Goodbye To Selfish Day

Morning weigh-in: 167.5#, 12% BF (surprisingly enough, I'm happy with those numbers)

 

Friday night was the semi-usual towpath ride, and a trip out to Christian's Spring Hotel but I left relatively early, because early Saturday morning I'd be digging in the dirt at Allamuchy. Trailwork day, we put in a new singletrack bypass to one of the ancient and eroded roads that cut through the park. Record attendance by the way, about 20 people were there. We worked for maybe three hours and then did a ride.

 

I bailed early on the ride though, and borrowed some shower-and-rooming time at nearby Joe & Dawn's: my next stop was to Parsippany to visit my old friend Vito and his wife -- they were the ones who had the big 70th birthday surprise party that I missed because of Moab. The visit was pretty nice, I haven't seen him in a few years and we did quite a bit of catching up. (He had a knee replaced recently, took about a year for the pain to subside but he's getting there. His wife just got through a bout with lung cancer, which metastasized into her brain. They're hoping she's out of the woods now, but you never know with that kind of thing.) His daughter stopped by, and also a friend from the neighborhood, and they made homemade pizza for dinner. There was also a calzone, and cannoli's and beer and coffee...

 

I got a phone call on the way home, Pocono Joe asking me to stop by Allamuchy Joe's house to pick up the bike wheel he left at the ride, with prisoner exchange up near Saylorsburg on the ride home. I got a call from Anne too, home from Washington but I was too tired to go out. 

 

Meanwhile, What They Said: Yeah, and yeah, and oh yes definitely that too. Just sayin'...

 

Yesterday was more trailwork, this time at Sals: again about 20 people, we spent about four hours and came close to finishing John's old trail. Lotsa rock and dirt moving, followed by the obligatory group ride. Met Anne for lunch afterward, and used her computer to buy new shoes...

What Are They Doing At The Hyacinth House?

Dinner last night at the Hawthorne House, a place in Bethlehem I'd heard about but never visited -- Anne knew it because she used to go there occasionally. Pretty decent: bar food and $2.50/bottle microbrews. Smaller inside than the building looked from the outside. Leechboy was playing, the games were on the TV's, and we were just BS'ing over burgers & beer...

 

Anne's out of town this weekend, down in Washington DC at least until late Saturday night. It's a "girl's weekend," and she's checking out the monuments & museums with Judy, Erica and Emmy. I'll be doing trail maintenance at Allamuchy tomorrow, followed (most likely) by a ride, then a visit to my old friend and retired co-worker Vito in Parsippany. Sunday will be more trailwork & riding, this time at Sals.

 

Meantime, I'll be riding the towpath tonight with Larry, then going to Christian's Spring Hotel, where I should run into a bunch of Virtual Pubbers, looks like some kind of smart mob scene a-building. (We were supposed to go there last night, but there was a problem with the water in Nazareth & Easton yesterday, and CSH had no food service -- I sure hope one day makes enough of a difference in the food situation because I'll probably be starving.)

Under The Water Carry The Water

Morning weigh-in: 169#, 11.5% BF

 

Saw David Byrne play Tuesday night at Zoellner, first show of his new tour and it was awesome. Me & Anne, Doug & Lori; our seats were amazing, like third row center -- he was standing literally less than 10 feet away from us, front and center on stage with his guitar, and with the rest of the band a little bit in the background. He and the whole band (drummer, bassist, bongo player, three backup singers, and three dancers) were all in white, a strange look but it actually worked well.

 

The show itself was great, very high energy, and he did a bunch of 80's hits as well as newer or more obscure stuff. He got several standing ovations too, especially on the older songs, and people were standing/dancing by the end. (Just a by-the-way: David Byrne is a very good singer, which we all knew, but he is also a very good guitarist.) Lotsa older people there, and watching them dance reminded me of 80's fratboys-become-yuppies jamming to Springsteen's "Born in the USA," and that whole Subversive Artists vs Their Fans Who Don't Get It thing... That got me thinking about my own mondegreens and misunderstandings from that era; lots of resonances in those songs.

 

Speaking of dance: the dancers were a nice touch. Two girls and a guy, doing very modern-looking (to me) stuff, made me wish I had a bit more of a dance vocabulary.  It reminded me at times of African dance, or of hoedowns, or cheerleader moves a la "Hey Mickey;" then there were other parts that were more like Meredith Monk, and even times I picked up a porn-stars-from-Naked-Lunch vibe, when the dancers seemed somewhat older and tireder than at first glance...

 

Anyway, before that I got a post-work haircut at Eskandalo, where Alison said she'd be DJ'ing at Christian's Spring Hotel that night -- oh well, you can't be everywhere -- followed by a pre-show dinner at Tulum. Last night was the Chain Gang meeting at Bob & Karen's. Tonight is the gym, followed by dinner out.

My, What An Eventful Weekend!

Morning weigh-in: 169.5#, 10% BF

 

Jeez, you go away for a few days...

 

RIP David Foster Wallace: Dead by his own hand at the age of 46. So sad. Infinite Jest was one of my favorite books, a postmodern classic and the funniest book about depression I ever read.

 

Swirling the Bowl: So Big Shitpile strikes again --  Lehman is going bankrupt, and Merrill Lynch got bought, and AIG is teetering on the edge -- if they go down, does that mean I am no longer an insured driver? I guess I'll have to revise my "America Descends Into Civil War and Cannibalism" countdown, move things up by a few years.

 

Wasn't That A Mighty Storm? Hurricane Ike was bad enough, but most people heeded warnings and it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Our Houston office is closed though.

 

Meantime:

 

On Thursday I visited my friend Gary in the hospital after work. We used to ride and race together: me, Joe G, Gary and his girlfriend Gina, their friend Gerry, and a few others, the old Round valley crowd. Now they (Gary & Gina) have two kids and don't get out as much, but recently he's been getting back into road racing and triathlon. He was out training with a few friends on Monday, and a woman failed to yield at a nasty intersection (I know it well, I drive through it every day, and there have been a lot of bicycle and motorcycle fatalities there over the years) -- he hit her grille, smashed her windshield with his shoulder, then flew over and landed behind her SUV, breaking his femur, ankle, and wrist (and dislocating his shoulder) at various points in the process. Helicopter ride, femur surgery, aches and bruises and a couple of casts, but no head or organ damage -- and strangely enough, no road rash either. He seemed in good spirits, all things considered, and was scheduled to go home Friday.

 

I met Joe at the hospital. We were supposed to ride Sals after the visit, but he drove into the parking garage and managed to wreck his bike (which was on his roof rack) on the low ceiling. Broken fork, broken seatpost, damage to the rack and his car's roof, he was not happy...

 

Thursday night was dinner with Anne at Brew Works.

 

The rest of the weekend was the Rattling Creek Single Trackers "Bash;" I drove down Friday afternoon and arrived in the worst of the rain. More on all this as the week progresses -- and stay tuned for over 100 photos -- but suffice to say that it was an awesome time despite the early bad weather: the Friday night "Disco Party" was a huge success, making Saturday morning less successful, and the Saturday night dinner/concert was fun but a bit more subdued, and in between it all we rode and rode.

 

Last night was chores and laundry; tonight is errands, and dinner with Anne.

Nine Eleven

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 170.5#, 10.5% BF

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 169.5#, 7% BF

 

It's strange, I actually feel a lot stronger with the extra weight (even if it's obviously settling in my gut instead of say going to build muscles), though that might be a little rationalization, some whistling in the dark. But...

 

I rode the towpath last night, and early on I got a "fuck you" pass from some guy on a Jamis: he whipped past me as I went under the 25th St Bridge, having (unbeknownst to me) dropped down the paved hill from the orphanage -- I thought he'd been riding the sewer line right-of-way singletrack like I was, and blew past me on sheer strength. Either way, Game On!

 

I dropped in behind and drafted (unbeknownst to him) as he hammered away at 20+ mph. He slowed down after a mile or so, and was very surprised to see me pull up next to him... Fun little game, and we both got a chuckle out of it; we rode together until we got to the old boat launch, where he peeled off to go up Hope Road.

 

I was sort of racing daylight and already in fast mode -- funny how my legs actually feel stronger the day after a gym workout -- so I did a little hammering of my own out to Sand Island, really fast pace, at least until the path started to get crowded. Cruised though the turnaround, and who should I see but my new friend, who decided to give chase but never caught up, heh heh. We rode back together, total "cruise and schmooze" mode until we split up again at the old boat launch. I got home just as darkness fell.

 

Meantime, I got an email that my old friend and riding/racing buddy Gary was hit by a car while riding Tuesday night; he's in St Luke's Hospital with a broken ankle, a broken femur (yikes!) and a dislocated shoulder. Tonight I'm riding Sals (aka "behind St Luke's") with Joe, then we're going to pay him a visit. Tomorrow morning I'm off to the Bash.

Betty Lou Still Ain't Got No New Shoes

Morning weigh-in: 168.5#, 11% BF

 

Don't know what's up with that high body fat percentage, though I did eat a handful of Pringles (strictly so I could toss the empty can in the garbage), and a glass of water -- hydration, plus some salt to hold it there until morning...

