The Mandate Of Heaven

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 7.5% BF

Rode Jacobsburg last night on the singlespeed, had the place pretty much to myself though Lee rode in on his motorcycle to say hi. He'd taken the day off & did a bike ride earlier in the afternoon -- the bum! Saw a few Blue Mtn Ski Club riders out there, but the parking lot was almost empty (rather than the usual filled-to-capacity Thursday scene), and none of the usual crew was there.

After that was a Team in Training fundraiser at Which Brew: one of Margarita's friends/co-workers will be running a marathon in San Francisco, in memory of another co-worker who died of lymphoma. They had arranged to have some friend's band play at WB, and also to have raffles with cash and merchandise prizes. I missed the raffles, but gave a $15 donation and got a soft-pack cooler -- sweet!

Geeking Out, or, Evolution in (Virtual) Action: I took a grad-level "Computer-Aided Engineering" course in college, and one of my favorite parts was the section on nonlinear optimization and mathematical programming. I still keep my dilettante's eye on the field, and a few years ago ran into a really cool new technique called "genetic algorithms," which use data structures and mechanisms analogous to genes, mutation etc in biological systems, to allow evolutionary forces to select the optimum design. I got some killer C programs from a Navy research site, but here is a good introductory page.

Slipping is Crash's Law: The old Chinese Empire used to go through an approximately 300-year dynastic cycle (on average), ending with stagnation, revolution and the establishment of a new dynasty. The cycle was pretty much caused by the rules of inheritance, which slowly screwed up the system until it was paralyzed -- then the society rebooted, land and wealth were redistributed and the cycle started again but the Chinese explanation was that the previous dynasty lost "the mandate of heaven;" the divine universal force showing its displeasure and withdrawal of support through natural disasters etc. The number of disasters per year didn't actually rise, but what happened was that the Imperial ability (or will) to prepare for and ameliorate them had collapsed. Sound familiar?

UPDATE: forgot to post this Friday.

Moving Right Along

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 6.5% BF

Homer gets his hand stuck in the candy machine...

EMT Guy #1: We're going to have to cut your arm off.

Homer: Oh no! It'll grow back, right?

EMT Guy #1: Um, yeah.

EMT Guy #2: Mr Simpson, are you still holding on to the candy?

I see that Australian scientists have just developed a regenerative mouse. Meantime, Korea has cloned a dog and Singapore is making great strides in stem-cell research ... and here in the USA we've got Intelligent Design (I won't dignify it with a link).

Anyway, went to the gym last night, light workout. Dinner was a bit of an experiment: tuna w/ a touch each of curry, ginger & tamari, with an "early spring mix" bag of mesclin salad. Didn't quite work out, but good enough to at least finish it... I'll probably hit Jacobsburg on the Surly tonight after work.

A Small Rain

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 5% BF (say what?)

Watching the current situation down in New Orleans, it kind reminds me of Pynchon's story "The Small Rain." Plenty of stuff going on but the premise, based on a true story (told to him by a friend who was in the Army when he was in the Navy), is that a hurricane wipes out the Louisiana town of Creole, and the army flies in as part of the disaster relief. The interaction of soldier "Lardass" Levine with the disaster, and with the disaster relief, is what drives Pynchon's version, which can be found on Slow Learner. This time, the disaster is a little bigger -- a large US city has essentially been destroyed -- but I think the same grinding human tragedy and class-based callousness will be played out. (Others have noted the same thing here, and here, and here, and here...)

Meantime, what you can do to help: Donate to the Red Cross.

My Allamuchy Photos

Some Selected Chain Gang Racers
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

My photos are up! All the good ones anyway, which aren't all that many but you can see them here. Enjoy!

Still No Photos, But You Can Call Me

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 10% BF

Unpacking (found my phone), laundry & other chores, no chance to put my photos up, but you can see the official Allamuchy results here, and check out official photos here. Enjoy!

Next up, the Vermont 50-Miler (at the end of September).

UPDATE: If the photo link doesn't work for you , try navigating to the Allamuchy photos via ImageExtreme.

