Actually, it was hard, only somewhat ugly, but very rewarding ride last night.
My Moment Of Zen
I met up with ITP-Reader Bob and his friend Matt at Riverside Park for a twenty-seven mile ride. I kept in mind that neither of these guys were near my age and that they weren’t on their second ride of 2009. I rode the best ride that I could last night. I never seemed to have that “next” gear to keep the wheel, nor the lungs to power my way up the inclines at the same rate that they could. I think my “out-of-shapeness” caused them to stop and wait no more than four times, but I felt badly nonetheless.
The course was challenging but very doable. I scared the crap out of myself down a long, winding downhill that ended with at ninety-degree right-hand turn. My speed was sufficiently high that I could not brake well, and with a truck coming from the direction that I needed to head, I made a decision to pull up and turn left instead. My legs and lungs didn’t appreciate the extra work they needed to produce in order to catch up to the others.
After the ride I followed Bob back to his house where ITP-Reader Laura had prepared a great dinner of burritos and green beans which I consumed with the single Sam Adams which pushed me toward exhaustion.
The only thing missing from the night was seeing Bob and Laura’s little one who apparently had passed out from a heavy day of drinking goes to bed early, which probably makes sense for a fifteen-month old. When I arrived at my bed I passed out from exhaustion, which probably makes sense for a reborn cyclist, five-hundred-twenty-nine-month old.
Oh Yes It’s Laundry Night, Oh What A Night
With a week’s worth of work clothes, in addition to some cycling kits which need to be laundered I’ll be dragging my shit to a laundromat tonight.
The laundromat of choice tonight will be the one next to Lee’s Bakery so that I can get a Bahn Mi Vietnamese sandwich for dinner. YUM!
ITP Flickr Pic
Another “old” cameraphone photo.
I call this shot “Candles And Handles.” Seriously, I need to take my photo out of its bag more often.
RealiTV Update : Hell’s Kitchen Is Hellish
Last night was the fourth episode of this season’s Hell’s Kitchen. Four episodes in and the makers of Hell’s Kitchen have already turned this into the biggest clusterfuck of a season to date. So far people have been fired mid-season, last year’s Biggest Loser Robert has been brought back, and we’ve had flashes of lousy food and arguing.
I’m giving this season a few more attempts to become interesting, at which time I may decide to give up on this franchise the same way that I did for Survivor, and The Apprentice.
ITP Question
Occasionally I’m going to drop a query into the blog in an effort to stimulate more people to comment, as well as to learn. So let’s kick this off with…
What would you be doing if you weren’t doing what you are doing today? That is to say, if you had ample funds what would you be doing today?
My answer would be “Planning a long-distance, long-term, photography road trip.”
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fair, but a bit frantic
Current Music – listening to “The Candid Frame” podcast
Website Of The Day – I’ve long been a fan of rhythm-based video games. Yesterday I was introduced to Tapulous’ Tap Tap Games for the iPhone. Oh hello, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – cycling, 27 miles
Morning Weigh-In – 198 pounds
Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 65 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 5 (5)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 4
Marta Rides – 0
August Goals
– Not get fired from my job
– Restart work on house, actually making progress this time
2009 Goals
– Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
– Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
РEarn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalape̱o Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
I’m glad you survived the ride, and don’t feel bad, those guys wait for me at the top of hills too. I just have to keep thinking it gives them their gossip time.
I think we are going to go ride over there tomorrow night.
Hehe, that’s good to know. 🙂 I’ll keep tomorrow night in mind but if it’s not raining I’ll probably spend the night mowing my lawns and cleaning up around the house since both are in desperate need of attention.
Oh, I saw the hearth in the kudzu last night too. Next week I’ll try and capture both on “film.”
And you failed to answer the question!!!
Dang Paulie, you’ve exercised more this week than the rest of the year combined, Great Job!!!
The girls and I hit the Silver Comet hard last night, I had planned to get there early to put in a few extra miles but ATL traffic did not cooperate. Barb, Jerry wasn’t too disappointed when I returned and summarized the ride for him 😉
There is no way I could go a week without doing laundry. My house would be toxic with nasty workout clothes festering for a week. It would make me wish Toby was still around to make the house smell better.
Tonight I will swing my Your DeKalb Farmer’s Market to buy tuna or scallops for dinner tonight, I haven’t been in awhile so I’m sure I’ll figure out plenty of stuff I ‘need’.
If money were no object that is easy. I would be planning a motorcycle trip around the world like Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman did in the documentary “Long Way Around”
Good riding with you last night and you did not hold us up at all. My 488 month old body has no problem at all stopping at the top of a hill.
What would I be doing? Travelling, riding, skiing and diving, but still working on some level for a non-profit that needs my skills (whatever they are). Maybe open a bike shop that doesn’t work on new crap… 8 speed or less. I’ll call it Retro Grouch’s Bike Shop- no carbon fiber allowed.
-FP
Oh yeah! The kudzu hearth, I finally saw it last night! Barb, you have pointed it out to me at least 4 times and I have never seen in until last night (Paulie, is there a “Duh, smack my forehead” smiley?)
Excellent! Steve, the Retro Grouch conjures fantastic logo images in my demented mind. Hey did you see that I linked you to Darren of The Grange yesterday? In case the name doesn’t ring a bell thing “cycling dude with the heavy Irish accent.”
