with that little crisis put me home just a little after dark.

Fast Company

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 3% BF (damn thing probably needs new batteries)

Rode at the 'burg yesterday afternoon/evening. Myself, Rich B, Joe C, Curt, couple of other guys I didn't know; Joe, Rich, Curt and I were all on our singlespeeds. Hot day, hard and fast riding, I was soaked through and dripping sweat. Those guys really move. I felt sorry for one dude though, he was on his fifth ride ever, got himself a real baptism by fire & bailed a little early because he was whooped.

Dinner was Which Brew, beef & pork enchilada while the laundry did its thing.

One Step Closer...

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 8.5%BF

So I hear my old friend Joe flipped at Porters Pub, got himself thrown out... seems he ran into Pete (the other Pete, motorcycle Pete, mechanic Pete) who asked him where he's been getting his car worked on lately -- Pete works at Revelation Motors, where Joe used to get his oil changed... Joe owes them money over there and won't answer or return phone calls... Joe apparently exploded, got all in his face threatening violence, yelling and cursing, both at Pete and other patrons, until they tossed him. Maybe it's fallout from his father's death, but I think he just took a giant step closer to institutionalization, in one form or another. I feel bad for the guy, but I am so glad I don't have to deal with him, or be his apologist to others anymore.

Overlord

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 10% BF

Friday night was semi-drizzly, so I didn't ride, then I stayed home and played with the computer: not an early night exactly, but definitely more restful than some of the alternate scenarios. I spent a lot of the time looking into how printing works, and things like lpstat & lpd, probably things I should have known a long time ago.

Saturday was a trip to Coffee Works, then to the gym, and then I went over to Bethlehem. Got a burrito at Tulum and met Dave at Salisbury for some trailwork. Nice stuff, I hadn't seen this particular trail yet, and it looks like it'll be sweet. I stopped over at Doug's on the way home, he and Lori were working on the tandem so I tossed my two cents into the project. They got a good laugh since I was apparently as filthy as a hog... Heavyweight Lunacy and then an iced coffee, hung out a while, then decided to clean up and meet them for dinner at Which Brew, very nice. I am not a seafood person, but WB has paella as a regular thing, and I hear it's awesome. Lori got it & loved it.

They left, but I spent a few more minutes before leaving myself, had a snifter of Prophecy and sat at the bar. Pete was there, but he seemed ticked off, his girlfriend was bartending and they had some kind of fight, and he just walked out. Great guy, very fun and interesting company usually, but I think I'll avoid him when she's around: their relationship is crashing and burning and I don't know him (or her) well enough to want to have to deal with it...

Sunday I got up reasonably early, rode the towpath down to St Lukes with the intention of doing some Sals riding, but got a flat and that was exactly the over/under, I went from "I have plenty of time" to "if I turn around now I won't be late," so the actual singletrack part of the ride was aborted. On the way back, some dude caught me napping, gave me the same "f--- you pass" I laid on that youngster the other day. So, uh, naturally I gave chase, grabbed his wheel, and he hammered away with me right there on his ass -- he would look over his shoulder every so often too, tried to be subtle about it but would hammer even harder after each time, wore himself out & slowed down each time as well, until we caught up with a few others riding slow in a narrow area. Rest and respite for him, but as soon as it opened up he took off in a sprint, and I uh, naturally stuck like glue. I could tell he was giving it everything he had, so I pulled up next to him and started a conversation... I followed him into the one technical section on the trail, a spillway made of little concrete squares, and he took it fast like he expected me to choke but I was still right on his tail. I think that was the last straw, he blew up immediately afterward. I passed him & asked if he wanted to grab my wheel but he just stopped and shook his head, panting like he was going to puke his lungs out. I'm such a bastard...

Kind of funny, I noticed he talked to no one else while he rode, maybe what I though was a "f--- you" was just social ineptitude -- I certainly would not have ridden as long as he/we did behind the slower group if I were alone, but would have announced myself and asked for a good passing opportunity; also, he didn't say hello to anyone we passed going the other way. Flat pedals, no helmet, full suspension bike, quick but clueless, I was getting some mixed messages. I wonder if I'll see him again out there.

I got home and bought a 2 liter bottle of Sprite at the corner deli, then found Dapper Dan next door and a bunch of other people working to remove the huge (approx 1500 lbs), 125-year-old player piano from their house. I got dragooned for a bit but I had to keep moving, had to go to Madison, NJ for my cousin's wife's memorial service. I'll have more on the service, but later.

Exhausted!

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 7.5% BF

Rode Jacobsburg last nite, me, Rich B, Lance, Scott S, Curt, couple of others on singlespeeds, Brian & Greg on their regular bikes. Waaay fast, way fun. After that I went out to Which Brew, then over to Porters for Open Mike Night. I have never been disappointed with either place on Thursday, they both have incredibly talented, local/unknown musicians and it's always good, but it sucks that this happens on a Thursday night, because I'm now officially toast.

Riding the towpath tonight, then maybe -- maybe! -- hitting WB for dinner: it's part of the tradition for Fri Nite Towpath to end at Which Brew, but if I ride alone I'll skip it, go for an early bedtime tonight. It's all about choices...

Boy, Am I Tired!

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 7.5% BF

Not sure what these body fat percentages mean, since I'm pretty much where I always am in terms of subcutaneous jelly, probably 15% in reality. I figure it (the low figure) may be due to dehydration. Weight is probably because of a trip to Taco Bell...

I've been pretty tired lately, mostly because I've been up late (like, after midnight, late for me nowadays) playing cyber-catchup after being away. I can't do that, I need more sleep especially when I'm cranking out the exercise watts, and I already know that the key is to step away from the magic box on my desk... So, I got home last night from work, started fooling with the computer (told myself I wouldn't, even as I sat down to read emails etc), ran out of time to do a pre-weights ride. I felt exhausted at the gym, grabbed some Taco Bell for dinner on the way home, promised myself an early bedtime -- and sat down in front of the box until midnight again. Doh! God I love that thing...

Hot Lap!

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 10% BF

Did some chores last night, ran a few errands, then decided to get a towpath ride in anyway. I was on the bike by 7:00, rode to Sand Island & back and was home before dark, say by 8:30. Not bad, I felt (especially on the towpath itself) like I was riding like my old "summer self." The return ride, racing the last of the daylight, was especially fast: I caught up to some college kid in full "real cyclist" gear, jersey etc, he was moving fast but I passed him. He grabbed my wheel and I pulled for a little while, but eventually he blew up & fell off the back. Yep, still got it.

Death And Burlington

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 10% BF

Well, we went to Burlington anyway, and it turned out to be the right move. We all brought our road bikes -- that was probably the first "road bike vacation" I ever did, not counting PPRAC -- and did an 87-mile ride along Lake Champlain, across the Charlotte Ferry and into New York, then back via the Crown Pointe bridge and up the Vermont side. We got caught in a few sprinkles and one deluge, but it was mostly pleasant going. That was Saturday; Friday night was bar-hopping (me and Brian) then dinner at Pacific Rim -- spiciest noodles I ever ate -- with Greg & Judy and Kris & Eric, then a rockabilly band at Red Square and a deadhead/jam band at Nectars. Saturday night (after the ride) was dinner at the VT Brew Pub, and a somewhat more subdued version of Friday night; Kris was in bed early for her marathon, and we were all tired. Doug and Lori arrived in the early evening.