Back From Allamuchy

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 10% BF

Wow, another Allamuchy come and gone... Very good course, probably the best ever, great campsite and some serious, fun racing, marred only by ...rain. Tough weekend of camping and riding because of it, but it was still a good time -- better than the one being had in New Orleans right now. Everything I brought is slightly damp... I've still got a ton of unpacking, cleaning & maintenance to do tonight, but should be able to get my pics online.

Some selected results: I believe we (Spaceballs) took 5th of 17 in the 4-Man Masters division, with 16 laps; not sure how many laps but Flaming Balls (not Exploding Balls, sorry) took 2nd in their 4-Man division, Men's Solo's Napoleon Dynamite and Team Slo-Mo both got in 5 laps, and Hot Double-Team Action -- the announcer refused to say their name correctly -- and surprise solo contender Karen W both took 1st place, in the Tandem class & Solo Women respectively. Nice job everybody!

Vay-cay-cay-cay...

No morning weigh-in. I'm home from work, on a mini-vacation. Out the door in a few minutes for Allamuchy. I'll be back Monday; expect pictures.

Final Countdown

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 12.5% BF

Got the bikes ready last night, bringing the Turner (to race) and the Surly (to cannibalize, and also maybe to race). I also packed up my tools and did the food shopping for the weekend; tonight I'll finish the laundry, pack the car etc, maybe get my Which Brew fix.

Teams at the Chain Gang Disco Aliens Camp

Space Balls: Me, Eric, Rich B, and his bud from Mack Trucks,
Hot Double-Team Action: Doug & Lori on the tandem,
Napoleon Dynamite: John C racing solo,
So-Slo: Brian racing solo, and
Exploding Balls: Scott S, Bob, Greg & Joe C make up the other 4-man team.

Hurricane Weather: Katrina and the Waves

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 10% BF

Getting ready for the maelstrom of Allamuchy, weather should be good throughout the weekend... tropical storm is heading for landfall somewhere down south; when it hits land they'll probably name it Katrina... had dinner at Which Brew last night, caesar salad & a bowl of chili, Brooklyn Lager & a Weyerbacher Autumn Fest, and Katrina was the waitress...

Rode the road last night, did the "1-hour loop" from the gym, did it in 50 minutes and felt pretty good. Legs suddenly seem very happy to spin up the hills, fitness was good but my high-intensity endurance is still not 100%, blew up on some of the climbs. I should peak by January... I followed the ride with a light workout in the gym, then as I said, I had dinner at WB. Nothing excessive, I expect that the jump in weight was from the multiple midnight bowls of GOLEAN Crunch! (or as I call it, "crack in a cereal bowl") that I scarfed down.

Shopping tonight, packing tomorrow, taking Friday off to show up early for the race.

When Is A Cigar Just A Cigar?

Morning weigh-in: 173.5#, 10.5% BF

No ride or exercise last night, played with computer instead.

A few guys at work have recently gotten into that antique/restored auto thing, which seemed to fit a pattern I noticed a while ago, but now I'm not so sure what the pattern is...

Back when microbrews became big, and even more so when the cigar craze came along, I kind of assumed that the driving force was a bit of backlash to the growing awareness of health risks, like "I know that drinking/smoking are bad for me, so I'll cut down my quantity, but switch to microbrews/cigars and savor the quality." The restored cars might follow the same pattern, what with gasoline prices and all, but I wonder if the trend, and in fact all three trends (plus that poker craze) aren't just symptoms of anxious masculinity -- well maybe not the microbrew, that's a metro thing after all...

Steve Gilliard has an interesting take here on when the cult of manhood collapsed in Nazi Germany.

Meantime, yesterday's post was going to be about something else, but after yakking about the weekend I didn't feel like following through, only the title survived: "No Gods, No Masters" was the motto of Margaret Sanger's magazine The Woman Rebel from her early radical days, and it was a sad tip of the hat to the women of Iraq.

No Gods, No Masters

Morning weigh-in: 173.5#, 13.5% BF

Looks like I came throught the weekend intact, weight-wise...

The weekend:

Friday night I blew off the towpath ride (looked like rain), blew off pretty much everything else as well, to just kick back & do laundry. Stopped in at Which Brew for a bit while the clothes visited the dryer, but it was a fairly early night -- I ran into Arnie L there, made plans to meet him for a morning bike ride.

