Friday! Thank God it’s Fri-day!
Rest day! Thank God it’s a Rest Day!
What Little Difference A Day Makes
Last night I went out for my “Redemption” Ride. Against ITP-Reader Steve’s advice I decided to tackle the beast that caused my grief on Wednesday.
By and large I did much better, though I only managed to shave off ten minutes from the time I recorded on Wednesday. Ten minutes sounds like a lot of time, but if I compare the way I felt on Wednesday while riding to the way I felt last night, I was disappointed the gap wasn’t larger.
That’s not to say that I had no difficulties however, at one of the few places where one can open up and let’er rip I had a car in front of me who had no clue where the address she was trying to find was; I had to apply the brakes often and did not even have the momentum remaining to ascend the backside of the valley without pedaling. My time for this mile loop was a good minute slower than my average. And once again the steepest assent caused me to crack, forcing me to zig-zag up the final half. Oh well, room for improvement, right?
I’m giving my legs and nether region a chance to recuperate tonight.
Bike Maintenance Night?
I’ve realized that it’s been too long, and many miles, since the bike has had some routine maintenance. Tonight, in preparation for a (long?) ride tomorrow, I hope to give it a thorough cleaning and relube. I also think that before I journey to Iowa that I will be replacing the tires, because they are starting to flatten out from mileage. Actually, I’d love to invest a few bottles of wine into a thorough once-over by Allan some time in July in preparation for RAGBRAI.
Chores Before I Go
I’m keeping an eye on the Atlanta weather so that I can mow my yard as near to my departure date as possible (read: “I never got around to calling Jenka’s lawn guy”). As it appears right now Monday will be my best chance, which kinda stinks because Monday will also be the last day I can get a ride in before I go. Oh well, I’m paying for my procrastination with my time.
Other tasks that need to happen prior to Wednesday are:
- Laundry
- Checking the long-range weather forecast in Germany
- Packing
- Converting some real American cash into Euros
- Reserving a hotel room for my first night in Düsseldorf
- Having the post office hold my mail (what little I get these days)
Ah the joys of travel… Oh wait, this could potentially be an awesome trip and I really am looking forward to it.
My Return To The Theatre
Tomorrow evening I will be heading back to Horizon Theatre “The City of Conversation”. Rather than try to explain the plot to you I’ll steal their description:
Washington DC was once a place where people actually talked to each other… Hester Ferris opens her home for political foes to lay down arms and raise a glass. But that is all about to change. Colin, her beloved son, brings home a Reaganite girlfriend and a shocking new conservative world view, rocking Hester’s world. Follow the Ferris family from the end of the Carter presidency through the Reagan era and into Obama’s game-changing inauguration. Don’t miss this off-Broadway smash hit!
Sounds like a play that I might enjoy.
Atlanta Streets Alive
Sunday is Atlanta Streets Alive and I am planning on attending — in part. I think that I will ride my mountain bike to Colony Square for the Germany v. Ukraine soccer game (pity that Ms. K no longer lives in “The A”). I need to brush up on the German players so I can pretend I know a thing or two while I travel throughout Germany for two weeks. 🙂
After the soccer game I will tool around the closed portions of Peachtree before heading back to East Atlanta.
Hope that you all have a great weekend.
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
While Allan & his dad worked on the siding of the shed, I went to meet Stephanie to return the DDP yoga videos that we copied, and went for a 4 mile walk. It was warm out, but not too bad.
Tomorrow, I’d like to go for a mtn bike ride, but it may be work on the siding more day. We hae some Parrothead friends coming over for dinner, its gonna be warm out on the deck, but its too many people to consider doing the dinner inside.
Sunday – if the stars align – we are going to Ellijay for a afternoon of tubing the Cartacay. With the really hot weather & the cold river water, it should be a refreshing afternoon of relaxing.
And Paulie – once you get back from Germany – we can pick a date – Allan would not have a problem making sure the bike is in tip top shape for Iowa.
Thanks Barb. I will definitely consult your schedules when I return.
Coulda, shoulda gone riding last night, but couldn’t pull the trigger. Instead, I finished taking some weeds out of the beds around the house, then went on hole patrol. On my walk with Zelda the other evening, I went up through the new pasture we’re using, courtesy of Mr. Ruff. There were quite a few holes that need filling, so I went around with some survey flags. I also told the boys to stay away from the red flags- we’ll see how well that works. Maybe this afternoon, I can get a bucket full of dirt and fill said holes before the boys break their legs. F’ing armadillos.
Hope everyone has a great weekend. Stay cool.
-FP
I forgot to mention that in addition to cleaning the bike I need to nudge the seat back down to where it was prior to last night’s ride. On Wednesday night I once again lifted it, this time a small amount, in an attempt to get more power out of my pedal stroke (most noticeably the pull up). It felt fine last night but I’m feeling a little fatigue behind my knee this morning. BAD PAULIE!!! I will never learn…
Two more things:
On a sad note, I’ve read that hockey legend Gordie Howe has died at age 88.
On a funny note, I got an email today about learning German Soccer Vocabulary
oh, so on the sad note – not sure if any of you ever met a hasher at Hedon (or elsewhere) named Poison Penis. But – he died last week at 46. He was from the Trash, a military guy. I guess he had a stroke a few days earlier & he never recovered. (not sure what caused that but he was on some sort of medication that a stoke is a potential risk, so that’s the speculation).
He always seemed super healthy – so it just goes to show, you just never know when your time is going to come.
I don’t think that I knew Poison Penis. Having surpassed that age myself I can say that 46 is far too young to die.