 

Ran last night around 10:00, my standard 2 mile route. I was going to ride either the road or the towpath, but I left my riding glasses at Anne's after the recumbent ride -- since the 2000 crash I've been pretty paranoid about riding with regular glasses -- so instead I did some chores, errands, etc. Laundry, drycleaning, and I also made a trip out to the nearby Dick's Sporting Goods, a new pair of Teva Hurricane III's for to get, but alas they had none. I love my Tevas, but they are starting to fall apart -- they're like 11 years old -- and the situation has now become urgent. Stay tuned...

 

Tonight is Christian's Spring Hotel after the gym, tomorrow is yoga or possibly biking. The Bash is this weekend, so I have to get ready for that too.

The Daily Grind

Morning weigh-in: 169.5#, 9.5% BF

 

Well that's not so bad, considering I ate a bowl of chili at midnight... tonight will be more chili by the way, and I'll probably make even more, my BASH chili contest entry, on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

 

Hmmm, what else is going on in the world... prions are jumping species barriers -- oh noes! I think I'll skip the venison chili.

Payback

Donny Recumbent!
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Today was a much nicer day than yesterday, so Anne convinced me to do a recumbent ride with her -- I joked that this was "payback" for dragging her into the woods last weekend, but really it was a lot of fun.

Anne has two recumbents: one's a standard "short wheelbase" design, and the other is a sort of trike, very low to the ground. (The trike is what I rode today. I tried the other one afterward and it's pretty squirrely, something I'll have to master I guess.) She had been exchanging emails with some guy who'd been in the paper for riding a recumbent, and they put together an impromptu group ride, just a jaunt out to Emmaus and back. Lotsa fun, and though I don't think I'll be getting one any time soon, I could probably be persuaded to go out again...

Anyway, dinner was at the Brew Works. Tomorrow is probably a road ride, one more good day before the weather goes south again.

Happy 60th Birthday, Pappy Spanky!

The Birthday Boy Himself
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Hurricane Hanna's aftermath put a damper on Saturday's festivities, but the show had to go on:

I blew off the Saturday morning "birthday ride" to avoid the deluge (which actually came a bit later in the day), instead helping Anne brew beer, something I never did. (Pretty cool, and it actually seemed easy, but there was a lot of waiting for various liquids to boil or cool down.) We caught up with the crew later at Rich's, where the party was in full swing under some tents he put up in the backyard. Stoves, grills, plenty of food including alligato & rattlesnake -- his brother was in town from Florida -- and of course plenty of beer. Good times...

Memento: Chili Tonight, Hot Tamale

Morning weigh in (Tuesday): 169.5#, 8.5% BF

Morning weigh in (Wednesday): 170#, 8% BF

Morning weigh in (Thursday): 167.5#, 11.5% BF

 

Yeah so the numbers really are trending up, I think I'll be trying to avoid eating out too much for a while... I made chili yesterday, a slightly different recipe (different beer base,  which came out rather nice I must say. Anne came over after her meeting, and we had some with bread and a salad. (She also brought more tomatoes -- oh no! -- and some hot peppers from her garden. I might make more chili later in the week, to bring to the BASH chili contest.) Before dinner I hit yoga.

 

Tuesday was a rest day: I prepped the chili, ran some errands and did chores; dinner was a salad and some leftover moussaka.

 

Continuing to work my way backwards...

 

Labor Day Monday: Anne and I went up to Jim Thorpe (which is actually her hometown) to do some riding. She rented a mountain bike downtown and we did the Broad Mountain Loop, maybe 12 miles of mostly jeep roads (about 2 miles were on the Deer Path singletrack, and some was a hike down to Glen Onoko Falls). We also hung out for a while at the two overlooks, so we were out for quite a while. She doesn't have much offroad experience, but she's got some pretty solid skills from years of commuting, touring etc, and rode rather well -- we actually made good time, on what was once considered (by peeps with more experience than she has now) a major adventure. I'm thinking she liked it. (We had dinner later at Porter's, with Judy again.)

 

Sunday: I rode with Rudy at R.B. Winter State Park, the "Cowbell Hollow Trail" as described in Griz's PA MTB guidebook. This was a posted VMB ride (one I posted like a month ago), and it was a beautiful day, but we were the only ones on the ride. As above, so below: the park seemed kind of remote and the trails underutilized, kind of sad for such a nice place though I'm glad it wasn't crowded. We rode about 28 miles, but rather than following the guidebook's route we bailed at mile 20 to take the road (rather than the singletrack) back to the cars. Despite a late night and an early morning, I felt really good.

 

Saturday started as a typical (but yoga-free) "selfish day," but the evening started with a birthday party for Judy at Sette Luna. Me, Anne, Judy, Erica & Toby (Judy's daughter & future son-in-law) and Adam, dining al fresco on pizza and appetizers, really nice. After that we went to Spanky's for the big VMB party: Greg did some major work on his yard (pond, fire pit) and this was it's baptism. also very nice, but just a bit wilder than Sette Luna...

 

Friday I had off. I got my oil changed plus a bunch of other car stuff done, blah blah various errands. The evening turned drizzly but Brian, Larry and I did our Friday ride anyway. (We actually tried some of the almost-completed Delaware towpath. We got in about 10 miles, but the thing still needs work.)

 

Anyway, back to the future: tonight I'm hitting the gym, and Judy has decided to throw an impromptu party, since Christian's Spring Hotel is closed this week and the "Thursday night supper club" has nowhere to go.

Ob La Di Ob La Da

Morning weigh-in: 167#, 9.5% BF

 

So I go to yoga last night, only to find the place closed for renovations, with a carpenter cutting new floorboards out in the street -- that's when I remembered them making the announcement last week. Doh!

 

Oh well, that meant I was early to Christian's Spring Hotel. Dinner with the usual crew: Anne, Judy, Lee, and Joe & Sally, just back from Florida and South Carolina and there with their son Ben, who's leaving for college this weekend. Anne brought her dog to give to Judy, because Judy would be watching him for a few days while Anne takes her Ben to college, and she also brought another bag of heirloom tomatoes (plus basil) for me. Meanwhile, there was a stewing rabbit waiting for her in the kitchen fridge, a gift from the bar owner's uncle. It was a strange day for handoffs at the CSH...

 

Tonight is the gym right after work, then probably turkey sandwiches with tomatoes. I'll probably hit Porters later for the open-mic night, but I have a ton of things I want to get done tomorrow (Friday off, but I still have to deal with that oil change, and also a few bike projects, shopping blah blah), a little clearing of the decks, so it'll be an early night but still, four day weekend here I come!

 

By the way, I've been putting my Allamuchy photos up on flickr, piece by piece but I'm almost done.

Frappe Le Sac

Morning weigh-in: 167#, 8% BF

Not sure what was going on with Blogger, looks like my Friday post might not have appeared until today, but anyway...

I'm back from Allamuchy. Twenty-four hours, eight laps, 10-20 bowls of cereal and one trashed rear hub, it was a great weekend. The weather was perfect the entire time, the course was classic "old school Allamuchy," fast and fun, and I basically followed my plan (two laps and rest, two laps and eat, two night laps, sleep until daylight and race until noon), which would have given me nine laps, but I scratched the last one because of the hub problems. It wasn't worth trying to fix on the trail, and in fact I think I need a new bearing, which isn't really a quick-trailside-fix kind of problem.

I was lallygagging anyway: eating at the cafeteria, napping when I felt like it... Some of my friends, Joe G and Kevin M in particular, went at it pretty seriously, and they did rather well, each with 13 laps and a place on the podium. There were others at my campsite -- actually I was staying at their campsite, we're talking course designers Bob & Karen and their JORBA crew -- and they were there for the laughs and camping, and the occasional adventure of a lap around the course. I think I was a happy medium between the two (ie going hard and going easy), but I'm pretty sure we all had a good time.

I'll probably have more to say on this as the week progresses, but I also went out last night, to Porters for a "victory dinner" with Anne and Brian, so tonight is a second try at an early bedtime. (Also, stay tuned for pictures because I took about 40 shots during the race, but that'll have to wait. By the way, all my shots taken with the new camera up until the race are now posted on flickr.) Good night!

A Quick Post

Morning weigh-in: 167#, 7.5% BF

 

Allamuchy Here I Come! I prepped the bike last night, and also loaded my camping & bike repair gear in the car; tonight is food shopping and clothes packing, with a trip to the Velodrome in between -- last race of the season, I'm meeting Anne & some friends to check out the action.

Anyway, that's my story until Monday. See ya...

Septemberers!

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 166.5#, 8.5% BF (little bit o' suppression)

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 167#, 10.5% BF (I worked out, ate right & this is the thanks I get)

 

The ride in to work Tuesday was a bit slow and congested, not too bad but you could tell there were a lot of idiots on the road. On the way home it was worse -- I kept thinking "Hmmm, full moon? Nope. Weather? Not that either..." as I dealt with all sorts of slowpokes in the left lane, aggressive yahoos in heavy traffic etc, but it all calmed down after crossing the river. Until...

