So Said The Dreaming Fishes To The Young Ram

Morning weigh-in: 167#, 6.5% BF (I can explain)

 

Gym last night, with short warmup run on the treadmill. The endurance alterna-workout totally kicked my ass... Went straight to the gym from work, then went straight to Which Brew from the gym. Ate too much, had a few beers, slept like a log, woke up tired and sore.

 

Watersleep To Firewaking: Yep, first full day of spring, the green cusp coming yesterday in the wee hours. Pretty cold out right now, but hey better days are coming. Hitting the towpath tonight.

The Man With Two Brains

Morning weigh-in: 166#, 7.5% BF

 

Arriviste! They are moving me today to my new office -- technically, my new cube, but it is a lot bigger and nicer. I get to keep my old cube too, which I just spent the morning cleaning, since I'll be moving back when I'm finished with this new project I've been put on. So, right now I have two offices, which is good because for a while at least, until my old project is done, I have two jobs...

 

We Be Re-Beguiled, For A Little While: Talking to Mike the other night about some Lisp hackers he knows, I got a hankering to play around with some Lisp myself during my lunch break yesterday. We don't have anything here (unless you count AutoCAD Lisp) so I went over to SDF, where it turns out that guile was broken -- d'oh! I put in a request, was told "an upgrade is in progress, please stand by." And sure enough, it's up and working today -- too bad the urge has come and gone.

 

Anyway, took a spin class last night, then went to the Chain Gang meeting at Pete's house -- finally met his wife Deb, nice woman. Pretty good meeting too, then we spent the rest of the evening going through Pete's old record collection. I was home by 10:30, started plaing with guile on the home computer, then realized I was like someone who has a nice pen and some paper but nothing to write, so I went to bed.

 

Tonight is an alterna-workout at the gym.

My Bike Is Packed, It's On Its Way

Morning weigh-in: 165.5#, 10% BF

 

Took a trip up to the Poconos last night to drop my bike off at Rich's house. He's one of the ones going to Moab and he's got work-related connections to UPS, and he got us a deal on shipping our bikes out. (We leave a week from Saturday but the bikes are heading out tonight.) Dog allergies, I stuck around just long enough to say hi.

 

Before that was the gym, the "standard workout" but now with endurance-oriented weights & reps for the spring/summer, and before that was my warmup run on the treadmill: 1.26 in 10 minutes, with the mile mark at 7:29. I'm getting there, and another few pounds should be what does it. (By the way, ran in my new sneakers, which were lovely. I also ran on Monday morning, and was going to go out this morning but didn't want to deal with the rain. Wuss factor.) Almost all the pieces are on the chessboard, and I am almost ready to start training...

 

Dinner last night was, well, not much: a couple of carrots and some yogurt -- I was tired, and didn't want to either cook or go out to eat. Tonight is the Chain Gang meeting, where I understand we'll be eating lasagna, but before that I'm taking a spin class after work.

We Walked Him To The Station In The Rain

Morning weigh-in (Monday): 167#, 10% BF

Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 167#, 8.5% BF

Well Happy (Belated) Saint Patrick's Day! I actually wore  a green shirt yesterday, though not that horrible "Shamrock Shake" / "Fighting Irish" green, which I happen to loathe...

 

Anyway.

 

I got in a really good towpath ride with Larry on Friday: normally we just go out towards Bethlehem and turn around after an hour of riding, but this time we  we managed to get to my official turnaround point at Sand Island before the hour was up, and finished the entire ride in under two hours -- a personal best for him -- despite some serious headwinds on the way back. We were cruising.

 

Which Brew that night for a bit of corned beef & cabbage, and I also caught the Skulldiggers there, who played songs that actually caused people (OK, one dude) to do a jig. Hanging with Heath and Hans, and also Larry, and a friend of his (who also rides), then along comes Arnie (road), and Rian (road and MTB), and the guy doing the jig starts talking about RAGBRAI and Snowshoe... I joked that one day we're all going to compare notes and find that everyone there bikes, it's a biker bar! -- and Bill's girlfriend, sitting next to us, goes "Oh, you guys bicycle too?"

 

Saturday was the usual: yoga, coffee, gym, errands. (I also hit Bethlehem for a haircut, grabbed lunch and then bought sneakers.) I happened to see Doug & Lori downtown, wished him a happy birthday because I wouldn't be there for the celebration -- I went to Joe G's party that night, a combined St Patty's Day and "check out my new house" party (I posted a few pics). Nice place in the Poconos, nearest town is probably Effort, and yes there was more corned beef and cabbage involved.

 

Sunday I slept in for the rainy morning, then had brunch at the Quadrant. Chores, laundry, a towpath ride later in the day... I stopped in to Porters for dinner, and jammed out to the Pogues while the laundry dried.

