Requiem For A World

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 14% BF

I ran across this interesting but somewhat incoherent paper the other day while musing about Olduvai Gorge, and in that paper I found the following quote:

"The human species, considered in broad perspective, as a unit including its
economic and industrial accessories, has swiftly and radically changed its
character during the epoch in which our life has been laid. In this sense we are
far removed from equilibrium — a fact that is of the highest practical
significance, since it implies that a period of adjustment to equilibrium
conditions lies before us, and he would be an extreme optimist who should expect
that such adjustment can be reached without labor and travail. … While such
sudden decline might, from a detached standpoint, appear as in accord with the
eternal equities, since previous gains would in cold terms balance the losses,
yet it would be felt as a superlative catastrophe. Our descendants, if such as
this should be their fate, will see poor compensation for their ills and in fact
that we did live in abundance and luxury." -- Alfred Lotka

Looks like there may be a misprint or two in there, but you get the idea... Anyway, I looked up Alfred Lotka and came across this set of differential equations for predator-prey population relationships, and this one for interspecies competition. Bingo! This may be just what I've been looking for, for quite some time; more on this later...

Back in the real world: I went to Which Brew last night, did my "Drinking Liberally" thing. Saw Scott U, Karl, Fred & Lara, Ed, Megan, and Kirk, as well as Carrie & K-Jo behind the bar. Apple butternut squash soup, hot wings, Allagash White & an Aviator Red, yummy. Cool conversation with Kirk on nutrition & how tofu may not be that good for you after all, and then another one with Lara on her work, the debauchery I missed by leaving the Halloween Party early, and boobs. I love that place.

Warm and Wet

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 14% BF

Tell me how you really feel: Weird weather last few days, drizzly and unseasonably warm. I was in CVS last night, waiting to pay for my stuff, and the checkout dork made a faux-pas joke about Bush and global warming to the woman in front of me (I would have agreed with the concept & the sentiment, but it wasn't the correct time or place -- and the comment, like the dude, was pure dork); the guy behind me said sotto voce to his daughter and me "if this is global warming I'll take it!" Ah, ha ha ha, good one you stupid fsck! You'll take it, eh? Because you're a lazy &^%$# who can't take winter -- you'll take global warming, and you'll pay for it with what, and what will you have left over to leave your daughter? Or do you figure that there will always be brown people far away to foot the bill for your golf-cart lifestyle, people in say Iraq and New Orleans? Complacent, smug, stupid, parasitic -- the more I think about this guy the more burned I get.

Anyway, rant over. Hit the gym last night after dinner, leg workout plus a few other things, then finished laundry, shopping spree at CVS (light bulbs, deodorant, shampoo, salt), then caught the third quarter at Porter's, which is apparently now dog-friendly, while the clothes dried.

Some fun stuff from the Internets: here's Olduvai George (via Pharyngula), and here's Elementropy (via Sadly, No!) -- now that there is certified coffee-out-my-nose funny.

Silverlight

Went out last night; did the pedestrian thing over to Which Brew, where my friend Heath (brother of Hans, husband of Margarita) was DJ'ing. Got an early start because the plan was to have dinner there and I didn't want to reenact Friday's crowded debacle... but, when I got there, the only ones in the place (other than bartenders Katrina and Jen) were Pete, myself and Ed, the place was a ghost town. Heath came in, seemed cool with the situation and started playing anyway, and by about 9:30 the place was satisfactorily crowded. I didn't stay too late, but left after dinner and a bit of conversation (Ed, Margarita, Heath -- who was broadcasting from his iPod and didn't need to physically be on stage to DJ). Probably home by 11:00.

That was too bad because I didn't have anything planned for this morning except sleeping in, but I popped awake fully rested about 8:00 AM, not early really, but much much earlier than planned. Played with the computer, had a few phone conversations and then went out to get coffee. Ran into Judy the Soupmaker at the Quadrant. (Don't know her real last name; she makes soup & bread, sells it to local restaurants including the Quadrant & Which Brew, which is how I know her.) Anyway, she came in, shared my table because the place was super crowded, and we had a good conversation -- she got an earful, which I don't think she expected since she's never encountered the "caffeinated version of Don." Also saw a very smartly dressed Cosmia there as she walked out, but she didn't seem to see me...

I went from there down to Performance Bicycle, south of Quakertown near the Montgomery Mall, my big errand for the day. I wasn't as impressed with the store as the people who recommended it seem to be -- it's just a medium-sized bike store in a stripmall, far as I could see. Picked up new biking shoes, a new Camelbak and some tights, then hit the Whole Foods store in the same stripmall for some fresh veggies.

Dinner (tempeh stir-fry, with all those fresh veggies including Thai chilies -- hot!), laundry and a little internetting, and my long weekend is complete.

And did those feet, in ancient time... Had a phone conversation with Doug this morning, about recent rumors that John Lennon used to frequent the Lehigh Valley, specifically some un-named park, possibly Allentown possibly Easton, and bring his son Sean (a preschooler at the time) to play there. This was something Doug's grandfather used to do with him when he was the same age, at about the same time period, so he was very interested in trying to guess where -- Hackett? Bushkill Park? Probably no way of ever knowing...

By the way, the light the past few days has been that silvery-white November sunshine.

UPDATE: Check this out. Ribbit! Ribbit!

Do You Know What I Know?

It's the weekend, there's no morning weigh-in on the weekend!

Oh, The Embarrassment: I had Thanksgiving dinner at my friend Brian's mom's house. Big group, Brian's sister and her family, some friends & relatives, etc. Anyway, dinner gets going, and I ate something wrong, got mega-whacked with food allergies (something cooked with peanut oil?): my throat swelled up, couldn't swallow, almost couldn't breathe -- I ended up puking in the kitchen sink. Brian's asking me "dude, you need to go to the hospital?" and I'm like "uh, maybe..." I recovered in time for dessert, but they'll be talking about me for the next 20 years. (Brian's poor mom didn't know what to do, or what to think. I told him as we left "Well, I think I made a good impression!") First time I've ever been hungry on Thanksgiving night... Seriously, that was my worst food incident in more than a decade, I think I'll be getting an epi-pen to carry with me from now on.

Other Stuff: Ride! Ride! Ride! (and Walk): Wednesday night I hit the gym for a leg workout, then walked down to Which Brew. Fantastic night: great crowd, lotsa honeys and the band was rocking. Doug & Lori and also Eric & Kris stopped in after dinner at Porters. Thursday morning was a pre-turkey ride at Jacobsburg, with a light dusting of snow on the ground. Singlespeed ride, but I also rode to/from the 'burg, so I got probably in a 40-mile ride on the singlespeed. Later that evening... (see above).

Friday I led a group ride from Genesis, starting first with Breakfast at Coffee Works on the way. There were five of us who rode to Bethlehem, but another fifteen were waiting at Sand Island, and we all went to ride at Sals. Awesome ride there, then came the ride back to Easton -- only three of us left for this -- and then back home, another 40 miles. Naptime, shower, then I went out again, hoofing it down to Which Brew. Crowded again, but I didn't like either the crowd or the band quite as much, left almost immediately. I stopped in at Porters on the way home, but stuck my head in and saw that if anything it was even more crowded and annoying, turned right around and continued home.