 

I got through Cemetery Curve no problem, but then traffic came to a dead stop about 200 yards from my exit: there was an accident in the left lane, multiple cars right at the exit, and everyone had to get over. I got through eventually, took back roads to the supermarket, and as I passed US22 again I saw that it was closed, this time in the Westbound direction. I though "wow, crazy day" but thought no more about it.

 

This is what that accident was all about, and in a way I suppose it was probably the cause of the accident at the 13th Street Exit as well. Two people dead, one in the hospital, all for a vacuum cleaner... (I'm guessing I came through that area about 5 minutes after he did, a few different choices and it could have been me that met him head on.) Classic psychopath, some people are questioning how the appropriateness of the police response, but it doesn't really sound like an irresponsible (on the part of the police) high speed chase: this guy fled the cop who pulled him over, hopped on the highway going the wrong way, and ruined a whole bunch of lives, all in a matter of moments.

 

Anyway, did a quick towpath lap, then went out to Sette Luna for dinner with Anne. We're meeting again tonight for dinner at Christian's Spring Hotel, but she brought me some string beans and tomatoes from her garden Tuesday, and I had them with a baked ham last night (I have leftover ham). No lie, probably the best tomatoes, and best string beans, I ever ate.

 

Summer's in deceleration, there's only a month left. The weather has been very nice the past few days, very 911 you might say, hope it stays that way through the weekend since I'll be camping/racing at Allamuchy.

New Camera: First Photo!

New Camera: First Photo!
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Surprisingly enough, this is a Linux post: cameras put extra data into the photo file, things like what type of camera took the picture, when (and, if your camera has GPS, where) the photo was taken, etc. Exif metadata is an example of this kind of thing.

My original photos are big files, with a lot more detail than is necessary for web viewing -- and the new camera produces even larger, more detailed photos -- so what I do is shrink them down before trying to upload them over my slow dialup connection. I would do this with a small program I wrote, that used standard file conversion utilities to decompress the JPEG-format file, re-scale the decompressed version and then re-compress it. Voila, a smaller file, but this method basically throws out any metadata; none of it ends up in the new file.

I really didn't worry about the metadata before, but now I want to keep the "photo taken on this date" information (as well as camera info) with the photo, since I will no longer be putting a visible date stamp on my photos. (Flickr shows this info to the right of the photo on the individual photo's display page.)

My solution is to do pretty much what flickr does when it process a photo: I used a small utility program called mogrify, part of the ImageMagick suite, which can do all these conversions while preserving the metadata. I tried it with this shot, and you can click on the photo to follow the link back flickr and see the metadata off to the right. Mission accomplished! My next task is to automate the process with a script and install it in Nautilus.

I Got A New Toy

Morning weigh-in: 167#, 9.5% BF (not great, but less scary than yesterday)

 

OK, so I'm back on the "better eat better" kick, since I've been on a downward nutritional spiral lately. Clean up my act, cook/eat at home, etc. Luckily, Porters is closed for renovations... Nothing scary, they're not pulling a Which Brew or anything, just a little downtime -- and they'll be smoke-free when they reopen Friday. Bonus!

 

Eating: Dinner last night was beans; breakfast was scrambled eggs plus two small apples.

 

Listening: I was jamming to Neko Case this morning, "Deep Red Bells" to be specific, though "jamming" may not be the right term to use here. Forget haunting, that song is just plain spooky.

 

Gadget Watch: I was listening to music on the computer this morning, since I still don't have an iPod or portable mp3 player. But, I do have a new camera now: I picked up an Olympus Stylus 850 SW last night at Dan's Camera City. Waterproof down to 10 feet, shock resistant (within reason), better and faster and more megapixels than my old camera, thought the one feature I really wanted -- instant image processing, so the picture you get is what you see the instant you press the shutter -- is only available with the DSLR cameras. Meantime, DSLR is only available on those cameras with the separate detachable lenses, like professional cameras and such, and that's definitely not what I wanted. Oh well, my new one does have a "burst mode," which is a good second choice, and I can now make underwater videos if uh, I ever want to...

 

If the weather holds I'll probably do a ride tonight, then some shopping and bike prep. Tomorrow will be yoga.

Sun Down, Moon Down, Earth Down Too

Morning weigh-in: 170.5#, 11.5% BF (oh noes!)

 

No real significance to the post's title, I was just reminded somehow of some Transcendentalist phrase from somewhere, and it came out like that. Let's see:

 

Friday, my first Friday off under the new schedule, was a chore day, though I did manage to meet Anne for lunch downtown -- she was in Easton for a brunch date with a friend. It poured in the afternoon, so I bailed on the towpath ride; dinner was a cheesesteak at Porters.

 

Saturday was my first true "selfish day" since before the Wilderness 101: I went to early morning yoga, then did an errand or two and got breakfast at the Coffee Exchange, and hit the gym for the first workout with Dawn in like a month. Home, housework, laundry and drycleaning, and then I went to Bethlehem for a haircut. (It was so nice I via via the towpath.)

 

Saturday night was a party at Michele's place -- she's one of the old Which Brew crew and lives a few blocks from me, just past the halfway point between my place and Porters. Really cool space, and a nice pleasant evening with the crew: me, Kirk, Michele, her friend Cathy & her boyfriend (don't know his name but he sings for the Plucking Grassholes), Fred & Lara, Jim & Alison, Ed, Pete, Art, Scott, the usual suspects... I stopped at Porters to buy some beer -- my contribution to the party since I wouldn't be cooking anything -- and got myself enmeshed in several conversations before I could even get to the party, but I finally arrived about an hour late. Like I said, very pleasant evening of food, drink & conversation but I had to leave early, I had big plans for Sunday.

 

I got up early yesterday, met Anne in Bethlehem around 8:30 and we carpooled up to Jim Thorpe to go whitewater rafting. What a trip! I'd never done anything like it (maybe some canoeing but that's very different), and it was a total blast. Me, Anne, her friend Bridget and another friend Allison (a different Allison) in one raft, and her friends Meredith and Dave, brother-and-sister owners (with Bridget) of a Bethlehem cafe/bookstore, and their significant others in another, plus maybe 20 other rafts full of people. The whitewater parts were crazy fun if scary -- Bridget got knocked out of the raft once, Anne twice, and we rescued one girl and put her back in the proper boat -- and in between, in the calm water we had splash fights with our baling buckets. Total fun, I'm doing that again, soon. By the way, I slept like a log last night.

Anyway, today I'm blowing off everything to go buy a camera. Tomorrow will probably be the gym, Wednesday a ride, Thursday packing and Friday (or Saturday morning) I'll be off to Allamuchy.

"Your sun's riding low, your moon's riding too,
Good night. little Arlo, good night."

Megan Gets Married

Megan
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Congratulations!

This is a photo from 2005, before she moved out to Seattle and became "West Coast Megan;" in fact it's from her going away party. I saw Judy at Christian's spring Hotel last night, Judy whose daughter Erica was Megan's best friend growing up: Erica just got back from Seattle, where she was maid of honor -- practically the whole bridal party, apparently it was a small, nontraditional wedding -- and we got the story of how it all went down.

Moving to Pennsylvania was one of the best things I ever did, and so many other "best things I ever did" were really just consequences of that original move; I think Megan's really thrived out there from all reports, and this is one more consequence of a really good move. Go Megan!

Last Day Of The Week

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 166.5#, 10% BF
Morning weigh-in (Friday): 165.5#, 11.5% BF

UPDATE: This was a post from yesterday that I forgot to submit. The future parts of it came true pretty much the way I said.

Nothing much to say. Went out to Sette Luna with Anne last night, split a pizza (pepperoni and some exotic sausage) and an appetizer (figs stuffed with goat cheese, amazing taste/texture juxtapositions). Nice place, we sat in the main room. Tonight I'm hitting the gym, then meeting Anne and a few others at Christian's Spring.

By the way, I'm back on the population dynamics kick; I picked up that Matrix Methods book again.

Porky's XXXIV

Morning weigh-in: 167.5#, 11% BF

Rode at Jordan Park last night. I got there at around 5:45 and the place was a mob scene: the VMB ride (maybe 20 people) had just left, and what I think was the Blue Mountain Ski Club's weekly mountain bike ride was getting ready to go out (there was also a pretty big contingent of Dirt Devils in the lot and on the trails, though I'm not sure if that was a group ride or not). I got literally the last space in the parking lot. Needless to say, the woods were pretty busy too. I rode with Rudy and Dave, and we were constantly ruinning into other riders, as well as hikers and a few frisbee golfers. Trails are twisty there, and turn back on themselves a lot, so you could be far from someone via the trail, but see them only a few dozen yards away as the crow flies -- we were joking about the "Blair Witch" parody on Saturday Night Live, where the kids were running around in circles, "lost" and panicking about 10 feet from their car...

Long meeting afterward, but productive as always, and that was followed by a trip to Grumpy's BBQ for dinner. Pretty awesome, never been there. You could smell the pork and beef smoking from down the road -- they do it themselves out back -- and it tasted as good as it smelled. Decent beer selection too.