 

Yesterday was a bit of a disappointment: I wanted to see a band at that Christian's Spring Hotel, but with a name like Coffin Daggers they sounded a like a bit of a late night. So, I hit Which Brew for dinner (last night's topic of conversation being free software and computer security), then trekked over to the show around 10:30 -- and the show was over! The place was crowded too, like the show just ended, and friends who I saw at Which Brew earlier were there on the porch leaving as I arrived. I was so disappointed I went to Porters, to at least catch some Irish music (and Irish beer) in an Irish-style pub, and saw those same people there too. (The Guinness doesn't count, but between the corned beef and the music I think I've re-established my connection to the ol' cultural roots for another year -- and the secret to being a bore is to tell all.)

 

Tonight is the gym, then I'm bringing my bike (packed last night before Which Brew) to Rich's to be shipped out west. Vacation's coming...

 

Readin' Some Poetry, And Drinkin' Some Beer

Morning weigh-in: 165#, 9% BF

 

Ride Report: Hit the 'burg with Joe G last night. We started around 6:30 and rode until dark, then went back to the cars, put our lights on and went out for another hour or two -- we got in almost exactly 18 miles in total, with maybe two and a half hours total riding time. It was good to get out on real trails, even though they were a little beat up from the winter (we were also worried about mud, but it wasn't bad). The temperature was a little higher than our recent rides, and Joe's lungs were a little more thawed out -- and his technical skills neutralized any fitness advantage I may still have -- so I was huffing and puffing to keep up. Funny how I've been working on the indoor training, the strength, cross-training & cardio, the spinning and the road rides, and thought I was pretty awesome, but when the rubber finally hit the offroad for real, I saw how much work I still have to do.

 

Like I said, it was good to be out; that was probably my first real offroad ride of the season. Bike performed well too, except for a few minor and not-unexpected "brand new rear derailleur cable" issues.

 

Tavern Report: After that I went to dinner at the Christian's Spring Hotel. Pretty nice place, but I'll get my three negative observations out of the way first: they need more parking, Thursday night is "cigar night" in the bar room, and they only take cash -- other than that the place is awesome. There are other rooms in the place (pool room, library, and dining room -- the last two of which are non-smoking) if the cigars bother you, and I believe they are working on solving the other two. The food is very good, ditto the beer selection and the jukebox, and any bar with a library is going to get my seal of approval...

 

The basic setup is this: you walk in the front door, and you're in the (relatively small) bar, which is like a public room circa 1880 or so; off to the right is a hallway opening up to the dining room and, in the back, a pool room and a library. I sat at the bar and got a Vanilla Java Porter -- luckily I had the cash, because I asked "you take Visa?" only after my first sip... I finished my beer and hit a nearby ATM, then came back and got dinner, a roast beef sandwich. (The cook told me that he roasted the beef himself that day, from midnight until about 11:30 AM, and the potatoes came from Padula's potato farm, a place I've been driving past fro about two decades on the way to Jim Thorpe.)

 

I wandered around the rest of the place, library, pool room etc, while waiting for my food, but ate at the bar. (Good book selection, by the way; I sat and read some poetry while sipping my Anderson Valley Double White and waiting for dinner.) Had a good conversation with Lynne, the bartender/owner, about their place and their philosophy of what they're trying to achieve there, the renovations they did, and their future plans, and all the while while their jukebox played "Honky Tonk Blues," "Jambalaya," and "Blitzkrieg Bop." That place is just too cool for skool... It probably won't be on a Thursday, but I am definitely going back.

 

Tonight is Which Brew (St Patty's Day informal party with the Skulldiggers), after one, or maybe two towpath rides. Tomorrow is a busy day for me, since I want to get a haircut and new sneakers (both must happen in Bethlehem) besides all my other stuff.

What A Difference A Day Makes

Morning weigh-in: 165.5#, 8% BF

 

Bike: All is well. It took me all of five minutes to finish the adjustments, and now the front derailleur shifts just fine. I can't believe I lost sleep over that... I'll be giving it a real test tonight at Jacobsburg, sunset riding with Joe G -- we're bringing lights, but should get about an hour of daylight before we need them. Woo Hoo! Tomorrow is the towpath again, and I may do double-duty, riding early then meeting Larry later for the "real ride." This Daylight Saving Time is the shit.

 

More Reverb! Via founding member Roy's blog, I see that there's a Reverb Motherfuckers tribute at Sleazegrinder. That too is the shit.

 

By the way, while working on the bike on Tuesday evening I heard fire engines. City sounds,  I thought nothing of it until I realized that they were getting unusually loud, and I could also hear the diesel growl of the engines as they came to a stop... I ran into the front yard, and there I saw police cars blocking the street, and two fire engines plus a UGI truck out front. I turned around, got a quick glimpse of my unburnt apartment, then went back to watching the show: no biggie, there was just a gas leak across the street and they had to take the proper precautions while fixing it. I took my own precautions by returning to the bike work, figured I'd be safer with several buildings between me and and any exploding neighbor's house.

