Rollers are HARD!!!

With the prospect of winter approaching, days are even shorter and the weather is turning colder. This means that the riding season will some come to a close. With luck, September will stay warm and dry on the weekends and perhaps even through the first half of October. Any rider though has to choose between indoor winter training or buying winter riding gear. I opted for the former, since weather is only half of the issue; daylight is the other.

So I went to the bicycle shop and decided to buy a roller. Rollers are similar to a conveyor belt for a bicycle with no belt, just the spindles. After looking at rollers and trainers, I decided that rollers are much more difficult to use, but make you a better ride by forcing a higher level of balance and control over the bike.

After watching some epic roller fail videos on YouTube, I decided it was time to give a try. I too experienced epic failure. Balance is difficult, and even the slightest movement from left to right creates monumental direction changes on the rollers. I was all over the place. After 8 attempts, I finally got to where I could be on the bike unassisted (by a wall or door) for about 5 seconds. From what I read, this is typical. Next time, a little better, and the the time after that better still, until I can get on and ride unassisted. Then... the sky is the limit!

Tomorrow's big ride

Well, tomorrow is another big ride (50 miles, give or take) on the new bike. I am sure the weather being less brutal, and the hills being more forgiving will make this ride far easier than the last one (Ramapo Rally). I rode about 17 miles last night when I got home from work early for the holiday, and it feel great to be on the road bike.

Here is the ride for tomorrow:

Finally, a post not about cycling... well not completely anyway

On the work front... As I am now the boss (or am allegedly, as I have yet to reign in the behaviors that have been lax too long), I am at the mercy of every possible calamity that could befall anyone simultaneously. It seems that if something COULD have gone wrong in the past 2 weeks, it did. All the while, every Tom, Dick and Harry has been vying for my time, or the time of my team, I am trying to catch up on the status of projects and the vultures who think that their department is the MOST IMPORTANT department in the world, deserves the undivided attention of every engineer, all the time. Meanwhile, systems are failing left and right, projects are STUMBLING forward (at best) and the opposing troops, or at least those who wish to see me fail for a varying number of reasons, are marshaling at the gates.

All the while, all I can think about, if how can I get ANY time to ride? Perhaps I really am done with the city, the long commute, being a slave to the long hours, high stress, and ultimately, the golden handcuffs. I can certainly live with less. I can live a more meager existence. In fact, the freedom that would come from having less, would be far reaching across all aspects of my life. I suppose the real question remains: Do I have the courage? Have I lost too much already? Has the price been paid? Will I ultimately regret it and wish it could be undone?

Perhaps teaching is the way out....

So perhaps this blog is really about cycling with a few added other things mixed in. Why is that? Probably because I enjoy that more than most anything else in life. It is solitary. For anyone that knows me well enough, people are NOT my forte'. In fact, most people annoy me, so being all alone for hours making myself suffer is perfect for me.

I remember as a kid, we used to ride all the time, my friend Rob and I. We rode and rode until it seemed that the world was far too small. We had no concept of distance back then. No cyclometers, no mapping tools, no GPS, no cell phones. Just us, our bikes and some destination that was far away. We didn't worry about whether or not it was hilly. We didn't worry about rest stops, or what might happen if it rained. We just rode. We didn't know how far or how fast, only that we were riding. I remember getting my drivers license and swearing that I would still ride. We could have logged thousands of miles.... and we just didn't care.

Those are the days I want. Long summer days, riding all day, for 50 miles or more with only a destination in mind. I want this area to be too flat, and too small. I want to ride until it hurts and then keep riding until I can't remember what hurt anymore.

This weekend's metric century is going to be tons of fun. If you are looking for me... I will be on the carbon fiber racer. Keep up if you can!

So much to report....

