I got proverbial yesterday, you could say; the proverbial first time.

To explain: there\’s a vehicular access road to a mini-industry behind the levee, about half a mile from the salvage store; and I use it to get up and down from the levee bike path.

I don\’t try to ride down. There\’s a stop sign at the bottom; and if I ride down that ramp without braking, I might not be able to stop. But if I ride down and brake frequently, guess what? I wear out the brake pads! Thus I walk my bicycle down; especially if I\’m using the trailer, as I did today.

For several years, I\’ve always walked that loaded trailer up the access road. I didn\’t feel strong enough to ride up; but today I decided to try it.

And I made it! To be sure, as I got towards the top of the ramp I could no longer hold to a straight line; but there wasn\’t a car coming, so I was OK. It helped that I didn\’t have the load that I had thought I\’d get; the pickings at the store were on the slim side. Sometimes they are; but sometimes I hit the jackpot.

To my disappointment, I didn\’t see any refried beans; and although I found tuna and canned chicken, neither had a price sticker. I\’ve learned that it\’s better to leave unmarked products alone; sometimes they turn out to be expensive.

As a rule, I don\’t go out on the road bike Saturdays; but yesterday morning I did a special ride so I could see the full moon. At first the moon was dodging in and out of the clouds, and there was fog again; but eventually there was enough of a clear spot for me to get a good view.

Sunday Ride

Foggy again! I sound like the proverbial broken record with all my griping about fog.

Today I put in 30.2 miles; and for ride food I tried one of the Clif Builders Protein Bars I got at the salvage store yesterday. Box of 12 bars, $8.99! I also ate an RXBar and a GU-Gel. One bar isn\’t enough to sustain me when I\’m pedaling for well over two hours; and let it be confessed; I just plain love sweets. A long bicycle ride gives me an excuse for eating \”goo\”.

It\’s quite warm today; 77 degrees by 11 am. The wind is from the South; and at times on the way home, it was dead on my nose. The forecast had predicted winds of 11 mph by 10 am, but I wondered how strong that wind had really been. I checked NOAA; and it had been blowing at 13 mph before I got back home. Less than an hour later, the wind was 17 mph; and gusts up to 28 mph.

For my post-ride recovery drink, I used skim milk (I\’m out of almond milk) and Vega Caramel Toffee protein powder. I like it; but chocolate is even better!