Tonight I'm skipping yoga, and going to Sette Luna for someupscale pizza with Anne.

Get-R-Done

Morning weigh-in: 168#, 4.5% BF

 

Think I'm all caught up on my sleep, it's been "good sleeping weather" as the saying goes, and the past few nights I've been doing just that, like a log. Of course the Sunday party, and the Monday night laundry/Porters thang, might have something to do with that, as well as those morning numbers... Laundry's done though, and so are a few other chores/errands that I had hanging over me; all I have left now is some shopping and housework, and I should finally be caught up to my weekend agenda.

 

Tonight is a trip out to Jordan for the VMB meeting, heading there straight from work, and I brought the bike for the pre-meeting ride. I'll be later than the regularly scheduled ride but I should be able to hook up with the others, it's not a big place.

Monday Morning Quarterback

Morning weigh-in: 166.5#, 10% BF

 

Seems like such a long time...

 

Time Flies: Wednesday I went to Christian Springs after yoga, to hang with Anne and also Kelly-Jo. We were having such a nice conversation that time started to slip by... I realized it was sort of late, thinking "oh it must be 11:00 already" and checked the time -- it was 1:00 AM. Ouch! Needless to say, Thursday morning was a tough sell.

 

Too Old To Rock & Roll? I saw Jethro Tull at Musikfest on Thursday night. I was there with my friend Bob McF (from the Which Brew crowd) who'd basically bought tickets to all the shows, and arranged for different people to join him on different nights. Pretty decent plan actually, he saw a bunch of good shows and managed to hang with the old crowd too... Unfortunately, while the show was good and we had a blast, Ian Anderson's vocals were not up to snuff -- his voice seemed unable to hit the higher notes, and while his flute playing was as forceful as ever his breathing, while singing, was like he was trying to talk and jog at the same, all breathless and wheezy/panting. Something was up, and you could tell they knew it: though they played many of their hits, the majority of the songs were instrumentals from earlier in their career, or obscure things from like the late eighties. Still, it was a decent enough show, they did rock, and like I said they played most of their hits -- except not "Aqualung," which ticked Bob off no end, since I think that was his favorite, and the reason he was there...

 

Return Of The Son Of The Fun Ride! Friday night was a Sals ride, actually starting with dinner at Tulum (a burrito place in Southside Bethlehem) and riding over to the St Luke's Hospital trailhead behind the dialysis center. Our plan was to ride through the woods and listen to the Stone Temple Pilots concert -- the acoustics for the pay shows are actually very good in some parts of the woods, since Sals is just across the river -- but there were three flats, a broken chain, snafus with lighting systems etc, and we were out a lot longer than we expected; when we got back within earshot of the concert, all we heard was talking, but they played "Plush" just as we got back to the dialysis center. Oh well, I guess we missed it... After that I hit the Tally Ho, but it was crowded and I didn't know anyone there. Burger, beer, and gone. (Got a report from someone who saw the show: they showed up like an hour late, seemed drunk and spent a lot of time yakking, and their voices were off. At least we had fun biking!)

 

Reading: Saturday I skipped morning yoga but did the coffee shop thing (saw Judy there) and then hit the gym, and that night I went to Christian's Spring Hotel to hang with Anne and her sisters . It was a beautiful day, so of course I spent a good portion of the afternoon, between the gym and dinner out, at home reading -- I finished Gods Behaving Badly, and am now back on Blindness, both loaners from Anne.

 

My Little Chickadee: I heard some birds chirping rather loudly while I was hanging at home Saturday, didn't think anything of it but when I went to the bathroom I passed the kitchen and saw two little finches or something, sparrows, in the kitchen, on the windowsill, cheeping at about a dozen of the same kind of bird right outside. I opened the window as my new friends flew around the room, then eventually got one of them to fly out -- the other one hit the window and fell to the ground, stunned, and scooted under the fridge when I tried to grab it. It hid itself up in the works, behind motor/compressor etc, I could barely see it with a flashlight and couldn't get it out (I tried a broomstick), so I opened the window and left the room, figuring he'd calm down and eventually find the window on his own.

 

I went in about an hour later and he seemed gone, so I shut the window and went back to reading, but just as I was about to hop int the shower (passing the kitchen again on the way to the bathroom) I heard loud cheeping and found my friend back on the windowsill -- apparently he took longer to calm down than I thought. This time he managed to find the window when I opened it, and so I was only a little late to dinner.

 

Yesterday I went on a breakfast ride, rolling down to the Quadrant for brunch (where I saw Kirk and also Michele) before doing the towpath. My plan was to hit Sals, but I only got to Freemansburg when the sky started looking ominous, so I turned around. Home, shower during the storm, and out to Emmaus for Heath's surprise party -- he's relocating to Utah, and his brother Hans threw a going-away party for him. Only a few peeps there I knew but it was nice. I was whooped when I got back, so I hit the sack early last night. So now I'm essentially caught up here...

 

Tonight is drycleaning, yoga, laundry, and shopping.

The Roar Of A Predator So Absolute

Morning weigh-in: 166#, 8.5% BF

 

Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration! A-and also the anniversary of the destruction of Hiroshima, so here is your Obligatory Pynchon Quote:

 

"At the instant it happened, the pale Virgin was rising in the east, head, shoulders, breasts, 17 degrees minutes down to her maidenhead at the horizon. A few doomed Japanese knew of her as some Western deity. She loomed in the eastern sky gazing down at the city about to be sacrificed. The sun was in Leo. The fireburst came in roaring and sovereign..." -- from Gravity's Rainbow

 

Anyway, rode the benchmark with Anne last night after work, then had a little more of that roast pork loin. Tonight is yoga, then probably Christian's Spring Hotel for dinner.

 

So if you see my birds flying on the way past people crying, just reach over into my pocket, take the paper and written on it's what to do, it's up to you... Ah, Transfiguration...

Godzilla, Come To Trample Spoorless Your White-Market of Solace

Morning weigh-in: 168.5#, 7.5% BF (wow)

 

Goodbye Norma Jean: On this date in 1962, Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home.

 

Favorites, Old And New: When Anne's daughter was young, she had a little friend who used to live next door to Judy -- and now he's the author of one of my new favorite webcomics, xkcd. I was just looking at the forums on his site, and found this thread -- though it's a skewed sample, and I can't claim "small world." But those kids are all right...

 

Pictures of Lilly (ba da-da da, da da)

Lilly, O Lilly! (ba da-da da, da da)

 

Salsa Surfadelic, Baby!

Morning weigh-in: 162.5#, 8.5% BF

 

Saturday was a bit of a wash, as the Fell Mountain ride got canceled/postponed due to weather, and I used the time for laundry & cleaning (also morning yoga), but yesterday was beautiful so I spent it outdoors: downtown to The Quadrant for breakfast, then the towpath to Sals for a lap, where I hooked up with "Spanky," a bunch of dudes from Philly, and Keith and John P; from there I rode over to Musikfest (it was on the way home). I caught a bunch of surf bands -- though once again I missed the Coffin Daggers -- and eventually found myself sitting with Lee and Judy. I made, or rather finalized, plans to return later, and took the towpath home around 5:00.

 

I was showered and back at Plaza Tropicale by 7:00. I hooked up with Anne, and Lee & Judy again, and eventually Peter R and Kelly-Jo, as well as Judy's future son-in-law and his family: we were all there to see Judy's daughter Erica, salsa dancer ("salsita?") extraordinaire and part of a local dance troupe, perform in between "heats" at an amateur salsa competition. The competition was fun (but a bit long, and the emcee's repetitive repartee didn't help), and the salsa demos by the younger kids was cute, but I was just totally blown away by Erica's group -- I mean, I knew she was good, I've seen videos, but this was a quantum leap above what I expected. Anyway, a fun evening and I was glad I went.

 

Meantime, it was a bit of a rough morning, we are now officially on our new "gas-saving" schedule, and I had to be here a half hour earlier than usual -- staying late a half hour too so it'll be a long day every day until I get used to this. The Fridays off will be nice though...

 

Tonight is yoga, and I have a pork loin cooking in the crock pot for tonight.

One Seventeen

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 164.5%, 7.5% BF

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 166.5#, 9.5% BF

Morning weigh-in (Friday): 165.5#, 9.5% BF

 

So, uh...

 

Rode the benchmark ride last night, did it in 1:17 for an 18.7 mph average -- that included city traffic and a long stretch of major road construction on Bushkill drive. I didn't feel particularly good, but going fast felt easy... Why the fuck couldn't I have been riding like that last Saturday? (One reason: last Saturday my strategy was to attack the hills, figuring that a slight speed gain at low speeds would chip away the most time -- I still think this is true, at least in terms of math and theory, but in practice I think I might have worn myself down too early in the race, leaving me vulnerable in the later, also-time-eating singletrack sections. The big test on "the benchmark" is Upper Mud Run Road, and I went up that no faster than usual.)

 

Other than that, lets see: rode Tuesday, a nice easy road ride, maybe 20 miles or so. I stopped in at Brian's house, found him watching TV on a perfectly nice day -- turns out he'd had another heart operation and was required to take it easy for a while. Hopefully this one -- sort of like cauterizing aberrant cells to get his heart beating normally again -- will be the procedure that works.