Sunday morning was watching Kris race her marathon, which was pretty easy for us since the course was routed to go through downtown about every 3-5 miles. She did very well, made her goal and looked surprisingly not-shattered afterward. Back to the hotel, naptime for everyone for a while, then we went out to the New England Culinary Institute for a celebratory dinner, and yet more barhopping -- Kris was finally released from her training regimen. The town was a little quieter though, no throngs of tourists (though Brian and I ended up hanging out at Ri-Ra, the Irish pub, with a bunch of singing, pubcrawling Dubliners -- heard everything from "Rule, Brittannia" to "The Rose" to "Goodnight Ladies"), and the people who were out seemed a little rougher around the edges, especially later in the evening. Monday was a travel day.

Rest in Peace, Carole: I found out last night that my cousin (technically, my cousin-in-law) Carole passed away. She had breast cancer; the details were not clear to me but apparently they'd known for a while that there wasn't much the doctors could do for her. Mid-forties, husband (my mom's cousin Paul) and two young kids. So sad. Memorial service will be this weekend.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Gallagher: my friend Joe's dad passed away last Tuesday. Don't really see or talk to Joe anymore, so I didn't hear until Doug told me -- and he'd heard it from Bernie, who rides with Joe these days, apparently. Joe was one the younger kids in a big Irish family, so his dad was up there in age, though you wouldn't know it to look at him. He'd actually fought in WWII, so his funeral (on Memorial Day) was a military service. I'll have to give Joe a call, also stop by his mom's to pay my respect. That makes three deaths last week.

Much Ado About Nothing

No morning weigh-in -- oops!

Country girl, I think you're pretty
Got to make you understand
Got no lovers in the city
Wanna be your country man.
- CSN&Y, "Country Girl"

A bloated and depressing song, once you get past the surface of it: a monument to despair, last song on a bloated and depressing album... I got to thinking about it after reading today's featured wikipedia article: The Country Wife. No connection really between them, except the similar titles. Speaking of country women, looks like Steve Gilliard really didn't care for our new American Idol.

Meantime, back in the real world: I got a call last night from my friend Doug; he and Lori were downtown, grabbed dinner at Which Brew and would I like to join them? I'd already heard from another friend that Lori's grandfather had died during the day (it was her birthday too), and so I guess they were in Easton hanging with family and dealing with the situation. They both looked pretty subdued, must have been draining. Lori felt that her grandfather was more than ready to leave this world, and he passed quickly & painlessly; that might make it easier to let go, but it's still not easy...

Anyway, we were supposed to go to Burlington this weekend, ride up at Stowe, catch the night life, and cheer on Kris R's marathon run. The rain's been pretty bad up there, trails are trashed so it looks like riding's a wash, and with the viewing tonight and the funeral tomorrow, D&L have dropped out (ditto Bob & Karen). Maybe it's not meant to be... still planning to go as of right now though.

And speaking of Vermont: I'm signed up to do the VASS Vermont 50-Miler in late September. Registration opened yesterday evening, and it's already full.

Slatyfork Photos

Me in West Virginia
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I just uploaded a new gallery of shots from a 2001 trip to Slatyfork, take a look here. I know I have better quality copies of these photos; when I find them I'll replace the ones currently on display.

Into The Rapids Again

Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 177.5, 8% BF
Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 178#, 9% BF

The car went in for inspection and an oil change Monday night, only this time I took it to Revelation Motors, right down the block from me. Good job, I picked it up last night -- rather, they dropped it off during the day and I walked over and paid after work. I took a second rest day, played with the computer & did laundry, hit Which Brew for dinner. Early night, but then I went home and played with the 'puter some more, next thing it's 2:00 AM, ouch.

I've been thinking about going down to West Virginia, maybe doing the Wild 100 again, and I've been trying to drum up some group vacation enthusiasm so I've been rooting through old vacation photos, trip literature and maps etc lately. Last night I decided to put my 2001 vacation shots from Slatyfork (and 2000 photos from Moab) into photo galleries, so stay tuned for some gallery page updates. (What actually kept me up late was that the photos were numbered in a sequence I didn't like, so I had to rename them all and I decided to do it all in one shot, a single bash command, so had to experiment and foolaround, linux voyage yadda yadda, probably quicker to have done it manually but it was interesting new ground.)

Bounceback

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 11% BF

I rode the towpath Friday night, totally dragging. I think that Tuesday's "rocket ride," followed by Wednesday's hill workout, followed by the singlespeed at Jacobsburg on Thursday -- well, they all may have taken their toll. I went out to Which Brew, but it was dead so I went over to the Blue Tone Cafe to catch the Foolz, met some people, all of a sudden it was a late night...

Saturday I woke up, and had the feeling in my calf as if I'd had a cramp, all sore and feeling like it would be cramping up again. Uh oh. I skipped all cardio or legs at the gym, in fact I took it easy on quite a few exercises, then I went home and napped after eating a noodle salad for lunch. Welcome to slumpsville! I got up, got a turkey sub and a gatorade from the store up the block, then got the Turner ready for the "big ride" scheduled for Sunday. Another nap, then I went down to the Mug Club party at Which Brew -- probably why it was so dead on Friday, everyone planning on a big Saturday night. Well, I zigged instead of zagging, and now paid the price: free food, free beer, hanging out with Heath & Hans plus Brian, also a ton of other people, but I left early, was probably in bed by 10:00.

Sunday was the South Mountain Trifecta, probably our longest and toughest MTB ride so far this year. Me, Brian, Doug, Eric, Bob W, John C, Hans and Bob F, starting from Eric's house and riding the Salisbury, Lehigh, and Emmaus trail systems -- in other words, all the riding on South Mountain, and all the hardest stuff in the Lehigh Valley. We started at 9:00 AM, did Sals first, rode over to South Mountain Park where we lost Bob F and John C to time constraints, then back to Eric's house for a quick rest (we also lost Bob W here) before riding over to Emmaus. Brian was waffling, decided to ride but cut the Emmaus part short, so in the end it was me, Eric, Doug and Hans, and Hans was back on his home turf. So much for wearing him down, he was flying... at least for a little while. We were all pretty cooked by the time we got back to Eric's.

Burgers, tomato pie, Bob's birthday cake (he left, but we ate it anyway), pretty good end to the weekend. I was very happy to finish the ride, considering how I felt Saturday, and was even happier to finish strong.

Fast Week

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 7.5% BF

Rode at Jacobsburg last night, met Bryan's son Lance in the parking lot, eventually caught up with Marv, saw plenty of others especially the Blue Mtn Ski Club crowd. Lee has a new singlespeed, a Cannondale -- yikes! So much for the snob factor...

