January 2020

The Old Grind

Yes, the old grind, and I don\’t mean coffee. It is SO hard to have to go back to work after the holiday break. For nine days, I could stay in bed until at least 7 am. I was finally beginning to feel rested! And then today, it\’s back to rising by 4:45 am if I\’m to be sure of getting in some riding. I now can\’t get to my web site until after I\’m home from working all day. By then I\’m tired, and have a half-dozen other things tugging at my mind. That doesn\’t make it easier. As to riding, there was a strong wind this morning, and the possibility of rain; so I went to ride in the park. I got lazy and rode around only twice before heading home. Maybe it was my imagination, but the wind seemed to be strengthening. I’m glad it was behind me on the way home! Before I reached home it was starting to sprinkle a bit. I had to take a detour to get home (over horribly bumpy streets) because of a train. About 20 minutes after I got home, it rained hard for a short spell. There was even thunder once! I didn’t take a bike to work because I had to go from there to a dental appointment this afternoon. The threat of rain and T-storms wasn\’t over yet, and we still could get bad weather tonight and tomorrow. Unfortunately it\’s now going to be a grind day to day. C\’est la vie.

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Start the Year Right

BACK ISSUES / CAL

Let\’s start the year right by jumping into a ride! I went out about 9:15 am. As I expected, there were big patches of debris from last night\’s pyrotechnic revelry. There must have been five or six within 4.5 miles, and most of those patches of junk were pretty big. I wish the people who set off all those things would get up at the crack of dawn to sweep up their mess. Riding through all that stuff isn\’t so good for bicycle tires! Who wants to start New Year\’s by getting a flat? The temperature at 53 degrees wasn\’t bad. The wind freshened from 3 mph to 7 mph before I got back home. It was enough to be noticeable and bothersome. Yesterday I did some hard efforts, so I guess I was a bit tired today. Or maybe plain lazy. That\’s not a good way to start off a new year, is it? I remember last New Year\’s, when I went for a ride. Of course I wanted to start the year right with a ride, but the weather that day was miserable: colder than it is today, and misty/drizzly. Today was better, thank goodness. Although the sky was mostly overcast, it didn\’t rain; and I don\’t mind not having the sun in my eyes! By tomorrow rain and even T-storms are expected. Great. Right when I have to go back to work. They say that, what you start the new year doing, you\’ll do all year. I dropped my water bottle today, and I hope it doesn\’t mean that I\’ll do it every ride all year long. What a nuisance that would be. So I got in my miles for today, and set 2020 rolling!

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