Saturday I got up early, got a quick breakfast at Coffee Works, then met Arnie at the gym in Phillipsburg. I've known him for years, talked bikes many times but we never rode together until this. Older guy, just became a grandfather but he's a solid rider. We rode out behind Baker Chemical, came up Marble Hill Rd to Route 519 & took that to Foul Rift Road, then returned to P'burg via the river roads (like, past where the S.S. Diane used to be). Almost two hours of riding, first time on the road bike since the Perimeter Ride, and it felt good. After that was a gym workout.

Saturday Night was also quiet, also with a rather perfunctory visit to WB, where I hung a while with T and Ed.

Sunday was a "stop and smell the roses" ride with Brian up on Broad Mountain in Jim Thorpe, trails neither of us have done in a while -- PA Game Committee, access issues, yadda yadda. Moderate pace with plenty of breaks, including stops at the overlooks. Good to see the old place again, hasn't changed all that much. Lunch on the way home, then the rest of the day was naptime...

An Evening Out

Morning weigh-in: 173.5#, 13.5% BF

Rode Jacobsburg on the singlespeed, say 6:00 to 8:30, which was actualy close to full dark -- goodbye summer! -- trying out my lights. Again, the handlebar battery died after about a half hour, it's only holding a quarter charge. I have another battery for the bar light, but would have preferred two. I'll try cycling the battery a few more times, charge/discharge, see if I can wake it up.

Rode with Joe (on his new Turner 5-Spot) & Cindy with their dog Tally, also Rich B on his Surly; Rich and I were the only ones w/ lights. Scott S was up there as well as the whole Lance/Marv crew, Terry M, and also Doug & Lori, big crowd really. That was just us: there were other groups there like Blue Mtn Ski Club etc; the parking lot was almost completely full.

Dinner was Which Brew: Tuscan bean soup & hot wings, a Troegenator & a Small Craft Warning, eaten/drank to the tunes of the Skulldiggers, which seems to be morphing into a Deadhead band... Good times, good times. Good conversations inside, w/ the usual crew, but also saw Hans w/ Heath & Margarita outside, as well as Stu & Kathy, all leaving as I got there.

Sketches From A Life

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 9.5% BF

Today's featured Wikipedia article is a good one: George F. Kennan. Interesting guy; somewhere in my parents' house is his book of diary excerpts, Sketches From A Life, that I got my dad for his birthday once.

No ride last night: I blew off exercise in favor of getting my act together before the VMB emergency meeting -- looks like Bear Creek will be hosting the final MASS race this season rather than Spring Mountain, and Valley Mountain Bikers will be doing a lot of the work to get it done...

Riding tonight, SS'ing at the 'burg. I'm going to start at 6:00 (the usual time), but ride into darkness, test out my lights/batteries. I may travel into Emmaus afterward to see Dave J's band play at South Mtn Cycles & Coffee, but that's a long way & it may be over by the time I'd get there, so we'll see.

Salisbury After Dark!

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 7.5% BF

Rode last night, but felt very tired and my average speed was way down -- probably fallout from Monday's nutritional follies, and maybe some lingering effects from whateveer sinus thing is going on. I also had the full complement of lights/batteries with me, since I wanted to start getting ready for Allamuchy, and that could have -- rather, it did weigh me down...

Anyway, the plan was to ride the towpath out to Sals, do my "short loop" there and head back, Sals & return legs being in the dark. I left around 6:45, crossed the Lehigh at 7:49. As soon as I got into the woods I ran into a group of three riders, two dad-types and a boy, fixing a derailleur. They were OK, done w/ repair by the time I got there, but I stopped & said hi, then turned on the lights. When I left, they said their friends were up ahead, and could I let them know the situation? No problemo, and I was on my way.

I ran into two more guys out there, but they weren't the ones... then ran into another dad & two kids, boy & girl down by the pavillion -- not quite dark yet, though my lights were on... the guy commented on my specific brand/model headlamp, so they weren't clueless... rode the trail down to the Spanky, but only rode partway up when I felt too tired, it was too dark & slippery, and I just wimped out, turned around... ran into the first group of riders again, now with their lights on...

On the way out I surprised some local semi-hoods walking the RR tracks:

Hood 1: Hey what's that?
Hood 2: Oh, just one of those bicycle guys.