On the way home I stopped at Brian's house, helped him strip his bike. He snapped his frame, got a new one via warrantee and must now put his components on the bike. Home, computer work -- this time using the 'puter to do something, instead of doing something with the 'puter, if you know what I mean -- then bedtime around 12:30.

Tonight I think I'll blow off riding, since its rainy and chilly and I'm a wuss.

Wasn't That Something?

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 9% BF

Had a time crunch last night: was suposed to be at my friend Eric's house for a ride at 6:00 PM; he lives on the other side of the Lehigh Valley and I had to drive from Jersey, stop and get salad etc (post-ride bike club meeting & dinner party), then pick up the bike. I left work at 4:30 as usual, and everything was on or ahead of schedule until I went to Nature's Way, a health-food store in downtown Easton, on the way home. They were out of those bag o'salad thingies. WTF??? They guy's like "they'll be in tomorrow, and you can be sure they're fresh!" Well that's just wonderful fella, but that salad will be eaten long before tomorrow no matter where I buy it, and will be fresh no matter where I buy it, and by coming to your store, gambling that you'd have a standard item in stock, I've screwed myself...

So now all of a sudden I'm under the gun. I go home & get bike, then drive over to the sprawl/rush-hour/traffic-jam part of town to the supermarket. Usual piddling frustrations at the checkout (lady in front of me has to pay by check, cashier is in slow motion -- at least, so it seems to someone in a rush), no biggie and I'm out of there. I leave the parking lot, get on the road to Route 33 (which will take me to I-78) -- and the road's closed. Gaaa! Quick U-turn back into the 25th Street traffic disaster, waste fifteen minutes even getting over to Rt 33, and arrive at 6:05, everyone dressed and ready to go except me. But they were still there, waiting and I was ready quick enough.

Decompression time. The ride was good, not too fast but hard because of the hills, and the day was beautiful. Meeting was also good, but very short -- we got back late from the ride, dinner had a lot of chatting going on, and it was the latest meeting start ever at 9:15. We were done by 10:00, and I was home & in bed by 11:00.

Tonight will be either the singlespeed at Jacobsburg, or the gym again if it's not nice - unlikely, from the look of things right now it'll be beautiful.

Not Much More Than Nothing

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 8% BF

Apparently, I'm still dehydrated. Rode last night, got a late start on the "short Harmony ride" so I blasted it out in 45 minutes rather than the usual hour -- that's pretty damn fast, maybe just under 20 mph average. I started/finished at the gym, did an upper-body workout after the ride. I thought it would be cut short by the 9:00 closing, but I managed to get just about everything in. Did laundry; dinner was Which Brew, despite my good intentions...

Tonight is another road ride, followed by the Chain Gang meeting.

I Got Nothin'

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 11.5% BF

A "nothing" evening: played on 'puter: read a little bit, bed around 11:00. (Did laundry, dishes & some chores left over from Saturday, so it wasn't a total waste.) Feel much better today, will probably hit the gym after a Harmony ride.
Not sure what dinner will be, but will probably try to hit the supermarket tonight for healthier future meals -- also, tomorrow night is the Chain Gang ride/meeting/dinner and I'm bringing some food, therefore must shop tonight for that, since there's no other time to do it.

But Why? But Why? But Why?

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 4% BF (not likely)

Friday night I did the towpath ride with Brian, then we grabbed some dinner at Which Brew. The Skulldiggers were playing, place was packed so we ended up in the back room where we were joined by Hans, Heath, Stu & Kathy, some others -- we were sitting near the "alternate bathrooms" that only regulars seem to know about, got a lot of visitors. Brian left early, but I stayed and talked with Hans & Heath until maybe just before midnight.

Saturday was the "Allamuchy Epic," a Chain Gang ride but we also invited the VMB to join us. Me, Doug, Bob, Rich B, Joe & Cindy, Joe G, Greg H, Joe Viagra, Kris K, Scott S and Pete H, an even dozen riders. Very good ride but very hard, we only got in 15 miles in five hours of riding. (There were several major mechanical problems, which always slows things down of course.)

We mostly skipped any big post-ride meal, but I got a call at home from Doug: "don't take a nap or eat anything, we've got reservations at Cactus Blue." This is a new Mexican restaurant on Schoenersville Rd that D&L have been raving about. It's a very good place, & they were able to accommodate our relatively big crowd (maybe 16 people). Early night for me though.

Sunday was supposed to be rainy but it turned out quite nice indeed, which was good because we did another fundraiser at the Whitehall Wal-Mart. Me, Eric & Kris, Lori P, Kris's dad, and Brian who came later bearing pizza. Tired when I got there, I was exhausted at the end.

An observation I made: you can both confirm and destroy pretty much any theory or preconceived notion you might have about human behavior, simply by sitting on a bike in front of Wal-Mart and soliciting donations for a few hours.

Early dinner was a turkey sub, followed by a nap -- then I was wide awake until midnight. Read a little (from Idoru) in the last of the daylight on the porch. The little girl who lives downstairs, maybe four years old, popped her head up over the screen door: "Hi! What are you doing? Why? What are you reading? Can you read it to me? Why not? What's your name? Why?" Cute girl, but I didn't get much reading done until her mom shooed her away...

I may hit the gym tonight for weights only (no cardio), but I think I'm flirting with dehydration so I may just take it easy... I drank 100 oz of water on Saturday's ride, and 28 oz of water plus 96 oz of Gatorade at Wal-mart (also another pint of water, a liter of sprite and a 12 oz beer when I got home), still think I'm down a pint or two.

Friday the Thirteenth

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 6% BF (dehydration?)

Nothing much to say, just thought I'd stop in to record the weight. My new goal is to drop below 170#, I was thinking by June, but maybe I'll say by Mountain Bike Weekend. This is the last MBW, by the way.

Coming up: Towpath tonight, Allamuchy Epic #1 (probably in the rain) tomorrow, PPRAC fundraising at Wal-Mart Sunday.

Why Not Do Both? Or All Three?

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 8% BF

Hit the gym last night, but brought the road bike, did my "short Harmony ride." About fifteen miles, basically an hour cardio warmup before hitting the ol' weights. After that I went to WB for dinner.

Not much else going on; if it doesn't rain I'll probably take the singlespeed to Jacobsburg tonight.

Wow! Was I Tired...

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 13.5% BF

Blew off the gym last night, was waaay too tired and decided a rest day would be wiser. I'll probably do a road ride tonight if the weather holds, otherwise it'll be the gym. I did a little bike work yesterday instead, clean/lube etc, then greased the pivots and replaced the rear brake pads. Things look good for Saturday's epic at Allamuchy, but now they're calling for rain...

I also did a little computer chore-work, fiddling here & there, nothing major. Bedtime was 10:30.

