At one point in my life Wednesday night was Prince spaghetti night. Then, Wednesday night was George’s running night. Last night I made it George’s riding night.
Red Lights And Traffic Make For Tough Riding
I had a plan.
- Drive to Virginia-Highland and park near George’s
- Get in a good ride, seeing if I could hook up with Sarah and Ray’m for a portion
- Return to George’s and consume adult beverages with friends I no longer see that often
Riding through Virginia-Highland was slow going. In an attempt to obey some traffic laws I waited through two traffic light cycles just to turn left onto Highland Av from Virginia Av! Then I had to weave past backed up traffic all the while getting caught for almost every red light.
By the time I made it to Avondale Estates I found ITP-Readers Sarah, Ray’m and Willie trying to get going. Sarah had taken a tough Spinning class in the morning so she was passing on the ride. Willie was having a mechanical, and once he blew the new tube it was evident that he was not going to ride. Ray’m made the statement “I don’t feel like riding fast tonight.” Since I was on a mission to push myself to my limits (to my knees’ behest) I decided that I was going to continue on my solo ride.
Nearly thirty-four miles later (33.8 for the accountants in the readership) I returned to Virginia-Highland. And by the time I returned the majority of the people I was hoping to see had already left George’s.
It’s Been A Long Time, But Things At George’s Have Changed
Upon entering George’s I could tell things were no longer the same. The bar has “upgraded” it booths, and frankly I don’t care for the new look. And, unusually (for a Wednesday night) the booths were mostly occupied by civilians and not hashers. At 8:30pm there were maybe eight-to-ten hashers remaining inside George’s, eight to ten! In the “olden” days (read “back when I used to run”) George’s used to be packed with hashers at that hour of the night.
I really wanted to eat dinner at George’s but instead I quickly purchased a beer and wound up standing, drinking (it as well as a second), and chatting with those in attendance.
ITP Flickr Pic
Hey look! A photo!
After leaving George’s I tried to think from where I should pick up some dinner. Then I remembered that I had some awesome cheese that was not eaten last weekend down at the Day Spa. RELATED: I’ve made it a goal in my life to never eat cheap cheese again.
Yes, it was delicious especially when eaten with the (remarkably salty) Roasted Garlic Triscuits.
RealiTV Update: Top Chef – Now That’s How A Cooking Show Should Be
SPOILERS
After getting home I set up dinner and parked my buttocks on the couch to watch last night’s Top Chef. For as much as I bitch about Hell’s Kitchen I praise Top Chef. What I love most about Top Chef is that it’s all about the cooking, not the drama.
There are still too many cheftestants to go through the entire show, but there are a small handful who are rising like cream to the top. Of those are Jennifer, who I find oddly alluring, the brothers, and Atlanta’s Kevin and Eli. Of course there is also a small handful sinking to the bottom like rocks.
For last night’s QuickFire Challenge the cheftestants had to prepare a dish using potatoes. Jennifer won the challenge and with that also secured immunity from elimination.
For the Elimination Challenge the cheftestants paired up and put together a buffet meal for three hundred military personnel and their families. Kevin and Eli teamed up and produced what appeared to be an amazing barbecue pulled-pork shoulder served with southern-style potato salad. This, along with Mike and Michael’s braised slab bacon (which also looked fantastic) were the two top pairs. Of the four cheftestants Michael was declared the winner for producing the braised slab bacon.
In what was an odd twist of fate the bottom teams were Laurine and Preeti were pulled in for creating an uninspired pasta salad, and instead of picking another team Mike was asked to return for his creation of a tasteless shrimp salad. Unfortunately Douchie Mike was spared elimination and Preeti was told to pack her knives and leave.
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – not bad
Current Music – listening to a “Leo Laporte Tech Guy” podcast
Website Of The Day – Behold the power of the internet. Post a photo of something you wish to have identified at ID This and see if someone can help you out.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – cycling, 33.8 miles
Morning Weigh-In – 199 pounds
Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – ~34 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 3 (3)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 2
Marta Rides – 0
September Goals
– Not get fired from my job
– Take at least one photo every day
– Restart work on house, actually making progress this time (note: not successful during August)
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]
Many of the same faces still haunt Georges on Wednesdays, but there has definitely been a shift. The 7PM crowd is no where near the size it once was, and the locals seem to be picking up the slack. I can’t speak for the later crowd, but there have been many occasions when the booths have been almost filled with locals and we were “forced” to sit at the bar. Of course, when the mizzus is on the road, I frequently have to pass, so even I have fallen off on my regular attendance.
Maybe we need to make a concerted effort to have everybody show up on the same day once a month. That would be fun.
-FP
For years I noted the aging of the hash with fewer young ones joining the fold. Could it be that running is also in a temporary decline?
I guess I should mention that this weekend is InterAmerica’s hash in Colorado so some of the “George’s (ir)Regulars” may be involved with that this week.
I like the one-night-a-month idea.
Being “responsible” is so damn time consuming, isn’t it? This may be why I wind up becoming a Highway Hobo at some point in my life.
I would totally be in for a once a month meet up, I miss going. Like the rest of you I’ve noticed a decline over the past few years.
I just finished off some blue cheese I bought, my last trip to the farmer’s market, yummy.
I wish I could have rode last night but it looks like I didn’t miss much. Maybe next week.
Even with the traffic woes I had a good ride, although I’m so looking forward to getting new pedals and shoes. I think I was really in the mood to ride alone which is why I didn’t want to ride at Ray’s pace. Also, I knew that I’d have to ride back to VaHi, and with the days getting shorter had to ride fast enough to get back before sunset.
I read on Willie’s Facebook account that he got a ride in after all. Good on ya, Willie!
I’m sure the George’s crowd has grown and shrunk (shrank?) many times over the last 20 years. Maybe it will pick back up in the spring.
Glad you had a good ride, I was thinking about what route you would take. With all the in-town traffic I would find it difficult to get comfortable enough for a long ride. I don’t mind short trips around cars but when you get into the 30-40 mile range I want some clear roads to ride.
I’m also noticing the shorter days, I actually needed my headlight on the ride in this morning. And even though it has happened 100 times, whenever a rabbit runs out from the dark it scares the crap out of me.
Must by my fear of being mauled by a warewolf (yes, my mind wanders during my rides).
I’m sorta okay with riding in traffic but got frustrated last night having to wait for traffic lights to change. Once I got to Candler Park traffic lightened pretty much, and the only thing that slowed me significantly were the hills.
I LOVE Roasted Garlic Triscuits! They even make cheap cheese tast good.