I've been trying to live my life by the motto "do all things in moderation", and it just has not been working for me. I think that my main problems with it, is that I tend to revert back towards doing everything moderately. I don't think that is what the people that propose that lifestyle really mean. I think that they also mean that we should also experience fairly extreme highs and lows in most things, and try not to get stuck in any one place. Being stuck in the middle can be just as bad as being stuck at then ends. For me, anyway.

My weight loss and exercise goals for this new thread are to get back down to about 175-180 lbs, and to be more comfortable riding my bicycle in the mountains than I ever have before. My physical riding goals are to complete the Horsetooth Double Dip ride, at least be able to ride 17.5 mph on the Boulder Bicycle Classic century ride.

My emotional goals are to embrace belly laughs, get sad while watching movies, and...avoid sitting in the middle and stagnating. That is where I tend to get depressed and gloomy. I'm just one of those people that need lots of stimulation. I need to grin, work out hard, get angry, with moments of total "inspect belly button lint" laziness thrown in. Sounds like a plan.

Interesting philosophical discussion my friend.

I believe in eating in moderation. Unless there is an allergy or something in my life, I do not want to "give up" anything permanently. And when I've tried in the past to convince myself to do so, I've invariably wanted to eat nothing BUT what I've omitted. Pfffwt. So, sometimes I'm gonna eat good boardwalk fries. Most of the time, I'll make my own baked sweet potato ones. Life's all about trade offs. Some days I eat a little and want no more, other days I eat more. Moderation for me is helping me to lose, though it is damn slow, I'll be the first to admit it. But for me, that strategy is less painful.

But I tend to agree with you that going with the flow on the highs and lows also has its benefits for many people. Truthfully, the highs never last long enough and the lows last too long anyway. Most of life is spent somewhere in the middle, no matter how hard you try otherwise. Unlike you, I don't crave a lot of stimulation I don't think. But I do love hysterical laughter, awareness of the beauty around me and the good things that happen to me, and also enjoy being lazy sometimes.

And even though I do not prefer the blue times, I certainly appreciate them and what lessons they can teach me. I am fully cognizant of the fact that without the dark times, you would never know how to recognize the light.

Good to see your goals too and I'm looking forward to seeing you reach them.

Sorry to hear about you and Bill possibly having to call it quits. A change in scenery might be very good for him though -- as will new friends and a new school. Stay in touch with him though, maybe through writing letters or something. You've been a big influence in his life up to now.

chumlette: I just can't stay in the middle all the time anymore. I'm beginning to understand that about myself again. I grew up way out on the fringes of what is considered "normal". I used to think that I preferred "charged" situations just because it was what I was most comfortable dealing with after growing up in a pretty chaotic household. Now, I'm not so sure. I spent a lot of energy trying to make everything so balanced and...mediocre. But I really do think that I suck at staying there all the time.

I'm not saying that I'm craving chaos at all, either. I know for a fact that I can't stand living in a totally "charged" environment every day. I just think that I should...face those charged moments when they come, and not spend so much energy avoiding them or not letting them happen.

I look back...and the most poignant moments that spurred me to do things differently and for the better in my life. Most of them have been short, sharp, moments of clarity. Sometimes it is a screaming giddy moment of fun (a "yeah, this is what it is all about" moment), others it is facing a moment of sheer terror (fear over a panic attack spurred me to start my weight loss program), raging anger at myself or a situation that needs...a non-subtle correction, etc. Those short little moments...cut through all my internal BS talk. They are important to me.

And don't forget the most important one. The grin factor. I strive to do or notice something that puts a real-life grin on my face at least once every day. I'm pretty easy to please in that area. All that it takes for me is watching children or pets frolic, a nice clean kitchen (ahhhhh), or hearing something that strikes me as funny. And riding my bicycle really fast down a big hill. There is that one. :o:laugh:

Hey, I think those are some GREAT goals! I like them all, and they suit you. :)

Will be exciting to hear about your training for those bicycle events. When do they take place? Do you still have a lot of time to train for them? I seem to remember you not getting to finish, or not getting to participate in a big one last year...? (Maybe I'm wrong on this.)

I'm with you on taking great pleasure in simple moments. I suppose I'm easily amused, but watching a horse roll in a field, a cat stretch in the sun, a kid discover a great story... those things all make me happy in a nourishing-the-soul kind of way. May you find many of those moments on this leg of your journey!

Lisrey :flower:

Welcome to the dark side young Luke. Good luck.

Hi Fagan! I like your new title and your goals... I think it's a great realization that no matter what we strive for, it's not going to be a 100% constant. Sometimes when we don't hit that 100%, it feels like we failed and I've lived a lot of my life feeling like a failure at a lot of things. "GO WITH THE FLOW", like Chum said is a great philosophy. It helps with life's situations that always seem to hit us when we least expect it. lol

I think moderation is good, but nothing ever works ALL the time. Just like Chum said.... eating in moderation keeps her from wanting to gorge on the things she's omitted from her diet and misses. I think that could apply to lots of things in life. But it's a very individual thing, so you have to find what works for you and go for it!

I think having a goal to laugh and let yourself cry is really healthy, too.... I know I try to keep myself from crying most of the time.

Anyway, good luck with your new goals and life style. We'll all be thinking good thoughts for you and wishing you the best! Take care and have a good weekend if I don't get back in here.

Loves it :)

This is my second week in a row putting in over 65 hours at work. Some people do this sort of thing all the time, but not me. It is severely cutting into my bicycling and social time with my wife, dogs, friends, etc. All that I do is eat too much, sit and curse in front of a computer screen all day, get home after dark, half-ass do my part with chores and such around the house, watch taped portions of today's Tour de France race, remote log into work after dinner until about midnight to check the batch jobs that I can run from home too, sleep, go back to work before 8 AM, repeat. Blech.

This summer is crazy at work. Summer is usually the time of year where the data geeks catch up while all of the field biologists are out and about. This year, we have giant ass data dumps, custom client products to spit out, etc. Too much to do. It is a good thing, though. Our staff is definitely over-funded for the year. Usually we have to scramble to pay everyone's salary, and this year we are having to hire more temporary workers to help out. Job security is good. Yepper.

I should get back to it. Later.

Replies:
Lisrey: Yeah, last year I missed that double-dip ride, due to scheduling. That, and they only let 500 riders participate, and did not get called back until after they were full.

The simple pleasures...I agree they are the ticket. One of the reasons that I like to stay active, is because my head is often in the clouds dreaming away, or worrying about something that pretty much does not really matter that much...but I get locked in on it anyway. Just seeing or doing something "real" pops my head right out of my butt, and reminds me of what really is important and worth worrying about.

Jumpsoda: The dark side? I'm not talking about agressiveness here. I'm...talking about a combination of keeping my head out of the clouds, and really DOING SOMETHING that is...decent, right, better, or at least "giving it a go" when it is wrong or bad. In most cases, I would rather be wrong and have to fix it after, than to not try something at all. The way that I look at it, I'm either going to spend actually more time not doing it and agonizing over that choice, or a shorter amount of total time doing it "wrong" and then fixing it later. That is most often how it turns out for me, anyway.

Dj: I'm not against moderation in that sense...I just don't like trying to stay ONLY there. Even with food. Sometimes I NEED to eat way too little to get my blood sugar all evened out, or eat way too much of the wrong things to help me recover from a hard workout or sickness, or whatever. I'm also not talking about giant swings back and forth every day from one extreme to the other. I just have a nasty habit of...stagnating. Yucky.

Kussanna: I'm glad that you like it! Glad you got that job too. Good for you!

ughhhh. That doesn't sound fun. I hope you don't have to work that many hours for much longer. That would put me in a glazed coma like state. heh.