Listening: Very interesting ride in today, I tuned in to WPRB which has classical in the morning. First thing I hear is some kind of Gregorian-chant-like thing, only there were women's as well as men's voices, and though it had that "big room echo" you could tell it wasn't cathedral/stone but wood/modern walls. They played a few more, one or two tunes were even in English. Turns out, the composer was born in 1960 - aha! The particular show spotlighted very new, and very old, "classical" music; next up was some rare 18th-century Croatian symphony, which struck me as ...Viennese. Maybe I was reading to much into cultural/political hegemony in each case, but I was surprised that my ear was still that sensitive.

Happy Anniversary! Today is the 1675th anniversary of the start of the Middle Ages, the day Constantine made "New Rome that was Byzantium" (aka Istanbul, aka Constantinople) the capitol of the Roman Empire. Eleven hundred twenty three years and eighteen days later, the Middle Ages ended with the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans. Now you know!

The PPRAC Crew Outside Wal-Mart

The PPRAC Crew Outside Wal-Mart
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Morning Weigh-in: 177.5#, 13% BF

Here I am flanked by Brian and Janna at Saturday's Wal-Mart fundraiser. Seeing Janna was a pleasant surprise -- very pleasant, also very much a surprise because she wasn't due to move back from Hawaii for another few weeks...

By the way, here's a quick recap of the weekend:

Friday I blew off the towpath ride, sort of expected it to rain (it didn't). I took the time to install the new TruVativ cranks (btw, Thursday night was a visit to Joe C's to remove the old bottom bracket), also the new chain and cassette. After that I went out to WB & met Brian for dinner. He left after that but I was digging the music, took a seat at the bar. Very unusual evening after that: some old guy there, possibly gay -- not forthright either, but that old-style whiny insinuating type -- but definitely drunk, suddenly started blubbering over a friend who'd recently died of cancer (and whose dogs he'd inherited). Guy looked exactly like the actor who played The Riddler on Batman.

Saturday was the PPRAC fundraiser at Wal-Mart: me, Brian, and Kris R, with guest apearances by Kris's dad, Greg & Judy, and Eric & Janna to help out. Four hours on trainers, working the crowd for spare change -- we got everything from change, including pennies, to fives tens and twenties, probably raised more than $500. One long extended sociology experiment...

Saturday night was late, because after Wal-Mart I passed out for a few hours. I went down to Which Brew for dinner, ran into this dude Tom who is getting into MTB racing and triathlons (the guy is my age but he's hungry, he wants to win), then the guy next to us thought we were talking motorcycles and started talking about Unadilla, which segued into a conversation about crazy times at van-ins -- and then Vince came in on a skateboard, with Pete on a longboard. All in all, a very interesting crowd.

Sunday was Mother's Day, but I screwed up the planning phase so I had the day to myself. I rode downtown on the Turner, got breakfast at Coffee Works, then rode the towpath to the Salisbury trail system in Bethlehem. On the way I saw Kris on her "long run" for marathon training (she's racing in Burlington), with Judy on MTB and Janna running alongside. I was pretty tired at Sals at first, but stopped to eat and enjoy the view, and Eric R (Kris's Eric) rode up. We rode together from there, but he was going over to Lehigh afterward and I just wanted to cruise home... I had 40.58 miles for the day, maybe six hours chamois time. All new compnents are working OK.

Last night I did the towpath again, good time though nowhere near my best: 23 miles in 1:40 or maybe a little less, should be less than 1:30. Got home, did laundry, then got a real hankering for a "Flatiron Steak Sandwich" at Porters, so off I went. So much for those burned calories... Tonight will be the gym.

Sister Bluebird

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 12% BF

About this time every year, the world outside starts to remind me of one big Yes song... The blooming, flowering trees, the moist verdant earth with vivid blue sky above it... I like to think about "Starship Trooper" about now, bust out the old CD's. Yesterday was that day.

Tour de Dump

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 12.5% BF

Got home last nite, got a late start but I rode my Hellertown/Williams Twp loop, aka "the hill ride," aka "Le Tour de Dump." This takes me through most of that hilly area just south of the line between Easton and Bethlehem; since this means the ride parallels I-78, it also means I pass several landfills and zoned-for-light-industry areas, on roads with PA-Dutch-country names like "Applebutter." Two roads, Morvale Rd and Morgan Hill Rd, have that King Arthur / Middle-Earth sound sinister, so it would be appropriate for them to have industrial wastelands but they're mostly rural -- except, of course, for that rinky-dink golf course condo complex on Morgan Hill, henna...

Dropping like flies: Just found out, my friend Ron just got married a few weeks ago, very quiet (more like hush-hush) ceremony, and another Manalapan friend, Tom, is supposed to get married in June.

Fire Sermon

Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 180.5#, 10.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 177#, 9% BF

To Carthage then I came... (apropos of nothing, just popped into my head)

Monday I took a rest day, and I got a call from Brian pointing out that it was Mug Club Night at WB, so that's where I/we had dinner. Great night: chili, cheeseburger & lemon lager, lotsa peeps including the Kneller bros, T, Ed, Scott, and some 35-year-old TV producer (who looked 50) who managed to get the whole bar in an uproar by vociferously defending his hero, George W. Bush. He started with Scott, who came in on a real tangent, but is loud and monopolizes the conversation at 200 words a minute when he gets excited. Guy turned to me (I was laughingly avoiding the conversation by BS'ing w/ Perry) and asked me sotto voce if Scott was a lunatic. That got me into it -- I got called a "liberal," boo fscking hoo -- then Theresa weighed in, got in his face... when I left a few minutes later, he was looking pretty frustrated, like a bull surrounded by all the picadors. I knew there was something wrong with the guy way earlier, when he told me he just bought one of those new condos on Morgan Hill Road: they're wedged between the dump, the sewage treatment plant and the interstate, but they do have a golf course, hilly and rinky-dink as it might be.

Anyway, last night I did bills, played with the computer, forgot to eat dinner. (I think it's getting close to time for an upgrade. Fedora Core 4, here I come!) Had to get some decks cleared, I have a lot of financial activity coming up: someone broke into the computer system at work and got a look at our payroll records. Luckily they were encrypted, but everyone here has to redo their checking account info, put out fraud alerts on their social security numbers, etc.

Stupid joke: Buddha on the porcelain, chanting "burning, burning, burning, burning..."

And Now For Your Weekend Update

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 12.5% BF

Friday I got in a quick towpath ride, then met Brian, Rich & Linda, and Doug & Lori for dinner at the Aladdin. Had some kind of kebab-like ground lamb dish (no skewers though), plus the usual hummos, babaganouj, fried cauliflower, fatoush salad, turkish coffee... delicious!

Saturday was back to the gym, with Dawn after not seeing her for three Saturdays. Played catch-up conversationally while lifting, heard that her sister saw a specialist for her vertigo & he found a perforation somewhere in her ear: looks like she might have an answer for her problem and she's pretty happy about that. Maybe I should talk to this guy...