 

Wednesday was yoga with Carmen, and I totally felt my recent lack of practice. That's bad, because the "old Carmen" is back, and her classes are starting to get tough again.

 

Last night after the ride (and after a little cleaning/laundry) I went down to Porters, which was this week's Christian's Spring Hotel: me, Anne, Joe & Sally, Judy, Lee, Mike, and Larry & K-Jo, we had a big table in the back room. That Sally had some hilarious stories... Most everyone else left early, but Anne and I stuck around to catch some of the open mic show.

 

Maria was singing, and I pointed out how she sometimes would get this very serious, daggers-shooting-from-her-eyes look; this morphed into a story about seeing Laurie Anderson a few years ago, where she told a story about her dog, which in turn morphed into a story about 9-11, and she didn't say it, but her eyes were daggers by the end, as if to say "this happened to me and my friends, fuck you for trying to co-opt it into your little games."

 

Tonight is the towpath, maybe the Delaware one if it's been fixed enough to ride, followed by sushi downtown.

Thermidor Number Nine

Morning weigh-in: 166.5#, 9.5% BF

So OK, the anniversary of the collapse of The Terror and the death of Robespierre were over the weekend. I've been saving that blog post title for a while and damn if I wasn't going to use it...

Did the beginner yoga class last night, it was about all I could handle but my body feels a lot better today. Dinner was cereal (sigh), left over from the camping trip. Tonight I'll probably have a pork loin as long as 1) it thaws out in time, and 2) I don't go to ride Sals. My plan is to do a road ride though, so I should be good.

Meantime, I have to come up with a new chili recipe for the Bash. I think I'll lean more towards pork, potatoes and black beans, do a little experimenting over the next few weeks.

101: Done, And Done!

Morning weigh-in: 169#, 7% BF

 

Wilderness 101: Well it's done, and though it was not as well-done as I'd like, I did see some improvement: my "aim for the stars" goal was to break 10 hours, and my "aim for the stars and maybe hit the moon" goal was, say, breaking 11 hours. My actual time was 11:59:54, so I (barely!) broke 12 hours, but that was a half hour faster than in 2004, the last time I did this. Aim for the stars, miss the moon, but I at least landed in the top of the tree...

 

Drove down Friday night and hooked up with Greg & Judy, and Eric B, at the campsite Greg reserved for us. (Joe & Sue were at the same campground, but they were in their pop-up camper while we were out in the boondocks at a primitive tent site. We saw them in the morning.) I won't get into the blow-by-blow, mile-by-mile or anything, but the race itself was really nice. It started around 7:00 AM Saturday, with a very similar course to the one they ran last time I was there: the first 40 miles or so were mostly (dirt/gravel) Forest Service roads, there were a few really big hills between miles 40 and 60, and then just over half of the remaining course was singletrack. The weather was primo, terrain was in great shape, you couldn't have asked for better conditions -- I joked with Joe afterward that, except for my time, I had a great race.

 

(I did crash once though: I came across a guy walking one rocky downhill, had to dismount to get past him, and hooked my bike shorts on the nose of my seat when I got back on. Bouncing through the rocks, trying to unhook my shorts without mooning anyone, I eventually went over the bars. I continued down the hill sans bike for a ways, but at least I still had my shorts on.)

 

The guys I went down with all had great days: Greg broke 11 hours with a time of maybe 10:50, Eric had 10:15 (wow!) or so, and Joe got 9:45. (Congratulations, you lurkers! I'm not giving up the Camelback, but I may have to take up sailing.) They were waiting for me at the finish when I arrived; I got & filled my commemorative pint glass -- I love mountain bike races -- showered, changed, grabbed some dinner and joined them to watch the festivities. We stayed until the last rider came through and the kegs were emptied -- something I don't remember from last time, three half barrels should have been plenty for a bunch of exhausted racers, but there were some West Virgina boys doing "keg stands" and they made short work of the beer. Anyway, party over, back to the campsite where I slept like I was dead. Yesterday I drove home & took care of the camping gear, then spent most of the day eating (Quadrant, Porters, Taco Bell) and sleeping.

 

Tonight is yoga (I am still kind of sore), then tomorrow I may do an easy road ride.

Off Again

Off from work, and off on my next big adventure: I'm leaving for the Wilderness 101 in a few hours, just as soon as I get all my weekend errands/chores done, pack for a weekend of camping etc, and go for my final pre-race prep ride. No morning weigh-in, sorry I forgot but yesterday's was like 166.5# or something.

A Brain Teaser: I'm getting my next mug at Porters.There are 60 you have to do to earn it, in no particular order but I decided to do all the squares in order -- when I go over 60 I'll just loop over again, and if any number is a duplicate I'll skip it. Thus: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 21, etc... My question is, will this get me all the beers on the list, or are there numbers in there that will never be picked? (Hint: I tried this using an octave script, letting the numbers go up to about 1000, and only got 12 unique hits. I also tried it for different list sizes; none of them were filled completely. I suspect it's not possible to fill the list, but can't prove it.) Let me know what you think when I get back, and don't forget to show your work!

Yo later. Wish me luck.

You're Late, Where Ya Been?

No morning weigh-in! I forgot my belt and work badge too, so I'm shambling around with a "Visitor" badge as my pants droop, fit in well with the rest of the absent-minded engineers walking around here...

 

By the way, we are about to go to a 4-day work week (every other week) here, on a trial basis to save commuting costs. Starting in August we do four 9-hour days, one 8-hour Friday, four more 9-hour days the next week with Friday off, then we repeat the two week cycle. Our Houston office has been doing this for years; we'll see how it works out here.

 

Willy From The Auction: I was in Porter's the other day, the only seat was next to Donny so there I sat. He was voluble as always, and repetitive, and he monopolized my time and attention but I didn't really mind. One thing that caught my ear though, was him telling me that he never got back that CD he lent me -- I couldn't find him so I left it at Which Brew, knowing he would stop in. The girls assured me (at the time, months ago) that they gave it back to him, but now I hear that that might not be the case. Hmmmm...

 

I Know a Place: Speaking of Porter's, check out their new website. Nice!

 

Last night was dinner with Anne at CSH, and we also saw Judy, and Mike, and CSH regulars Don & Nancy as well as Rich and Greg with Greg's kids -- those guys were coming back from riding Jacobsburg. (We were going to do a road ride, but it was pouring, everywhere except the 'burg apparently.) Tonight is yoga.

 

So, Where Were We...

Morning weigh-in: 164.5#, 10% BF

 

Oh yes, weekend report:

 

Friday night I rode with Larry. Not bad, I took out the singlespeed and just hamster-legged my way down the towpath and back. Porters for dinner, saw KEF and knocked some more beers off my punch list; I am now about a third of the way towards my 4th mug there.

 

Saturday was early morning yoga, then breakfast at the coffee shop, and then I was off to Bethlehem for the rest of the day. Picked up my bike (they just replaced the chainstay, not the whole swingarm), got my haircut, and hit Sals where the conditions were great but it was stinking hot. Home, laundry, then I met Anne for a light dinner -- she just got back from Tennessee (by car), wasn't exhausted or anything but we blew off that party anyway, show wasn't supposed to even start before 11:00 PM...

 

Sunday I hung with Anne, checked out "her" coffee shop (actually it was just Wired in Bethlehem; she has another one she goes to on Southside, her more regular place), did the "dog exchange" and went up to Jacobsburg, spent the afternoon walking and exploring Bushkill Creek. Fish in the water, bugs and crayfish under the rocks, many giant tadpoles, a perfect way to spend a hot summer day. Dinner was a burger at Bethlehem Brew Works.

 

Tonight I'm doing yoga, then getting my act together for next weekend, at least in terms of food shopping.

Here Comes Another Weekend

Morning weigh-in: 167#, 9.5% BF

 

My ride got skunked last night, when an end-of-the-world thunderstorm came pouring down just as I got home from work. I  guess I was lucky in the timing, but the sky (and the radar) was so ominous I probably would have skipped the ride anyway. I played on the computer for a while instead, but then that got knocked out, so I did a few chores before going to gain weight over at Christian's Spring Hotel, hanging with Judy, and also Joe & Sally. Interesting, Sally talked about Joe having a journal when they first met: he let her read it and she dove in, expecting to find all sorts of juicy details, but it was mostly where he went each day, what he did, what he had to eat etc. I could only laugh, it sounded so familiar.

 

I did the Porter's "open mic night" thing after that, stopped in for a bit to punch my ticket. I was sitting next to some guy, familiar dude, pretty regular there & a mug club member, and we got to talking. He asked me about how I was choosing my beers and I told him "well last time I picked Fibonacci numbers modulo 60, but this time I'm just doing the squares in sequence, modulo 60 of course."

 

Score! Turns out he was a math major in college, and in fact used to work as a cryptographer for the NSA years ago. Much geeky conversation followed...