Was out of there by 8:30, so it couldn't have been too dark, but it was a strange world for a while...

I went up and I told them I was new downtown,
And I didn't know the proper spots to hang around.
Well they were awfully cool, those guys they answered me true,
They said "Just stick with us man, we'll show you what to do!"

They took me to a rock club where the girls were the most,
And we imported all our beers from the midwest coast.
I never knew I was a young fresh fella etc.

- The Young Fresh Fellas, "Young Fresh Fellas Theme" (near as I can remember it)

Dinner was at Which Brew: tomato & mozzerrella salad, garlic pizza, two Troegenators. Quiet night unfortunately, none of the usual Tuesday night crowd, though there were some college-age kids, mixed group from all over the world (Australia, Europe, various USA etc). They'd all just finished working as camp counselors in Maine, ended up in Easton somehow before heading their separate ways. Nice bunch of kids, wanted to know the cool places to hang out while they were here, I was glad to oblige. Also had a pleasant & interesting conversation with the owner of the Stockertown beer distributorship.

Situation Almost Normal

Morning weigh-in: 172#, 13.5 % BF

Well, it took a week, but things are settling in pretty well after the Cancer Ride. Rode last night on the towpath, will probably do towpath-plus-Sals tonight -- longer ride, bringing lights, getting ready for Allamuchy. Hand is starting to feel better.

I may be coming down with a cold though: been very sneezy the last two days, suddenly lotsa "evidence" of sinus infection today. I was pretty tired last night, went to bed at 9:30 w/ out dinner.

Like I said, ride tonight, and then laundry.

Rodale and Horseflesh

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 12.5% BF

Friday night was Which Brew -- "Greek Night" as Margarita (aka "Mrs. Kneller" these days) did guest-chef duties. They also had a bellydancer, same one as for last year's Greek Night. Woman I was sitting next to, turns out she was once a stripper/pornstar (now a grandmother), starts whacking me on the arm: "Give her a dollar! C'mon Don, what are you, cheap?" Well, the bellydancer had a few dollars already so I figure "when in Rome, do like the Romans do" & slipped one under her bra strap, though I'm pretty sure that's not how they do it at the Aladdin... Interesting conversation with the stripper about her life (me: "Wow... Naked? Really?"), then in comes Tom, dude who's my age but only now getting into triathlons & adventure racing -- I sometimes characterize him as "hungry." Different kind of "flesh as horseflesh" conversation, as we talked about competition, training, etc.

Saturday I spent trying to hide from the heat, then went straight down to the furnace -- aka MusikFest -- to check out the scene. Seemed a little dead, but crowds grew as the evening progressed. I got my souvenir beer mug, some beer, a little dinner, and George Clinton / Parliament tickets, then met Doug & Lori for the the show, which rocked in a major way. The band seemed a little disappointed in the lackluster crowd participation though, and it was funny the way George Clinton actually reminded me a little of Gerry Garcia.

Sunday afternoon I went to Dave & Selene's new house for a post-PPRAC BBQ. Me, Brian, Dave, and a dude named Dale did a quick (& very hot) ride up at South Mountain, then it was back for the cookout and a little swimming-pool action. Funny hanging out with so many Rodale and ex-Rodale people, ordinary people really but super-super-fit, but fitness is their job after all.

In My Hometown

The return of morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 8.5% BF

(I am waaay overweight right now, don't be fooled by body fat... scary "wake-up call" pics on the PPRAC rides pages.)

Looks like trouble in Easton: mayor's girlfriend got caught writing "WTF?"-style graffitti on the eyesore that is Drinky Drinkerson's (a relatively new, and shabby, bar downtown) -- they'd "renovated" by covering some neat architectural facade with painted plywood or whatever... I guess now we know what (or who) was behind that "historic downtown" push, c'est ne pas?

Bringing it home: Ride days five and six... I'll just say that day five almost broke me but not quite, and day six I rode well, but it was mostly horse-smells-the-barn motivation. Tired.

Mason and Dixon and Michaux, Oh My!

Well, let's see... ride days three and four...