Have a good weekend. Take your wife to din din :)

Hi, Fagan! :wave: I like your goals.

Watch out for that work at work and work at home some more stuff, though. I know how that is, as I do it, too, but it's not good for the health. They need to hire more help for you. Wishing you the best on your new initiative! Huzzah!

OK, Fagoo, I am on my Mad Men rampage today, recommending it to everyone. ahhaha You and I sometimes like similar things, dark, intense. This is plenty dark and intense and the 60s! Some laugh out loud stuff too (I know you are looking for those moments in your new journal...heh).

Hope you had a wonderful weekend with at least one work-free day to enjoy.

Hey pal.
i have been slack at posting at my pals journals lately..in fact i did try and post last week just as you closed your old journal...hahahhaha you must have known i was coming.
I have been watching bits and pieces of the Tour De France and thought of you and wondered if you were watching it..its a wonder after 65+ hours a week you even have the energy to watch it..
Love your new thoughts in your journal.. good luck buddy!
i find for me lately its about finding a good balance between what i have to do and what i want to do..still havent found that balance and feel like i am burning the candle at both ends but i will keep trying as will you my friend.
hugs bell :)

That big data comparison between us and the global, parent organization is over. I only had to work half-days on Saturday and Sunday. I put in a lot of hours over the last 3 weeks. Blech. About 70 hours last week. I'm TIRED. A couple of other projects that are behind to push out HARD over the next 2 weeks, and then I can take a few 3-day weekends. Ahhhh.

I spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with Debbie and the dogs. We went to see the movie Hell Boy, which I really liked. Not as much for the story, but for all of the Celtic mythology worked into the story. Hellboy is based on a blend of an old Celtic protection spirit, the old Catholic church's deomonic take on all spirits that don't belong to the holy trinity, and modern-day comic book heros. They worked lots of Crylic symbolism, Celtic mythological creatures, and stuff like that. I like that kind of stuff. I thought about going into archeology, until I found out that biology and science so...miraculous.

Anyway...we also did a little bit of yard work, washed the little girl-dog that has skin allergies to SOMETHING in the yard, and played War of Warcraft in the evening (we finally reached level 70!...total geek-fest).

I went on a decent bike ride this morning. The first one in 10 days. I really miss riding whenever I don't get to do it that much. I took a nice semi-flat route. I don't know my milage or speed, because my bike computer acted up today (think that the battery shook loose crossing some railroad tracks).

Ride Details
Total Time: 3:03 (two long-ish restroom stops :o)
Average Heart Rate: 133 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate: 153 bpm
Total Calories Burned: 2138 kcal

The plan for today? Lots to do at work, and to stick to a pretty strict food plan. The food plan that I started out with long ago that got my blood sugar all straightened out. That is 1,600 calories; from 40% protein, 20% fat, and 40% carbs (only one serving as bread/pasta/rice/potato, the rest from fruit, vegetables, or whole grains). I'm logging all my food too, to keep myself honest.

Replies later. I spent too much time writing all of the above, and now I need to do some work.

Replies:
Kussanna: I have 2 more 50 hour weeks to go, but no more marathon sessions for a while. After that, I plan on taking some 3-day weekends for a few weeks to make up for the extra time that I had to put in. We don't get overtime here, but they are good with unofficial comp time here. :)

Amarantha: Thanks for dropping by! I'm taking it slower this week, and making sure to work out and do other things that are important to me. It feels good.

chumlette: I keep hearing about Mad Men...I'll have to check it out! And I do like stuff like that. I LOVE the new Battlestar Gallactica just for that reason.

I did not have an entire rest-day this weekend, but I also did not put in 12-15 hour days each day either, like I had the previous two weekends. It felt good to not be at work until after dark every day. Yepper.

bell: I'm still trying to have balance in my life. I think that is very, very important for me, and I have no problem prioritizing things and dropping things off my "to do" list as needed to stay sane. I agree with you 100% there.

But there is a difference between staying balanced, centered, and making sure that I get what I need, and...staying only in the middle all the time. Somehow, my mind had translated "balanced" into some sort of "nose to the grindstone", "even-keel at all times" mentality. I need a few highs, lows, doom-gloom, and giddy moments over the average month to keep me...I hate to say it..."centered". :laugh: Maybe my wife is right...maybe I am a drama king? :laugh::D:help:

I wonder if balance is easier achieved in our society by men than women? It seems that many of the women I know have a hard time dropping things off their lists and prioritizing -- so much on their plates that they have a hard time figuring out which is more important (many of the women I know have so many competing things that are equally very important it is mind-boggling).

Yet the men I know seem to be able to work their asses off, play their asses off and lay on the couch at other times, without even thinking of all the little things that remain undone that keep their lives running smoothly.

Mad Men made me ponder this subject even more. It is a feminist POV, in a way, as it makes all the men look like pigs and misogynists. But even though we women have come further in the workplace (though not to the Presidency), it seems we have a ways to go at home with all the equality talk. Most (not all) women I know who have kids and jobs are still the primary caregivers for their kids, do a good share of the cooking and/or cleaning, and also keep the little things moving that make a household run smoothly. Things their male partners would not even consider.

Even in our egalitarian household, many of the typical "guy" chores fall to the man and many of the stereotypical "chick" chores fall to me. And it is by mutual agreement, since those are the things I enjoy and I have more time to do them, since I work out of my home, when working. Sometimes I think, "WHA??" When I was a young woman, I used to look at my mom, who worked much harder than I realized at the time, at home and in my Dad's business, as some kind of pathetic dinosaur. Now I look at her differently, through my own lens of "practical self-imposed sexism." I realize just how hard she worked for my father and for me. I am grateful and respect her choices (what few choices she had then). And I understand her life a little bit better, even though I never aspired to it as a kid, or even as a young woman. But oddly enough, after all these years of fighting the mantle of domestic diva, I must admit I find comfort in those same traditional roles. Take cooking for instance. It gives me contentment and soothes my soul, it makes me crazy and frazzled, it is a creative outlet. All the things it was to my mother, it is to me. This shocks me. That's just an example, but you see what I mean. Maybe the traditional roles are comfortable only b/c they are familiar, in some pre-adult, pre-embryonic subconscious. Who knows? All I do know is that when I am cooking, I am channeling my mom, who is gone from this Earth, but who still lives through my hands, chopping onions, and in the sulphur tears flooding my cheeks. Is this woman still living through me the "dinosaur?" The "artist?" The " proud woman?" The "committed wife and partner?" The "long-suffering slave to the man?" :laugh:

All this talk of balance in your journal has gotten me thinking, I guess.

Balance for you is a bit chaotic (in the best sense of the word), exhilarating, exuberant. Balance for me might be peaceful, easy, bright but not glaring, a low level of buzz and excitement, nothing heart-pounding, adrenaline-surging though, profound, and yet light all at the same time. I think balance is different for each of us at different points in our lives. I long for some peace, security, and stability right now, an existence free of pain and free to do as I please. I seek balance through an easy heart (not effortlessly achieved, mind you), a clear conscience free of regret, a shiny future, luminous with possibility. This might change as I get further from my last three years of tough times.

hahaha I should get my own journal back, huh?

I just miss our long philosophical discussions, I guess. :o

My bike computer was dead yesterday. I think that I kicked or knocked the wire loose on the speed sensor. I called the bike shop, and they said to bring it in and they would replace it. So, I rode as fast as I could down there before they closed, and they fixed it right there on the spot. They even stayed a little bit after closing time to do it for me. I was expecting them to offer me to replace it if I paid their cost and to have to install it myself at home later. My "dream service with a smile" would have gotten me a new unit for no cost. I've never seen a bike shop bend over backwards this way. I really like that place, and am going to tell more people about it that are thinking about getting a bike. They really, really, really stand behind their products and customers.