Today was the gym, leg workout again, and following a little bike repair I'll be heading to Which Brew -- again on foot, I kind of like walking through town on a cold night -- to see my friend Heath do his "DJ Heath" thing. I think I'll skip riding tomorrow, maybe do a short hike up in the Poconos.

Reading, Hearing: I'm re-reading Elmer Gantry, not sure why because it's kind of boring (Arrowsmith was way better), but the beginning is pretty good, and has one of the best opening sentences ever: "Elmer Gantry was drunk." I'll just read until it's no longer fun, I already know how it turns out... I just got to the part where he gets love-bombed at a revival meeting, singing all those religious songs, and converts, strange parallels to all the Xmas music now blasting everywhere. Said the little lamb to the mighty king...

Another County Heard From

Morning weigh-in: 179.5#, 11.5% BF

Here's another blog I like: Mimi Smartypants. I sometimes feel like I know her and her family, almost like For better or For Worse (the comic strip), always happy to stop by and see what's going on... until I read this post. Now I just feel dirty.

Well, hitting the gym tonight, then seeing the Foolz at Which Brew. Tomorrow is the Thanksgiving ride, followed by turkey dinner with my good friend Brian's family. (He'd heard I was solo and graciously invited me, saying "now you can see my family at its most dysfunctional." Thanks Brian, and readers: stay tuned!) Friday will be my Black Friday ride, which I'm leading for Genesis Bicycles, and the weekend is still a long way away.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! By the way, here's an article about one of my heroes.

-- Linky McLinkerson

I've Got Something To Say

And that is, that this guy makes me laugh. Out loud.

Adding A Little Color To The Play-By-Play

Morning weigh-in: 181#, 11% BF (stupid Taco Bell!)

Not much to say, was going to add some affect to the previous post, which seemed somewhat flat emotionally. Instead, I'll just say: I was very glad (relieved, more like) to get back to the gym, and I've been messing around with the tar program lately, among other things. Didn't seem like the kind of thing you could delve into, but it's pretty deep if you want it to be...

Dropped off the car last night, then hit physical therapy, then home to eat healthy (baked stuffed tofu, saurkraut & a big salad) and finish the laundry -- then came the midnight chalupas, dang...

And It Was Good

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 12.5% BF

Fairly mellow weekend, to wit:

Friday night I walked downtown to Which Brew, had a small dinner plus some Allagash white, good time but I was home by midnight -- considering my pedestrian status, I must have left pretty early even though the band (Midnight Shift) was rocking.

Saturday started with the car-rental rigamarole (actually it started with some very-early-morning computer tomfoolery), then came the gym, Nature's Way, and Genesis Bicycles, and then I went down to my parents for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner. Pretty nice, saw my brother & his family, as well as Mom & Dad & my uncle Pat. The drive home was the Carnival of Stupid though, many, many idiots out on the roads, doing foolish and dangerous things.

Sunday was a ride at Allamuchy: me, Brian, Bob, Greg, and Bob's friend Jim. We went about 14 miles, took about four hours all told, serious technical trails. Karen skipped out of studying long enough to get in a short ride of her own; she met us at the trailhead to join us for lunch. Once I got home, it was time for the typical "Sunday Nap And Laundry" regimen.

In The Clutch

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 11.5% BF

Clutch seems like it's been been slipping on the Subaru lately, and last night on the way home it was unmistakeable and pretty severe. Scary drive home too, plenty o' hills between here & there, as well as everywhere else around here... Anyway, will bring it in on Tuesday. Got a ride in this morning, will rent a car tomorrow morning to get me through the next few days.

Meantime, check this out: videos of the last living Tasmanian Tigers. Kind of sad (link via Pharyngula).

Hail To The Chief, Baby

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 5.5% BF

Well, I'm now the President of the Chain Gang, as of last night's election. My campaign speech was "well, it's not like I want to be president, it's that I no longer not want to be president," and with that I was swept into power. So what will the theme be for my administration, my major policy initiatives, what I hope for as a legacy? Uh....

Cheese! Cheeeeeeese!

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 13% BF

Skipped the weights yesterday, legs still felt a bit whooped. Played on the computer instead, then went to Which Brew for dinner; I had a "mini-me" salad (tomatoes & sliced mozzerella on a bed of greens) and a white pizza (ricotta, mozzerella, et cetera), washed down with a coupla Number Nines. Saw Scott and Pete (of course, of course), Megan & her dad, and Joe M, and also Fred & Lara. I think I prefer Tuesday nights there to any other, even if it's low-key and an early night.

Anyway, tonight is the Chain Gang meeting at Brian's house: pizza on the menu.

Creepiest. Ride. Ever.

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 11.5% BF

Went out for a ride along the towpath last night, didn't get started until about 9:00 and managed to thoroughly scare the shit out of myself, with the help of some little urchins and a few wild animals...

Going along the sewerline right-of-way from Iron Street to the start of Riverside Park, you go under the 25th Street Bridge, just after passing the orphanage, or boys home or whatever. About two years ago the orphanage built an annex across from the park and paved the path, and the kids use it to get from one facility to another. Well last night a few of them must have seen me coming, hid by the bridge and jumped out -- "Boo!" -- just as I went past. Friggin' miscreants, like I don't have enough to worry about with real hoodlums, I nearly jumped out of my skin... I'll admit it was pretty funny though, I laughed too, once I got myself a little further down the trail.

Anyway, rode to Sand Island, expecting to see those "real hoodlums" near the b'ball court, but it was quiet and an unmarked cop was parked at the Ice House. Turn around and head home, and by the way I saw more wildlife on this ride (out and back) than I did in all North Carolina, but on the way home I seems that the critters were deliberately messing with me. Crashing in the woods all around, eyes peering at me in the dark, then all of a sudden I hear a a faint but terrible screaming off to my left (at the time I thought it was birds or cats, but now I think something may have killed a rabbit). It made the hair stand up all over my body, and added a few MPH to my average, just as I was hitting the only bumpy part of the ride... Bam Bam Bam, and the battery for my new $400 lighting system pops off and bounces away into the dark. I really, really didn't want to stop, but I was sure not leaving it there. Took about 5 minutes to find, another five to reconnect, all while critters (deer, most likely) were moving around by the canal, like trying to sneak away, and accidentally crashing into/through the underbrush.

Got out of Dodge ASAP after that, ran into many more critters: rabbits, feral cats near the old dump, and one little mouse scurrying along the Palmer bike path. Full moon, I tell ya.

I Yam What I Yam

Took this test, not sure if these results really represent me, maybe should have read the questions more carefully... too late to fix it now though, time for a ride!

Haymaker

You are one of life’s enjoyers, determined to get the most you can out of your brief spell on Earth. Probably what first attracted you to atheism was the prospect of liberation from the Ten Commandments, few of which are compatible with a life of pleasure. You play hard and work quite hard, have a strong sense of loyalty and a relaxed but consistent approach to your philosophy.