I brough two books to read during any downtime: Cloud Atlas because I'm rereading it, and Mason & Dixon, uh, because I'm obsessed. (I was going to bring Blood Meridian to get in the mood for Cormack McCarthy's new No Country for the Old, but I forgot to pack it. Also forgot soap.) At the Scout camp I put CA to one side to read M&D, since the next day we'd be crossing repeatedly between Maryland & Pennsylvania -- couldn't see the line, no real landmarks on those rurual roads -- you'd just notice the road signs were PA-style, then a little later they'd be MD-style, etc. Another hard day of riding, another 100+ miles.

That night at dinner I wore the latest Michaux race shirt, since we'd be going up PA233, right through the middle of Michaux, from Caledonia State Park through Pine Grove Furnace and continuing on. This was, after the Skyline Drive, my favorite part of the whole ride: beautiful, and very cool, almost chilly temps from all the springs and roadside streams. As usual, the ride got much much tougher after lunch.

Back in the real world: I still have numbness in my left hand fingertips, will see a doctor about it. Went out last night to Which Brew (Mug Club Night), may check out MusikFest tonight.

Three States And A Few "Incidents"

Something I didn't mention about the Skyline Drive leg, a bit of bad news: One of our drivers, was injured in a pretty serious accident. No one really knows what happened, but aparently Les failed to negotiate a turn and hit a tree, breaking his pelvis and femur and trapping himself in the van. He was medevac'ed out but has a weak heart and when they tried to operate he couldn't take it, so they put him in an induced coma. Word is, he's going to be fine, but he's a long way from there right now. Nice guy too, older German dude, kind of a wistful air about him but you can see he has hipster tendencies...

Anyway, Day Two: This was shorter, 93 miles total but it was just as hilly -- and the hills were steeper -- and just as hard as the first day. We rode through Virginia and West Virginia, and ended up at a Boy Scout camp in Maryland, just getting closed down for the season. I slept in the building used for nature studies; as we were setting up they were removing the snakes and letting them go -- the rats, guinea pigs and fish stayed with us.

The days are blurring, so I'll just mention these incidents here...

Incident One: At lunch one day, we were set up at a crossroad, and some guy in an SUV ran the stopsign & hit a pickup truck. I heard the crash, saw the SUV airborne & landing on the lawn across the street as well as the truck spinning around in the intersection. Minor injuries, but if we'd been on that lawn instead of this one, we'd have all been dead. Strangely enough, the lunch crew originally wanted to set up in the bad spot, but Brian dissuaded them...

Incident Two: This was actually day three I think, but we had to go through a covered bridge; and one of the slower/later guys neglected to take precautions (like slow down, put a foot down etc), got his wheel stuck in a plank, flipped & broke his collarbone.

Skyline Drive

The first actual ride day on the Perimeter Ride took us from Waynesboro to Front Royal, both in Virginia, via the Skyline Drive. The ride was 113 miles long, and, though the grades were comparatively shallow, maybe 6%-8% max, there was 15,500 feet of total elevation gain on the ride. This was my best day: I was fresh and the type of riding suited me well.

By the way, you can see my trip photos here.

PPRAC Recap (first impressions)

No morning weigh-in, but I don't think I lost any weight on the trip...

Well, 575 miles in six days, some of the biggest, hilliest (steep hills too) rides I've ever done, I'm glad I did it but I'm also glad it's over.

I'm having trouble really gathering my thoughts on this, so I think I'll let it sort out some more.

"Once Upon A Time, There Was A Terrible Disease Called Cancer"

I'm back. Wow! What a week, more on this later... spent the day sleeping, eating and doing laundry, and am back to work tomorrow.

Keep It Coolie, Baby

I'm outta here, logging off and powering down, "see" all y'all in a week or so...

Fourth (but not last) Loose End

Sports at the Wedding
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I just posted my wedding photos from Heath & Margarita's wedding, the good shots anyway. Plenty of loose ends left I'm sure, but at least the photos are up to date...

Loose Ends #3: Mountain Bike Weekend

MBWXX: Me and a Wierd Root
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Photos are now on Flickr. That finishes up my June shots.

Birthday Pics (Loose Ends #2)

Out by the Pool
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

The day after Tom's wedding was a small party at my parents house, combines birthday for my dad & also Father's Day: hanging out by the pool, cake & ice cream...

