Wow, what a week it was. As the group of fifteen or so Chattahooligans rolled into Augusta I was a bit verklempt. The only other time I had such a feeling was seeing the Mississippi River at the end of RAGBRAI. My muscles are slowly recovering, I attempted to avoid getting a sunburn as much as possible, and the hazards of spending many hours on a bike saddle only started to arise on the final ride. We were blessed with nearly perfect weather, raining twice, both of those happening overnight, and not riding through high heat until the final day. In fact, I was cold sleeping in Thomson prior to the final day of riding. However, yesterday I saw some of the photos from BRAG, and I officially need to drop at least ten pounds.
Needless to say, WLF was (and still is) quite the mess after being away a week and apparently having no rain fall upon it. Luckily I have a programmable sprinkler that kept most things alive. I’ve eaten quite a few beans, squash, and potatoes the past two days. Last night’s rain and wind also did a number by toppling over the tomato and squash plants. I may have to spend some time in WLF cleaning things up today.
I found out last night that Second Self Brewing is closing its doors at the end of the month. The craft brewing market is (finally?) starting to contract. Recently Orpheus Brewing closed, Tantrum Brewing sold to another craft brewery (NoFo), and Burnt Hickory Brewing closed its taproom (which I think is a predecessor to its closing).
I solved today’s Wordle in three attempts; my starter today was SWIPE.
Thanks to Sal last week I signed up to receive Mark Manson’s email newsletter called “The Breakthrough”. The email is delivered every Monday, here is what it it said today.
One question: What is this thing called “sex” to which it refers? 🙂
So I no longer have to forward Mark’s e-mails. It also stated Embrace the Chaos! exactly what the Hooligans are all about. Had a great time on BRAG. Ended too soon. I think the I-phone photos are always distorted. I have WOW this morning at 8 so I best get going.
Yep. You can remove that from your Monday choring list. 🙂 Thanks for introducing me to it.
Kudos, Sally, on getting Paulie to sign up for Mark Mason’s newsletter! I’ve been following Mark Manson for a decade or more now when he first wrote an article “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck” that he later expanded into a book and now a movie.
I agree completely on “Surf the chaos”. I’m living that presently. To wit, this Steely Dan lyric spoke to me deeply last week:
“Any minor world that breaks apart falls together again
When the demon is at your door
In the morning it won’t be there no more
Any major dude will tell you”
Someone in my life keeps trying to drag me back into a cesspool. It’s exhausting, but I’m done with the cesspool. I am not living that way ever again.
Wordle in 4, which should have been 3.
Currently in a hotel in Roanoke Virginia after leaving the rally yesterday via a wrecker. I rode the bike over to the restrooms late Saturday night and it handled very oddly. After the tiniest bit of investigation the front tire was flat. After pumping it up it was leaking at the valve stem. That’s not an easy repair as you have to take the tire off. A little Googling lead me to a tire store that was open on Sunday but refused to work on it for fear of damaging the wheel. My tow driver and I put our heads together and finally realize there was a Cycle Gear store that mounts tires just a few miles away so we were there in a jiffy and the store took care of the repair.
The rally was fun. Where I camped was quiet which is helpful when you’re trying to get some sleep. I finally had my bedding arranged so I wasn’t freezing at night. The rods in the area were fun and had some nice scenery. All in all a worthwhile time.
This morning I’m watching the weather develop and hopefully will kill enough time here that I don’t have to ride it much Rain. I’m going to head towards Asheville and perhaps skip the twisties since the payment will be wet.
Glad you had a good time on BRAG.
-FP
Bummer about the tire.
Safe travels home.
Wordle in 3. A very indirect hint from a friend helped me zig instead of zag in the way that she did, and I definitely would have. I started with BRIEF.
I did a half mile swim on Saturday at the Emory pool, which is a very nice facility. Jamie got me to do a few minutes of mountain biking by routing our ride through Deepdene park and then through another park. My road bike has chunky tires because Atlanta’s streets are atrocious. It was a good nudge of my comfort zone. I indulged Jamie by watching the Champions League game at the Po Boy Bar before we swam. Man City beat Inter 1-0, but to their credit, Inter prevented Man City from scoring during the first half. That’s the first professional soccer game that I’ve ever watched in full, and I’m set for a good long while now. 😉 I just have an issue with sitting around watching millionaires get paid to exercise. Not watching sports definitely frees up a lot of time for me though.
Kudos on the ride, Paulie. Great work making it all the way through. Also, I have it on authority from my teenage daughter that the rear-facing camera on iPhones is definitely distorting. She generally refuses to have pictures taken of her with that camera. Apparently the front-facing camera doesn’t do that.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’m on the downward side of the 10 pound range that my weight yo-yos within. I’ll take it.
Burnt Hickory (I think) is looking for a new location – as their original one was one from back in the day when you couldn’t drink there (without a tour). I’m sure they are looking for a more kid & dog friendly location so they can be like all the other breweries 😉
I do like many of Burnt Hickory’s beers – so I hope they find a new home.
Our weekend of camping was good – meeting up with all the BRAG folks Saturday was fun – but made for a long ride on the mtn bike. Ended up with almost 22 miles – now, the Bartram trail is pretty flat, & we did have 5-6 on the road, but that’s a lot of miles for me on that bike. We ended up going into town (I think it was Evans) for a late lunch, I just wasn’t in the mood for a sandwich at the camper.
It was just starting to rain as we left the campground around 11am Sunday- but rained like hell on I-20. Not sure how much rain we got here in Marietta yesterday. We stopped in Conyers & dropped the camper off at some friends that are having a big party next weekend – now Allan can spend the weekend out there. I’m bummed I’ll miss it- but I am heading to Iowa. Saved up some gas money this way (& the aggravation of pulling a camper thru Atlanta traffic)
Fun times hanging with you all week Paulie! Lots of miles, smiles, and laughs.
You rode super strong too hanging with the big group all week.
Thanks. It’s certainly an event that is made much better with friends.
I couldn’t keep up with you on I-20 on the drive home however. 😀
oh – you could, you just chose not to.
Correct. Lol
I’m happy to report the second robin’s nest build in WLF is successful. I hear little birds chirp for food when an adult returns.
Ooh, the light is right so I can now see the little heads peering out from the nest.
Well, that’s good for the soul. Post a picture if you can get one, please.
Tried and failed. I didn’t want to get too close because the parents were actively feeding and might take umbrage.
Fair enough. Thanks for trying.
A quickcheck in from my lunch stop in Jefferson NC. Not too close to the BRP because I’m on the detour! Going to skip ahead and ride around the area i know from the Grandfather Mtn highland games where I used to be a regular.
Onwards to Asheville.