After so many days without riding at all, and then putting in about 65 FAST miles yesterday, I'm sore. I went out on a slow recovery ride this morning. I deliberately kept my pace and heart rate slow. This gets fresh blood flowing to those sore muscles without straining them, and can help prevent things like cramps when I ride harder tomorrow. Besides, it burns more calories without a lot of effort.

Ride Details:
Total Distance: 37.8 miles
Average Speed: 16.6 mph
Average HR: 121 bpm
Total Time: 2:34
Total Calories Burned: 1776 kcal

Chumlette: We have a similar division of labor around our house too, but we also have some reversal from traditional roles. She does all the laundry, but I'm the one that keeps the kitchen and bathrooms clean. I'm the one that does any of the dirty jobs that involves scrubbing or cleaning out icky stuff. In other areas, we are also fairly traditional. If something needs to be fixed, I'm the one. I'm the official killer of spiders and such too. I think that division of domestic tasks is more even than in other households. But we do naturally gravitate toward more traditional roles than I thought that we would.

As for the male prediliction for being able to drop things? I think that is more social upbringing than biology. They seem to push the "do it right, or don't fking bother" mentality down your throats when you are a teenage boy. You either do it right, or drop it. When I get to the point that I screw up almost everything that I touch, I tend to do the "lay on the couch" thing that you mentioned. It is a concentrated "regroup" mode. How do we not think about what is not getting done? Well...I would ask many women how you could continue to do things poorly or half-assed? Many men see "good enough" patch-jobs as the same thing as failure. It is okay to try hard and fail, but it is not okay not to try hard if you are going to put ANY effort into it at all. It makes me shudder to think about it.

My version balance is chaotic? :laugh: Maybe I should mention here that I sit in front of a computer all day long, doing quality control checks and stuff to databases. My job, essentially, is all about balancing out priorities and keeping things going smoothly. There is a definite lack of stimulation, sometimes too. I can go 4-6 hours without saying anything to anyone at work besides "morning" on any given day. I sit at the same desk, look at the same monitor, type on the same keyboard, don't talk to people that often, eat at the same places, ride my bike 4-5 times every week, play online games and watch our favorite television shows with my sweetie, go to one movie every 2-3 weeks together, play with the dogs 5-6 times per week...the list goes on.

So, even though my current life is all about routines, I know that my greatest...gift is adapting to new situations. That is my biggest strength both at work, and in my personal life. At work, I guess that the most important piece of my job is that I manage/handle the big changes that come along for our program and staff.

Okay...now I'm blabbering too much. I gotta work too. Big data product due today, that I have not even started on. Shut up, Fagan.

OMG I wish I had someone who wanted to keep the kitchen and bathroom clean. Anyone. An outerspace alien. Dick Cheney.

Sigh.

I didn't say your JOB was chaotic or your life. Only that everything you've been touting in this journal shows that your idea of balance right now in your life involves exuberance, a few extremes seasoning your life, a little exhilaration. ;)

As for women doing a half-ass job, well, if you men had as much on your plates as most women I know, you'd be grateful to get anything done, let alone doing things perfectly. hahahahahaha And I must say that most of the women I know don't do things poorly or half-assed anyway. Pfffwt.

Hope you get in a good ride today and that a female big horn sheep doesn't butt you on her way to poorly feeding her babies. hahahaha

I miss so much when I am away even for a few days. I love the new goals here, they just "sound" like you. Definitely thought provoking also. I too need the occasional highs and lows, staying even is just not enough for me. I wilt if I don't have something to look forward to, be it a trip, an event, something. Of course, that also means I sometimes crash after a long awaited event, whether it lived up to my expectations or not. This is something I have been kicking around in my own head lately.

I am glad you got the 70 hour work weeks out of the way, that is a LOT of hours. Enjoy your 3 day weekends when they finally get here, you will have earned them.

Have a great day.

I rode up Buckhorn and down Rist Canyons today. Man...it was HARD! I know that I did not ride for like 10 days, but OMG! I've been watching the Tour de France over the past couple of weeks, and in my head, I was jokingly thinking about what British race announcers would say about me riding up that hill this morning.

"Now this is not very surprising, Phil. There is the big rider from American team Humung-ass, Fagan dropping off the back."

"That's right, Paul, I do believe that that particular gentleman is in quite a spot of bother."

"Yes I believe that he has cracked, Phil. His face is a quitissential depiction of misery and suffering. Horrible sight, that."

"Ohhhh! What's that, Paul? I thought that he was just choking on his own spittle after taking a sip of water, but that episode looked pretty serious."

"I think that I know what was happening there, Phil. He was breathing with such precipitous volume, that a small chunk of his lung tissue was dislodged, and he was obliged expeterate it. I'm quite astonished that he is continuing. Such a monstrous effort, resulting in such a painfully laggard pace. Difficult to watch, yes?"

"Horrible." :laugh:8-|

I recovered nicely on the way down that steep hill, and the ride back to town was not so bad. When I was passing some ladies that were stopped at the top of Bingham Hill near town, one of them said something to the effect of "Ooooooommmmmm. Look at those calves." and the other lady mumbled something affirmative-sounding. Maybe they were just joking around and making fun of my chunky-ness...but I prefer to think not. It made my morning. :)


Ride Details:
Total Distance: 47.9 miles
Average Speed: 14.4 mph (faster than I thought...it was hard going)
Average HR: 133 bpm
Total Time: 3:32 (drank a lot, and had to take a few rest stops)
Total Calories Burned: 2555 kcal

Chumlette: Yeah...looking back on what I wrote about "doing it right" seems like a lot of bullcrap in retrospect. I think that it has a lot more to do with...not being trained to multi-task that well. If I tried to do as many things as say, Jessica, s#!t would regularly get thrown out in the trash/window or be broken that were not "working for me." Most of the guys that I know have a different kind of "Maximum Frustration Meter". That, and most of us can actually stand to live in a dirty or stinky house with few problems. Maybe it is because we can ignore things that bother us so well? Dunno.

No sheep today. Just a few cows laying in the grass beside the road as it started to rain. It has been so dry around here, that the rain didn't even get me wet. Each drop evaporated after just a few seconds. The road looked totally dry. The air felt moist and warm, and smelled like wet pavement, though.

RayeViking: I definitely need some highs and lows to stay centered. I need things to...kick me in the butt and remind me of what is important to me. It is so easy for me to get stuck in a rut, where I just keep doing the same things without even questioning why, or if there is another option.

I may have spoke too soon about not working a lot this week. I may be here until 8 tonight working on my current "behind" project. The client wants it delivered TODAY, and I have no idea how I can make that happen. I need a damn clone.

Ahh, that was by far my favorite post of the day. Thanks for the laugh. And women don't joke around like that. If we make that "ommmm" sound...we mean business. haha.

Hah!!! Love the Phil Ligget and Paul commentary. Ligget has been doing it since before Hinault (The Badger). Getting ready for an outing with the family and friends to visit a stage. Unfortunately the Tour is in trouble back here because of all the drugs, sponsors are dropping like flies.



Hey I got the laptop, (an apple) and as Eddie Izzard would say I am in the techno - joy stage, soon to be followed by techno fear THANKS for the low down.

You work a LOT of hours, hope you get some more bike time away from the computer.
Bye the bye, saw Batman, give it a solid A plus, you gotta see it man, Heath's Joker is the best I have seen, very dark. Will have to check out Hellboy sometime.

