Imbeciles Should Avoid Cycling

Another “night before” blog. This time I’m updating the stats to September since when you read this it will be September 1st. This will be short because I’m incredibly tired (you’ll read why) and I plan to wake early to try and shoot Mt Rushmore this morning.

28 + 22 = Imbecile
I’m not handsome enough to be this stupid. I had four, count them, four turns to remember and I managed to miss 25% of those.

I was feeling fat and in the need of exercise. Through Map My Ride I thought I’d found a 30+ mile ride starting and ending in Hill City, but when I looked closer at the route it turned out to actually be 44 miles. I thought that 44 miles, including a steep climb, would be more than I’d like to tackle so I altered the route and came up with a 28-mile route consisting of four turns.

Here is the ride I planned to ride:

The first time I entered Custer, SD I was thrilled. At that time I had conquered that big(ish) climb (which honestly was easier than climbing Neels or Wolfpen) with relative ease and had traversed the downhill with speeds upward of 40mph. The second time I entered Custer, SD I was dejected and fearful that I’d fail my ride and have to seek assistance in getting back to Hill City.

Here is the ride I did:

I don’t know why it took me so long to stop and check my iPhone to make sure that I was headed in the correct direction on US-16. I “knew” I needed to be on US-16 which, when I saw street signs telling me that I was, felt some form of confirmation. Not seeing any distance-marking signs for Hill City should have been a clue, but my blonde roots must have started to emerge as I kept pedaling.

When I finally arrived back in Custer I stopped at a gas station to purchase a Gatorade and ask for direction to Hill City. Thankfully, though very cold, much of the route 13-mile from Custer to Hill City was downhill. As a positive on this fiasco, I kicked fucking ass yesterday!

My August total mileage wound up at 267 miles, and sadly I think I out-ate / out-drank all that hard work and managed to put on some weight during the month.

ITP Flickr Pics
Shots from my “short” ride while I was still having fun.

Before the climb:

During the climb:

Very narrow tunnel near the top of the climb:

There were some nice shots, including the Crazy Horse Memorial, on my last leg but by that time I was concentrating on making it back to Hill City prior to sunset.

The Day Started Off Weird As Well
I started the day by driving from Rapid City, SD to Deadwood, SD — home of the Mount Moriah Cemetery containing the likes of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane. When I arrived I was warned that there had been a mountain lion in the area and that I should be careful. Greeeeeeeat. I hemmed and hawed about going into the cemetery and then decided to give it a try. Not ten minutes into my walk in the cemetery I saw something move — thankfully it was deer. I figured that if there were deer in the cemetery I’d be okay, because while I can’t outrun deer, they wouldn’t be there if a mountain lion was nearby.

I didn’t spend much time in Deadwood, choosing to try (and fail) to meet up with my friend Eric in either Sturgis, SD or back in Rapid City, SD. After eating lunch alone Rapid City I decided to make my way to Hill City early so I’d have time to do things, like, you know, go for a short bike ride.

And A Very Happy Birthday Wish
Today is the birthday of ITP-Reader “Martha.” Hope that you have a great day doing whatever it is makes you happy even if that consists of doing fifteen thousand chin-ups. 😉

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – so damn worn out, this ride has killed me like no other has
Current Music – listening to a recent “The Story” podcast
Website Of The Day – Deadwood is more than a television show. 😉
Mode Of Transportation To Work – n/a
Exercise (b)Log – cycling, 50 miles
Morning Weigh-In – couldn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (0)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 0
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

September Goals
– Not to get sick for the entire month (I did it once, I can do it again!)
– Not get fired from my job
– Ride my bicycle no fewer than 250 miles
– Determine the fate of Sharpened Stone, LLC
– Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
– lost five pounds
– eat vegetarian at least one day a week

2010 Goals
– Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I’ve sadly gained weight; I’m at 203 pounds]
– Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
– Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Sharpened Stone.
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
– Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
– Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
– Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]