Loose Ends Tied #1: Tom's Wedding

On the Threshold of Married Life
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I just posted my pics from Tom & Barbara's wedding (way back in June, remember?) on Flickr. I'm clearing the decks for vacation, and I'll be posting more of my stuff today as time allows, but right now I'm off for brunch and a haircut.

Busted, Burned, Breaking Down

No morning weigh-in. Forgot to do it this morning, and forgot yesterday's numbers.

I take the Free Bridge across the Delaware from Phillipsburg to Easton every day. It's the last exit off US22 before the toll, just as US22 is the last exit off I-78 before its toll... Small suspension bridge, with a stoplight at each end as well as several commercial/industrial driveways (gas station, restaurant, truck depot driveway, boat ramp access road) tucked into the approach on the Jersey side; there's also a RR crossing just as you turn onto the bridge. Needless to say, it gets very crowded, especially at rush hour, and especially since they raised the tolls from 50 cents (or two $0.10 tokens) to a dollar. Usually it moves pretty fast though, maybe a 5 minute wait -- it just seems like you sit still forever -- unless a train comes along. Then you're stuck, especially if it's a coal train, they can be huge.

I got skunked twice this week. Wednesday was a coal train right at the peak of rush hour (PPL is probably working overtime, restocking all their plants after the heat wave), then yestersday was a bunch of sodium hydroxide tankers, but that was at 7:00 PM or so.

PPRAC Countdown

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 12.5% BF

Nothing much happened yesterday, just errands/chores left over from the weekend, plus bills, basically clearing the decks for vacation next week. (I also worked on the Turner, of course.) Tonight I'll probably do an easy road ride, then go on a buying spree for the trip -- I don't need much, just some travel-size toiletries, allergy medication, a few snacks (maybe some granola & beef jerky, useful for "a little more than a snack" duty if necessary), and a travel-worthy fan. Bike is ready, clothes, including bike clothes, should be ready, not much left to do...

An Interesting Diversion: I checked out TWENEX.org, which allows you to telnet into a TOPS-20 system. I remember that shyte! Kickin' it old-skool...

Weekend Update #25 (#26? #56397?)

Oops, no morning weigh-in. [steve-martin]I forgot![/steve-martin]

Friday was a really good ride out to Sals, super-hot lap there: was riding well, probably 10 minutes ahead of normal schedule, until I ran into John E who engaged me in about 10 minutes of conversation. Flying home, passed a couple of guys -- nothing overt or hostile, we were just moving at different speeds -- and one of them, the one in the "biker clothes," grabs my wheel. That's all the encouragement I need... I brought it up to about 20 mph and kept it there for a few miles, noticed he was no longer in sight. Heh.

Anyway, went to Which Brew, nice night & I sat outside with Mike & Carole & their friend whose name I can never remember, also Stu & Kathy, and Joe M, Hans and Megan. Good conversation, dinner was beef & veggie stir-fry over saffron rice. Woman came over & sat down, friends w/ Joe & others, she was still agitated from the earlier part of her night, apparently the blind date from Hell...

Saturday was the "brew ride": bunch of guys from the VMB were riding from Allentown to Easton to take a tour of the Weyerbacher brewery; I rode to Sand Island & met them there. The tour was very nice, new guy (or new to me) working there, gave best explanation I'd heard so far of the brewing process and equipment... Theresa was working, got us some samples, coupla guys then bought cases. I had parked my car there early in the morning, to do storage/transport duties, but another dude from Allentown skipped the ride & met us there; his car became the delivery wagon.

Lunch at Which Brew, where we saw a few other tour-takers, then we rode along the towpath some more until it was time to separate. Shower, chores, nap and then I met Doug, Lori & Brian -- you'll never guess where! ...actually, it was Porters, where they'd had dinner, but we did walk over to WB for dessert.

Sunday was trailwork at Salisbury: Doug, Eric, Brian, Rich, Greg H, myself and Dave. We did about 200 yards of bench-cutting and fairly hardcore trail-building (sometimes all you have to do is rake leaves and you have a "trail," but this was heavy pick-and-shovel work). Lunch break, and then Rich and I went back for a little ride. We met Joe G, rode together until Rich's rear hub crapped out, and then it was me and Joe and the pace picked up noticeably... Split up at the Brighton Street trailhead where he rode home and I started back to my car. Problems with shifting but it was still a good ride. I drank -- and by "drank" I mean "chugged uncontrollably" -- a half gallon of Gatorade on the drive home.