God this is a long post, okay sleep.

Yay! Glad you got to go for a ride. There is NO WAY unless you break a bone or something that you should have to stay off your bike that long. You only get so much summer, you know? :laugh: Someone needs to tell your bosses that!

I went for a little ride tonight that was very cool in several ways. I thought of you when I was out there. Although I know it was wimpy-short, slow and flat, I got to ride on a closed country road (they are putting in a big gas line or something), so no cars and lots of wildlife (rabbits, mostly). Anyway, down at the one end of the road there is a piece of property owned by a remote control airplane club. And they were flying. Their gate was open, and their signs say "open to the public when open." So I rode down their gravel road until I came to the viewing area. Very cool geeky stuff! :D I really like exploring my own "backyard" and finding new things. It's a whole different perspective on a bike than in a car. I've driven by that place 1,000,000 times and seen the planes in the air, but it's a 50 mph road and I could never read the signs. You can't see anything but trees and farmland from the road.

Does biking give you strong calves? I know it works my quads, but I need stronger calves for horseback riding... My legs need work everywhere, LOL. Great to get a compliment like that!

Lisrey :wave:

Hi, Cjf! :wave: I love reading the way you go after your goals and reach them, also enjoy reading about your rides as I grew up in the state where you are and recognize the place names, although they must be much changed by now. You are doing great. Nice that you found a bike shop where you got such excellent service. That makes life good. See ya!

You are hilarious. I can just imagine you saying all this in your head while riding! hahaha I saw the end of the Tour de France during my summer school in France after college. We were so excited and the roar of the crowd was tremendous. It is fun to watch on TV but also in person (at least at the end).

BTW. Women always look at good calves appreciatively (not with an eye for chunkiness...pfffwt).

Wow, I can't believe it rained but nothing was wet. Remarkable! How do you guys grow anything there?

Totally take that compliment and enjoy it. We women don't joke about things like nice calves.

I love that the bike shop stayed open for you, I forgot to mention that before.

I hope that you didn't work too late.

I also got a kick out of the commentary, and i don't even watch the race.

Have a great day.

I've been working. And in my spare time, I've been working some more. Yesterday, I sort of hit the wall. I kept making BIG mistakes, could not make decisions while writing and editing a little end-user's guide to a database that I put together, etc.

This morning, my boss stepped in and saved my ass. She wrote all the text, and had me make edit clean-looking screen shots with text blurbs and arrows that show the people exactly what to do. I never would have finished that technical user guide on my own. I owe her, big time.

So...yesterday I was gloomy and burned out. Today, I'm still physically burned out but feeling...perky. Yep, perky works. I think that I will go riding with the race-dudes this afternoon. Even though I can't keep up with them, and will be riding home alone during the second half of the ride, I feel obliged to go. I have not been on enough group-rides this year, and I miss them.

The other morning, the police had the road blocked off about a mile from my house to clean up a traffic accident, and they verbally gave me directions for how to ride through this neighborhood to go around it. When I got home that night, I found out that the accident was a drunk driver hitting and killing an avid local road bicyclist about 30 minutes before I had tried to ride by. The lady that died works on the same campus that I do, was riding the same route that I often do, etc. She was just out there before the sun came up...and was just plain old unlucky. This teenager was driving around drunk, at 5:25 in the morning. It is scary. I promised Debbie that I would not go riding before the sun comes up for the rest of the season.

I did not know the lady by name, but recognized her face. Maybe from seeing her on campus, maybe on a group-ride, I don't know. Things have been becoming a little more tense around here between cyclists and automobile drivers over the last month or so. It started 5-6 weeks ago when the local elected sheriff made some statements bashing the bicycling population around here in general, and how he wished that people would completely stop riding them on all the roads and trails in "his" county.

Local cyclists got their noses all out of joint, and the people that hate sharing the local snow-plow lanes with bicyclists during the warmer months have responded in kind. Lots more honking of horns, yelling, giving each other the finger, and general "us versus them" crap going on. Blech. People can be so damn tribal.

I hope that things calm down now. It is too bad that something terrible like this has to happen before people think about why they are all worked up over something.

Anyway...lots of gloomy and stressful things have happened over the last few weeks. But I'm still feeling perky. This project is GOING OUT THE DAMN DOOR, I'm only going to put in about 53 hours this week; and I still plan on going for a nice, long bike ride in the hot sun this afternoon. Yepper. Life is good.

Replies:
Kussanna: Women don't joke like that? Bah! I was the only dude in my house when I was a teenager, and my sisters, their freinds, and my mom sure as hell joked around like that all the time. I used to watch them give each other a silent eye-roll before paying false compliments all the time, and then giggle about how they made that poor schmoe's day. Maybe women have changed since then? Maybe the women in my family are extra...nasty towards dudes? I dunno.

Jumpsoda: Yeah, the tour has plenty of public...not support actually, but watchers it seems. But companies don't like to be directly associated with "win at all costs" cheating like that. They are going to run out of sponsors really quickly at this rate. Who is going to pay for all of those 6-figure bicycle machines, food and training coaches, etc. if the big sponsors leave?

I still like to watch the race, though. Even though there are a few riders that I heavily suspect are cheating their asses off this year. There are a few CSC riders, for instance. They put in absolutely inhuman performances during the stages to pull their "clean" team leaders towards the finish of a stage, and then they seem to be holding back at the end to let only the "clean" members of their squad to take the podium. I consider that just as dirty as everyone cheating on the team...maybe even worse, because it is so manipulative.

Lisrey: I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying your riding. Seeing that sort of thing is why I ride. Slowing down makes you pay attention and really "see" things. Yep. Really nice.

Biking doesn't really do that much for your calves, per se. It really hits the quads, gluts, and hamstrings, but not the calves so much. Most of the calf development on bicyclists is due to genetics. At the same strength and fitness level, genetics plays the largest role in how big or sculpted your calves look. Some people have chunky calf genes, and some have supple-long calf genes. :shrug:

Amarantha: Colorado has changed a lot over the last 10 years or so. It just keeps growing, population wise. Beautiful and nice place to live though. Don't tell too many people...hehe

chumlette: How do we grow things here? Without serious irrigation, you can't grow anything around here but winter wheat. It is too dry for just about anything else around here, even grass or alfalfa for hay. We only get about 13-15 inches of rain each year. I think that New York gets somewhere around 40-45 inches each year. That is a big difference. This is a high-plains desert, don't you know.

RayeViking: I'm just about finished with working so much for a few weeks at least. My boss just came in and told me to go home RIGHT NOW. I owe her. She really helped me out with this last project. I was burned out BIG TIME. No mojo left in the tank at all. I'm going to do nothing but have FUN this weekend!

CFJ!!!!! Your last post makes me soooooooooooooooo mad!!!! What politician would make such an ignorant....oh...comment!!!! MUST BE REPUBLICAN...gotta be....
DON"T RIDE YOUR BIKES>>>DARN IT>>>YOUR SAVING GAS!!!! lolol...oh....MAN!
I tell ya...I have a very short ride to work, only 5.5 miles one way...but I rode in all week, and I ride in at five a.m., i have a blinky lifht haning off my back side...and a headlight on my front side...the usual wheel reflectors....
I was GOING to ride in this morning...but my hubby is pretty against me riding in on the weekends because of drunk driving....and then I read your post...and decided to drive in and just stop at a local trail after work and walk four miles for my exercise....

I just don't get peoples attitudes towards road bikers...I think the people that get upset are the ones that WISH they had the ambition to get out their and do it themselves!!!

SO HMMMPHHH!!!!

O.K...sorry for hijacking....
Glad to see your still out their doing your amazing thing!!!