So there are 3 big things happening... The first is work. My boss has gone and gotten himself fired... That leaves me to do that job. Back in the saddle again doing management, which I don't mind at all, but it is hard to pick of the pieces of a broken team and try to get everyone back to the point that they are comfortable and ready to work again. Oh well, Rome is being sacked again, and the boss wants another shiny new coliseum. Yah....

The other big news... A few weeks ago, my bike was stolen. S.T.O.L.E.N. Absconded with. Ridden away by someone who doesn't own it. A thief in the night (or day as it happens). It happened AT the bike shop. Dropped it off for a tune up before a big ride up in Warwick... and went to pick it up. Stolen. So I got a rental for the ride, no biggie. Which leads to the next section of news... the new bike. The new bike is a Specialized Tarmac Elite. A very nice machine. Black and Blue. Sweet. Carbon Fiber. 19.0 lbs. I picked it up today and took for about an 8 mile ride. It is FAST...

More updates to come.

Athleticism

It seems to me that years ago, being in shape consisted of nothing more than just not eating the triple pounder at McDonalds and having the large shake.  Today, the concept is radically changed.  This weekend I was able to get away to a winery upstate, but instead of drinking wine all day and eating cheese, I brought my bike.

I biked 31 miles though the backcountry of Warwick, NY.  Hills, vales and everything in between. My original route was to bike about 50 miles, after about 25, I realized that I was being overly ambitious given the hilly scenario.  There were no flats, and little opportunity to sit back and relax.  I was in every gear ring combination from 1 to 21 with more then my fair share of times thinking that I wish I could gear down further.  With a max speed of 36 mph and and average speed of 12 mph, I don't feel too bad.

After (finally) getting back to Warwick, NY, I was exhausted and hungry. I decided to skip on the remainder 11 miles and take the shortcut back on the 5 miles to my start location.  I was too tired to go on, and the very nice woman at the bike shop in Warwick informed me that the remainder of my route was all up hill.  

In the end, I am glad to have done it, and look forward to a lot more riding soon.  150+ miles so far, and hoping to make my goal of 500+ this summer!

School and Riding, everything conflicting, and keeping balance.

As it appears, my constant battle in life is simply the use of my time. School has now completed the second semester, and with 3 whole weeks until it starts up again, I will be taking a new strategy. Riding. So far, my weekends consist of 20-30 miles per weekend on the bike. I am hoping to extend that this coming weekend to 40 or 50 miles. D is working at a winery in Warwick, so I am going up there with her, but instead of sitting around, drinking wine and eating cheese all day (which isn't a bad concept by any means) I will be bringing my bike for a long trek through the country.

In the past, when I have had some respite from class, I have sat my ass on the couch, watched TV, or played video games. Occasionally I would break out the camera, or even take on a house project. Now that the weather is finally nice though, it is time to bike. I am also considering biking to and from the train station, which is about 9 miles one way. This would be a great thing, except that I would have to get up earlier and get home later. It is the idea of how much time it takes that makes me hesitant. I will probably try it for a week and see how it goes.

More updates as they come in...

Time to RIDE!!!

I forget what a pure joy it can be to just "ride" on my bike.  It is nothing like running (which to me is similar to being crushed  and set on fire simultaneously).  Instead, riding is like the feeling of precision ball bearings rolling along a track.  It is therapeutic, giving me time to focus on just one thing, the road ahead. 

The idea of just being "out there", with only your mind to keep you company... The thrill of the miles rolling by below you, and the concept of being completely self powered is exhilarating.  I got up early Saturday morning to get a little riding in.  I woke up at 8, ate breakfast and was on my bike tackling the streets within 20 short minutes. After a few challenging hills, I was a few miles along, my lungs were clear, my heart was racing and my endorphins were pumping as I crested a large hill.  After a short break, I started down the backside and coasting along reached 34 mph.  It was still 6 miles to get back home, and most of it on a slight, long incline, but I didn't care.  