The rest of this week will probably be fairly mellow, as I count down to the Perimeter Ride which starts next weekend.

Full Moon Boogie

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 9.5% BF

Jacobsburg last night, on the Surly. I got there & realized I forgot my front wheel, so I had to return home to get it -- thus I was about a half hour later than I wanted to be. My first arrival had Rich B, Brian H, and Greg & Judy in the lot & ready to ride; my second arrival got me there at the same time as Scott S (6:30-6:45), so we rode together until we ran into the others. As usual, I saw Marv, Lance (as he was driving home) , Lee, the Blue Mtn crew, etc etc, typical Thursday mob scene up there.

A little BBQ at Greg & Judy's afterward, then good night. Tonight I'll probably do towpath/sals.

Meantime: I posted all the halfway-decent shots from Memorial Day on my Flickr account. Enjoy!

Hot Hot Hot

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 9% BF

Rode Towpath/Sals last night: 30.02 miles in 2:59... Started at 5:40, and according to the Fritch Fuel clock I crossed the Hill-to-Hill Bridge at 6:33 (temp 88 degrees F); after riding Sals I recrossed the bridge at 7:43 and 86 degrees -- these times are now pretty much par for the course... I run out of steam though, same place (Upper Spanky Trail) every time, then get it back just enough to finish, must be the heat.

Today is supposed to be less humid than it has been, but hotter.

When I got home I got a call from Doug; they were going out to eat and would meet me at Which Brew. They went to Porters for food (they like the menu there better) but I was faster than they were, got to WB and had already ordered so we ate dinner together in different restaurants... they stopped by WB after they ate, but it was an early night. Poor Lori got an earful, Doug on one side, me on the other,of politics/religion/gasohol/etc.

I should be able to pick up my road bike tonight, then I'll go to the gym, maybe do the short Harmony ride beforehand.

C'mon Kids, Don't Be Down! It's Salisbury Steak Day!

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 13% BF

Not much to say. As you can see, I spent the evening playing with the computer... I also brought the road bike in to Cycle Funattic yesterday for its pre-PPRAC check-up, & to get a cyclometer and some required blinky lights, then cleaned/lubed the Turner after Sunday's ride. Plus laundry, yadda yadda.

Tonight if the weather holds I'll ride the Towpath to Sals.

Re-reading: Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell. There's a group reading on the Pynchon mailing list, while everyone waits for Tom to write another one. (Hint for the book club: this one's a keeper.)

Back Through Time Via Photos

Still experimenting. In reverse chronological order: Joe G and Pete H at our campsite (Mountain Bike Weekend), my nephew Chris swimming at my parents's house (my dad's birthday), Tom & Barb's wedding, biking in Burlington, and Kris R at the finish line for the Burlington Marathon.
Update: Dang. This isn't what I wanted, it's not even in order...

More Linux Voyager, Only In A Speedboat

Boy, sure wish I had access to this kind of power back in college. I saw a reference to this program over at SDF, didn't even realize it was already on my machine! Lotta fun playing. (Wow, must be a full moon, I'm turning into -- not even a geek, a nerd...)

Meantime, here's a picture from Heath and Margarita's wedding -- just experimenting with Blogger's new image features, I'll add the full set into my Flickr account later in the week. This was the weekend before last, a small party/BBQ at her house after the ceremony.

All Picnic'ed Out

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 11.5% BF

Yesterday was the Chain Gang annual picnic (and rides, of course). Great day, riding was good despite serious eyeglass-fogging visibility issues -- not to mention total body sweat-soak -- in the moderate heat but near-100% humidity. We got back, hopped into the lake, then observed the "eating phase" inside the pavilion, to avoid the intermittent downpours. I was totally drained, went to bed by 8:30 last night.

Other than that, the weekend was uneventful: Friday night towpath ride, Saturday "selfish day."

I've been to an average of more than one picnic/party/BBQ per weekend since late June, think I've finally gotten all the burger & dog & potato salad cravings out of my system...

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.