Besides going out-of-control with my food on Saturday and Sunday, I had a good weekend. I did not work! I spent most of that time hanging out with my wife and the dogs. We watched the end of the Tour de France, saw the new batman movie, went to the gym for a few hours on Saturday (still sore..owy!), went on a 3.5 hour hike up in the mountains on Sunday, and then went to see a local theater group that puts on these singing political satire shows. The satire show was a real hoot!

After lifting weights and the hike, I cut my ride really short this morning. My thighs are really sore. I might go for a little ride this afternoon.

It looks like I'll still get to take a 3-day weekend this coming week. Goody. Lots of house and yard chores to catch up on.

Yogi-girl: I have a lot of reflective and flashy things on my bicycle gear as well. Let me see...both my seat bag and my trunk bag have reflective tape facing to the rear and sides, I wear reflective ankle and wrist straps when it is dark, I also have a 5-blinky light on my bag, reflective tape strips all over the back of my helmet, a 1-led red blinky light on the back of my helmet, and a 1-watt white led headlight that I point at driver eye-level instead of at the road (you don't get hurt as bad running over something big enough to make you wreck, as you do when a car hits you). I also like to stand and rock the bike seat from side-to-side a little bit more when a fresh batch of traffic comes up behind me.

I would not give up riding. It is worth the risks to me. Statiscally, it is more dangerous to take a shower, and I"m sure as hell not going to stop doing that either....:laugh:

Oh, and it is not that the sheriff is a republican, although he is. It is more of a college versus no-college thing. Even though the university where I work at is the number one economic driver for the city, there are still a lot more jobs and businesses here that are not attached to the college. This used to be a sleepy cattle-type town, and there is lots of resentment towards the "college, book-learning, elitest" snots that more typically ride bicycles. Not many rugged, mountain-man, or cowboy want-to-be types riding bicycles around here...:D

What an ass. Sorry, but that was an incredibly stupid comment. I get irritated by a guy that rides his bike on the road out to our house. Not because he is riding on a road that doesn't have anywhere for him to ride out of the way of traffic, but because he has his stupid dog with him, who is not on a leash, and is never anywhere near him. One of these days someone is going to hit the dog.

I'm glad you finally got some time off, and that your boss stepped in and realized you were swamped and needed some help and some time off. Enjoy the time off.

Have a great day.

I took a nice ride up Rist Canyon today. I took it a little easier, and had a lot more energy than I did last time that I went up. There is something to be said for pacing myself :shrug: :D I'm not 25 years old anymore. Duh.

I really want to catch up on some other journals here, but things just keep staying crazy at work. I'm not working extra hours this week or anything, but the pace is fairly frantic, and I just don't feel like LOOKING at a computer during my lunch, or after work so far this week. Well...."don't feel like" does not really cover it. The very thought of looking at a computer screen for fun lately makes my skin crawl. So many stressful/bad things have happened while I've been on the computer at work over the last few weeks, it is like I mentally expect demons, vipers, or something to jump out at me every time that I look at the screen too closely. Blech.

Ride Details:
Total Distance: 50.9 miles
Average Speed: 14.4 mph
Average HR: 131 bpm
Total Time: 3:44 (stopped at top to stretch and to add some quick-uptake nitrogen to a nice ponderosa pine tree off the side of the road)

Total Calories Burned: 2640 kcal

Rayeviking: Howdy, Wendy. I can understand how people would get angry at a dude with a loose dog, for sure. I could also understand getting annoyed if I lived on a narrow road with no shoulder that 100s of bicyclists go up ever day (like where I rode this morning). But getting spitting-mad? I don't get that. Hell...the worst thing that will happen to the driver of a car, if they are SANE, is that they are slowed down for a few seconds. And that is only if they are stuck behind a bike going downhill in the mountains with lots of blind curves. Otherwise, they should be able to pass just about anywhere with barely any hesitation at all.

For the bicyclist, it is much more personal. Other drivers are not just an annoying "thing" that is getting into your way. Accidents on a bicycle, or motorcycle for that matter, often result in personal injury. They are not just cutting you off, or running you off the road. It is like they are trying to KILL YOU. It does not happen that often around here. If I lived somewhere less bike freindly, I would probably have to drive somewhere away from my house to ride. That would really suck. And defeat the purpose of using the bike for transportation, for me. I would probably do mostly spin classes if I lived in a big city, or in many places on the east coast.

Stop talking about bicycles, Fagan. Time to work. Later.

I like the new page =) I, too, think it suits you!

Cycling is beginning to become a bigger sport all around the US (as far as I can tell)... I think 'spinning' at the gym definitely helped with that. I don't quite understand 'YogiGirls' comment as saying your sheriff must be a Republican because he made a comment - I think the main thing is the 'work' that must be made to insure that both cyclists and drivers of cars are BOTH safe. My entire city has begun adding the 'bike lanes' all around the city. It costs the city/county money but it NEEDS to be done. Hopefully he will be able to understand that sooner than later.

I have been one of those people who are ANNOYED if I was to get 'stuck' behind a cyclist. Mainly because I didn't understand why I had to share the road... HOWEVER, once I became interested in cycling and going on long rides, you better believe my views changed quickly.

It is quite ridiculous to see the "cars vs cycles" war take place. And it is quite dangerous as well. Hopefully everyone will just relax and understand that roads are made for driving: and that includes both a car and a bike.

Hopefully work slows down some for you!

I wish our county and city would add bike lines to all of our roads, but other than the bike/walking trails they have in the city, there aren't any. In our neighborhood where we live, we don't even have sidewalks. It is really a pain, but what can you do? You just ride and walk on the street and be careful. Drivers are careful out there for just that reason.

I don't blame you for not even wanting to look at a computer during your down time. Don't worry about it, those journals will still be around when you have time.

Have a great day.

heh. the bike commute thing is getting huge around here, and yet, have we done anything to make it easier on those who want to? Not in our urban centers.
I haven't read deeply all the pages, but I was impressed by your goals...you're right, not all people can do 65 hour weeks. I can barely keep up with only 20 hours a week... Oy.

have a great day, laugh at least one big laugh, and think one sad thought...

My next door neighbor finally sold their house. You know how I found out? My new neighbors were moving in yesterday! Wow. The old neighbor was always stand-off-ish...well most of my neighbors are pretty stand-off-ish, but I saw him just a few days ago, and you would think that he would have said...SOMETHING about them closing...or something. My goodness. They had moved out about 2 months ago, so that they could "stage" the house for viewers, but we saw and talked to them 2-3 times per week. Weirdness.

So far, I like the new neighbors better. We talked more to them while just saying howdy yesterday, than I talked to Blake during the first year after I had moved in. They were really close with the family that moved out of our house, and all that we got was blank stares and maybe a smile and a wave from Blake, his son, and his daughter until he got married about 2 years ago. His wife is nice, and we talk to her, but there was also friction there because we did not know how to reat to someone being nice and chatty when she moved in.

So, I've decided that we are going to try to be better and more actively involved neighbors than we have been in the past. When we moved in, everyone on our cul-de-sac were good freinds, and we were the odd-ones-out. That has changed, and I think that it is time for that "keep to yourself" attitude to change as well. There has to be some middle ground between "in your face every day", and just waving hello to each other once a week or so.

I need to work.

Group Response About Bicycling Issues: I think that I'm making our local cycling problems sound worse than they are. This is by far the best place to ride, attitude-wise, that I have ever seen in the U.S. That includes southern California. We've just been having some growing pains due to even MORE cyclists on the road this year.