 

Reading: I'm just finishing up the first part of Male Fantasies: Women, Floods, Bodies, History, ie the "Women" part. Very tedious, but it helps to know that this first started out as a doctoral dissertation: there's been a lot of backing and filling, examining this blind alley and exhausting that possible interpretation; he's been laying the chess pieces out on the table and now he's finally making his moves -- in the section titled "Concluding Remarks" or "Preliminary Findings" or whatever. You know, back when I was a kid there used to be a thing called "the abstract," which could have made this process a little more palatable...

 

Back in the Eighties, my friend Steve had a party at his Keyport storefront apartment while his more mature roommate was away. A bunch of us were out his back window, on the roof of the store, and started jumping up and down on a pipe out there. The pipe broke and natural gas came pouring out, like a lot of it really fast. The party panicked, the street was evacuated -- firemen in the apartment forcing us outside, cops at the door making us leave our beers behind -- and I'm pretty sure we made the Keyport papers.

 

Anyway, last night was yoga, with that turkey sub for dinner afterward. Tonight I'll probably check out that Christian's Spring Hotel for dinner after the ride.

Frustrated!

Morning weigh-in: 166.5, 8% BF

 

Well I got the stuff I needed yesterday, so I took a rest day and did some bike maintenance. New cassette in the back, new chain, new rear shifter cables, and new front derailleur. Everything went well except the derailleur... I expected a few problems; installing and adjusting a front derailleur is kind of a black art, and one I have not practiced lately since the old derailleur lasted seven years, but: I took it out of the box and it was the wrong type (it'll probably work anyway), it was missing a bolt and the bolt from the old one didn't fit (I found a spare in the shed), and finally I had problems getting it to shift correctly -- in other words I finally got to the Square One of Black Art that I expected. Loosen things up, make slight adjustment, tighten everything back down, test the shifting in the repair stand, try it while riding up and down the alley, say a few choice cuss words, repeat ad nauseum...

 

Didn't get it to work. I'll be messing with it again tonight, before and after yoga, but after about three hours last night I just decided to put it away, and was so frustrated I didn't want to cook anything healthy -- I wanted comfort food. Dinner was at Which Brew.

 

Won't You Be My Neighbor? I got there around 9:30, and got a burger and a beer. It was a bit crowded at first, last remnants of the true dinner crowd, but it thinned out fairly quickly after 10:00 or so. Hanging out with Christina on my left (I think that's her name, she was drawing something she called "sacred geometry"), Dave to my right (another engineer, he took off then came back to show off his new puppies to the cook -- all the girls there are total "dog people"), Kateryna tending bar, and her boyfriend hanging out to give her a lift home. It's a world I know, and there were good conversations on all sorts of subjects going on. I kind of realized it's more than just my neighborhood bar, that place is really my ... neighborhood.

 

Anyway, tonight is yoga, dinner will be a turkey sub, and I will most likely be riding up and down the alley, wrenching, and cussing under my breath deep into the night.

Eureka!

Morning weigh-in: 166#, 10.5% BF

 

You Down With DST? Got home last night, or rather I should say yesterday afternoon, and was on the bike by 5:15 for a hot lap down the towpath, my operating term for the ride being civil twilight. I had one mishap, when a stick kicked up into my rear wheel and actually broke off the tire's valve stem -- boom! -- but even fixing the flat I made it down to Freemansburg and then back home before the sun went down.

 

Another Revelation: Not much talk about good old biomathematics lately, but I have started messing around again. Most of what I'm looking at is background, less numerical/modeling than analytical, blah de blah, "...here we see that stability is determined by the Jacobian at the equilibrium point, whose determinant is purely imaginary in this case. Returning to the phase plane we find..." -- c'mon, c'mon, get to the good stuff!

 

Anyway, I have been seeing a lot of information about predator-prey and interspecific competition models, their derivations from first principles, underlying assumptions etc, and sure enough, Lotka-Volterra is problematic: the underlying assumptions are, as I suspected, simplified to the point of being incomplete. Hmmmm, just as I suspected... I'm not sure I understand the rationale behind the improved model yet, though.

 

Linux Trainwreck: Don't know what I did wrong, I thought I solved this last year, but my computer does not believe that it's Daylight Saving Time yet. Easy enough to fix I'm sure, just replace some old file with the current one, or I can do some research and do it right... Funny how I have so much computer/math/science on my plate all of a sudden, now that winter hobbies must give way to summer ones.

