Ahhhh, Friday!

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

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

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

Thursday Fly-By

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 10% BF

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

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

Wednesday Already

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

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

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

Tonight is a road ride if the weather improves.

Racing Is Fun!

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

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

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

Trail Crew At Allamuchy

Allamuchy: The Crew
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

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

Pre-race: Me at Blue Marsh

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

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 13% BF

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

The Days Drag But The Weeks Fly By

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

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

Trees

Morning weigh-in: 180.5#, 13.5% BF

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

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

By way, the trees are pretty much in bloom.

Still Nice Out

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

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

Ahhh, What A Weekend!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday, Another Sunny Day

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

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

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

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

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

corn-corn-corn-corn-Stukeys

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

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

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

Meantime, back in the culture wars...

A Great Weekend

Morning weigh-in: 180.5#, 14% BF

A great weekend, to wit:

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

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

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

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

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

Not Much To Say

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

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

Floodwatch

Oh, the Irony
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 13% BF

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

The Verdict Is In

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

Well I'll Be An Unkey's Monkle

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

Friday I Got Friday On My Mind

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 13.5% BF

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

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

Tonight is a towpath ride, if the weather holds.

Where Were You While We Were Getting High?

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

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

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

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

Tonight is the gym, if it rains.

They Call It Stormy Monday

Morning weigh-in: 180.5#, 12.5% BF

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

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