You can’t see the point of abstract principles and probably wouldn’t lay down your life for a concept though you might for a friend. Something of a champagne humanist, you admire George Bernard Shaw for his cheerful agnosticism and pursuit of sensual rewards and your Hollywood hero is Marlon Brando, who was beautiful, irascible and aimed for goodness in his own tortured way.


Sometimes you might be tempted to allow your own pleasures to take precedence over your ethics. But everyone is striving for that elusive balance between the good and the happy life. You’d probably open another bottle and say there’s no contest.

What kind of humanist are you? Click here to find out.

That Old Familiar Ache

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 13.5% BF

Got the bike back Friday, rode Friday night on the towpath, very tough -- I felt like I was pushing as hard as I could, but my pace was waaaay slow. Didn't actually leave the house until 8:45 (dinner, chores), rode until 10:50, ridiculous amount of time for me. After that was a trip to Which Brew.

Saturday I ran some errands, hit Coffee Works, then went to the gym of the first time in a while. Did a leg workout: seemed I was only in the gym doing my thing for a short time, but it exhausted me (of what little energy I had) for the rest of the weekend. Forgot about that, happens every time with leg workouts. Hamstrings, the only part of my legs that aren't conditioned by cycling, are still sore/tight.

Saturday night was the George Hrab show, preceded by dinner at the Tally-Ho & followed by drinks at the Station House. Good times, but the evening was later than I intended (though it seemed to be ending prematurely), as I had to get up early. Slept like the dead.

Sunday I got up early & exhausted (damn leg workout) and went to the Deer Park trailwork session. We were supposed to build bridges/walkways, but the park didn't show up with the wood so instead we did a ride... buncha fast guys plus me, ouchie. Came home, napped during laundry, then cleaned the house. And now it's today!

The Autumn Of Our Discontent

Morning weigh-in: 181#, 12% BF

Things, and people, seem out-of-sorts lately, and I'm not just saying that because I'm wearing old-man stretch-pants today...

A Play

ASPIRING JUVENILE DELINQUENT: Uh-oh, here comes Old Man Stretchpants!
OLD MAN STRETCHPANTS: Hey, you kids! Get off my lawn!

...local scenes just seem to be coming apart.

Anyway, dropped off the Turner yesterday after work to get new pivots installed. The last time I did it, it was a total pain in the butt, so this time I brought it in to Bike King -- and Ron was halfway done with the job before I even left. I guess that's the difference between a professional and an amateur... I left the bike there instead of waiting though, because I had to race from Clinton to Wind Gap for physical therapy. Get there, typical circus (in the fun sense as well as the crazy chaos sense), then home to check the 'puter before going to Which Brew for dinner. First time there since the Halloween Party, pretty cool but I still got that "end of an era" feeling there as well.

Well, tonight I'll hit the towpath, tomorrow I'll go to the gym & then to the George Hrab record release party/concert (at the Ice House, dinner beforehand at Brew Works), Sunday I'll do some trail maintenance, it'll be just like old times.

UPDATE: Le Bobo smackdown, yo.

Odds & Ends

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 178.5#, 9% BF
Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 179.5#, 12.5% BF

RIP Ken Whalen: Dude in my high school class, tough-guy athlete -- baseball, maybe? and "tough guy" in the "flannel-shirt crowd rather than Izods" sense) -- decent guy though I don't think we ever exchanged more than two words even back in school. Nodding acquaintance, I'd see him at the Yorktowne Inn on occasion, last time being probably 10 years ago. He was driving on the GS Parkway the other day, another car hit his pickup and both crashed: he was ejected from his pickup and died at the hospital. My friend "Henry" (Kevin) called and told me; his mother worked with Ken. Here is an article about the crash.

It's kind of funny, I was just thinking the other day that I was in the lucky "not many people I know are dying" years, too old for teenage misadventure and not yet seeing the effects of age.

Fighting Through The Blockage

Morning weigh-in (Monday): 177.5#, 10.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 179#, 87% BF (uh-oh)

I've got a lot to say about Nantahala I'm sure, but right now nothing's coming so I'll just keep to the normal routine, talk about my day... Not much to say there either: physical therapy was canceled yesterday (they had staff shortages), so I went straight home and played with the computer, then caught 2nd & 3rd quarters at Porters. Tonight I'll be cooking/eating in, then riding the towpath.

Back In The Valley

I'm back. Great time, more on that later...First thing I did when I got home was check my email -- how pathetic is that? (Don't answer!) Good night.

Weekend's Over, Vacation Starts

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 11% BF

A quick recap of this rather eventful past weekend:

Friday night was my Halloween night ride, with Mary, Rob & Sarah, and Roger. This, frankly, was a disappointment --none of the people I was hoping to come showed up, and the riders who were there (with the exception of Rob and Sarah) were not up for much anyway... I was also hoping to maybe stop in at a pub or two, like the very strange Fuglees, but (with the possible exception of Roger, who I don't know) everyone on the ride were vegans and teetotalers, very clean-living. Oh well. I went out afterward, caught some blues at Which Brew.

Saturday I brought my car in for an oil change at Revelation, then walked downtown to Coffee Works. On the way home I window shopped, stopped in to Utopia. Haven't been there in years, but it's still the same: bongs, bizarre knives/swords and incense up front, really nice furniture in the back.

Saturday night was the Which Brew Halloween Party. I went as a baby on its mother's back, but my costume wasn't as funny or convenient (or well-made) as it appeared on the box. So, out came the inflatble parts and the party roared on. Greg & Judy, Joe & Cindy, Doug & Lori, Eric and myself from the Chain Gang were there, and I saw plenty of other people -- basically, everyone who hangs out at Which Brew was there. Good time, but we didn't have a designated driver or a rented van this year, so things were a little more constrained. I was probably home (even after a visit to Taco Hell) by 1:00.

Sunday was the Lehigh Alumni Ride, alumni as in "veterans of the Lehigh trails," not university alumni. We were to meet at noon at South Mountain Park, but I showed up at 11:00 because I forgot to "fall back" with the clocks, so I retreated into Bethlehem, hung out at a coffee shop for another hour... Huge turnout, great ride with BBQ afterward. The infamous Bernie was there, guy who built the trail system up there way back when (he had help), and who is just now recovering from a broken neck and punctured lung suffered in a crash back in summer. One tough customer...

I posted pictures last night on Flickr, you can find the Halloween shots here and the Alumni Ride shots here. There's also a few from the Halloween ride posted. Check 'em out.

I'll be gone for the rest of the week, riding down in NC, leaving tonight for a mid-morning arrival hopefully. More on this after it happens, tune in next week...

Happy Scotchtoberfest!

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 9% BF

Busy evening yesterday: home to change, then to Wind Gap for physical therapy. Grabbed some Subway on the way home, ate, did chores, 'puter, then went for a ride around 10:00 last night. Short one, just a loop around the bikepath, trying out the bike and lights etc. Anxious few minutes getting all my winter nightriding stuff together & functioning, which is why the ride started so late. Back by 11:20, I played with computer some more & went to bed at 1:00 AM.