 

Sol Invictus: Sun came up as I drove to work today; for a while I was driving straight into a solar tower. God's fist smashing through the bell jar like some KMFDM video, yeah...

 

Tonight I may take a rest day, and if things work out -- as in, my Fed-Ex package of bike stuff arrives -- I'll be working on the Turner, getting it ready for Moab. (Otherwise it's alterna-workout nite at the gym, as my legs are shot.) Dinner last night was black beans and a salad, and that's probably what tonight's will be as well.

 

By the way, yesterday's "Donny the Revelator" did not refer to me. Just sayin'...

 

 

In The Cathedral Of Saint Donny The Revelator

Morning weigh-in: 168#, 10% BF

 

Pretty good weekend, pretty good...

 

Friday night I hit the towpath despite the rain; I did a shortened out-and-back, turning around at the mud pit that is Freemansburg, but I did get in about 20 miles total. I was a drowned rat within minutes of starting but I had a great time -- right clothes, right gear, yadda yadda, my biggest issue was, as always, visibility. Conditions were actually better on the towpath (except at Freemansburg), than they were last week: the rain had flattened down all the freeze-thaw stuff, and the surface was actually hard and fast. I finished the ride by 7:00 or so, was showered and out the door again by 7:30.

 

Scooted over to Which Brew, where I met Joe & Cindy for a beer -- they were having dinner, but I was meeting my friend Greg at Porters, 8:30 dinner reservations so I couldn't stay long. The gossip is all about the double-secret training regimens we all may or may not be implementing, and as the winter winds down the intrigue is starting to get thick. Talked bikes with Joe, went across the street and talked more bikes with Greg, whisper whisper gossip gossip, we're like a bunch of old ladies but it's gonna be a fast, fast year... Excellent dinner, caught a bit of the band and then went back to WB but Joe & Cindy were gone. Jammed out to local drummer Ryan's band (Ryan: yet another biker) and then it was bedtime.

 

Saturday I overslept, but made it -- barely! -- to early morning yoga, a nice solid vinyasa class. (That is a great way to start the day.) Breakfast at the Coffee Exchange, hit the gym for my last "super-hard strength workout" before the start of the season.

 

I went out a bit early, maybe 6:00 and it was back down to Which Brew for dinner. There's a definite Saturday afternoon crowd there, and it was actually packed. I was there too early for the dinner specials so I just hung out and BS'ed, then ordered (and ate) an entire artichoke pizza -- I guess I should say we're not talking full-size pizzas here, maybe just a bit bigger than bar-pie size, but still.

 

Ticket To Heaven: The last time I ate a whole pie at Which Brew, I got involved in a conversation with a dude who's not quite a regular there, but everyone knows him. Fit guy, runs, and he's pretty OK but I think he's a little slow, and he has a tendency to monopolize your conversation, mostly talking about his running -- I ended up talking with him again Saturday for quite a while. The guy's harmless and I give him credit, he'll talk to anyone, which is good because it makes things easier if we all do our share of socializing instead of having one person trapped...

 

Before my friend Vito retired, he'd make me help him with the computer stuff at work, and when I' get exasperated he'd laugh and say that he was my ticket to heaven, in that I was stocking up on good deeds. That dude was talking to some girls next to me, and I think one of them was a bit uncomfortable so I used that phrase, and told her that her time with him was "her ticket to heaven." I think she was a little relieved to hear it, mainly because she was not trapped by herself with some crazy stranger...

 

(Actually there was a bit of crazy talk, which amounted to his version of "guy talk" to me, and which I won't repeat here but it was a real eye opener.)

 

But like I said, I give the guy credit, and I have to say he's paying attention: I once mentioned the name of my employer and he remembered it that Friday, and back on that Friday he mentioned a band he liked (Gov't Mule), and this Saturday he brought in a CD to loan me. I gave it a listen, not really my cup of tea (sort of corporate blues-rock) but there was one song I dug, "John the Revelator." It's an old song and a good one, but I have heard better versions.

 

Anyway, a lot of talk about a short night -- I was home by 9:00 or so.

 

Sunday was another early morning yoga class, ashtanga this time, and pretty strenuous. Brunch after that, then I met my friend Joe for another Sunday afternoon river ride. It was cool, maybe in the forties, and windy, but the sky was an awesome blue, like a big bell jar without the Sylvia Plath connotations, or maybe some giant cathedral. River Road was flooded in some areas, and in others it was iced over or torn up by the winter, so we had to go slow (the wind didn't help, except when it was at our backs). It was a long ride, maybe 40 miles, but not fast or strenuous at all; we even stopped to check out an old cemetery and found some pre-Revolutionary graves. He and his girlfriend were having a pot roast for dinner and he invited me to join them, but I actually had my own pot roast leftovers to finish -- besides, I didn't want to drive all the way to the Poconos, where they moved, just for dinner. I got home, inhaled my pot roast, and did the "laundry nap" thing for the rest of the afternoon.