 

Doing the towpath tonight on the singlespeed, then hitting Porters again to see KEF. The Turner is ready, so I'll be picking that up tomorrow after yoga, then while I'm in Bethlehem I'll get a haircut and go ride Sals... I saw my barber last night at CSH; she's throwing a party tomorrow night and I got the invite, but I'll be hanging with Anne tomorrow... I expect she'll be a little tired from driving across the country, so we'll see.

 

 

 

Yes Anastasia

Morning weigh-in: 164.5#, 8.5% BF

 

So the bike's at the shop, getting the new swingarm (from that spare frame I bought, in some random act of foresight, off Doug a few years ago) installed, my bike box is loaned out, the Chain Gang meeting went swimmingly, and tonight I guess I'll be hitting the road for a nice long hill workout.

 

Listening: Tori Amos's Little Earthquakes. I was going to name this post "Tear In Your Hand" because I keep listening to that song -- it reminds me of driving past the Mount Storm Lake & power plant on the way to Canaan -- but then I found out that today is the anniversary of the Romanoff family execution, so I went with my all-time favorite T.A. song, even if it's on Under the Pink. (Strangely enough, I just found out today what "me and Neil will be hanging with the Dream King" actually means.)

 

Meantime Anne should be back this weekend. I keep getting updates about her vacation in the Smokies; I'm glad she's having fun but but I do miss her. I'll probably hit Christian's Spring Hotel for dinner tonight, but it just won't be the same...

God Bless You, Magical Realism!

Morning weigh-in: 162.5#, 8.5% BF

 

Doop-de-doo, oh I wonder what's new... Rode last night at Allamuchy, 19 hard miles in about 3 hours, and I broke my frame. Swingarm, right chainstay just behind the pivot, snapped it right in two. It's a problem I can solve easily and quickly enough, but -- wow.

 

(The title of today's post refers something I thought late in the ride, when I looked up from the dark woods, through the canopy to the still-light sky. Pure magic.)

 

Tonight I'll be dealing with the bike, and will also be going to the Chain Gang meeting. Tomorrow will more than likely be a road ride, and Friday will be the towpath on the singlespeed.

 

 

Things Been Gettin Quiet Round Here Lately

Morning weigh-in (Monday): 167.5#, 8% BF

Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 164.5#, 10% BF

 

I had a pretty big post planned for yesterday to cover all the things that happened this weekend -- such as K-Jo's "Virtual Which Brew" picnic (with subsequent trip to Pearly Baker's) on Friday night, Saturday's all-day mountain bike ride (with Eurostyle pit stops at various outdoor cafes), and Heritage Day festivities (including Paul & Mary's party) on Sunday -- but it got so big and unwieldy I decided to skip it. Maybe I'll talk about different parts of this later in the week.

 

One thing I'll mention: Here's a plug for a friend's new venture, seen on a t-shirt (the logo, not the salsa), and soon to be found on finer chips everywhere.

 

Anyway, it was a good weekend, but things are settled back down now. Last night was a total rest day (bike maintenance, computer chores, light housework), and tonight I'm hitting Allamuchy rather than the usual Tuesday Night Follies -- I need as much offroad practice as I can get; the Wilderness 101 is now less than 2 weeks away. Dinner will probably be a turkey sub somewhere.

 

I posted few photos from last weekend (like, Independence Day Weekend), rides, belly dancers etc, but things are going to get quiet over at flickr for a while too: the camera finally died for real, I have no shots from this past weekend, and now I have to do my research & get a new gadget...

 

Finally! Well it looks like Roast Beef and Molly are finally hitched.

 

Still Tired

Morning weigh-in: 164.5#, 7.5% BF

 

Last night I hit that "Yoga Burst" class -- what a workout! I was totally soaked and exhausted by the end of an hour. Class was taught by Alicia, and her husband Rob was also there in the class. I shouldn't be too surprised to see them there -- they're the proprietors, they're usually there -- but it was interesting because they came up in conversation the other day. Nothing too exciting, just a little synchronicity.

 

After yoga I went to Judy's for what I thought was a barbecue, but it was really more like a little get-together, with Middle East-themed salads & snacks (hummos, babaganouj, tabbouli, etc), no grilling. Me, Anne, Judy, and Lee (the usual "supper club"), as well as Kelly-Jo, Pete R, and a few of Judy's neighbors. Really nice, just talking and relaxing on the porch, and all of a sudden it was 1:00 AM.

Tired

Morning weigh-in: 163.5#, 7.5% BF

 

Rode last night, towpath and Sals. I got in a pretty hot lap down to Sals, and then ran into Eric R (on his singlespeed, since he cracked another frame on his main bike), kept up the hot lap for the Orange and Upper Red Trails, but then ran out of steam just before hitting the Spanky, which is where we picked up Dave L. I faded pretty hard, started screwing up on the rocks, and just decided to call it a day -- when we reached the start of the switchback I bailed. I was pretty whooped, but I noticed on the ride home that I was riding the towpath and a few of the hills (on the road) faster, and in bigger gears, fallout from the adjusted foot position I've been working on. (I've been riding with my heels down to get a longer power stroke, but I'm having trouble doing it in the technical stuff.) Bike rode well, but I still have a few kinks to work out, including a very annoying squeak and some cable routing issues.

 

Dinner was at the Brew Works, tonight is the early (and short) "Yoga Blast" class, followed by a barbecue.

Crush Groove 2.0

Morning weigh-in: 166.5#, 8% BF

 

"You're late, where ya been? People been asking about you..." -- Willy the Auction Leech

 

Stunning weekend, lotta stuff going on, among other things: an Independence Day picnic (and a ride but I blew it off because of the rain), plus Bethlehem's fireworks show on Friday; yoga and a 40-mile singlespeed ride (featuring bellydancers!) on Saturday; a 25-mile ride in Jim Thorpe on Sunday (featuring a lot of fatigue from the day before, and two guys who are way faster than I am -- ouch!); and a going-away party Sunday night. I could say something about all of this but I'll just expand on one...

 

A Vignette from Last Weekend at Porter's: This was a week ago Friday. A certain person is handing out flyers, and hands me one -- it's an invitation to his "Going-Away Party."

 

ME: Cool, I'll definitely see you there, and where are you going away to?

ACP: Jail.

 

Well alrighty, then... Anyway, cool party, tucked away in the garden behind Connexxions Gallery downtown. I didn't stay long, just stopped in while laundry dried -- ironically, I went there at least partly to check out the band, and they were on break the whole time I was there. Lotta people I knew there though, or half-knew, younger faces from the Porter's crowd.

 

Dinner itself on Sunday was supposed to be at Porter's, like post-laundry; I met Anne there (she was coming from a picnic, and had already eaten), but I sort of lost track of time and their kitchen closed before I ordered. Oh well, there's always Taco Bell, which is probably why that morning weight is so high.

 

Yesterday was catch-up with chores and errands, and I also picked up a new drivetrain for the Turner: cassette, chain, and integrated cranks/BB/chainrings. It was a pretty big hit, but it was long past time for a replacement, especially those cranks. (Tonight will be the towpath/Sals for a test ride.) Dinner was pasta & tuna with wilted greens. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, it was a very domestic evening

 

By the way, some of last night's chores included uploading new pictures from the Chain gang ride/picnic, and as an experiment I also uploaded some video of the ride -- but no more of that unless I ditch dialup. Check em out, yo. I have more pics coming, stuff from this weekend, so stay tuned.

 

An Early Friday

Morning weigh-in: 164#, 10% BF

 

Went to yoga last night, really good workout, and we even had a theme for the class: truthfulness. After yoga I went to Bethlehem, had dinner at Brew Works with Anne, and got to practice some of what I learned in class:

 

ANNE: OK, where do we stand? This is what I want, what do you want?

ME: Hemmina, hemmina, hemmina...

 

Or words to that effect. Long story short, she broke the ice, I had to come clean and I guess we're dating for real now, instead of meeting for dinner here and there, and stringing things along in my usual passive-aggressive style. Anyway, we'll see where it goes from here, hope I don't screw this one up.

 

Last day of the week here, before the July 4th festivities. Run/gym tonight, then most likely over to Christian Springs for the usual Thursday supper club, where I will be having dinner once again with a certain someone.

 

Wisdom

Morning weigh-in: 163#, 8.5% BF

 

"Dance on, ye foolish ones; ye sought not wisdom, neither have ye found it." -- Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution

 

I Fly Towards Grace: Another A++ ride, as Joe put it: 48 miles in 2:36, for an 18.5 mph average. (Our ride the week before was 6 miles shorter in about the same time, but had slightly more climbing -- 2960 feet vs last night's 2900 feet. There's a lesson in there somewhere.) Me, Joe, Greg, Scott and Eric B, we basically did the old Mountain Road route: through Wind Gap and over the mountain, then down Mountain Road to the bottom of Blue and over via Little Gap -- we actually climbed to the ski resort upper parking lot this time -- plus a little backing and filling on the way home. I was a little tired and said so, and a few other guys were talking about "riding smart" and not killing ourselves on the hills etc, but that kind of wisdom only lasts for a little while on Follies Night...

 

A Screaming Comes Across The Sky and it ain't pretty. You'd scream too, like it was the DT's crawling all over you, but Gaia's got a real infestation.