Finally, Going Riding!

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 8% BF

Went out and got my Halloween costume last night, what a friggin' nightmare but now it's over and done. No clues or spoilers, you'll have to wait for the Halloween party (or to see pictures here) to find out what it is... I was there (at the Party Store in Phillipsburg) from a little after 7:00 until about 9:00, so I blew off riding last night to play with the computer and finish Never Mind the Pollacks. Dinner was a meatball sub from the deli up the street.

I'm taking next week off. Today at lunch I booked several days at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in western North Carolina; car goes into the shop Friday/Saturday to get ready (oil change).

Tonight I have physical therapy, then I will hit the towpath, make sure new lights, chain/ring/cassette and cables/housing are all good before Friday night's ride, and Saturday's, and Sunday's, and next week's...

Getting My Act Together

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 12% BF

I put the new middle ring on the Turner last night, also greased the pivots (I think I'll need a new pivot kit, as well as replacement bearing inserts for the shock); did that while laundry was washing, then hit Which Brew for dinner while it was drying. Moussaka, washed down with Magic Hat Number 9.

Jump on it: For some reason I also decided to restart my web server last night, then I see today that Apache just now reached 50 million website users -- I wonder if it was me? Probably not, no one else can see my server.

Just Waiting for FitzMas

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 10.5% BF

Nothing much to say here, busy playing with computer & photos last night, instead of doing laundry/bike/housework, as you know...

(Re)Reading: Never Mind the Pollacks by Neal Pollack. Laugh-out-loud funny.

Some Photos From "Close The Loop" Day

Sals: Dave and John Address the Troops
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I posted a bunch of photos from Sunday's trailwork at Sals, you can check them out here.Enjoy!

Of course, I bought the new chainring I need for the bike, so I should be putting that on (as well as re-greasing the pivots), and I have laundry that needs doing, and then there's the issue of dinner (as in, not eaten or even cooked) -- thus I sat down at the computer when I got home, been fiddling here ever since.

Reporting In From Weekend Duty

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 12% BF (weight-gain weekend)

Friday night: I went on the Haunted Tour of Easton. Pretty cool, got to check out that "cemetery in the basement" in a local church; most of the rest of the tour was stories of hangings, Civil War history stuff, and goth-style vampires running around spouting "Diamond Dogs" quotes (I kid you not). Worked for me! Right after that I went over to Which Brew, where most of the volunteer cast, and a good chunk of the tour-goers, had already assembled. The Skulldiggers were playing, Heath and Hans were there as well as Mike & Carole, Brian came out, and they had Red Nectar on tap...

Saturday was sort of my selfish day, only different. Coffee Works was closed, so I went to the Quadrant, waited there for a call from Joe G: his girlfriend had grabbed some tickets to the Lehigh Valley Brewfest at the State Theater, and we'd be going to the noon-3:00 PM session. This was quite the beer snob's heaven, all sorts of local breweries with samples of their best beers... they filled up two floors at the State Theater, awesome scene -- though I ran into a friend at the Quadrant, who was going to the 5:00 session and he commented that the early one would be all the "sniff the brew and guess the hops" types, all the partiers would be at the later session with him. He was pretty much right, but I had plans for the evening.

Saturday night was Greg and Judy's "Island Party." They, with Eric & Kris, submitted a short video and won a sailing vacation, got filmed for a promotional movie; this was the premiere for their friends of that movie. Cool film, great party.

Sunday was "Close The Loop Day" at Sals: we finished the main trails there and marked them, so now there are several loops that can be ridden... then we rode them. Still finding issues on the bike, leftovers from All-A-Muchy that I must deal with.

...And Come Full Circle

Busy evening yesterday. I had physical therapy at 6:00 in Wind Gap, but on the way I stopped in at Curt's Cyclery & bought a new chain, a cassette, and new cables with housings, as well as a bar-mount HID light (expensive, but I really needed a new light). Then off to PT, where my arm was manipulated ("like flossing with the nerves" -- strange how the bike and hand problems are so similar), then home to check the email before installing all the new stuff, and finally stopping at Which Brew.

Tonight is the Easton Halloween Spooky Walk. Actually it's happening both tonight and tomorrow night, and I went out of my way to get a ticket for tomorrow night before realizing I had a previous engagement: Greg & Judy are having an "Island Party" to debut the promotional sailing video they were in. That's Saturday night, and so was my ticket, so I had to exchange it for a Friday at WB, nexus of all things Halloween in Easton. Good jazz trio playing, and some guy had an art/photo exhibit going on in the other room, pretty neat. Got into a conversation w/ young Pete about surfing...

But I did get the bike back up and running. Funny thing, I can remember when Shimano changed their derailleur springs to thwart the new Grip-Shift shifter technology, and Grip-Shift came out with those GoreTex-covered cables, maybe 10 years ago now. They worked unbelievably well, smooth shifting, like nothing you've ever used before -- for about two weeks. Once it gunked up or developed a little wear, it became the worst shifter cable you ever had. Moved to generic cable (mediocre performance, but the performance wouldn't degrade and you could clean/lube it to bring it back) and shimano shifters... now here I am 10 years later, using incredibly good Shimano cables that degrade within weeks, so much for progress.

Fourth Horseman Update: Neat science about the upcoming armageddon.

Back To Square One

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 9% BF

Last night was the Chain Gang meeting at Which Brew (who I still like, but I think they dropped the ball, service & food-wise last night). Good meeting, though.

The Money Pit: OK, I need new cable and housing for the rear derailleur, also a new chain and probably a new cassette. I'll pick it up tonight hopefully, also pick up a new handlebar-mount lighting system, slap it all on & be ready to ride tomorrow night.

Scopes Smackdown

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 8%

Nothing to say, really. Worked a little on the bike last night, cleaned/lubed, discovered problems with rear derailleur cable, must fiddle with it some more or, or... replace it yet again? Meantime, here is a little more about our homegrown monkey trial.

Big Time

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 12.5% BF

Looks like we made the big time: a mention in the NY Times via the (far superior) Clusterfuck Nation, and a little something something about Lehigh's own Prof. Michael Behe in the Morning Call. Lucky thing they're building that ballfield where the high-tech company used to be, and the gambling casinos where the heavy steel industry used to be, or there wouldn't be any jobs for all the new crowds... And speaking of gambling, I hear that the extra tax on stupid people Powerball Lottery is up to like $340 million.

In my world: Physical therapy last night -- ultrasound, stretching and some anti-slouch exercises. I hope that they're actually therapeutic and not some caprice of my slouch-Nazi therapist... Tonight I look at the bike, get it ready for some night rides.

Self Portrait

Lego me -- I did this a while ago, just remembered to post it now. You can build your own here. Can't remember where I saw this, kudos to some blogger...

UPDATE: Found it. Thank you, Culture Cat! I should have known it was part of the whole "needs meme" thang.