 

I'd call that 2.5 days seized, and well seized.

Back In The Game

Morning weigh-in: 165.5#, 10% BF

 

I think the pig might have left the python... Actually, the drop in weight is probably more like "suppression weight loss," though I made a conscious effort to stay hydrated yesterday.

 

Gym immediately after work, starting with a run (two un-timed but slow miles outdoors, maybe 20 minutes, in shorts & tee shirt, in daylight) and finishing with the alterna-workout. Saw Janna, wife of faithful reader Eric B, after the class she taught. At first I thought it was yoga because everyone went in with yoga mats, but apparently it was some ab workout. One hour of abs, better you than me... Also saw Vi, who took the class.

 

Dinner was leftover pot roast. I probably have one more day's worth of food in there, but I'm meeting Greg M for dinner at Porter's tonight after my ride.

 

That's The Name Of The Game: Yes I am back in the game, but the game is really called "spend money on the bike(s)," or rater maybe spend a lot of money but do it efficiently. Back when I was racing/training seriously, I'd have to replace the entire drivetrain at least twice a season (on the mountain bike), and I'd burn through tires in a matter of weeks. I was smart enough to keep a small inventory of spares, and had "preferred customer" accounts at several mail-order bike stores, discounts, free shipping upgrades etc.

 

A Conversation at a Race, maybe last year:

DON: Wow it's good to see you guys, where have you all been?

OTHER RACERS: We've been here the whole time, you're the one that left...

 

Riding with my friend Joe last weekend, I noticed him eating these sort of energy jellybeans. I'd tried them last year and liked some of them, but complained to him that I had trouble finding the flavor I liked at local stores (not everyone carries them). He was like "You can get them from Performance.com. I have the preferred membership; you could probably sign up for that, and with free shipping and the discounts that purchase alone would be worth it." You know, I used to know that.

 

Buying some components today, I want to get the bike ready for Moab, which is coming up faster than I realize.

 

 

Writer's Block Redux

Morning weigh-in: 169#, 10.5% BF

 

I got home yesterday and all the clocks were blinking, meaning that the power must have gone out at one point, and that made me worry about my pot roast: I suspected everything from slight undercooking to food poisoning. All was well (after yoga, which wasn't until later anyway), dinner was delicious and I am still alive. I washed it all down with another one of those Long Trail imperial stouts. A good hearty winter meal -- winter seems fairly over, but so what?

 

Tonight is an outdoor run, followed by an alterna-workout at the gym.

 

 

Can't You Hear The Alarm Bell Ringing In Your Heart?

Morning weigh-in: 169#, 7% BF (I was hoping for some "pig in a python" action, oh well)

Today is my brother's birthday. Happy Birthday, Kevin! It's also the anniversary of this lovely event.

Ran last night on the treadmill: 10 minutes, 1.23 miles, hit the 1 mile mark at 7:38. After that was a pretty good "standard workout," probably the last of those before I start transitioning into a more endurance-oriented regimen for the bulk of the season.

Dinner was Taco Hell, then came food shopping where I bought the ingredients for tonight's pot roast. This will be another one with a nod toward the old school root crops (parsnips, turnips), aiming for that pot au feu kind of vibe, and a really good if smaller cut of meat.

Can't You Hear The Tocsin In Your Heart? Couple of the younger guys at WB were busting on me for wanting to hear some Patti Smith on Monday night. Philistines, I'll show them... so I put on Horses on the way to work yesterday. Listening to "Gloria," there's a part where she sings:

I was at the stadium
There were twenty thousand girls called their names out to me
Marie and Ruth but to tell you the truth
I didn't hear them I didn't see
I let my eyes rise to the big tower clock
And I heard those bells chiming in my heart
Going ding dong ding dong ding dong ding dong.
Ding dong ding dong ding dong ding dong...

And for some reason that reminded me of the French Revolution. Take it away, Tom. Just reading that again got me all fired up...

Ulysses: Today's ride in was accompanied by Led Zeppelin II. I was totally in the mood to crank "Whole Lotta Love" and hammer US22, but the roads were rainy and congested, and I came to a dead stop, one more nebish commuter in a traffic jam, just as we got to the guitar solo. Damn.

Alarum: I am behind the eight ball in terms of training. Late July seems far away but it's not really, and I really should have put in more miles on the bike by now. This weekend I will probably start getting myself together, and start biking in to work next week. (Back when gasoline was $1.00/gal, I calculated that bike commuting would only make sense economically -- ie the extra time spent would pay off in saved gas money -- when gasoline got up to $4.00/gal. I can and do bike commute for other, non-economic reasons like pleasure or fitness, but this summer I think we'll reach that payoff point.) If I already had the base miles in, I could move up to more intense workouts, but I guess I'll just have to continue climbing that ladder from the rung where I find myself. Tonight is yoga by the way, the more athletic class.