All said and done, about 10 miles, in about 45 minutes.  On Sunday? Another 23 miles come and gone.  And this weekend I am riding in the Bike New York, 5 Borough Tour.  42 Miles of racing around the city... through midtown, to the bronx, down the FDR, back in to Queens, the BQE in to Brooklyn, over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to Staten Island and the ferry back to Manhattan.  It is my first year doing it, and I am very excited.

Now my only concern is that I never have enough time for biking.  

Frustration levels rising....

Someone once told me that I was cynical, in fact I was the most cynical person that they knew.  I think I am more of a realist.  I take life, discount it and everyone in it, and evaluate the results, believing little to nothing of what is being presented.  Anyone who isn't cynical to some degree is ignorantly waiting for bad things to happen to them.  But enough about that.

Last night I went out with some friends for dinner.  I don't know why I agreed to go, and looking back I should have told them to kiss my ass, because I should know better.  These friends are loosely termed as friends; the kind I will see when it is convenient, but I would never go out of my way to see them.  They are usually expensive, where every meal is over $100 a head, and every event costs in the hundreds of dollars.  They clearly live beyond their means and are inconsiderate about what others want. What bothered me so much about last night wasn't that it is restaurant week (which, by the way is the worst way to visit a nice restaurant, in my opinion), but it was the whole deal.  After the intermezzo I found myself sitting listening to the conversation at the table.  I don't know what it was about specifically, but it was no different than any other conversation that these apes could contrive. It hit me like a ton of bricks... "Why am I sitting at a table, out late in NYC (9:30 or so) in a suit, hot as Satan's ball-sack, paying $100 for a meal that isn't that good, listening to the opinions and thoughts of people that wouldn't know how to use Silly Putty?"  At that moment, all flavor left my mouth, and everything tasted flat.  I wanted to reach across the table and choke the living shit out of each and every one of them.  I could feel the rage boiling up inside of me.  My blood became fire and my nerves as cold as ice.

I contemplated getting up at that moment and walking out.  Like in American Psycho, I could see myself taking my steak knife (still with wild boar and rabbit sausage on the blade) slitting the throats and stabbing everyone I was sitting with.  Later I was so angry with myself for sitting quietly through the rest of the dinner privately hating all of them vehemently.  They look at me and talk to me as if I was just like them, and that makes me feel like an average chump. Needless to say that I won't be seeing them again, under any circumstances, except maybe their funerals, if I can be bothered.  

It is true, it never changes...

It helps to believe.  I tell myself that, because it helps to believe that.  Self-describing redundancy is exactly the issue at hand here.  I was out the other night with the crowd from the old job.  If I haven't mentioned it yet, the old job was a bunch of monkeys in a room lording over the souls of the damned to do their evil bidding at the cost of our own morality.  That being stated, here is the breakdown of how that place works...

First, you start working there, and you believe that it is a good place.  Everyone is smiling and having fun.  Whistle while you work is the motto.  Then it starts to be an uphill grind.  There are political battles at every turn, and the departmental infighting is terrible.  Through it all you do the job, believing in the cause.  You still whistle as an example to others, so that you might be promoted one day to master monkey whistler.  After some time though, you don't believe in the cause.  You hurt from the constant pain of knives in your back, and you do the work in order to keep the organization afloat, and to keep your job.  You whistle to distract yourself from the truth and the pain.  Then, in a moment of tequila induced clarity, you realize the problem isn't the business, but it is the master monkeys.  

I left because I knew that I couldn't change the system, and it had changed me far too much.  After meeting with the condemned souls still there, I realized that now all of the master monkeys are gone, and there are no new monkeys, and yet, EVERYTHING is exactly the same.  The wheel is too big and complex to ever change without some type of IT plague that would take out every last employee in one clean swipe.  I am beginning to doubt that even that would do it.

I believe because it helps.  I used to believe that change was possible in even the worst systems.  I still believe, but only in the fact that some systems are corrupt by nature and that the universal laws of entropy will always win.  

Getting ready

It is odd to think about how much I am trying to be "prepared" for the program at Pace.  When going to school online, it is fairly easy.  Supplies include a laptop, an Internet connection, and a comfortable place to sit.  Now I am worried about having a reliable bag for my laptop so I just bought a great bag at "Village Tannery" on Bleeker St. in Greenwich village.  It was hugely expensive, but the reviews of that place phenomenal.  They have been there for somewhere over 20 years, and everyone who bought a bag from them is 100% satisfied.  One review is a woman's blog who bought a bag, and travelled with it for 11 years.  After that time, it was looking a little rough, so she brought it back and they more or less rebuilt the bag for free.  The bag is 100% handcrafted leather that will withstand about any amount of abuse I could dish out.  

On other news, I have recently discovered why everyone says "guitar hero" and "rock band" are so much fun.  I was at a friends house over the weekend, (drinking of course) and they were playing "Rock Band".  After a few minutes and drinks, I joined in.  The hilarity ensued for the next 4 hours, with all of us having the greatest time.  If you haven't played it, even if you don't like video games, it is really a lot of fun.  

Allergies suck

I remember when I was younger, I would spend more than 90% of the time outside.  If I wasn't in school or sleeping, I was outside.  I used to camp a lot, so even sleeping was an outdoor activity.  In the past few years though, I have suddenly become wildly allergic to the outdoors.  I sneeze, sniffle, cough and tear every time I mow the lawn or spend more than 5 hours in the woods.  WTF?!  Is it because I have since spent 8 years in the deep south, only to return as an office worker who has a weakened immunity to allergens?  

This past weekend we went up to the winery we frequent and know the owners in Warwick, NY.  After about 6 hours of hanging out in the sun, my eyes had the all-too-familiar sensation of an allergy attack.  Within a few short minutes, they were burning and I could barely see.  I did the usual stuff: splashed water on my face, in my eyes, dunked my head underwater, etc.  By that night BOTH of my eyes were red and puffy.  (Oh, didn't I mention? I have already been taking Zyrtec for almost 3 days at this point).  The next morning, I can barely open my eyes, they are almost completely crusted over, and I look like I have been crying for 18 hours straight.  

So I go to the pharmacy for some eye drops to alleviate the itching that makes me want to scour away my eyeballs with a cheese grater.  I found two bottles, one is ClearEyes, and the other is Visene.  Both of them claim to reduce itching from allergy symptoms but have different active ingredients.  So I wait in line to talk to the pharmacist to get her opinion on which is a better product.  (That is why they are there, isn't it?)  I tell her my tale of woe, and this is the summation of the conversation:

Me: Hello, I have had an allergy attack and now my eyes are itchy.  I want to use eye drops to help the itching stop.  Can you tell me which of these two products are better?

Her: Lets see... They are both basically the same.

Me: Yes, but they have different active ingredients.  One is Tetra-something or other, and the other has Hydrocortiza something.  What is the difference in the active ingredients?

Her: Well, one has glycerin which is also an ingredient used for lubrication.  But they will both help.

***  She is blankly staring at me ***

Me: But if they both do the same thing, why aren't the ingredients the same?

Her: I don't see the difference between them.

I realized that if I don't leave, my head will implode from her lack of pharmaceutical knowledge.  I thought I was being clever, by asking a trained professional on the chemical differences between similar products.  The end result? Stupidity that makes me angry.  Now I am angry AND my eyes still itch.  I know they both would have worked, but the question was "why are they different".  The answer I got was "I don't know why you think they are different".  

That really annoys me.  I expect people who are doing their jobs to, well, DO THEIR JOBS!  If you have a job, and you are even slightly trained, you should know more about it than someone who isn't, right?!?  If I had a nickel for every time this makes me mad....

Sometimes, life gets in the way.

Someone once said to me, you have to plan for the unexpected.  Not necessarily because of things that happen to you, but because "life gets in the way".  I thought this was a true, but odd statement.  I filed it away, to be returned to later.  After pondering it, I find myself using it, not as an excuse, but as a valid reason for the fact that life doesn't always follow schedules.  

In a busy adult life, there are many things that we are involved in, and they aren't all respectful of the schedules we create.  Sometimes, important stuff has to be put to the side to handle life's little emergencies.  Basically, "life gets in the way".  A friend of mine has been trying to schedule time with me for almost 2 weeks now, and every time I look at my calendar, it is filled up.

Another observation is that people aren't always "happy" about success.  Success to most people is a limited idea that can only be described in terms of a lack of misery, or in terms of a familiar feeling of wealth and showmanship.  A friend of mine and I often go out for drinks, and we will causally observe the crowd.  Sometimes, in a bar full of suits, we will pretend that we are like the other people.  We will make up random financial statements like "Er, Oh, How did you do on the market merger of the IPO stock offering?" At which point we will both throw our heads back and mock laugh "yuk yuk yuk".  The point of the anecdote?  I guess it is that happiness should be defined by the limitless possibilities of our existence, by experiencing new things, and having fun doing it.  I am often saddened by the inability for people to experience things outside of their comfort zone, to really let down their guard, and to look at something new as a child might.  This being the case, people find levels of mediocrity in their world, and when something changes for the better, they label it "success", and they are slightly happy about it. It is unfortunate that people don't honestly experience happiness and contentment thought the human experience.

Converting to Mac! F*** Vista!

So far, with every degree, I purchase a laptop.  While that might seem excessive, what I have found is that by the time I am done with a degree, the laptop I purchased is at least 2 years old, and has been worn out like a two dollar whore at a bachelor party.  I end up using the laptop so extensively that given two years of extensive use (at least 2 hours per day of heavy use, and very few days off), it needs to be retired.  It would be OK in the beginning, but I am sure in the middle of some project, it would fail.  It would roll over and die and leave me with none of my data, all of my work lost and I would still need to buy a new one.

So the laptop I am retiring has Vista on it.  For obvious reasons, I hate it.  It was a "Vista compatible" laptop, that had a one way upgrade path.  Toshiba provided the Vista Upgrade CD, which included the drivers, etc.  The original software, drivers, etc for XP were "on the hard drive", so the Vista upgrade completely wiped them out, including the partition they came in on.  To make a long story short, Toshiba can no longer support the installation of XP, and will not provide an XP restore disk, or any of the drivers.  The laptop is now, and forever will be, a Vista piece of shit.

Having had about 9 months of terrible experiences with Vista, I have come to hate it for all that it is.  It is big, slow, has a terrible interface, hard to use, incompatible with everything, and is by far, the worst operating system I have ever used (and that DOES include OS2/Warp).

So my decision was to go with something more "tried and tested".  Since an XP laptop can not be purchased any longer (without sacrifice that is), and since most of my doctoral work will be word processing anyway, I figured I would give a Mac a try.  

I am now writing this on my new Mac book.  It is strange, and the interface is "odd, but easy".  I am sure many of my blog entries to come will revolve around this new machine, but for now... It works.  Everything works.  It works like it should.  It is the fastest machine I have ever used, with the longest battery life (4+ hours, but is closer to 6),  and the best screen.  The built in web cam, mic and easy to use trace pad (has nice intuitive scrolling features and multi-touch) makes this quite an impressive machine.

I may not be a Mac convert yet, but I can definitely see why people are so devoted. Everything is "easier".  I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop, but so far, it has all of the features of any Windows XP machine I have used, with none of the hassle.  (I use WinXP as a reference, because the only OS that is fair to compare to Vista is Windows Millennium).  

More Success

My interview for admissions to the Pace Doctoral program went well yesterday, and I was informed that I am the newest student to the D.P.S program at Pace University!

I can't believe this is actually happening. When I first mentioned going for my PhD, it was a humorous comment that followed the question of "what will I do when I finish my B.S degree". I remember, right after "Maybe I will go on to get my PhD!" came out of my mouth, I was a bit confused. It was a funny joke, especially to me, but in the back of my mind, I filed away the idea that I really could. There began this struggle for me to strive for it, or to just go about like it would never happen.

Here I am 3 years after I made that comment, enrolled in a doctoral program. It still seems surreal. But I made it this far, and now there is no turning back.

Wish me luck!

Umbrellas or event canopies?

Sometimes it rains. This has been the way things have been for 13 billion years. In recent times, humankind has conquered the terrible rain with an invention called the Umbrella.

The umbrella should be a device used to keep oneself dry. When it rains in Manhattan, everyone sports their umbrellas. If you are not fortunate enough to have an umbrella with you, you can usually survive by ducking under the vast array of other umbrellas that form a faux-canopy over most of the streets of NYC.

I have seen, and had to avoid, the people who have HUGE umbrellas. What are these people thinking? Literally, an umbrella with a 10' diameter is too much for a 105lb person. You could keep you, your entire extended family, and all of their worldly possessions dry under one of these mammoth sized umbrella. I have seen event canopies that were smaller. I was walking behind one the other day (it could have been a person under it, I don't know, but it took up the entire 45th street sidewalk), and the umbrella was forcing everyone off the sidewalk.

HAVE SOME COMMON SENSE! If your rain canopy is too big to fit though a standard doorway, if it has it's own weather system under it... or if you find that when you use it, people like me want to take an exacto knife to it, get a SMALLER umbrella. The kind used to shield HUMANS from the rain, not the kind used to stop rain from hitting the eastern hemisphere!

People with large umbrellas should be impaled.

Spinning, Day 2

Well, here's the report on the day 2 of spinning class.

It was easier. Significantly. The instructor was not as much of a maniac, and in fact, much much nicer. She helped me adjust the bike, and told me the secrets to class. The secret is when she yells "make it harder!" it is only a suggestion. I don't have to. I went as hard as I could manage in the class, sweating profusely, and on the verge of passing out/vomiting. My legs are not nearly as sore today (still having the ability to walk like a human), and I am feeling good.

I find the hardest part of dieting and exercising NOT to be the dieting and exercising, but the socializing. Socializing generally means eating and drinking. Those are the two hardest things to curb. Tonight I am going out with friends to the NINJA restaurant in NY. I know that means I need to spend an extra 45 minutes on the treadmill, because the food will be delicious.

I have not lost much in body weight, but I have lowered by body fat percentage by 3% in a week, and increased my muscle mass. Only 1 week so far, so lots more to report in the future.

My first spinning class

Yesterday I went to my first spinning class at the NYSC. Before I describe how it went, let me detail how much exercise I have done in the past 10 years...

Ok, now that you understand how in shape I am, [for those of you wondering if I left out the part about my past exercise, please note that nothing was entered and infer your own conclusions] I went to the gym at 5:30. I got changed, grabbed a towel and went up stairs to hit some weights before class. I worked out for a bit, and I walked on the treadmill for about 20 minutes. Then I headed down for class...

The people that do spinning classes are crazy. They are self-loathing, masochistic, insane people that have no sense of anything other than how to punish themselves.

I love it.

We warm up, and the instructor gives me the normal positions in a spinning class. I think "Only 3 positions? OK, easy to remember." We spin for a bit, standing, sitting, fast, slow. I am now dripping with sweat like a shaggy dog who just got a bath. I am sure people are worried about me. My face is purple, there are puddles forming below me. I am panting.

Finally, the instructor states to sit upright and stretch out the arms and shoulders. I look at the clock. 5 MINUTES HAVE PASSED!?!?!?! Are you kidding? I look around and no one else has broken a sweat. They are all size 00 girls some of which, this is their second back-to-back class. I am starting to get the dreaded feeling that I will not make it through the class.