Weekend Report

No morning weigh-in (oops, not expecting/avoiding bad news, just forgot)

Friday I was going to go to the Pocono cinema to see Grizzly Man, but got out of work just at the tipping point of "too late to drive up there and be on time." I did some stuff at home, then went out to WB instead. A good night, but nothing exceptional.

Saturday was my "selfish day" sans workout (doctor's orders): bank, Coffee Works, then over to the Garlic Festival before getting a haircut. It was a nice day (finally!) so I worked on the bike and did a short ride, tried to wake up the legs for Sunday while doing some more recon & planning for the Halloween ride. Ran into my friend Scott from work, who was tooling around by Riverside Park. He was trying to find the guys who were marking the course for Sunday's adventure race, looking to help out.

Saturday night I went out to Allentown, met a bunch of friends (Doug & Lori, Greg & Judy, Brian, Eric & Janna, Debbie, and Eric & Kris, big table) at Lobaido's for dinner. Turns out it was Eric R's birthday. He kept it a secret though from the people he invited (like me), so didn't get many presents. The place is BYO, so I brought a bottle of Eco Domiani chianti; most others brought something as well. Still not a big wine fan, but there were a few I liked. Dinner of course, was awesome, I just wish I had room for the legendary homemade ice cream afterward...

Sunday was the All-A-Muchy 50k race at Allamuchy, put on by my friends Bob & Karen. Excellent day, and I did pretty good though my friends Greg and Joe did much better, coming in 11th & 22nd respectively. I did manage to get one good prize though: fell over at one point, landed THWACK! right on a rock with my knee, directly on an almost-healed scab. Spent the rest of the race with a rivulet of blood... Got home about 4:30, went to bed and didn't get up until this morning.

Speaking Secret Alphabets

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 175.5#, 7.5% BF (NFL)
(No Friday weigh-in)


Reading: Graves's The White Goddess. Tree-alphabets, stone-age religious secrets hidden in medieval poetry... speaking of arcane knowledge...

Regex: Sed vs Perl: Found the source of my problem playing with sed: the syntax for regular expressions in sed and grep (and probably awk) is different from the regular expression syntax I learned for perl. I've been having problems with sed errors, and I've been been busting out my perl reference manual and just getting myself more confused. (I also think that the syntax doesn't quite match what I think the man pages are telling me.) What I thought was a common (and easily discoverable) building block is turning out to be splintered, and quite arcane indeed -- luckily, google and wikipedia came through.

Tonight I'm seeing that movie Grizzly Man. It was playing around here but I missed it; I'll be meeting Bob & Karen, also Joe & Cindy at the Pocono Cinema. Deja vu.

And Now For Something Completely Waterlogged

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 10.5% BF

It's been raining a lot the last few days not much outdoor life going on. First PA, and now NJ got hit pretty hard. My cold is abating though, so I did do a short ride down along the Bushkill yesterday, maybe five miles of recon: creek wasn't up, and the silt/crap down there wasn't too bad so I'll be incorporating it into my Halloween ride. Saw a fish about 100 yards from shore, flooding must have been intense Saturday night. The Muskenetcong was amazing this morning, waaaay over its banks. Outta here after lunch, first day of physical therapy.

Deep, In The Heart, Of Darkest America

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 10.5% BF

Interesting encounter with wildlife while on my recent travels: I can now attest that Chicago's O'Hare Airport, in addition to its amazing Corridor of Epilepsy, can also boast of having mice. One mouse anyway: it ran out from along the wall & up to my carry-on bag, then scooted away. But before it left, it looked me in the eye and sang "Yersinia pestis, yeedle deedle deedle daiddle deedle..."

You've already paid for this, listen to my heart beat.

I Have Needs Too, You Know

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 8.5% BF

Weekend Report (loose ends): I went out Saturday night, saw The Foolz again, playing at Which Brew this time. I think this show was actually tighter and better than the one Friday at the FunHouse. Pre-show dinner was mozzerella & tomato "mini-me" salad and garlic-lime chili wings. I ended up talking to some couple next to me: they were making a short film, they were there to meet with a potential producer and, while waiting for him to show up, asked me to look over the script. Look for me in the credits, though I'm sure I won't see a dime...

Last night was spent organizing and archiving my digital photos. Everything I have prior to 2005 (incuding all sorts of stuff emailed to me) on one CD, and all my 2005 digital photos to date on another. Piece of cake.

Don Needs: Saw another game over at Pharyngula, Google "[your first name] needs" and list what comes up. Here's mine:

• Anger Management: DON NEEDS A DATE
• Reply, Elephant--Don Don needs his love--.
• Opinions You Should Have - Comment on Uncle Don Needs You
• RC Groups - Hey TAWG, Don needs one of these!
• Don needs to recognize that a variable mortgage will usually have a lower rate than a fixed one.
• Don needs our help
• Don needs a loan but doesn’t want to cash in his Certificate of Deposit.
• The Don needs underlings So hey, hey! Kiss that pinky ring!
  Give it to him baby! Uh uh, uh uh! Give it to him baby!
  Uh uh, uh uh! Give it to him baby!
• Using his wits, Don needs to rescue his buddies who have been kidnapped by the...
• The DON needs a corps of knowledge workers
• To do his job Don needs a car, a phone, a computer and a connection between his office and home.
• Big Don needs an outhouse so we are building one to house one of the two...
• Don needs more help weaving all these issues together in to a comprehensive work plan
• Darrell Beaver, a community resident, pops in to see if Don needs anything
• Don needs our help and support.
• Plus Don needs a new snow shovel.

Funny because it's true... though it's not as odd/cool as PZ's list, which may be because my name isn't as odd/cool as "PZ."

Reading: Caesar's The Gallic War. Also reread Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian on my recent travels.

Bethlehem Steel From The Armory Parking Lot

Bethlehem Steel From The Armory Parking Lot
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I took this shot last Sunday, when it was just a little better than today... rode out to Salisbury, met Doug & Rich who were finishing with trail work, took a few photos which I posted over at my flickr page.
Today was a little different: cold, cloudy & wet, no ride, and no photos, but I was up at Sals again (with Doug, Brian, Eric, both Gregs, John E and Dave L) for trailwork. We got a lot done, finished the "dead-end" trail in fact, by finally making the connection to existing stuff.

Sister Goldenhair

Back from Utah. Flew out at 5:00 PM or so on Wednesday, transfer in Chicago, landed 10:45 local time in Salt Lake City, then drove until 1:30 AM, which of course is 3:30 AM EDT... Got up, met colleagues at 7:30 & drove to plant, work work work & then drove back to Salt Lake City. Dinner at Red Rock Brewpub, then a 9:00 bedtime -- 7:45 AM flight, Chi-town layover, home by about 6:00 PM yesterday.

Getting from Salt Lake City to Provo was pretty easy, by the way, but Provo to Price was a bit tricky -- I stopped for coffee on the way, verified directions with the kid at the counter, and as I was leaving he goes "good luck going up the canyon, man." I was like "say what?" and he told me it was one of the deadliest roads in the US for 10 years running, just the thing to hear before your midnight drive... But hey I'm from Jersey -- at night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines. You know, sprung from cages on Highway Nine, chrome wheel, fuel injected and steppin' out over the line...