Anyway, that's that, and I will leave you with this. I'll just say that the mind is only a tool, and that guy supposedly had (the outward trappings of) a powerful mind, but one look and you could tell he was all tool.

Cheese!

Morning weigh-in: 169.5#, 8.5% BF (WHAM! CRASH! POW! Tumble tumble...)

 

(Well tonight is the gym, and I'll be running beforehand so maybe I can get back into the game.)

 

Dinner last night was at Which Brew, Mug Club Night. I had an entire white pizza. Sigh.

 

I remember seeing a movie about "death and dying" or whatever in high school, where some young man had terminal cancer and was living in a medical hostel. His mom kept visiting him every day, until he put his foot down and told her not to treat him any differently than if he'd moved out under ordinary circumstances -- ie stop visiting him every day just because he was dying. I think Which Brew might be the young man, I'm the mother, and that weigh-in was the foot...

 

Yoga class last night before dinner, and I ran before work yesterday. No run this morning -- I forgot to set my alarm last night and overslept.

 

Crazy dream: I dreamed I was in maybe Freehold, in a ranch house in some rural/farming area (like maybe Mike Mike's old house, but on flatter land out by Tennent Road), hanging with a bunch of friends. They were nobody I know, completely made up faces but they were my high school buddies, and in fact we were all younger, a bunch of twentysomethings partying late on a Saturday night. We went outside and were about to pile into the car to go to the diner when I realized "Hey wait a minute, it's not Saturday night it's Tuesday morning!" Eyes popped open and I've been chasing myself ever since.

 

Not sure what I'll have for dinner tonight, but I think I'll cook a pot roast tomorrow.

Donny Neurosis Sez Fade To White

Morning weigh-in: 166#, 10% BF (A line has been drawn in the sand? Not likely but I'll take the win.)

 

Friday night was the towpath ride, followed by a visit to Which Brew and Porters (on foot, you know the drill). It was snowing, which made for an interesting ride: the snowflakes in my headlamp made it seem like Star Wars or something, until I got sick of not seeing and turned it off. The snow was coming down pretty heavy, and by the river the ground was covered; I thought there was a lot more on the ground because I encountered a lot of rolling resistance, but I think the ground itself was just soft from all the recent freeze/thaw cycles. Very strenuous workout. Walking downtown, I saw that this snowfall would be a bit of a disappointment: it just wasn't sticking, and by the time I walked home it was more like a light rain.

 

Saturday I got up early, but blew off my "selfish day," because it was "VMB day on the slopes" instead at Blue Mountain, where they got a bit more new snow than we did. Arrived 8:30, right on time to meet everybody else, and walked in the lodge only to realize I'd left my wallet home. D'oh! Back in the car, raced home, got it & raced back: I lost an hour, which hurt since I only wanted to be there for the morning session. Oh well, I was there and on the slopes... Did a few runs by myself, then ran into Rudy, who happens to be a ski instructor, and he gave me quite a few pointers especially in the moguls, my arch-nemesis:

 

Rudy: OK, do this, this, this, and especially this. Follow me.

 

Don: Right behind you, I'll just WHAM! CRASH! POW! Tumble tumble floop flap flop.

 

Rudy: Good, good! Now try [whole lotta advice of a much more rudimentary nature]. Like this, follow me.

 

Don: Right behind you, I'll just WHAM! CRASH! POW! Tumble tumble floop flap flop. Wow, that sure was a fun lesson, time to move over there where it's smooth.

 

Rudy: No way! We're sticking with it until you're confident in this stuff!

 

Don (but not out loud): Well I hope you brought food, cause we're gonna be here a while...

 

Poor Rudy! We had some serious fun, and I think I "got it" eventually, but it's not like I'm a tabula rasa: I have years of self-taught bad habits to overcome, on top of my recent years of not skiing.

 

After that we just did a few runs and called it a morning, then did the tailgating scene for a bit before we left, scoping out the hill and trying to guess where they might put in the proposed bicycling trails. The rest of the day was chores/errands, and in the evening I hoofed it back to WB.

 

Sunday morning was a continuation of the chores, car wash etc, then I did a ride with my friend Joe, who was back down in the area to finish moving stuff to his new house. We cruised & schmoozed, not exactly a fast pace (though faster than two weekends ago), and maybe 35 miles total. I had plans and was meeting people after the ride, so of course I got a flat about a mile from home, which took me from "pressed for time but essentially OK" to "late."