FSUgirl: thanks for the visit. I must admit that I never "got" how people could be annoyed enough to almost kill someone, just because they are "in the way". And I'm prone to semi road-rage, too. :o

RayeViking: we have bike lanes EVERYWHERE here. You have to head up into the hills, or onto older and low-use farm roads, to find roads that don't have 1 foot shoulders at a minimum on the side of the road. I never understood the "no sidewalk" areas...weird. People tend to walk anywhere that they live...well...unless they live on a road where the houses are more than 100 yards apart...

jessica: They have started using these enclosed and plastic bike lockers at traditional automobile park-and-ride lots all around the Denver area. There are also lots of bike lanes and bike trails all over these towns along the front-range too. It is actually pretty rare not to see at least a few bicycle riders anytime that you are in a town between here and Peublo (about 200 miles away). Anytime that you are in a bigger town, they are everywhere. It has gotten to the point where it is rare to NOT have a bicyclist at every stopped redlight around here during and just after business hours. It is just how it is.

I'm SOOOOOOOOOOO jealous about the "bike lanes everywhere!!!!!!" on my ride in...there is only about a 3/4 mile stretch that has a bike lane...everything else i'm on the very edge of the road...
hmmmm....
need airplane mechanics in Denver? Maybe we should move! lol

Glad to hear you live in a neighborly neighborhood...lol, and YES, there is middle ground there for sure! Hmmm...at least I think so...we keep to ourselves here...so, shoot...I"M TIRED and not thinking straight..guess I'll just say good luck with that! lol
Ride Safely!

I rode up to Carter Lake this morning. It is a mostly flat ride, with some hills at the end. I'm pooped! I actually passed a dude that had on a shirt from the Triple Bypass ride this year. The Triple Bypass goes up over 3 big passes in the Aspen and Vail, Colroado areas, and the elevation ranges from 9,000 ft to 12,000 ft. The fact that he did that ride, and I passed him ON A HILL, made me feel pretty good.

About 10 minutes later, there was this dude that turned onto my road about 100 yards in front of me. He looked like he was putting along, holding a bottle of water in his hand on the handlebars and casually sipping away, reaching into his pocket for a granola bar, chewing liesurely, etc. He did all that so casually, while he left me in his dust like I was standing still. I was not trying to "race" him, I just noticed that I was pedaling hard enough NOT to be able to get a drink of water or eat anything without choking on it, and he just dusted me. Poof. Bye, bye. How the hell do you GET that fast?

Saw some deer along the side of the road today. They are down in the valleys now, near the creeks, where the grass is still green and yummy. All the grass on above creek flood-plain areas is yellow and dry this time of year. Hot and dry. We are breaking a record for the consecutive number of days above 90 degrees today. It is supposed to be over 100 today and tomorrow, and the highs are not supposed to drop below 95 for at least the next 3-4 days. Hot, hot, hot.

Ride Details:
Total Distance: 53.3 miles
Average Speed: 17.7 mph
Average HR: 133 bpm
Total Time: 3:09
Total Calories Burned: 2279 kcal

Yogi-girl: They have a BIG jet airport down in Denver, and many, many, many small air fields all along the front range (200-mile town and suburb area that stretches along the edge between the paririe and the Rocky mountains). The U.S. Air Force Acadamy is just south of Denver near Colorado Springs, and which they say is one of the reasons that so many pilots live here. There are a few neighborhoods with shared private air fields, and hangars beside each house between Fort Collins and Denver. So, yes I'm sure that air mechanic jobs come open now and then around here.

Another question for you! The few...(VERY FEW) bikers and joggers that I see on the road....(off the side of the road) seem to not know which way to ride with traffic....WITH traffic...or against it...I've been riding WITH traffic...
Hmmm...good job passing the guy ON THE HILL! maybe someday i will get there...hey, what are some good exercises to strengthen my leggs/butt for more power up hills?

I'm not looking forward to a meeting that I'm having with my boss in a few minutes. I forgot to check one last thing on a data product that we sent out last week, and there is a HUGE problem with the new Windows Office platform. They completely changed some of the visual basic programming commands, and one of our general plug-in scripts that we have been using for 5+ years is busted. I dropped the ball, but am not looking forward to the thorough ass chewing that I deserve. Damn, I feel stupid. :o

My legs were cramping last night, so I did not ride this morning. I may do some time on a stationary bike this afternoon, but am definitely going on a LONG ride tomorrow morning before it heats up above 95 degrees (35 C) later in the afternoon. It is supposed to be over 100 degrees (37 C) over the next couple of late afternoons. I can almost feel the sweat dripping off my brow, and the salt forming along the belt-line of my pants right now.

Yogi-girl: You are not going to like my answer for how to get better at hills. The answer is...do more hills. Pick out different sized hills, and use different pedal strokes and move around on the bike so that one set of muscles does not die. Do them slow and steady sometimes, attack some, etc. Basically, hills force you to do intervals. Flat-land intervals won't really cut it either. Hills, hills, and more hills. Make freinds with the hills. Become one with the hills.

I hope the meeting doesnt go as badly as you predict Fagan. You work so bloody hard i cannot fathom YOU ever deserving an ass chewing over anything. Hope you manage to get your ride in tomorrow.
hugs bell :)

No big fireworks at the meeting this morning. My boss was not angry at me at all. She is angry at Microsoft for changing so many things on a fundamental basis within the same 18 months. The Microsoft Vista operating system wreaked havoc on all of our GIS (geographic mapping software), Oracle/Java database interfaces, CAD, and graphics programs. Then they came out with Internet Explorer 7, that made us create extra sets of directions for end-users to access data that they paid us for on our FTP/Webdev sites. And now we have further issues with MS Office 2007 and how it reads the visual basic programming snippits that are necesarry for the type of customized products that our biologist/non-geeky clients demand. Blech, blech, blech.

Oh well. These things change all the time, and it is to be expected. I just wish that they would not do so many paradigm-level shifts within this short amount of time. Give us non-profit, have to teach ourselves, that can't afford a $1,500+ dollar per day training classes a break. We are not happy. We are talking about going open-source for more of some of this stuff.

Bell: well...no matter how HARD I work, it is generally frowned upon to waste WEEKS of time working on something. That is the level of the problem that is taking place. I figure that I wasted 10-13 days of work by missing this. The ugly work-around that we found will only take about 2-3 days for me to implement, but it is UGLY and NASTY, and looks damn unprofessional to our clients. I know that we are a non-profit, but damn.

I can't imagine how frustrated you must be in your job sometimes. I can't remember why you left field biology but I seem to remember it had something to do with $$ and stability. I wish you could do the IT stuff part time and the stuff you love part time. It would be so good for the heart/psyche.

Have you harvested your garden yet? What did you plant besides tomatoes and herbs?

I have a bicycle question for you. When I return from Seattle next week, I would like to get my bike out to try to ride it. It hasn't been ridden in years b/c it always hurt my knee. I plan to take it to a local bike shop for a tune up, etc. Should I ask them to "fit" it to me to help my knee? I read an article recently that said some bikes don't "fit" you and can hurt your knees. But I thought it would be fun to ride around the park by my apartment for a change from the gym. Maybe ride it up to the vet to pick up medication, etc. But I also don't want to hurt myself.

I made an interesting dessert the other day you might like. I tried it two different ways with good results. I took some leftover fresh ricotta (and alternatively I used some fresh low-fat Greek, strained plain yogurt), stirred in a bit of honey and cinnamon and nutmeg, topped it with fresh blueberries and toasted pine nuts and 1 T whipped cream (though you could skip that). It was yummy.

OK enough enough. Hope you have a good week my friend!