Saturday night was down to Which Brew, where Three Monks were playing and it was waitress Tracy's birthday. She and her boyfriend poured some drinks into me a few weeks ago, thought I'd return the favor... but she was working, and the plan was to go across the street to Porter's after WB closed, and I was too tired to wait that long, let alone start partying at 1:00-2:00 AM, so I slunk home with my tail between my legs like a party-wannabe. Great people though, I'll have to do something nice for them.

Sunday was the first fundraiser at Wal-Mart for the PPRAC Cancer Ride. Four hours on a trainer, cycling away and taking change, with Eric and Kris, Kris's dad Frank, and Doug. Lori joined us later in the day, then Greg & Judy came to help. Not sure how much we raised, probably several hundred dollars.

Stopped over D&L's later in the evening, drilled out my old cleats on my bike shoes. Major effort, wore out some drill bits, went & bought more, wore out a bunch of them too (screws are usually pretty hard steel) but got the job done. Doug made chicken tacos, very tasty -- he wanted to show off a new tequila-lime marinade someone turned him on to.

Bedtime after that. Now today looks good, I may do a singlespeed towpath ride if -- if! -- the weather holds out.

Ahhhh, Friday!

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 12.5% BF (no dinner last night, also maybe dehydrated)

Rain came through in the afternoon yesterday, but things were sunny and pleasant at Jacobsburg, albeit a little cool. I cruised by myself for about an hour and a half on the Surly, very pleasant. Tonight is the towpath if the weather holds out, then I'm meeting friends for dinner at the Aladdin, a middle-eastern restaurant in Allentown. Saturday night they have bellydancers, but that jacks up the price so we're going tonight.

Reading: Reading Lolita in Tehran. Good enough I guess, but I don't think I like the author: she seems a bit precious, in the manner of those skits on In Living Color (back in the day) of the white South African woman agonizing over apartheid. Persepolis was far less pretentious, and waaaay better.

Thursday Fly-By

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 10% BF

Not much to say. Good ride last night, road ride from Doug's place. Me , Doug, Brian, Greg and Eric (back from their caribbean adventure), Eric B, Pete H and Rich B; Doug's standard ride past the Raccoon Club, back thru the industrial park area & Township Line Road. Dinner was at the Beef Haus afterward. An excellent evening! Some people are getting very fast...

Still busy here, half-day training sessions all week plus regular work. Think I'll blow off steam with a singlespeed ride at Jacobsburg tonight.

Wednesday Already

Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 179.5#, 14% BF
Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 180.5#, 13.5% BF

Not much to say, been real busy at work and at home. Changed the shifter cable on the bike, couldn't believe the difference -- the old housing was not that old really, but it really was that bad. I also noticed I should get a new chain and chainrings, probably also a new cassette, so this is probably the opportunity to finally replace those cranks for something TruVativ.

Lifted last night, did laundry & then stopped in at WB where I saw Theresa. She's having a tough time right now: trouble with her voice -- throat is sore & she can hardly speak, aftermath of having mono. Also, she was the executor for her brother, who died in a car accident two years ago, and now all of a sudden the guy he hit has decided to sue him, meaning I guess his estate or whatever, and so now she needs to deal with that. She was very close to her brother too, this is probably going to re-open some old wounds.

Tonight is a road ride if the weather improves.

Racing Is Fun!

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 16.5% BF (body fat: wet feet causing a bad reading?)

So Michaux Maximus was yesterday -- and it friggin' snowed. Only flurrys off and on, no big deal but I had plenty of other problems, ranging from postnasal-drip-induced gagging to a broken rear derailleur cable. Almost dropped out of the race but I avoided the wambulance -- hear it coming? "Waaaaaa!" -- and toughed it out to the finish. Two hours thirty one minutes, 16.6 miles, not my best time (avg speed of 6.6 mph, as opposed to 7.5-8 mph in previous races there), but decent considering I "limped" the last six miles or so. I have never dropped out of a race, ever, but yesterday I came close; what's funny is the race was shorter and easier (I thought) than in previous years, especially the last few miles, luckily for me.

The rest of the weekend was also good, more on that later.

Trail Crew At Allamuchy

Allamuchy: The Crew
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

This photo is from last Sunday at Allamuchy, as Bob gave us the rundown on what we'd be doing that day. (From the left: Nelson, Rich, Doug, Jose, Lori, Bob and Brian.) We basically put in a bunch of water bars and other diversions, to stop erosion on an old logging road. About four hours work, for five waterbars or so, then we rode of course.

Pre-race: Me at Blue Marsh

Pre-race: Me at Blue Marsh
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 13% BF

I was feeling tired after work today (good ride last night at the 'burg, by the way), and it was cold & rainy so I decided to play with the 'puter instead of ride. I uploaded a few recent photos; here's a shot of me, before the race at Blue Marsh. This was the day after my birthday, two weeks ago.

The Days Drag But The Weeks Fly By

Went to the gym last night, immediately after work; after that was the Chain Gang meeting, which we had at Which Brew. Nice enough evening.

Crazy dreams lately, but pretty cool because the predominant colors have been green and blue. Last night was a sort of reprise of the CG meeting, except that we were skateboarding and 4-wheeling, somewhere that looked like a cross between Montana-style Rockies and the Pacific Northwest. It was cool, I saw a whale, a white beluga surfacing almost directly below me, in as I was hugging a tree and leaning over a cliff into a cove. The night before, I was on an island, maybe somewhere in Hawaii, with a lot of corn growing: scenery and situation were a cross between Cloud Atlas and Blood Meridian. I remember having to retrieve my bike (or maybe it was a fish net) at a trail crossing in the corn, blue sky above & corn-green mountain to my right, and having to look both ways, up & down the trail, keeping on the lookout for evil strangers...

Trees

Morning weigh-in: 180.5#, 13.5% BF

Rode last night, towpath plus about an hour at Salisbury; I barely made it home before full dark. Dinner was beans & rice, then I went to Which Brew, made reservations for tonight (Chain Gang meeting) and wished my friend Scott a happy birthday. Did pretty good, only ordered a piece of dessert & didn't overindulge on the beer, but blew it all by going to Taco Hell on the way home.

Finished reading Blood Meridian. Very good, now highly recommended by me. My only complaint is that, at the end, it gets a little Faulkneresque -- and sometimes, "Faulkneresque" isn't really a compliment...

By way, the trees are pretty much in bloom.

Still Nice Out

Morning weigh-in (Monday): 179.5#, 13% BF
Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 180.5#, 13.5% BF

Took yesterday as a rest day, did laundry, dishes etc. Dinner was black beans w/ rice. Tonight will be a towpath ride, possibly with a hot lap at Salisbury mixed in, then beans (red this time) & rice again for dinner.

Ahhh, What A Weekend!

Friday night was the traditional Lehigh Towpath ride, Brian H and myself, followed by dinner at Which Brew. Early night because I had a pretty big day coming up.