 

Last night was the Banff Mountain Film Festival, and instead of meeting my friends beforehand I called and arranged to meet them there. Doug & Lori, Eric and Janna, Kris and Eric, Brian & some speed-skater friends of his, pretty big crew and I saw others there I knew as well. (Shout-out to my lurkers: Hi Doug! Hi Eric! Check out my recent photos Eric, there's a good one of you.) Lotta good films, plus a few not-so-good which is par for the course, but there was one scene in a ski video with a contre-jour shot of a ramp: the sun peeked out from behind the snow, and they used the flareout to morph into a sudden fade to white. It went with the music and the action in a way that made my night. Don't know why but that was just plain badass.

 

 

Activities Checklist

Morning weigh-in: 168#, 8.5% BF

 

Another day, another trip to the gym followed by a birthday party at Which Brew... It was alterna-workout night last night: no legs, but I did run first on the treadmill: 10 minutes, 1.25 miles for an 8 minute average pace (I passed the mile mark at 7:44), or a 7.5 mph average. Not a bad warmup, but for reasons of my own I need that to be more like a 7 minute pace.

 

I didn't get to talk to Lee until the end of the night, he was sitting in with that pickup band of bluegrass enthusiasts, the "Frost Hollow Rounders," that plays there on the last Thursday of the month. Just a bunch of guys, whoever brings an instrument gets up and jams, it's pretty cool. Anyway, beer and conversation with the people sitting next to me; dinner was a "Mini Me" salad with chicken, fairly healthy if you don't count all that mozzarella -- but that's what makes it good! I did manage to give Lee a "Happy Birthday" shout-out as things were winding down, and he told me he's now officially old enough to retire. He looks maybe 10 years older than I am, so I took that to mean he's about 55 rather than 62-63, either that or he's remarkably well preserved...

 

I'm riding the towpath with Larry tonight. The Rabies are playing at the WB and I'll be there, but I'll probably make it an early evening. Tomorrow morning is the VMB ski trip to Blue Mountain and I want to do the morning session, getting there as early as possible so I can split right after lunch.

Continuing On My Primrose Path

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 169#, 10.5% BF

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 168#, 10.5% BF

 

So I hit the gym Tuesday night immediately after work, then went directly to Which Brew for Michele's birthday. Pretty cool if low key, just a bunch of peeps hanging out: her present from me was a beer, though many others were more socially adept and got her real presents & cards too. I sat next to her old boss, the Cosmic Cup coffee shop guy (whose name I forget but who bikes), and we talked bikes for a while until he had to abscond.

 

Oops! It was good while it lasted, but I think I put the bullet through my "successfully chatting up the young cuties" streak that night: pretty girl sat next to me at the bar, we got to talking and it was cool to talk to her, especially because she had a really neat laugh. Until... out came the birthday cake and I mentioned that wow, Michele was finally, like, an adult -- my twentysomething conversational partner was gracious enough to roll with it, but that part of the room got a little cooler after that.

 

Speaking Of Kids These Days: Take it away, Roy. Well, he can say it, he's the one with the street cred.

 

Back at the party, I started talking with this guy in the seat to my right. He'd originally relocated from Brooklyn, went to Ft Hamilton HS and I remembered just enough Brooklyn (Cortelyou Road, Holy Cross, Bay Ridge) to keep up my end of that part of the conversation. It was kind of neat, the guy was good at reminiscing. Only downside to the night, other than that it was a school night and I couldn't really let hang too late, was the hit I took next day on the scale. Beer and birthday cake and two kinds of hot wings, sigh.

 

Last night was yoga, where I was the only student in the class, which was pretty neat, individual instruction, but it also felt kind of weird at times. There was no hiding/slacking in the back of the class, luckily the teacher catered things to my needs a bit, and backed off when I started to fade. Dinner afterward was pasta/tuna & wilted greens. (By the way, I posted pics last night of a recent winter walk.)

 

Tonight I'll either be riding Jacobsburg with my friend Joe, or, if he can't make it (he may have to study for a test), I'll just hit the gym. I was going to avoid WB until the weekend, but I got an email that another friend is having a birthday party tonight there, complete with his band playing, so I expect I'll stop in for at least a few minutes.

An Army Of Dorks To Burn The World

Morning weigh-in: 166#, 10% BF

 

"If you truly believed in the Constitution you'd let me build a nuclear reactor in my mom's basement." -- saw it somewhere once

 

Last Night: Went skiing last night, after a bag-o-salad dinner. I got there kind of late, say just before 8:00, and only got in about eight runs before calling it a night. The conditions were OK if not perfect, icy in some areas and slushy in others but generally acceptable, and it was warm enough out that I was skiing with my jacket opened. The place was quiet but not empty, at least not until just before closing. I scrammed around 9:45, about when everyone else did too.