Oh, and for those of you in need of more cycling crap…. Performance Bicycles (two Atlanta-ish locations) starts their August Sale today. I went their yesterday (a day early of course) and will return soon to buy some gloves to replace the nasty things that I wore yesterday.
oh, the question….. I think Allan & I would get a motorhome & go be campground hosts in all the places in the USA & Canada we’ve never been & mountain bike & explore. I keep thinking I need to get out of this country & go overseas, but there are so many places I haven’t seen here, I figure I should do that first.
and – we will do some riding this weekend, and next week, etc., so just let me know when you want to ride. I’m sure you can beat me up those hills. i do need to get on the mountain bike, Winter Park is coming up soon, and I need to remember some of those skills.
Martha – I’m so glad Jerry was okay with our pace, since you set it plenty fast. I made it to the C U Next Tuesday hash just in time, and TLC “didn’t realize” the trail was supposed to only be a mile total, so it was a little longer (MC wasn’t happy ;-), but we went past Allan’s firehouse twice, so that was entertaining for him.
If I don’t make it out tomorrow I’ll have to put off joining you until mid next week. I suppose it’s okay to say it in my forum, but I’ll be out of town visiting my bro and sis-in-law this weekend.
Hiking/Backpacking through the Amazon, Himalayas, Australia/NZ, etc. with the family in tow – they might gripe a little at first, but they’d get used to it. And then, after a couple of years of that, we’d do whatever Lisa wants to do…. 😉
I’ve been catching up on my ITP and want to add my “Dang, that sucks.” regarding the EAV break-in. Our neighbor across the street has a small apartment in the back of her house – for whenever you are ready to downsize.
I talked to Sani last night and she is bound and determined to hook you up with one of the lawyers from the hash to sue your alarm company. That would certainly make for interesting ITP fodder.
well – I love the Retro Grouch name & concept, you better start buying up those old parts! But, I do love my carbon fiber bike – so I guess I can’t come to your shop. Allan would come work with you too, he loves the old stuff too. (but he also likes & has carbon fiber, I guess he’d have to leave that bike at home).
Bob….. what will we do with you, you hadn’t actually seen that hearth? I keep thining I want to try to climb up to it, it looks like there sort of is a path.
Thanks Randy. If the rent is right I could always rent the apartment as Base Camp Paulie. 😉
As you may know, I’m not really the litigious type so I doubt that I’ll follow up with that. Besides, there is never a guarantee that sending the police out immediately would have changed matters in any way. However, I do need to follow up with the alarm company to review my call, which is supposedly taped. I’ll keep the courts system open for those who have real problems like getting hit by a cab which sped up, ran a red light, and plowed into a cyclist (read “Dean / aka Jackass”) sending them into the hospital.
I honestly don’t know what I would do, one of my ‘issues’ is I’m not much of a dreamer. One thing I do know, if Jerry is in the picture, it will not involve any camping 🙂
I guess if time and money wasn’t an issue, I might train for an Ironman, once I had enough surgery so I look good in those one-piece tri-suits. I would travel and train in excotic, scenic places with really good looking coaches and have chefs cook all my meals for me?
since it is almost lunchtime – Arby’s has a free roast beef sandwich with the purchase of a drink today – no coupon needed.
>> What would you be doing if you weren’t doing what you are doing today? That is to say, if money was not an option what would you be doing today?
I would like to drive to Alaska, preferably by driving north to Canada then across our northern neighbor.
Good job on those Roswell hills, Paulie. (If it makes you feel any better, the other riders always have to wait for me too.) SCT with Barb and Laura was just what I needed…it’s amazing how fast 20 miles goes by when you have people to gab with!
As for your question:
I’d get a massage every day.
I’d read all of the books I’ve been meaning to read for the past 20 years.
I’d go to all of places I’ve wanted to see but have never seen. (Angkor Wat, Petra, China, New Zealand, India, Croatia…and many more.)
I’d return to places that I love but don’t get to see often enough. (Pt. Reyes, Harbin, Prum, Cropredy…and many more.)
I’d buy a house barge and spend a 6 months exploring the English canal system.
I’d see a lot more live music.
I’d ride my bike a lot more.
I’d spend time with people that I don’t get to see often enough, especially my parents and my brother.
Yeah, I know….but you asked.
Brilliant list Michelle!
Michelle, I’ve always though I was pretty good at geography, but you’ve got me stumped on a few of those… Cropredy? Prum?
-FP
If money were no object, I would be quite content to stay home and ride all of my horses every day and have a clean house and cook.
I would also like to write… even if I were the only one that ever read it.
I would volunteer to drive elders in need to their dr appts or whatever.
When it’s too darn hot/humid to ride, I would travel.
I’m also stealing Michelle’s massage every day idea — heaven!
And spend much, much more time with family and friends – something I’m feeling the lack of really keenly right now.
Good on ya for the riding this week Paulie! The Wilson will be a breeze at the end of the month. 😉
A massage a day – that does sound like an excellent idea.
I have a massage therapist friend who is always asking me if I want to have a massage party? We need to get a date set up.
I would:
-get a place on the ocean in SC and continue wandering the world at my leisure when I wasn’t there.
-like to participate in the grape harvest in France.
-try to sail around the world. I once crossed the Panama Canal with some Round the World sailors, and they are interesting folks.
-hike to the Everest base camp.
-bike/hike the length of the entire Great Wall
-motorcycle Africa in combo with an around the world trip on a BMW Enduro.
-go to Patagonia (regret I missed it 10 years ago)
-volunteer more.
-work on an ocean (algea based) end to world hunger and clean water
After the trust me hash, I would learn to hang glide and do it in the Alps.
-Go on an archeological dig to meet my Mummy
-get married ( kidding! 😉
I participate in the wine harvest with every bottle!!
I’d love to run the marathon on the Great Wall.
-FP
Gentri – you can buy some Patagonia clothing, is that close enough? 😉