The road was all that though, twisty and steep, but I caught some good tunes which helped me through: singing along to the oldies ("...well I keep on thinkin' 'bout you, sister goldenhair surprise...") first, and then I found an alternative station, out of Provo I think. Jammin through the mountain passes to Nine Inch Nails, Prodigy and 311; the most perfect moment musicale was Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus, it was so Utah it hurt...

Anyway, got home yesterday evening, dinner at Porter's (with Brian, Doug & Lori and Greg & Judy) & a stop in with the crew at Which Brew, then over to the Funhouse with D&L to see the Foolz, also met Spanky there. The Funhouse, be it known, has cleaned and re-tiled its bathroom, not sure if the place'll ever be the same.

Nice Enough

No memory of weighing myself this morning...

Worked on the bike last night, after my visit to the doctor. Fingers are still pretty numb but Doc thinks it isn't too bad -- B vitamins, physical therapy are the new order of the day. I'll be starting PT sometime next week, after getting back from my trip to Utah.

Meantime, the bike: there's a squeaking & creaking, almost drove me nuts on the ride Sunday. I think it was either cranks or the suspension pivots, so I tightened this & lubed that; hopefully it'll be quieter on tonight's ride.

One Tin Soldier Rides Away

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 14% BF

Fourth Horseman: Really cool article about the Black Death and AIDS over at Daily Kos. What's not mentioned though, is the connection between rising standards of living (and population) in the 12th & 13th centuries, and the decisions, worldwide, to squander their built-up wealth and people in a series of wars -- thus making all of Eurasia ripe for the plucking when the pandemic finally came. How many horsemen?

Meantime, rode yesterday, the ride I wrote about. It was quite fun, but the weekend took its toll and now my legs are so tired they're sore...

UPDATE: Thank you, Fafblog!

Halcyon Daze

Beautiful day today. I went to the coffee shop, then the gym, then Nature's Way, then Genesis where I bought a new multitool, which is what caused me to beable to find the one I though I lost... Then I went for a hike at Dunfield Creek. That place sure looks different since I was last there, before the hurricanes of 2004. I miscalculated the amount of daylight I'd have left, and had to run down the mountain to get down before sunset but I made it in time -- good thing because all I had were my prescription sunglasses, I'd have been blind in the dark.

Now I'm off to Which Brew, where I-don't-know-who is playing (I expect the answer is "nobody") but they have Magic Hat Number 9, my all time favorite beer, on tap. Woo Hoo! Think I'll walk down... Tomorrow is a long day in the saddle, riding downtown (coffee shop brunch) then to Sals for a ride plus a little trailwork. The weather should be really nice again tomorrow.

The Beavers Are Moving East

Rode the towpath tonight, abbreviated ride because the wheel I'd had repaired had a flat, tube probably got pinched when it was put back together -- doh!! I happened to notice lots of signs of beaver along the trail, only much further east than I've ever seen them, very near to the Bethlehem Boat Club launch. Now more than ever, don't drink the Lehigh water...

Curses, Foiled Again!

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 178#, 10% BF
Morning weigh-in (Friday): 175.5#, 7% BF

Went to pick up my wheel last night. I dropped it off the night before, actually expecting the work to be done on the spot but the mechanic/owner wasn't in; when I went to the shop last night (plan: run in & get wheel, run out, rush to Jacobsburg before it gets too close to dark for a worthwhile ride) I find that the service tag left by the counter girl was cryptic, and the mechanic hadn't even started the job, "but I can do it right now for you." Well OK, but he's the only one there and a bunch of people come in, then problems arise during the fix... um, I didn't go riding last night. Very frustrating, should have just done it myself.

So instead I played around with awk, went to bed at midnight & forgot to eat dinner. Interesting tool, at least to me it was last night. Tonight is definitely the towpath, then maybe I'll go out but I'm not really in a party mood, so we'll see.

Meantime, here's more about those magic mice, and here's more about Korean stem cell medicine, and here's one about religion. In the immortal words of Emily Dickenson, slipping is crash's law...

A Fun Game for Bookworms

I found this via Pharyngula and Majikthise: the American Library Association has posted its list of the 100 most frequently banned books from 1990-2000. How many have you read? Here's the list; the ones I read are in red bold:

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

I got thirteen total, not great but then again they look like "young adult lit," with a bunch of "what is sex?" books thrown in -- in other words, the kind of stuff that:
1.a library would want to carry, and
2. would eventually get challenged by someone.

An Amazing Difference

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 12.5% BF

I got a new rear derailleur and cables/housing last night and put them on the bike, unbelievable how much of an improvement it is. Unfortunately, I found a broken spoke which I'll hopefully get fixed tonight. Went to Which Brew afterward for my usual Tuesday Night visit, and the usual crew were there. The music was pretty bad eighties, so I busted out my Rhino Postpunk Chronicles CD Scared to Dance, and we jammed to the "good eighties" for a little while. No exercise tonight, must finish up the weekend chores/errands that were pushed back by the VT trip.

Bounceback

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 11.5% BF

Ate an entire pepperoni pizza, all but one slice, for dinner last night. Guess what I'll have when I get home tonight? Meantime, I must pick up a new rear derailleur and cables on the way home, start fixing the ol' drivetrain -- other than that it's just laundry nite...

Vermont 50-Miler Photos

Saturday: Ascutney Mountain
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I posted my photos from our road trip to Vermont, you can find them here. This shot was taken on Saturday, the day before the race, by far the better day weather-wise. The sky was so blue-and-gold it looked more like California than New England.

Road Trip Review

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 12.5% BF

Friday: Travel Day. Got to VT at about 2:00 AM.

Saturday: Tourist Day. We got up around 10:00, couldn't get breakfast so we had lunch at the general store, then drove around that part of Vermont, sightseeing. "Sightseeing" in this case meant: going to Woodstock and getting turkish coffee, then going to the Long Trail brewpub, then returning to the hotel for race registration, then going to the Harpoon brewpub, then having dinner in a train station in Windsor. Bedtime was 9:00.

Sunday: Race Day! The weather was mostly cloudy and a lot cooler than I expected. Since we'd have to stage before sunrise in the freezing, foggy dark, & stand around like that for about an hour, we were dressed appropriately (arm/leg warmers, jacket). The layers came off as I warmed up, but went back on as the day cooled...
The course itself was great. The first half reminded me a lot of Blue Marsh, except with hills, while the second half was a mix very hilly dirt roads, and "real" Vermont singletrack, ie hardwood forest, with lotsa roots etc. I felt better on the second half, and I think miles 30-45 were my best -- after that I was just tired and trying to get it done. Finished with a time of 7:21, which gave me 99th place in Sport Vet. I came home with a few bike problems, which gives me something to work on this week.

Sunday was also a travel day; we were home by 10:30 but that was one tough drive. Luckily, I slept through most of it...

UPDATE: Fixed some typos.