Saturday was "The Running of the Dogs," a race put on by Team Bulldog at Kittatinny Valley State Park; it was set up in a fashion very similar to 24 hour racing, except teams were two-person and rode together rather than 4-man relay -- the race was only three hours long too, which was good. I rode it with my friend Bob W, and we raced as a Men's Sport Vet team, but we did it on singlespeeds. He was on a 29"-wheeled Karate Monkey and I was on my 1x1: one gear and no suspension and my whole body was exhausted by the time we were done. We got in five laps though, or 25 miles, within the time limit, and came in 3rd (third place out of four teams that is, but we were the only singlespeeders in our category). We were happy; we didn't really go out there to be full-on competitive, which is a good thing because Bob was so much faster than me we that were a rather mis-matched team -- teammates had to ride together, and Bob spent a far greater percentage of time riding easy, while I played catch-up, than the word "race" might imply...

Saturday night was a quick trip to Bethlehem, for appetizers and cocktails at the Starfish (nice, but expensive), then wings at Brew Works (much more reasonable). In between the race and the cocktails was a nice long nap.

Sunday we got together again, Bob and myself with Doug and Lori and Brian, plus two of Bob's Allamuchy friends, for some trailwork at Allamuchy. We did about four hours of work, putting in waterbars and diversion ditches to keep the heavy rains from eroding trails, then we got on our bikes and rode about ten miles. Doug and Lori were on the tandem: and it was her first real experience riding (as opposed to say hiking) at Allamuchy, and it was a great day for it too. We had a blast, though Brian tweaked his derrailleur and had to leave early.

After that came a huge outdoor lunch/dinner in Hackettstown, then home and another nap. I spent the last hour of daylight reading Blood Meridian on the porch.

Tomorrow will probably be a rest day, or maybe the gym. G'night.

Friday, Another Sunny Day

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 180.5#, 14.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Friday): 179.5#, 16% BF

Good ride last night at Jacobsburg. It was the end of a beautiful day, the trail conditions were primo (well, they were OK, but they were dry), and the place was crowded with riders. I ran into Brian H and Lee S (who was on a singlespeed like me), and we hooked up with a few guys who missed the start of the Blue Mtn Ski Club weekly ride, one of whom is a Which Brew regular -- bonus!

We rolled on, ran into Lance K and his friends, who were riding with Jay DeJ, and finally caught up with the Blue Mountain crew. Kevin H and Laurie (the former club secretary for the VMB) were the only ones I knew, but all were familiar faces. It was like a big bike reunion in the woods, though we were all riding at different speeds so we went our separate ways after a meet-and-greet break.

The Blue Mtn / Which Brew dude tried to talk me into stopping at WB for a post-ride beer, but I'd already been out Tuesday and Wednesday nights this week, so I gave my regrets. Dinner was beans & rice w/ tahini and a little bit of hot sauce.

Tonight is the towpath, then I might just stay in because I'm racing tomorrow. I must get the bike -- I'm racing on the singlespeed! -- and other stuff ready, and I could definitely use the rest (& proper nutrition).

corn-corn-corn-corn-Stukeys

Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 180.5#, 14% BF
Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 182#, 8% BF

RIP Andrea Dworkin. Not sure I really liked her (though as Roy Edroso says, most of what you see about her ideas is not her work but that of her critics -- and according to them she was an asshole & castrating bitch, also ugly), but like I might have implied, I just saw this post at alicublog. It reminded me of of a line, "the commoditization of desire," from Mark Leyner's My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist. I think I wrote about it before...

No workout Monday or Tuesday: Monday was recovery, and Tuesday I was over at H&R Block, suffering from procrastination issues. Tonight is a quick road ride.

Meantime, back in the culture wars...

A Great Weekend

Morning weigh-in: 180.5#, 14% BF

A great weekend, to wit:

Friday I rode the towpath with Brian and Greg P, then went with Brian to meet Joe & Cindy at Which Brew. Nothing unusual or amazing, but very nice just the same. Jake Kaligis was playing, actual band was called the Skulldiggers I believe, very tight, high quality music.

Saturday was my birthday, which I kept pretty low-key. Did my usual "selfish day' stuff, hit Coffee Works, ran & worked out at the gym, errands/chores etc, then worked on the bike. I was going to go out anyway, again low-key but Doug & Lori figure out it was my birthday, so we went um, back to WB with Brian and Eric. Excellent dinner, followed by some birthday beers and an espresso martini -- they joked that I'd never be able to get up in time for Sunday's race, but they have not the gift of prophecy, and I am a hardened pirate...

Sunday was a little rough, but not too bad: I got up at 5:30, met this kid Steve from the VMB on Rt 222 near Dorney Park, and caravanned with him down to Blue Marsh. The day turned out as beautiful as Saturday, maybe nicer; you couldn't ask for better race weather. I was the only Chain Gang member racing (as usual at this point) , but there were about a dozen VMB guys out there. Some of the others did well, but I just managed to beat 2 guys, coming in 30th of 32 in my age group. Beautiful day though, and a great course; overall the experience was extremely nice.

On the way home I stopped at Salisbury (Riverside Park, or Walking Purchase Park, or whatever they're calling it now), and saw Doug, Eric, Rich B and Bob W, just finishing up a ride after doing some trailwork. We're hanging out, and along comes John E with 3 of his neighbors, and then Greg H. Quite a crowd in the woods! Afterwards we hit the Mexican place on Main Street iun Bethlehem, then I went home & slept.

This morning I had to go down to the courthouse for jury duty, but they didn't need me so here I am.

Not Much To Say

Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 182#, 13.5 % BF
Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 182#, 14.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 181#, 14.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Friday): 182#, 13.5% BF

Started this post Tuesday but never actually wrote anything, here it is Friday already...

Floodwatch

Oh, the Irony
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 13% BF

Here's a shot of Doug, taken on Spring Garden Street near Colonial Pizza, with the Delaware and New Jersey in the background. We got a kick out of those "bureau of water" barriers.

The Verdict Is In

Flickr truly sucks. I'll be looking for a replacement service or whatever, my only problem is finding storage space.

Well I'll Be An Unkey's Monkle

I'm an uncle again: (my brother Kevin's wife) Amy delivered Kevin Jr on Friday. A little premature, so there are some complications apparently, but it sounds like things will be OK. That's all for now, going out to see the storm/flood damage. Downtown is under water right now -- again. Nothing at all to do with overdevelopment I'm sure...

Friday I Got Friday On My Mind

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 13.5% BF

RIP Mitch Hedberg: wow, only 37 years old. Never heard of him until recently, very funny guy. Glad I got to see him in Philly that time.

Gym last night, then over to Which Brew for dinner. Quiet night, and an early one, at least there -- got home & played with computer, surfed until 12:30 or so.

Tonight is a towpath ride, if the weather holds.

Where Were You While We Were Getting High?

