Pretty Good Weekend All Around

On Friday I joined my soon-to-be friend-who-is-not-my-boss Hank for a couple of drinks and too many appetizers after work at The Pub Perimeter. We walked over to the pub and were surprised to see the Varasano’s Pizza, which I had just noticed the last time I went to The Perimeter Pub, was now closed and emptied. According to an AJC article I found online it closed in less than one year of being open. Sad.

I Have A Long One!
On Saturday morning I awoke with determination running through my body. Perhaps I was inspired by the knowledge that the Tour de France riders would be riding up the Col de Tourmalet, and for some reason decided that I should skip watching that and go out for a ride of my own.

I was on the road before 6:30am. Destination? Somewhere thirty-five miles away from home. Total mileage ridden? 73 miles.

I rode to the point where Day #1 of BRAG picked up the Stone Mountain bike path and pretty much re-rode the course I had ridden about five weeks ago. The only two differences this time were:

1. I missed a turn and introduced a large hillclimb (that I made sure to go down on the way back). It was weird, I sort of knew that I was supposed to turn, but by the time I confirmed it I was already halfway up the climb.
2. I didn’t ride all the way to Social Circle; at mile 35 I turned around.

My ride was buoyed by a nice tailwind for nearly the entire first half of the ride. Once again I stopped at the little convenience store, this time on my way back, and bought some sustenance for the last 30 miles. The extra three miles occurred inside Stone Mountain park when I decided to take the inner loop around for some inexplicable reason.

I’ve determined that my Recovery Formula is sleeping thirty minutes for every hour ridden. My 73-mile adventure took me five hours to complete, I power napped for a good 2.5 hours afterward.

ITP Flickr Pic
“Memories Of Two Decades Ago” (Stone Mountain, Georgia)

As we come to the twentieth anniversary of Atlanta’s (I’ll say “only”) Olympic Games there is fanfare getting us to remember the good times. Discounting the bomb in Centennial Olympic Park there are memories that aren’t so great, such as this venue in Stone Mountain that was built for the Olympics and perhaps never used again. Much like Turner Field (which was converted for the Braves’ use once the Olympics had ended) will be in 2017, this venue looks to be perfectly useful twenty years later, but has no one who wishes to occupy it.

The presence of the power line that I could not eliminate from this photo messes with my head about whether or not the stadium is level. What do you think?

Gut Geschmeckt!
My “reward” for riding 73 miles was eating a nice dinner out.

For as many times as I ridden past The Village Corner German Restaurant & Bakery (btw- they scored a pretty badass URL in “germanrestaurant.com”), I have never eaten there. On Saturday afternoon/evening I rectified this.

Given that they brew their own beer onsite as well I opted to drink (and enjoy) two of their IPAs along with the plate of sauerbraten that I ate for dinner. It would be unfair to compare my plate of food with the one I had in Düsseldorf, so I won’t. However I will say that I enjoyed the food, and will go back on special occasions (given that it’s not exactly cheap eats).

Cheesy Yellow Tour de France
Yesterday’s Cheesy Yellow Tour de France gathering was much fun, and allowed me to see friends I’ve not seen in a long time.

The day started with a great fifteen mile (recovery) ride, which nearly turned into disaster when I got a little hot around a corner descending Harris Trail and locked up the rear brake for a second. Oops.

It was amazing to watch yesterday’s finish with others. The rain. The hail. OMG.

Irresponsible. Responsible
I was supposed to meet up with some coworkers to watch the EuroCup Final yesterday at Taco Mac Prado. The game started at 3pm, I should have realized that leaving Public Enema’s house, about a mile from that Taco Mac, and going home was a bad idea. I fell asleep and could not have showered and gotten back up to Sandy Springs in time for the game.

Instead, I decided to play responsible homeowner and mow my grass. It’s funny because it’s been nearly a month since I mowed the grass, and truth be told it didn’t look that unruly! However, I do have to admit that it looks better all one height.

Riding Or Laundry
I am prepared to do either riding or laundry tonight, based on the weather around 6pm. I “need” to do both, but only one will prevail; tune in tomorrow to see which did.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]