Off To Vermont

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 8.5% BF

Did a towpath ride last night, then hit Which Brew (no bands), then over to Porters (open-mic night, but it was lame). Last night was my Friday night: I expected today to be a travel day & took the day off, but we're not leaving until 7:00 or so -- been doing bills, other stuff around the house. Now it's time for prepping the bike, packing etc. VASS VT-50 is on Sunday. B'bye...

The Golden Cusp

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 7.5% BF (maybe the machine's broke)

Blasting the past: I saw this via Pharyngula....

Rules:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.

Here's mine, from this post written on Jan 4th, 2004:

I'd been to the Black Bread Cafe once or twice before and liked it, and I
think Doug & his wife (or was it Joe & Cindy?) ate there a few times as
well; it's a somewhat upscale place (though "precious" may be a better term)
with really good food.

Anyway, good meeting last night. Tonight I think I'll celebrate the autumnal equinox with a ride.

Gimme Gimme Octopus

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 8.5% BF

I got a real kick out of this. Thank you, Sadly, No!

This is funny, and so is this, and this -- face it, these guys are evil geniuses -- but this is cool.

Chain Gang meeting tonight.

UPDATE: I think I'll be going to see this show.

I'm Feeling Much Better Now

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 3.5% BF (WTF?)

Had very little to eat yesterday, just a turkey sub but I did drink lots of water, so I was very surprised by that body fat number -- in reality it's probably 12%-15% but my scale measures electrical resistance in the legs, and I interpret low numbers as a sign of dehydration. I've been trying to get that number up, drinking a lot of water lately.

Meantime, the doctor visit. I already feel better. He put me on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory stuff for my wrist & told me to get a wrist brace, wear it especially while riding (hi Karen!), then got yet another nasal spray to open my blocked eustachian tubes, and antibiotics for whatever germs are living in my ear. Like I might have mentioned, I feel better already.

Reading: Just finished Cormac McCarthy's No Country For Old Men, and I'm about to start The Kite Runner.

Wow, Monday Vortex

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 8.5% BF

Body fluids still low... It's been an eventful weekend, possibly why I'm now sick at home instead of work...

RIP Les Korcsmaros: Les was the guy who crashed the van on the PPRAC ride. He broke his leg and had other, semi-minor injuries requiring surgery, but his weak heart couldn't take it -- they had to close him up, put him in an induced coma, and wait until his condition stabilized to finish the surgery. His condition never did stabilize; he passed away, without ever waking up, on Friday. Goodbye Les, you were alright.

Anyway... the name of the band Thursday night was Odd Mercy. Very good show. No riding or other exercise Thursday or Friday.

Saturday was the gym, then a trip to Englishtown for my mom's birthday. Mom, Dad, my brother Chris & his wife Tara, and their son Chris. Nice dinner, birthday cake.

Sunday I got up late, intending to kick back, but it was so nice I went out on the Turner, got brunch at Coffee Works, went to Genesis to buy tubes & found out that it was "Bike to Brunch Day" at Hugh Moore Park so I went there, then rode to Sals & did a very abbreviated loop. Despite all the food, I felt like I was bonking on the ride home.

After that I got ready and went to Megan's going-away party over at Art's house. Very nice, lots of fun, which became craziness as Megan's college, high school and work girlfriends started getting rowdy... Waterballoon fights, dirty dancing and chickenfights, these people keep me feeling young, but also make me feel old...

Burning the candle at both ends while fighting illness, not a good idea -- I now have that vertigo pretty bad, feels like sinus situation developing as well, going to the doctor in about an hour. Strangely enough, this weekend was packed with about a half dozen other things that I blew off: that RCST Bash, the race at Bear Creek, the Hillier Than Thou road century... mother of all schedule conflicts.

Time For A Rest Day

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 174.5#, 6% BF
Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 174#, 6.5% BF

Well, since Blogger ate yesterday's post...

Rode home with Scott S on Tuesday. Friend, co-worker, he used to live up the block from me until he moved to Nazareth. (Here's a shot of him with me at Allamuchy.) Anyway, nice guy but fast, he also biked in to work & wondered if I wanted to carpool -- luckily he was into being sociable or I wouldn't have seen much of him on the ride home... He was going to Kim's Healing Center (a Chinese alt-medicine/massage/acupuncture place near me, Scott's into that kind of thing) so we rode almost all the way to my house together. We took my route through Stewartsville, which avoids the battle of dealing with traffic at the 173/US22/I-78 intersection, but took his route through Easton, via Northampton St and Pine Street (which is really an alley, the one that goes behind the old Weyerbacher location).

I went out after that, dinner at Which Brew while the laundry dried, but it became "I 'went out' went out" rather than "I went out for dinner" -- if you know what I mean -- when I ran into Scott U and Pete the radio DJ/mechanic, and Theresa came in, and we all trooped over to Porter's, and Carrie and Megan were having a bit of a goodbye party before Megan left for Seattle, and time passed, and one thing led to another... not that much alcohol involved, or even lateness, but I sure was tired when the alarm went off Wednesday.

The plan came together though: it was threatening rain, so I didn't want to bike commute, and my friend Joe wanted to ride but wanted me to be on my "real" road bike rather than the Iguana so we could fly through one of his training routes, therefore I drove in with the road bike on the roof. The weather was very iffy, I thought we'd probably cancel but Joe said "let's just do it" and we managed to miss almost all the rain. Blistering pace I thought, we rode from his house out almost to Stewartsville, then back to 173 almost to "that" intersection, then down those almost-abandoned roads and along River Road to Reigelsville, then Milford, then back through Holland Twp along roads I didn't know. A little less than 40 miles I'd guess, in about 2:15.

After that I went directly to Brian's house, where the "going to Moab next spring" crew was making travel plans & booking reservations, and after that I went home & fell asleep.

Tonight is rest/gym, then back to Which Brew to see the reunion show of some band whose name I forgot... bunch of friends used to play out around here a lot, I think they had a falling out but are back together just for this occasion.

The Weather Still Holds Steady

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 12.5% BF

Rode in to work today, pretty nice ride but a little warmer than expected, especially in town; it'll probably be hot on the ride home. Tomorrow may be the start of the rain. My plan is to bring the road bike, and ride with Joe G if it's nice enough.

Speaking of hot, this kind of thing really burns me up. My friend Heath got a new dog, a pit bull mix named Isabella. Beautiful & very sweet animal though definitely still a puppy -- Margarita's a gardener, and the dog ate some of her flowers on Heath's watch, so the both of them were a bit in the doghouse when I visited Sunday... We talked about those dudes in Bethlehem, stealing pit bulls for dogfights, jail is too good for them and they probably only got fined.

They Call It Happy Monday...

Morning weigh-in: 173#, 13.5% BF

... but for me it's just another rest day.

Well, I dodged that bullet: I got asked Thursday if I'd be willing to go into the field for a period that could last up to a month (WTF??); I said I'd have to check my situation and get back after the weekend. Today I said OK, and find out that the whole thing's been cancelled -- apparently just some kind of panic attack on someone's part...