I had a decent weekend. Well...except for food and exercise. I've not been handling job and other stress that well lately, and have been turning to comfort foods. Lots of them too. And I just don't feel like working out, or even riding my bicycle lately. Which is pretty weird, for me.

Over the last three days, I wake up early enough to go riding, and just sit there after breakfast and read or watch television, until something comes up that I HAVE to do. Otherwise, I just sit there and read. It is a good book, but this is gettting rediculous.

Work remains stressfull. We still have no fix for our major problems from the national office. We also had a meeting today with a client that is always on the verge of disaster. I expect phone calls from around the country for help later this week. Yepper.

I should work. I should face things too. All this talk about highs and lows woth this new-ish thread, and I've spent the last 3 weeks avoiding them like the plague. I've been doing my "nose to the grindstone" and "stay the course and don't waver" thing like a good little soldier. An soldier with an ever-expanding waist-line. I'm a super wuss, hypercrite. I don't like it, either.

Chumlette: bike fitting can make a big deal with knees. When you have bad knees, you especially don't want the saddle to be too low, or too far to the rear. I suggest that you get the bike shop to help you fit it. If they jerk you around like they don't care, then go to another bike shop that actually cares about this kind of stuff. I think that it is important. I'll outline the most basic way to setup your ride below.

First, you want to sit on the bike and adjust the height of the saddle. You need to adjust the saddle height such that while seated on the saddle, and the heel of your feet on the pedals, most of your body weight is carried by either foot when it is at the 6 o-clock position (all the way down). You should almost be able to lift your butt off of the saddle. ALMOST.

Next, you want to adjust the forward/backward position. Tie something like a washer or bolt to a piece of light string or thread. With the ball of your foot over the axle of the pedal, place one foot at the 3 o-clock position. Adjust the saddle such that when you let the washer/bolt hang down from the middle of your knee, it touches the top of your foot in-line with the balls of your foot and the pedal axle.

Those are the main things for knees. You will need to play with it after that. Sometimes you need to make the saddle a little higher or lower after you do the forward-backward adjustment. Then you need to fine-tune it. If your butt starts to rock side-to-side when you pedal fast, then you need to shorten the saddle height a tiny tad. If your knees start to hurt, then you usually need to move the saddle forward a itty bitty bit.

Start of with the saddle in a flat position. Some women like it tilted up a little bit. Play with it and see what is more comfortable for you after you start riding for a bit.

You want a real pro-fit? Here a couple of NYC websites that I found on a bike event website that I found.

Here is an expensive laser-analysis place (http://pedalpusherbikeshop.com/)

More traditional ruler and angle approach shop (http://bicyclehabitat.com/)

I would definitely ask your bike shop first. They also have bike fitters that specializes in people with orthopedic issues like yours. I'm sure that they have them in the NYC area. The best place to find out about those specialist fitters, is bike shops and physical therapists.

CFJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a 26 year old man get killed riding his bike....along one of the same roads that I cross over on my way to work!!! :(
Now....granted...it was 2:30 A.M. when he was on his bike...and it was a drunk driver that hit him..(DAMN DRUNK DRIVERS!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY DO N"T THEY STAY THE F*** OFF THE ROAD??????"
But...still...it's just so sad...

freaks me out....

really, it doesn't matter what time of day...because there was a 16 year old girl walking home from school a couple of years ago in our district...da** drunk man hit her, killed her, never STOPPED....the police caught him at the store buying MORE BEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was questioned...said he thought he hit a ROCK!!????

OHHHHHHHHh it's just disgusting....
anyhow, drunk driving aside...if we had BIKE PATHS this wouldn't happen....well, would be FAR less likely to happen....

:(

Haven't rode my bike the last two days...but I AM going to ride it the rest of the week...I seem to do much better with my food if I ride first thing in the morning....

I've hijacked your journal...so sorry! I do hope you find a better way to handle your work stress (this coming from a get home from work and chow stress-eater...)
AND, more importantly...I hope the stress at work lessens for you very soon!!!

Take care!

Our parent organization sent me a fix for a big software problem with our database yesterday, and it worked! What a big load off of my shoulders. I've had 3-4 other projects backed up and waiting on that issue to be resolved. Sighhhhhhhh.

I even felt like riding this morning. The training schedule that I had set for my goals this year is shot all to hell. I'm riding both a lot slower and not as far as I had planned on for this time of year. Sometimes, life gets in the way. :shrug:

I took my bike out onto the prairie for a nice, flat ride. I was in sheltered areas near houses and trees most of the way out there, which sheltered me quite a bit from the steady wind coming down out of the north, and then the wind was behind and pushing me all the way back to work. With those steady 10 mph winds, and 15-20 mph gusts behind me, I was absolutely flying on this big flat section of country road. It was more than strange to be able to go 28-31 mph on a flat area. Zippy.

I had another flat tire, when I crossed a little culvert that goes over a irrigation canal out there. The road really needs to be repaved, and there is a sharp 1.5 inch lip of concrete sticking up above the pavement there. The tire is so thin that the wheel rim sounds like it is hitting the pavement when I hit sharp bumps now. The impact pinches the inner tube so hard that it puts holes in it. This back tire has about 1500 miles on it, and it is rated for 1400-2000 miles, and I'm heavy, ride in the mountains a lot, so that sounds about right.

I need to work. Not as hectic today at work, and things are looking productive at the same time. I love when that happens.

Yogi-girl: A vast majority of our local bicycle accidents that result in people having to go to the hospital occur on "bike" trails. The accidents are not as bad as those you hear about on the road, but your chances of doing something like breaking a bone (collar-bones, wrists, and arms are very common), getting stitches, or a concussion are MUCH higher on the bike trail.

Bike trails can be very sketchy, because there are so many people on them, going lots of different speeds. There are lots of runners, walkers, playing children, pets, bicyles, scateboards, roller-bladers, etc. on the same trail. Dogs and children suddenly dart across the trail as you are trying to pass by, and people naturally wander and do things like suddenly stop and walk backwards when they are walking. People don't normally think of or watch out for "traffic" when they are walking somewhere...unless you are in a big city somewhere. And you are more likely to have something "weird" happen too. I've heard of a couple of people this year wrecking after a squirrel tried to run in front of them on the bike trail, and got stuck in the front tire spokes (bike suddenly stops, and you rotate up and over the handlebars).:help:

Be safe, but ride. Yep.

I am glad you got that fix and that it worked. Now hopefully you can be awesomely productive and get the other issues straightened out so that your stress level drops massively. Although if you are anything like me, that won't help, you will just find something else to stress about.

Are you going to take it easy this weekend?

Have a great weekend.

I can't imgine riding so many miles that you have to worry about the life of your bike tires!!!! wow! I ride a cheap huffy mountain bike...it's an old bike...and i have NO idea how many miles are on it...do i need to worry? lol...
i'm such a novice.....

Hope you have a great weekend Fagan!!!! Anything planned????
What did you think of the Batman movie???? still havent been to see it yet but have only heard good things about.
Its a pain when life gets in the way of our exercise goals.. good to see you felt like riding and got out there and did it!!!
hugs bell :)

hubby and i went riding together for awhile friday afternoon...rode a few miles on a trail into town....we decided to stop in at a few stores...didn't realize that stores in our town NO LONGER HAVE BIKE RACKS??? lol...
so...
guess now we need to look for something...shoot...a club for a bike? do they sell such a thing?

Hope your enjoying your weekend!!!!!!

My wife and I had fun on Friday, going to a world-wide science fiction and fantasy writers and fans convention in Denver. It is the one where they pick the Hugo awards for the genre every year. We saw and heard a lot of famous authors speak (in the SF world famous...:laugh:). We also got the autograph and shook hands with a few of them (Lois Mcmaster-Boujould, Elizabeth Moon, Connie Willis, and David Brin). It was kind of strange, that I was intimate with almost all of the literary references that the speakers were talking about during the discussions. I'm such a geek.

