today's ride

Pretty bleak day, woke up to cold and rain, helped the wife get the kids up and running.  Took a vacation day to relax, get some stuff done, and hopefully get some alone time outside.  Went with Julie to get her car back (finally) from the body shop and she dropped me off so that she could take Josie to the library.  I got ready for a short road ride, the trails are way to destroyed to even  think about putting knobbies to them.  Grabbed the Hunter FixieMonsterCross for what could possibly be its last non-dirt ride ever (meaning that the mc might be shipping soon).

Got dressed, Bontrager knickers, Smartwool boxers (I haven't worn cycling shorts in over a year), Teko socks, Specialized Comp mountain shoes, Surly wool jersey, old WoolyWarm arm warmers, some beat up Gore shoe covers, wool beanie and gloves, and o2rainwear Calhoun jacket to keep the torso warm and dry.

Jumped on the road, lights on for traffic and headed down to the parkway.  The 33x18 fixed gear is NOT a road gear, the legs were pumping a little to fast (can't wait for the mc with its 39x17), but it was only bad on the steep downhill stuff.  The park had a misty quality to it, the over ripening leaves seemed to pop against the greyness of the clouds.  My legs got into the rhythm, still quickly turning over the large volume tires on the potholed infused blacktop.  Ten miles in, I popped onto the bike path, meaning to get in some hill work for my lungs and legs to feel some pain, and being Northeast Ohio, it was over in 15 minutes.  An hour later, I turned around at the top of a hill, looking down into the valley I just left only to have to resist my legs and use my front brake not to rush into oncoming traffic at the bottom of the hill.  On the road, back on the bike path for the hills the way home, I wove the streets to the shop, where a little warmth, a bit of food, and some good natured verbal abuse sent me home to my warm shower to get some color back into my skin.

Not long ride, but a much needed break from the monotony of my commute

back?

Starting to get rid of this blah feeling.  Body feeling better - except for my allergies - and my mind is starting to come back around.  I always get this way in the head this time of the year, the rush of the Summer bike selling season beats the crap out of me mentally and this year was especially hard - makes me rethink not joining that monastery all those years ago could have been a mistake.

Things also coming together on the cycling front.  I haven't been doing much activity other than basic riding back and forth to work and errands around town - no running or extra bike rides.  But the Autumn is my favorite time of the year, and  I'm looking forward to get some extra riding and hiking in, and I can take some vacation days to do it. 

I'll have some other news soon, as well as some new product reviews of things that I have been trying out - and some of them aren't bike specific either.

More soon.......

mehh....

Still not feeling up to it, writing that is.  Can't seem to shake this feeling of jukiness either.  Hoping for some good news to get me out of this funk. 

More soon.....

my "vacation"

Well, my trip to the Great Allegheny Passage/C&O never happened, so I stayed at home this week to help my wife and take care of the kids.  My wife still isn't 100%, still with the concussion and x-rays determined a slight AC joint sprain.  She's getting better, but its slow.  Here's how the week went down:

Monday - Drove wife to work, went to The North Face store, bought the wrong shirt.  Came home, took a nap while Josies was sleeping, took Owen to karate, found out didn't have to pick wife up from work, and made kids dinner.  Ate some Chipotle and went to bed.  No bike riding.

Tuesday - Wife drove to work (shouldn't have, but couldn't take off work), rode bike to  Josie's music class, ate some lunch, took a nap, went to Owen's very muddy soccer game, dinner, bed.

Wednesday - Took Julie's car to get estimate at the body shop, $4900 for the door, had to wait to get a rental car, so decided to go for a bike ride.  See this:

This the 6mm wrench I need to take off my rear KISS OFF Phil Woods hub.  It is NOT in my bag, I have lost it somewhere, and didn't know it was gone until I got a flat.  Rear tire feeling weird, pulled over to see if I could nurse it back with a little air until I find someone with a tool, and it is totally gone.  Oh well, had to call for a ride, and went home and ate some lunch.  No nap, went and got my rental car, picked the kids up, got some pizza and had dinner.  Julie fell asleep at 7:30, did the trash and read for a few hours.  Pretty damn exciting, right?  Still haven't found the 6mm, have to get one at work.

Thursday - Owen to school, Josie and I to run some errands.  Jumped on the Transport with Burley and rode through the park to the supermarket. 


After the market, stopped off at the playground before some lunch.

This little place is the Prehistoric Pit on the Lake to Lake trail through the Cleveland Metroparks.   The biggest part is a full size reconstruction of a mammoth skeleton the kids can "dig" up and climb on.  Day isn't done, but it been the most constructive so far....

Back to work tomorrow, kind of dreading it, kind of welcoming it.  More soon.....

i'm supposed to be......

In Pennsylvania right now, getting into Confluence on the my bike by the Great Allegheny Passage.  But I'm not.  I'm sitting in front of a computer writing this.  Why you ask?  Because I got a phone call at work around 5:00 on Saturday, to tell me this happened:

 

My wife was t-boned by mail truck (sick joke here).  She is OK, a little concussion, a sore left side, and ticked off about the whole thing.  So I stayed at home for a few days to take care of her and the kids.  Oh well, life is always changing and throwing things in your way.

This is what my bike looked like while it was getting ready for the trip:

The Stubby in all her glory,  minus the clothing bag on the rear rack and the handlebar bag.  The front panniers had my sleeping bag, tent, sleeping pad, raingear, and a warmer jacket in it.   Not a good looking ride, but one that would have hopefully made it to D.C. in one piece.  I say hopefully because on Sunday, I rode out to a local part of the Metroparks for a quick run (hadn't run in a few years, but it was something I'm starting back up), and this happens:

The fender mount on my rear rack pops at the weld.  A mile away from my house, on a freshly paved road.  I would hate to see what the bike would have been like at the end of 330 miles of unpaved trails, it might not have made it.  I guess it really wasn't meant to be this  time around.

I hopefully will have some good news coming around the bend, I could use some......