 

Reading: Got back into Male Fantasies, and it seems to be getting more compelling, maybe because the author is getting around to agreeing with me: enough of this red nurse, white nurse, sister/prostitute psychobabble, these guys were basically just dorks, and in a lot of ways they were angry that the proletarian women they encountered, instead of admiring them for the shiny dorkitude they were into, regarded them as the dorks they were. Unfortunately, the dorky thing they were into was weapons.

 

This Night: Hitting the gym tonight, then going to Which Brew for a friend's 30th birthday, former barmaid . I am not the only one in Swan Song Mode, and like in the closing months of Weyerbacher, there will likely be a lot of parties and theme nights at Which Brew.

Regression Weekend Report

Well, as I said earlier, it was a good weekend in terms of night life, though somewhat in the opposite direction to where I want the rest of my life to be going. (I think I am in "get as much Which Brew as you can before it's gone" mode.) Nothing spectacular, just the usual "Which Brew followed by Porters" scene, but it was way fun.

 

Treacherous ice-walk down to Which Brew Friday, where I saw my friend Gary, back from a 6 week vacation on Mexico's Baja Peninsula. I later ended up in a cool conversation with yet another cutie over at Porters (oh man if I were 20 years younger) which caused me to stay up a little later than I expected...

 

I overslept the next morning and missed Saturday morning yoga, but I made it to the gym, then went snowshoeing along the Lehigh in the afternoon. That was beautiful; I took the singletrack on the water's edge from Riverside Park to about where Bad Andy's house is, maybe 4 miles total out and back, and every step was a wonderland. I took pictures (stay tuned), but as always they don't do it justice.

 

Saturday night was "Goth Night with Wrong" at Which Brew, and I was there on foot again. I spend far too much time breathing fresh air and being cheerful to make a very convincing goth, so I just went as myself. Sat between Jason and Dave, yakked with Jason about art & literature, then we all absconded one by one to Porters and ended up sitting together again; I yakked with Dave about girls for the rest of the night. (Disquieting news about a mutual friend who was in a car crash: she wasn't hurt but her car was totaled. A lot of the "bar scene" girls I know are younger, and they are all making a life for themselves on their own terms -- very cool, and more than I can say for myself at that age -- but many of them seem just one or two steps ahead of disaster. Living on the edge, it doesn't take much -- a hospital stay, the loss of a car -- to push you over.)

 

Got up Sunday and did a road ride around town on the mountain bike, just fooling around. Alleyways, stairs, a few pieces of the towpath, I was out for about an hour or so. After that came a trailwork day over at Sals, cutting out a lot of downed trees from the ice storm, plus some miscellaneous brush cutting. Huge crew, maybe fifteen people in all, so we split into 3 or 4 crews to deal with the rather widely-dispersed trouble spots. Lunch/dinner was at JP McGrady's in Bethlehem. Again, huge crowd. Went home, and treated myself to an early bedtime.

 

Tonight I will probably go skiing.

 

 

Well Whadda Ya Know, Another Milestone

Bandages
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Morning weigh-in: 167.5#, 11% BF (not bad, considering)

This is my second most popular photo on flickr, according to number of views. It's been sitting at 399 views for about a week, but just got two more hits and is now over 400. (My most popular photo is at 542, and #3 is down around 200 views.)

Good weekend. More on that some other time, plus more photos -- sorry, winter walk & trail maintenance shots. You know, the photos I like, as opposed to the people's choices: my broken flesh & Which Brew hotties...

By the way, I got up early and ran this morning; it felt really good -- I think I might do that more often. Anyway, that's the reason for the early morning post, and now I'm off to work.

A Pitiless Beauty

Morning weigh-in: 167#, 7.5% BF

 

"The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction." -- Rachel Carson

 

Say what you will, I love snow. La belle dame sans merci, white goddess... full moon (hunger moon, popping trees moon) last night, lunar eclipse the night before. Spring is coming; today is its fuel.

 

Which Brew last night, and it was a full house; looks like everyone got that same email.  At one point I looked over, and sitting next to me were Margarita, Perry & a friend of his, and Michele -- all teachers, and all anticipating a three day weekend. (Looks like their plan came together.) I hit Porters on the way home, but skipped out pretty quick, stayed just long enough to start my next mug. Nice conversation with off-duty waitress Courtney, who used to live in Boulder, and had some interesting if not-very-positive observations about Colorado and its residents.

 

Living Large: I made it in to work, but it's pretty quiet here today. Big breakfast (I was starving), then there was a meeting that got canceled but they couldn't cancel the lunch in time, so everyone in the department who made it in today got a free sandwich. It's also our Health Awareness Program's weekly "Free Fruit Friday," so I just hit the cafeteria for my free fruit -- today it was dried dates, which remind me of dried cicadas but I ate them anyway.

 

One Last One From Rachel Carson: "We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost's familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road — the one less traveled by— offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth."