Better Late Than... Whatever.

Despite battling sickness, last week was pretty good on the bike. I finally, I took advantage of the freakishly mild weather and fired out for a lunch ride early in the week. Wow. It's been months and I had forgotten how therapeutic and fun it can be to ride my bike in the midst of my work day. The Wednesday night ride, was a lot better for me than the last several had been. Ron and Mike still slapped me around, but feeling half decent on a hard ride is a more than welcome change. I could even see them at the top of a couple climbs. Win(sorta). The bonus is that I was in shorts and arm warmers for a late January night ride - so maybe the weather had something to do with how I felt. Whatever it was, I'll take it.

I was on the bike Saturday and Sunday with Kim, so that's four out of the last seven days. In my world, that's a pretty good stretch. I've got a bike and a kit in the car today and the view from my office is bright and blue. The National Weather Service thinks this week will be a good one, and I've got slightly more motivation that I've had all winter. Maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to harness it and have another "good" week.

Friday night KPD (soon to be S) and got ourselves ready and went out for dinner and drinks at one of our favorite spots. We wore our coats, but really didn't need 'em. It was 50° and holding. What's that about? A little foreshadowing I guess...

WTS? 60 degrees and clear skies?

Saturday morning, we awoke to Beady-eyed Chris Sowers giggling at his own warm weather jokes. 45° to start the day. I opened the garage to warm it up in there, spending some to prep the singles... cleaning, lubing, tweaking. By about 10:30, we were ready to roll south for our longest ride of the year.

The trails were decent... a little more moist than would be ideal, but not bad. Just slick enough in some corners to make things interesting. While out on our tour, the temps soared over 60°. Sixty degrees. In January. I sound like a broken record; I keep saying "I can't believe it's so warm..." I feel like I say this every ride.

I wonder if we'll just keep these warm days coming? I wonder when the winter's gonna hit? I wonder if mother nature is pissed? I wonder.

Champs and Cookies; New Year's Eve 2011

Saggy.

Champs and Cookies!

KPD (Soon to Be) S

Logovers aren't so smooth after some cheap champagne.

Notice the short sleeves and shorts. Not bad for December 31st. What an awesome way to kick off the New Year's Eve festivities.

Little Wins and Picking Up Hitch Hikers

Well, Fortunately there wasn't an untimely network tragedy and I won my showdown yesterday. In a glorious display of professional procrastination, I pulled the trigger just in the nick of time.

With the impending competition type bicycle riding to be done tomorrow, KPD (soon to be) S and I went for a quick loop through the backyard trails to shake up the peddler muscles. Along the way, I found some hitch hikers and decided to give them a ride.

"Why am I so itchy??" ...

Summer Footwear; Autumn Rain

It's been a week since I've been on a bicycle. Driving over to the trails tonight, i was almost giddy. I was happy to be getting on a bike. Stoked about the opportunity to enjoy a short jaunt through the woods with KPD(soon to be)S. So much so that it didn't even matter that it'd been pissing rain all day and it was already dark outside. At 5PM.

Just as I pulled into the parking lot, It hit me. I forgot to grab my shoes off the floor of the garage. KPD(soon to be)S was a little more prepared (she always is) and with a limited window of opportunity, I didn't have time to run home and get some shoes. I made a game time decision and that decision was All systems: go close enough.

I mounted the Mariachi 'cross style and clipped right in placed my feet gently upon the Times. The beer koozie sole of my Sanüks conformed to the pedals just enough to create an illusion that I was securely attached to my bike. Unfortunately, this false sense of security led to a few oh shit moments and some antics out on the trail. The most noteworthy of which; a good blow to the junk as I stood to clear a wet root infested, punchy climb.

At least my walking funny isn't related to the aforementioned blow. It's my bruised metatarsals that are the culprit this time.