With every 2 minutes, the instructor yells "reach down and increase the tension!". I am pretending to turn it. There is no way I can. I am now sweating from every pore in my body, and it stings in my eyes. I hate this class. I hate the instructor and I hate these stupid girls.

I look at the clock again. 15 MINUTES HAVE PASSED. The instructor is promising a 4 minute break coming up, after 3 more hill climbs, each one requiring more tension, more standing, and a lot more effort. Looking forward to the break, I put in the effort.

When I was thinking "break", I was imagining sitting somewhere, like a hammock, on a beach, coconut drink in hand, etc. Seriously, I didn't think it meant less tension and FASTER PEDDALING! What is wrong with these people?!?!

I made it through the class, with more effort that I have ever put in to anything since high school wrestling practice. I fought down the need to vomit in class 3 separate times, and I stumbled out of the room as the instructor was asking if people wanted to stay for an "abdominal workout". I fought down the urge to flip her the bird, but in a strange way, I liked it. I liked killing myself on the bike. They were achieving a WIN in a fictional race, while I was simply concerned with FINISHING.

I will go back. For now, maybe twice a week for spinning class. The rest of the week on the weights and the treadmill. Soon I will attempt the class 3 times a week, until I can achieve the class, and not simply pass it.

A new me (or just another blog entry)

On Tuesday night, I went home with all intentions of going for a ride on my bike. I quickly realized that daylight is my enemy. There is a precious 30 minutes of usable daylight after I get home. This seriously puts a hamper on any ability I have to go for a decent ride. By the time I get home, change, and get in to a ride, I have to turn around and get home before dark. Where I live, the roads are not the most conducive to driver/cyclist appreciation.

So I joined the NYSC. Tonight is my first spinning class. I am fully anticipating lots of pain and sweat, but I am also looking forward to it.

Here are the things I have started to do to lose the winter hibernation weight:

• Stop drinking soda (completely)
• Stop drinking beer (only occassional binge drinking allowed)
• Stop eating junk foods (burgers, chessesteaks, apple pie)
• Drink water (at least 2 liters per day)
• Eat breakfast, a midmorning snack, small lunch, mid afternoon snack, dinner, dessert.
• Take the stairs at work instead of the elevator
• Work out daily
• Train for the 60 mile and 100 mile rides at the end of the summer

Yesterday's Weigh in: 215
Current weigh in: 213

The rain is my fault... sorry.

For those of you who are wondering why it was 40 degrees this morning, cloudy and threatening rain... it is my fault. I claim full responsibility.

This weekend, I did two important things that caused the weather to turn bad. First and foremost, I bought a new bicycle. The bikes I have are older, and in need of serious repair or just trashing... so I opted for trashing. The old road bike is a "Shogun Selectra" from the very early 90's. It was a great bike when it was made. It has seen over 1000 miles, and my last long ride took about the last of the life from it. By the end of the 150 miles I realized I might be walking the parts across the finish line.

The old mountain bike is a Specialized Hard Rock that I bought about 8 years ago. Not knowing what I was doing, I bought it about 2" too big in the frame, which has all of the potential for testicular disaster, and has made me think twice on occasion regarding to fall off or jump off of it. I put about $800 worth of new components in to it, but my days of hard core mountain biking are probably done.

The new bike is a Specialized CrossTrail. This is a bike that is lighter than my mountain bike, has a front fork suspension that I can lock out (for road rides), but is tough enough to handle mild mountain biking trails.

On Saturday my curiosty got the better of me when I took it out for a spin... I pulled back in to the driveway 2 hours and 25 miles later. I really was curious what was just around the next bend. Needless to say, there was no riding for me on Sunday, but I did plan on doing another 10 today... but the purchase of a new bike means rain for a few days, so for that, I apologize.

The second and most consequential reason it is raining? After owning my car for 1 year, I have finally washed it. Yep, washed and vacuumed. Today? RAIN. Figures.