 

Needless to say, after last night's ride I did not feel like biking in this morning. I'll hit yoga tonight and the gym tomorrow; I don't know what's going on for the 4th yet. Dinner last night was a chicken sandwich at Christian Springs (sigh, but I controlled myself, for the most part), and tonight I'll be going down to Bethlehem Brew Works.

Reconfigurator

Morning weigh-in: 164.5#, 8.5% BF (back to the old pig-and-python game)

 

Happy Darwin Day! Well it's not really Darwin Day, but it was 150 years ago today that Darwin's and Wallace's papers, outlining natural selection, were first presented. (This was pretty much the precursor to The Origin of Species.) In honor of all that, here's a little bit about evolution going on right now out West. I think I may celebrate tonight by taking up smoking in gas stations, or biking -- maybe I'll win an award! Meantime, here's my favorite quote (again), the last paragraph of The Origin of Species:

 

It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent on each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us. These laws, taken in the largest sense, being Growth with Reproduction; inheritance which is almost implied by reproduction; Variability from the indirect and direct action of the external conditions of life, and from use and disuse; a Ratio of Increase so high as to lead to a Struggle for Life, and as a consequence to Natural Selection, entailing Divergence of Character and the Extinction of less-improved forms. Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.

 

And So It... Continues: Got my rear shock bushings replaced last night (we're talking bicycles), and dropped off my rear wheel to be rebuilt, then while I was there, impulse buy, I ordered a new drivetrain... I need to get my bike and equipment ready for the Wild 100, now less than four weeks away. (I also have to get myself ready.) I hit Sals after the bike store, got there around 7:00, and rode with Dave L and a young guy named Jeremy out with his dog. We did a fast but abbreviated loop, returning to Dodson via the road just before dark.

 

Hail Hail, Some Of The Old Gang's Here: Dinner was a quick salad, then I went to do laundry, and I stopped in at Porters while it dried. A nice surprise, I ran into Stu and Cathy walking out as I walked in. They turned around, came back in and had one last beer while we caught up: Stu has been living, working and house-hunting in Florida for the past two months, while Cathy has been getting their old house ready to be put on the market. Kind of funny, we never biked together up here except one time, just before he disappeared, but apparently he's become a fairly avid biker down in Florida, and even joined a cycling club. Good for him!

 

Also saw Kateryna there, which was also nice but less of a surprise, because she now works at Porters -- last night was in fact her first night, she said. She also said there may be a Which Brew picnic coming up soon.

 

Tonight is the Tuesday night "hard ride," and tomorrow is yoga; I may also try to bike in to work tomorrow.

 

Parting shot: Well, yeah.

 

Gaaaa! Cow Itch! AAAAAAAH!

Morning weigh-in: 168.5#, 8% BF (uh oh)

 

Happy 100th Birthday, Tunguska Event! (Also noted, on the hometown front: the 230th anniversary of the Battle of Monmouth was this weekend.) Yeah, good weekend by the way -- maybe too good, according to the scale.

 

Friday night I skipped the towpath and went to the Velodrome with some peeps, basically the same crowd as the Iron Pigs game, Anne and her pinochle friends, though I also saw Brian and a few other people there. Way cool, lotsa very dramatic racing. I got a text that Kelly-Jo was going to Porters, so I stopped in on the way home. Kind of like a homecoming for the old Which Brew crowd.

 

I had maybe a little too much fun the night before: I overslept on Saturday and blew off early morning yoga, then all the rest of of my "selfish day" in favor of a Sals/towpath ride. I'm a bit under the gun in terms of Wilderness 101 preparation, so that was very much what the doctor ordered, but I cut the ride short (skipping about half of Sals) and absconded when rain started to fall -- felt stupid on the way home when the sun came back out, but was finally vindicated by the deluge that hit just after I got home. (Also rode through a bunch of nettles growing along the river, maybe a mile-long gauntlet, thought I was going to die.) Home, shower, oil change, haircut, chores, errands etc etc, then I hit a friend's graduation party.

 

Lucas, about 22 I'd say, is someone I know from cycling, and he just graduated from college. His older brother's a local musician, and the party was also for his (and some other guy's) 30th birthday, so there was basically an all-star jam going on when I got there (apparently it was a pool party earlier in the day). Pretty good times, and there were a number of people there I half recognized, but except for a few parents/relatives, the next oldest people there were like fifteen years younger than me. I'm glad I got a chance to congratulate Lucas & help him drink his beer, but I felt like the onion in the petunia patch, and when the band took a break I headed home.

 

Sunday was trail maintenance and a ride at Allamuchy.

 

Riding Sals tonight after some bike maintenance, and tomorrow is the Follies. Dinner better be light for a few days...

Central, Massive

Morning weigh-in: 166#, 8% BF

 

Sorry Algernon: Charley sez, love my rapamycin...

 

Ran yesterday, which was followed by a gym workout and a trip to XSH for dinner. Anne, Judy, Lee, and special guest Mike H. As usual, nice evening. Tonight I'm hitting the velodrome with pretty much the same crowd. It's also a much-needed rest day; tomorrow will be another big day (yoga, gym, ride, haircut, party), and Sunday is trail maintenance plus a ride at Allamuchy.

Come For The Cold War, Stay For The Jelly Donuts

Morning weigh-in: 164#, 8.5% BF

 

"Ich bin ein Berliner!" -- John F. Kennedy, June 26, 1963

 

Nice Sals ride last night. Me, Kirk and his friend Kurt, Jeff and Dave (both of whom have connections to Genesis as well as Sid's Bikes), and a girl Terri (Tracy?), who was apparently the driving force behind the ride: she's from Colorado, has been in the area for three months and is about to return home, and was sick of the towpath so she told them "Show me the good stuff!"

 

And show her the good stuff we did, basically hitting everything there (except the Yellow Trail and the Boulder Trail) in one huge loop. We rode about two hours, getting back to the cars just before dark. I think those guys were surprised a bit by the trails too; they were like New Yorkers who've never been to the Statue of Liberty until they take an out-of-towner, but I think they liked it and I'm sure they'll be back. Jeff and Dave are strong riders, and they were especially loving it. Strangely enough, I felt really strong too, even after Tuesday's "leg tenderizer" ride.

 

I had a few errands/chores to get done and my plan was dinner at Porters, so I had to bust a move after the ride. Pretty proud of myself, got it all done -- all I really had to do was drop some stuff off at Doug's, get gas & do laundry, but still -- and made it to Porters just before the kitchen closed. Woo hoo, turkey dinner sandwich!

 

Crowded night there, bartender Scott was tearing his hair out it was so busy, but I didn't totally mind, it was like "girl's night out" or something, cool enough -- though I did get muscled away from the bar by a birthday party of pocketbook-wielding twentysomethings, oh hi girls welcome to my space now get off my foot ow OK I'll move over a bit...

 

Saw Kateryna there (not part of that crowd, thank goodness); she said she's been back about a week, and I got some of the California road trip story, but not all of it I'm sure. I also saw Joe's ex-GF Paula (of course she asked about him) and also my MTB friend Lucas. Like I said, busy night at Porters.

 

Tonight is the gym, then dinner at Christian's Spring Hotel.

 

Scales Fell From My Eyes: Whoops! Gotta clean the house again, I just noticed this morning that it's getting pretty bad.

Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee

Morning weigh-in: 163#, 9.5% BF (nice suppression work there, Lou)

 

Happy Anniversary, Battle of Little Big Horn!

 

Awesome ride last night at the Follies, 42 miles in 2:35, on a course they call "Greg's leg tenderizer." Me, Greg, Scott, Jorge, and Joe & Cindy, north over Blue Mountain at Little Gap, then a hilly loop out by Klecknersville and return via Little Gap again, the highlight of the evening being a duel between Greg and myself, bottom to top of Blue Mountain, on the way back. He beat me, in a sprint (!) by half a bike length, but I got him to admit he was working pretty hard. (Our actual time, from the lower lodge to the top entrance at Blue Mountain Ski Area, was 10:26. I could swear that thing used to take a half hour to climb.) That was one of the best rides of the year, in terms of a workout, and also in terms of scenery -- it kind of reminded me of the PPRAC ride, and Greg said the same thing.

 

I kept my promise to myself: dinner was a bag o'salad with some leftover BBQ fixin's thrown in. Tonight I'm riding Sals with Kirk and some out-of-town friends of his; I did some yoga this morning to make up for the missed class. (I don't like to miss Wednesday yoga, the week's "hard class," but Kirk asked me to show them around, this is the day that works for them and for the weather, and my weak link right now is technical skills -- I really need those offroad miles.) Dinner will probably be somewhere in Bethlehem, hopefully I'll not break too many promises...

A Clearer Future

Morning weigh-in (Monday): 166.5#, 10.5% BF

Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 164.5#, 10.5% BF

 

Pretty good weekend, though fraught with bad food choices...