Eric

Eric
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

My photos from our ride last week are up at flickr. Here's Eric riding through the blueberries on some rather tight singletrack. He's smiling now, but wait till he sees the scratches on his legs...

"Smashing Stereotypes, One Hit At A Time"

Saw the movie Murderball last night, about Quad Rugby aka "murderball," sort of like a cross between basketball, rugby and hockey in Mad-Max-like wheelchairs. I thought The Constant Gardener was good, but this'll probably end up being the best movie I see this year. Unbelievable, two thumbs up.

Rode today, 52 miles on the mountain bike: downtown for coffee/breakfast, then over to Bethlehem to ride the Sals trails, then back to Easton and down the Delaware towpath (bad idea, it's completely destroyed) and Rt 611 to the Raubsville Inn, then over to Heath & Margarita's (they live about a mile from the Inn, had also biked over) to see their new dog before riding home. I saw: deer, lots of clueless riders on the towpath (hey at least they're out there, they'll eventually learn to steer), a recumbent tandem, and people I didn't recognize at Sals -- cool, maybe the word's getting out.

Friday was the towpath, Saturday was the gym and also helping out at the P'burg Crit, and today was exhausting. I seized this day and throttled it.

So Much For The Rest Day

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 10.5% BF

Got an email yesterday from my friend Joe, he wanted to ride at Jacobsburg last night and wondered if I'd join him. My plan was to rest up so I could bike to work today, at most maybe hit the gym. Didn't quite work out.

Fast crowd: Greg M was there on his old hardtail, Rich B was riding his singlespeed, I was on my Turner and Joe was on his brand-new Titus. The 'burg is easy enough to allow a pretty quick pace, but I haven't done anything like that in a while -- not since I used to train with Greg and Joe, as a matter of fact. We maintained a 10.8 mph average, 15 miles in about an hour and a half, not really far but I was spent by the high level of effort (on my part). I hit Taco Hell on the way home, scarfed down my burritos and was in bed by 9:30. I'd already semi-given-up on the bike commute, but still went through the motions of getting ready -- when the alarm went off at 5:00 AM, I gave it my final answer...

Since I reckon my weekly mileage Monday-to-Monday (and this Monday was a long holiday ride), I already have 100 miles for the week, so I'll just do the towpath tonight like I always do on Fridays, get 25 miles instead of 40.

Meantime, check out this beautiful site.

Ouroboros

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 10.5% BF

Kekulé dreams the Great Serpent holding its own tail in its mouth, the
dreaming Serpent which surrounds the World. But the meanness, the cynicism with
which this dream is to be used. The Serpent that announces, "The World is a
closed thing, cyclical, resonant, eternally-returning," is to be delivered into
a system whose only aim is to violate the Cycle. Taking and not giving back,
demanding that "productivity" and "earnings" keep on increasing with time, the
System removing from the rest of the World these vast quantities of energy to
keep its own tiny desperate fraction showing a profit: and not only most of
humanity— most of the World, animal, vegetable, and mineral, is laid waste in
the process. The System may or may not understand that it's only buying time.
And that time is an artificial resource to being with, of no value to anyone or
anything but the System, which must sooner or later crash to its death, when its
addiction to energy has become more than the rest of the World can supply,
dragging with it innocent souls all along the chain of life.

- Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow

The serpent he's talking about is Ouroboros, the archetypal snake that encircles the World, devouring its tail, and the dream is the one where Kekulé, trying to figure the shapes of organic molecules, is stumped by the ring-shaped benzene, until the serpent appears to him in a dream. (If you've ever smelled gasoline, you know what benzene is.)

Anyway, rode home yesterday, but arranged via email to meet my friend Joe on the way home, do a ride with him. (Joe's a year younger than me, and we used to be pretty regular training partners at Round Valley. In 1998 he took 1st place in the Sport Senior Men class while I took 1st in Sport Vet at a race there; since then I've slowed down considerably, but he moved up to Expert and became shockingly fast: I thought I was a hero for doing the Wilderness 101 in 12:28, he did it in 9:03 this year.) He was on his road bike, but did a hard training ride the day before & would cruise along with me -- I was on the 50-pound (racks, panniers, work clothes etc) Iguana, and killing myself... We rode some very pleasant roads out near Harmony -- in other words, hilly roads -- and parted ways by the Free Bridge. I probably got about 30-35 miles in on the ride home.

Mug Club Night at Which Brew, but it was quiet there otherwise. Tonight is gym/laundry, maybe stir-fry a little of that tofu I bought before it goes bad.

Indian Summer

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 10.5% BF

Went to Cycle FunAttic last night, volunteer meeting for the upcoming Phillipsburg Criterium. Russ (the bike store owner and the guy who loaned me those wheels for the PPRAC ride) is the race promoter, so I figured I'll return the favor & help him out. Free pizza last night, free sandwich and teeshirt on race day, how could I resist?

Bicycled in to work today, awesome morning. Can't believe I almost blew it off, but that early rise is the hardest part of the whole deal.

Rocky Bastiche

Morning weigh-in: 172.5, 11.5% BF

Friday Night: Super-hot lap on the towpath, 1:25 or maybe a little less, followed by an early night at Which Brew. Another fundraiser, this time for the victims of Hurricane Katrina: whenever you bought a "Hurricane" (a popular New Orleans drink) a dollar would be donated and you'd get a commemorative glass. I almost didn't go, but at the end of my ride I ran into Mike and Carole -- normally I pass their house on my ride, this time I didn't, and there they were walking their dog down my alley; they told me about the fundraiser & said they'd be there. I got a kick out of going there, ordering a Hurricane from bartender Katrina -- her eyes rolled so hard I though they would roll right out of her head...

Saturday: Selfish day, drycleaning, coffee shop, gym etc. I was thinking of doing a road ride before lifting, but my legs were toast so I ran instead. Felt good, decent workout. Night was back to WB to catch the Insidious Rays, though it was another early night, rest up for the big ride.

Sunday: The big ride -- Doug & Lori, Eric, Brian and myself, all the way up to R.B. Winter State Park to ride Cowbell Hollow. Scha-wee-eeet! Pictures soon. Got a call from Doug when I got home: they were going to dinner at Porters w/ Eric & Kris, did I want to go? Quick shower and I get another phone call: they're at Porter's and the kitchen closed early. Another phone call: 1818 Tavern was closed, ditto Pearly Baker's... I suggested Shruty's Pub as a last resort (not quite "dinner evening out," more like "NASCAR on the big screen, Coors and bar food"), got the message to Brian who'd already gone to Porter's, and met them all at Shruty's. Pretty nice, good salvage to the evening, and of course I could walk there...

Monday: I got up around 10:00, hopped on the bike by 11:30 and rode downtown for some coffee & brunch, then took the towpath to Bethlehem and rode the Salisbury trails. Got home about 5:00, showered, then went out to see "The Constant Gardener" w/ Joe & Cindy and Brian. Very good movie, I expect at least some kind of Oscar nod, but it's definitely not "feel-good hit" material.

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.