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 180.5#, 12.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 177#, 15% BF

Towpath ride, two days in a row: I blew off the gym Wednesday, since the weather turned so much nicer by the afternoon, and rode the towpath. Strangely enough, it wasn't in bad shape at all, except one section that was under water. Rode out to Sand Island, didn't need lights until the return trip. I felt a lot faster than last Friday -- thinking back, I was probably bonking -- though I was still around two hours.
Yesterday was beautiful, so I hopped back on the bike and did the same ride. I got out of the house a little earlier this time though, gained maybe fifteen more minutes of daylight & didn't need lights until I was almost back to Hope Road, where the Bethlehem Boat Club is.
Hope Road has been closed ("destroyed" is a more accurate description) since Hurricane Ivan, but the washed-out bridges have been replaced and a there's gravel down, so I took the road up to the Palmer Bike Path. Last night, as I rode behind the old steelyard, I surprised a bunch of older teens smoking pot or whatever. They were all like "Dude, you frightened me!" but all I could think was that -- not ten feet from where they stood -- there was a big clump of trees, inside which they'd have been invisible even to people looking for them. Sheesh, kids these days...

Champagne Supernova: heard that song over the weekend, got a laugh thinking about those kids yesterday but the gist of the refrain has been hitting home: there have been a lot of claims to countercultural or street cred lately, where all I can say is "the opportunity to prove yourself a hero is long gone. Really, where were you when it counted, years ago?" Of course this is about Iraq.

Meanwhile: Rest in peace, Terri Schiavo. Here's some info on living wills.

Tonight is the gym, if it rains.

They Call It Stormy Monday

Morning weigh-in: 180.5#, 12.5% BF

Got home last night, did some chores, got drycleaning, dinner at that Chinese place, ready for bed by 9:30 but then I read & um, computed (?) until around 11:30. I'm now reading Eats, Shoots and Leaves, which is very interesting, but I'm finding that the author's persona -- a major selling point in all the reviews -- is less charming than just plain snotty.

No running, either yesterday or today; the rain makes for a good excuse, but the late nights are what really make the early mornings impossible. I'll run at the gym tonight.

Hangin' With The Dream King

Morning weigh-in: 180.5#, 4.5% BF (yeah right)

This post's title is apropos of nothing really, but I was listening to Tori Amos's Little Earthquakes last night, and that's a line from "Tear in Your Hand," my favorite song on the album.

Reading: actually, I already finished The Curious Incident with the Dog in the Night-Time, an early birthday present from my parents( I got it yesterday at the Easter visit); I also got Blood Meridian and Eats, Shoots and Leaves.

Very poor bedtime discipline lately, and I'm starting to feel the effects so I'll probably make it an early night tonight -- ie no playing with the computer when I get home.

Paranoid!

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 11.5% BF

So Tuesday night I went down to Which Brew, and the place was packed, a very unusual situation lately. I had dinner and talked to a few people, then when things thinned out I moved down the bar, sat closer to my usual Tuesday night homies, yo. Theresa was there too -- she's not a Tuesday regular -- and she seemed pretty bummed out so we got to talking. Next thing I know I'm giving her a big comforting hug -- strictly Platonic of course -- and there in my arms she tells me she'd been sick, and so she went to the doctor, and she has mono. Gaaaahhhh!!!

I played it cool, but when I got home I washed my mouth/nose/face/hands...

More paranoia: Got home yesterday, was thinking about encryption and security. I've been playing with ssh the last few weeks -- it's how I get a shell connection to the Super Dimensional Fortress from home anyway, but "secure shell" ain't the half of what it can do. I created another account (a separate, but very short sweet & painless, Linux voyage) on my machine, ssh'ed into it and displayed some photos via X-forwarding.

Digression: X is the window control system for unix, and it's "network transparent": there is no real difference between a program running on your CPU & displaying its windows on your screen, and running the program on some other machine while it displays on your screen. The problem with this (other than "what's the point?") is that the transmission isn't secure while traveling between machines, but ssh will "piggyback" the X connection over a secure channel. (It can also do the same with internet ports.)

Anyway, I got the X-forwarding to work between accounts on my single machine, but that's not the same as tunneling across a network... I have to find a unix machine where I can run an X-client program and forward it to my display (SDF will do this, but I have to upgrade my account, from a one-time payment of $36 for my current membership level to a $36/year level, just to try an experiment), or find a machine with ssh and an X server, and connect to my home machine from there...

I am also getting back into my exploration of encryption in general, playing with GPG.

Hell Yeah!

Got home in time to ride the towpath in the daylight (didn't need lights until the Sand Island turnaround), river was exactly the right color -- colors, as it reflected the sunset as well as being the perfect shade of gray-green and silver. On the way back, the waxing gibbous moon shone real purty on the rapids & waterfall.

Currently doing laundry. That is all.

Weekend Wrap-up

Morning weigh-in (Monday): 182.5#, 13% BF
Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 179#, 14.5% BF

NOTE: started this post on Monday, finished it on Tuesday.

Friday I went for a road ride, which didn't work out too well: I was supposed to meet a club member at Genesis Bicycles, but he never showed. So, I hung out for a bit, and as I was about to leave Mary M, my friend who works there, told me that Scott the guy who lived near me but moved to Nazareth, more than likely rode to Easton and was taking a yoga class, probably would be up for some company on the ride home. I headed over to Easton Yoga, sure enough his bike's there but the class doesn't end until 8:00 PM (it was only 7:00), no way I was standing on 6th & Northampton for an hour... left a message on his cell, kept riding but the wind was knocked out of my sails and I ended it early. Got home, got a message from Scott: he was now at Porters, or maybe he would be at Which Brew. I went downtown, more missed connections: he wasn't at WB and when I got to Porters I asked the bartender who said scott just left...

Digression #1: Talking to Mary, she invited me on the Genesis "Tour de Turtle" ride and Easter egg hunt at Jacobsburg Sunday. I was like, "are you sure it's a good idea to ride there right now, with the trail conditions as they are?" Trail conditions right now being wet, soft and sloppy, ie easily damaged by bicycles.
Her response was along the lines of "it's just little old me, how much damage could I possibly do?" Well Mary, every little bit hurts, but you also just told me it's not just little old you, it's a shop-sponsored group ride. How come the whole rider community in the Valley is talking about trail maintenance and avoiding damage right now, and Genesis cluelessly (and it's a willful cluelessness) decides to ride the most sensitive area around? At this point in her riding career, she really ought to know better, but that store has always had an insular culture.

So anyway, Saturday I go to the gym, then do some errands, then I have a bit of a picnic: I grab Mason & Dixon and some food from Nature's Way, head up to Riverside Park. I see a bunch of what must be Cub scouts hiking, and also a pretty big father-son bike outing, which stops to regroup right next to me. Pretty cool.
Joe G had a St Patty's Day party Saturday night. I had some fun there, saw Gary & Gina, also Joe's brother Jon (now a pro downhill racer, the dude's amazing); also Joe's sister, which I didn't even know he had. Got some good "growing up with my brothers" stories. I got tired and went home pretty early though, was in bed by midnight.

Digression #2 (in which the news comes home to roost): I'm only a casual observer of the puppet show, but I do at least know about the unending media circuses around Scott Peterson, who begat Michael Jackson, who begat the baseball steroids hearings... who begat Terri Schiavo. This one I've been following for a while, and now it's hatched into the foulest circus of all.