 

Rode the towpath Friday night, then did the "Big Bethlehem Day" on Saturday: Chain Gang ride and picnic at South Mountain Park, followed by the South Side Film Festival with Doug & Lori -- we caught the last set of screenings, supposedly a series of short comedies. (More on those films as the week progresses. We saw Pete H there too, by the way.) After the films, the three of us caught up with Kris & Eric to go to the the festival's final event, a buffet dinner and party, with music by Trap Door. (Again, more -- way more -- on Trap Door in a later post or two.) I was home by midnight, which seemed early but by that point I was exhausted.

 

Sunday was the more interesting of the two days. It looked pretty crappy in the morning, but luckily the day never got worse than overcast. I met Anne F at her place and we picked up her loaner bike at CAT, then went over to Jacobsburg. It was her first time mountain biking, but she's actually an experienced & solid rider, and she took to it rather well and -- even better -- enjoyed it I think. Pretty impressive, considering she was on an ancient and fully rigid commuter rig. 

 

We got a call from another friend, and the day's plans suddenly solidified -- we grabbed lunch at Bethlehem Brew Works, then saw Get Smart with Lee and Judy. Yep, stupid fun, all in all a great afternoon.

 

So anyway, last night was yoga, and today is the Tuesday night training ride -- no XSpringH afterward though, I'm trying to get back into the nutritional discipline thing. Tomorrow will be a ride at Sals.

 

 

Solstice Friday!

Morning weigh-in: 165#, 8.5% BF

 

Did my "southern benchmark ride," aka "the hill ride" or "the Hellertown loop with Morvale Rd extension," last night. It was a fairly hot lap, 25 miles in about 1:30, not bad considering the hilly nature of the ride: mile-long climbs followed by mile-long descents, over and over again as the road crosses and re-crosses the hill south of Easton. It's funny how those climbs used to seem like hell. (Saw Scott S, and also Tom A riding in Hellertown, not sure if they were together. They're friends and 24-hour teammates, but Scott was on a road bike, and I could have swore Tom, about a half mile back, was on a mountain bike.)

 

More Full Moon Madness: I almost stacked it on one downhill, when a young rabbit ran into the road, playing chicken with me and an oncoming car -- it came out out part way, stopped, went most of the way across, and then chickened out and crossed back. Trying to avoid it was like one of those Three Stooges routines, I actually touched it with my front wheel. I was doing maybe 35 mph, if I hit it square I would very likely have gone down. Nasty concrete ditch on the roadside there too. Little bit of excitement, in case my heart wasn't pumping enough...

 

Dinner was a roast beef sandwich at Christian's Spring Hotel. Me, Lee, Anne, Judy, and Sally & Joe, the usual crew. We also saw Nick and Alison, but they were mostly keeping to themselves.

 

Tonight (weather permitting) I'll be riding with Larry and maybe Kirk on the towpath, but I am probably staying in after that, since tomorrow is shaping up to be a marathon of fun: Chain Gang ride(s) & picnic at South Mountain, then the last evening of the Southside Film Festival, and finally a Trapdoor concert/party.

 

Bethlehem is the town with its fangs at my throat.

Blast From The Past

Morning weigh-in: 166#, 10.5% BF

 

Yoga last night, yoga this morning... road ride tonight unless it rains, in which case I'm hitting the gym. Dinner will be Christian Springs Hotel, where I expect to see Ann, Judy, Lee, and the rest of the Which Brew Thursday Night Diaspora Supper Club.

 

I hit Pearly Baker's after last night's yoga class; it was dead despite the "Wednesday night blues jam" going on, so I absconded over to Porters, which was also pretty dead -- dammit I miss Which Brew! Saw Larry there though, as well as Kirk (whom I hadn't seen since Which Brew closed), and ended up talking to some guy about the Wetlands Preserve, among other things. Turns out, he's a big fan of the Spin Doctors, like he even hangs out with them on occasion, and he just went to the premiere of a documentary about the Wetlands. (He also used to drag race at Englishtown, so we had a nice trip down memory lane.) I'm not a big fan of the Spin Doctors, didn't even know they were still around, but I traded him (the promise of) a poster from a recent show, for (the promise of) some scans of old Wetlands mailers, which I used to use as bookmarks. I went looking last night, found a schedule of upcoming shows for January 1991, and I know I have more.

 

Interesting Fact: Wetlands was forced to close because they lost their lease. Just like Which Brew, and like Weyerbacher before that. Oh, the humanity!

 

Reading: Ann F loaned me Blindness, and since I bitch so much when others don't read/return my loaners in a timely fashion, I put other stuff to the side so I could concentrate on this. So far so good by the way, but really I just started.

Too Tough To Die

Morning weigh-in: 166.5#, 7.5% BF

 

Wild ride last night. Me, Joe C, Greg and Joe G hammering out a road training ride. A somewhat different set of fools but it was the the typical "Tuesday night follies," until... Joe G had a mechanical problem with his rear wheel, decided to keep riding anyway, and of course the inevitable happened: speeding along in the pack at better than 25 mph, he stood up to sprint and his chain slipped. He went flying over the bars and got slammed into the road -- wham! Sliding and tumbling, he smacked the back of his head hard enough to break his helmet, ripped his shorts, and got some nasty "road rash" abrasions on his butt and shoulder before rolling into the roadside brush.

 

I was a little behind when it happened and was the first one to get there: he was already sitting up, conscious but a little dazed. We were really worried for a few minutes, he could have had anything from broken legs to brain damage; he got up (still woozy), and we inventoried his injuries -- except for the whacked head, he got off easy, and after a few minutes he was feeling a little better & even said he was OK to keep riding...

 

Long story short: we finished the ride, mellow at first but with gradually increasing pace as it became apparent that Joe wasn't seriously hurt. Our final distance was like 32 miles, with an 18 mph average. I'll say this, he's tougher than me -- I would have definitely bagged the rest of the ride, or at the very most I would have just ridden easy back to the start.

How Can You Put The Genie Back In The Toothpaste Tube?

Morning weigh-in: 167#, 7.5% BF

 

Did a little "active rest" yesterday: a beginner yoga class and some laundry; dinner was Taco Bell. So, I'm slowly pushing myself back into my routine...

 

The weekend:

 

Well, I guess I should start with Thursday night, because I got a chance to see West Coast Megan, back in town to visit friends and celebrate her upcoming wedding. (Her boyfriend proposed to her on the giant screen at a baseball game.) She had her bachelorette party Friday I think; this was just the usual "supper club" crowd at Christian's Spring Hotel and she's been close friends with Judy's daughter since like milk-money days, so the two of them came out. A couple of extra peeps at the supper table, then when the cigar crowd came in we took over the other room (comfy chairs, no smoking), where Bill & Danielle also joined us. Nice night out.

 

Friday was a baseball game, with Anne F and a few of her friends. Triple-A, Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, it was actually a lot of fun (they won). Great stadium, our seats were awesome, and it really was all about the food & beer -- too bad something disagreed with me, my stomach was in knots for the drive home.

 

Saturday was my usual "selfish day," then Saturday night I hit Porters where I ran into old-school bartender Carrie, also Megan one last time, and Sunday was a long ride, towpath/Sals (with breakfast & lunch stops), before trekking down to Jackson for Father's Day.

 

Tonight is the Tuesday training ride.

Stop Drop And Roll

Morning weigh-in: 168#, 8% BF

 

OK, weight's trending the wrong way, my life seems out of control, and my skin feel like it's on fire...

Quoth The Water, Furthermore

Morning weigh-in: 167#, 7.5% BF

 

So I'm still reading Male Fantasies. Right now I'm in the "Floods" part, where the author is constructing some Argument By Compare-And-Contrast, between the views of Wilhelm Reich and Sigmund Freud concerning terms like "oceanic," "streaming-away," and the like, in the symbology of the orgasm. It's surprisingly dry (uh, huh huh, huh huh), and I could really just flip the page with a casual "TMI, fellas," and be done with it, but I couldn't help but notice that the whole premise is something that Pynchon touched on this, and covered it better with a sentence here, and a well-turned phrase there, than I can find anywhere in this whole ponderous book. (Granted once again, this was originally a German-language PhD thesis, with all that that implies, but still.)

 

Anyway, moving on... true dat . Guy came to my door the other day, running for state senate or something, and I actually had to press him to admit "well uh hemmina hemmina ... I'm currently affiliated with the Republican party because, uh blah blah family values blah..." Well, thank you for your time.

 

Run/gym last night, then over to XSpringH for dinner. I'm going to a minor league baseball game tonight with some friends, so no ride.

Photos

Morning weigh-in: 167, 8.5% BF

That's me riding at Hubbard, photographed by their official club photographer; his photos can be found here. Meantime, I posted mine as well, and they can be found here. Enjoy!

More New Phonebooks Are Here

Morning weigh-in: 167.5#, 8% BF

 

Hey check this out!

 

Rode a bit at Sals last night before the rain, followed by a slightly drizzly VMB meeting in the parking lot afterward, but we adjourned to the Tally Ho -- chicken cheese steak & Troegs Nugget nectar -- when the heavy stuff started to come down. Quite a turnout, especially considering the weather.

 

Tonight is yoga, then a light (!) dinner at home, since tomorrow is the Christian Springs Hotel "supper club," after the gym of course.