Digression 2.1: Just for the record, if I ever end up like Terri Schiavo I want to be allowed to die. I'm not fucking kidding.

Anyway, I was reading about the case on Saturday morning and, like it usually does, it reminded me of my grandfather. Later in the day I ran into a friend, whose grandfather had been sick and deteriorating for quite a while. Last time I saw her she told me that, since he refused dialysis, he had to get some kind of shot to keep his kidneys functioning, and he'd reached the point where the family decided it was time to stop the shots and let him pass on. This Saturday she told me that he'd died at home, in his sleep, a few days before.

She also told me about her cousin. I didn't know this but she -- the cousin -- had had spina bifida, and complications from the treatment had left her somewhat "slow" (thirty something, acts like a sixteen-year-old). Anyway, a few years ago her cousin had married (with the family's slight disapproval) some Canadian truck driver, and they now had a 4-year-old son. Turns out, the father had been sexually molesting the boy; they just busted him. He already confessed, and was pretty matter-of-fact about it according to my friend. She was on her way, after talking to me, to go visit her cousin, and I did not envy her.

Anyway, deja vu to see those same issues walking past me as well as appearing on the big screen. I have to say though, that the whole Terri Schiavo thing has got me very upset, like Abu Ghraib all over again. I expect some Elian Gonzales / Ruby Ridge incident before this whole thing is over.

So anyway, Sunday morning I get up to the ringing of the phone: it's Doug, canceling the trail maintenance, so I sleep in until about 10:00, play with computer for awhile and finally emerge from my cave about noon. Brunch at the Quadrant, returned home for more fiddling with the 'puter (delving into the mysteries of openSSH). I felt headachey, so I tried a nap and then, when that didn't work I took some Advil and went for a Sunday drive, north of Bethlehem until I hit 248, then 209 theough the Poconos and home via Rt 33.

Monday I blew off all exercise (despite my plans), ditto chores, to play more with the computer, so this morning I got up early and went for a run. I may do a short bike ride tonight.

Pynchon Community

El Peligroso would be proud...Pynchon Community

Cheers! (in any language it's a way of life)

Cheers!
Originally uploaded by kisetsu.

Morning weigh-in: 182#, 15.5% BF (uh oh)

Bikes & beer, the universal language... I'd make a great cultural ambassador! I ran across this photo set while playing around with Flickr tags, seeing who else posted mountain bike photos. This crew is half a world away, doing and enjoying the same things my friends and I do, and in the same ways.

Speaking of cultural voyages: I did my Irish duty, went out last night (tired, no workout) and hit Which Brew for the St Patrick's day party, or as some call it, Amateur Night. Couldn't get a seat at the bar so I stood around, then took a table to eat dinner -- good old corned beef & cabbage -- then back up to the bar where I found a space & finally a seat. I caught some of Dave Cahill's show, but couldn't really get in the sociable/funtime mood, left by say 10:30.

Tonight I'll do a road ride, then probably stay in. I feel a need to catch up on sleep.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 180.5#, 8% BF
Morning weigh-in(Thursday): 180.5#, 13.5% BF

So I was warned I'd better be at Which Brew tonight, so that's on the agenda -- was told to arrive early, but I'm going to the gym first.

Last night was the Chain Gang meeting. Pretty cool, lots of trail advocacy stuff going on, also we broke out the fit kit for our new jerseys. So far only 11 jerseys have been ordered -- long way to the minimum order of 25.

A friend told me what his wife has been going through -- no need to say who or what here -- and I saw her last night. Seemed fairly close to her usual self, but emotional pain/stress was etched in her eyes. So sad.

Et tu, Bluto??

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 10% BF (damn you Taco Bell)

Saw on Wikipedia that today is the anniversary of Julius Caesar's assasination, oh wow -- then I realized "Ides of March," oh yeah, duh....

It caught my eye because I'm reading Caesar's The Gallic War as well as The Civil War right now. Picked them both up in the Loeb translation, on that last trip to NYC. Gallic War is better I think, at least so far: it seems better written and it flows a little more smoothly. (Then again, GW was meant as an explanation of a foreign war to people who were maybe not that familiar with it, while CW was meant for an audience that was already familiar with the material, having actually lived through the events described. Reading them both 2000 years later, of course the book with more explanatory material reads better.)

Famous story: Caesar was told by a soothsayer to "beware the ides of March!"
On his way to the Senate he ran into the same seer, said "so the Ides of March have come!" and the seer said "but they have not yet gone!" Everyone talked in exclamations back then. (I got that one out of Plutarch I think.)

Anyway, tonight is the gym, then laundry.

Low-Rye-Durr

Was coming home through Harmony Township today (country roads, mucho hilly, steepest roads in NJ), and War's "Lowrider" came on the radio. Cool song, I was just about to put in a CD but decided to listen through to the end. Anyway, bopping along the country roads and I see an orange flag (or pennant) in the road ahead... come over the crest and it's that dude in the wheelchair bicycle, cruising along, low to the ground like a recumbent, all of a sudden I was glad I heard the song out. Guy's got to be pretty tough to be riding those hills, legendary even on a regular bike, let alone a wheelchair bike -- arm-wrestling contest, my money's on that dude.

Tired, A New Feeling

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 13.5% BF

Friday: Blew off the road ride because of the rain, went to Porters instead for dinner w/ D&L and E&K. Went across the street to Which Brew -- you didn't see that coming? -- to catch a few sets of the Foolz, a really good jam band.

Saturday: I went to the gym, continued with the "endurance" workouts. After that I drove to Bethlehem, had lunch at Tulum and went for a hike at Salisbury, checking the proposed new traiils near the baseball field. I went to see Three Monks at Which Brew, but I left early in the evening, needed beauty sleep for the big Sunday ride.

Sunday: Forty miles on the road bikes, with Doug, Joe & Cindy, Greg M, Greg P, and Brian. Pretty tough for this time of year, especially with all the wind. Lunch at Porter's afterward, then naptime.

UPDATED: Minor spelling & grammar corrections.

Yes Indeed It's Fun Time

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 6% BF

Went to the gym last night, then dinner at WB. (Get while the getting's good: they have this unbelievable "chorizo & spam" specialty chili; that's my new home until they run out.) Interesting conversations with bartender Carrie, then with some guy Joe (who's a sort of real estate mogul I guess, building his empire on 6th & Northampton), and finally with Doug via cellphone . Tonight "The Foolz" are playing there; after a road ride (weather permitting) I'll be heading back down.

Last night's workout felt kind of weird: I cut the weights in half & doubled the reps, starting focus on endurance, and it was disconcerting to lift such light weights -- though by the last reps of the last set I was definitely feeling the burn, in fact it was a far more intense workout than the recent strength ones. Definitely feel it now, too.

When The Well Runs Dry

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 13% BF

Ran out of things to say. Maybe I'll add something tonight, after chores/gym. In the meantime, today's Dilbert is pretty good...