I spent the rest of the weekend lazing around, working on my bike, washing our dogs, playing online games, doing some yard work, eating way too much, etc. I woke up early enough to ride this morning, but putzed around the house so long that I ended up just riding 3 miles to work. If it does not rain, maybe I will ride this afternoon? Food today is good, so far.

My thumb was hurting last week after a long-ish ride on my bike. There was no flat space on the sides for me to put my hands, and I locked my hands onto the pistol-grip type shifters too long. I was holding my right side up with mostly my thumb for too long. The shifters were too high, so I decided to move them down a little bit.

I pushed the shifters/brake-levers forward about an inch, which made the back of the pistol-grip section lie flatter with the top of the bar. This meant that I also had to re-wrap my handlebars with new tape/cork. You can tell that a pro did not wrap it, but I think that it looks pretty good for a home-job. It helped that I got the kind of tape that you can un-wrap and start over multiple times (and I DID!). I also fine-tuned my rear derailure, played with my tires, and piddled around with Debbie's bike a little bit.

My ride to work this morning felt a lot more comfortable than before. It was only uncomfortable before on rides that lasted more than 2.5 hours, but I like to ride longer distances, and such deails add up to make a big difference in how much I enjoy riding.

I like my bike. I like to tweak and work on my bike. It is a dude thing, I think. My wife thinks I'm nuts. :D

Replies:
RayeViking: yep, lots of big issues were fixed at work last week. I have one more semi-big thing to fix before we start pushing out a couple of 3-week-late data dumps this coming Friday. It is not "mission-critical" to these dumps, but it would be better if it was all-the-way fixed before we started.

Yogi-girl: Usually, you only have to worry about bike tires when they get worn down to the point where you can see the nylon threads that line the tire, or if the side-walls start cracking or bulging. When you put a lot of miles on road tires, the cheap ones can wear out pretty fast. You should not have to worry as much with mountain bike tires, in general. They are much thicker. I have a set on my mountain bike that are over 5 years old.

As for lock advice...the best thing these days is to use a combination of a non-round keyed u-bolt lock combined with a cable. Non-round-keyed u-bolts are harder to break/pick, and the cable allows you to lock 1-2 bikes to a telephone pole if need be. If you use both the cable and the lock at bike racks, it adds another layer of protection as well. Combination locks are very easy to crack, so stay away from those. Here are some examples that you can buy online:

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A3403231%2Cp_4%3AOnGuard&page=1

bell: I really liked the batman movie. It was very stark. Not just because it was Heath Ledger's last big performance, either. It was a very emotionally dark movie. I would not take the kids. The violence was not too graphic, but serious stuff happens. A major and likable character is killed...

Glad to hear that you had such a relaxing weekend, you sure needed it. The sci-fi convention sounds like it would be great if one was into stuff like that, which I know you are. I'm happy that you had such a good time.

Have a great day.

How cool to meet those authors! I love stuff like that. My reading is all over the map, but my secret vice is science fantasy. So much good stuff to read, not enough time! Glad you had fun with that. Sounds like you enjoyed fixing up your bike, too. I don't think it matters what your sport/hobby is, most of us who have things they really enjoy get into prepping and working toward improving things for the next time. I am really glad you got to spend some time doing that since you didn't have the opportunity to ride as much.

Have a good week -- good job on the food!

Lisrey :ex:

Hey there...thanks for the info in the bike locks! Can I just say...I am starting to see the light...I can totally see why ppl could get addicted to biking....

one problem....

what am I going to do this winter????? :(
Granted...there will be days where there is no snow...and I can still ride...
hmmm...
i'll worry about that later...

The writers convention sounds AWESOME! I LOVE to read (when I can find the time) and to be able to attend a convention and meet some of your favorites...and get autographs...pictures??? that would just be sweet! glad you two had a good time!

Hope your week is going good and I hope you have an even better weekend!

Food and exercise are bad. I keep feeling like I can get back on track pretty easily, but am also afraid that I'm lying to or fooling myself. I may have a serious motivational...funk problem. Work has been stressful, my sleep cycle is all messed up, I was unable to sign up for one of my goal rides this year (they had a cap on the number of riders, and filled them all up within hours of starting to take applications online), blah, blah, blah.

I'm going to journal my food and how I feel at each meal on Fitday for a couple of weeks, to see if it will help me become accountable. I have not ridden in a week. I need to figure out a way to kick my own butt out the door for rides, even when I don't want to go. I know that I will like it when I get out there, but I still have serious motivational issues.

I thought that my work load would slack off a couple of weeks ago, but it has not happened. I don't see any down-time until October either. Blech.

I plan to visit some other journals on here at lunch. Back to work with me.

I know it is awfully hard to find the motivation to exercise once we slack off, I know I am living proof of that. Especially when there are so many other stresses going on. You will get it back, I know you will.

Have a great day.

Are you back in the saddle? (or...back on the bike...) YOU Know what I mean...

How are you?

No downtime until October...that SUCKS...a good bike ride would help your stress...

come on...you know it would...

your bike is lonely...calling out your name...can you hear it? It needs some attention...some of your time....it misses you...

:)

Have a good week!

It's really neat you got to meet all those authors. I love chatting with authors I've loved. Whenever I read a really good book or one I enjoyed that I can imagine the author through his or her writing, I often try to find an email address and send them a note (not like a stalker, just complimenting their work and telling them why it affected me). I almost always get a nice, personal note back. I think writers are thrilled to know when their craft has an impact on people.

I'm bummed for you about the motivation issues. I think you might really have some blues if you aren't riding. Usually you do not have to be persuaded to ride. The eating problems are symptomatic, true, but the riding malaise is a real red flag. You are probably burned out at work too, which doesn't help matters much. You know what to do, so I won't belabor your journal with advice. But I am worried about you my friend.

Food has been okay for a couple of days in-a-row. I also went for a nice 48 mile bike ride yesterday. It was a flat-land ride, but I was really happy at my speed. My legs are sore today, but I did not lose as much fitness as I had feared during my "funk".

My older back tire on my new-ish bike finally blew-out. That is the last time that I listen to "expert" advice about tires. I had asked a bike mechanic, and they indicated that I had at least 1000 miles left on it. Less than 200 miles later, the inner, fabric and kevlar tire-layer completely separated from the rubber that hits the road. The tube got pinched in the 2 inch wide split, and exploded like a firecracker. Scared the crap out of me. Thank goodness that I was on nice pavement and flat ground, and was not goind down a hill or in a curve. From now on, I'm changing out back tires much earlier than the "experts" advise. Not only was it more prone to punctures, but it also felt funny going around fast downhill curves. I ride too agressively going down curvy and steep mountain roads take the chance.

On that note, I'm also going to get some new clip-in bike shoes today. My current pair is over 3 years old, and the bottom of one shoe is literally being held together with big gobs of heat glue. I have a scheduled 100 mile ride in about 2 weeks, and also want to make sure that the new pair is broken in before that. I'll use the old pair for spin class and as a backup pair, after the other ones get soggy and nasty riding in rain or snow.

Need to work. Yep.

RayeViking: I got caught up into the "I've already blown it, so what the hell" attitude. I don't like it when I do that. What is strange, is that doing stuff like working out makes all of those other stressor's that make me feel like not working out in the first place easier to handle. It is not just how it makes me feel physically, but the mental aspect of...accomplishing something that makes me feel better.

Yogi-girl: Yep, I'm back on the bike. I was riding nearly every work day during my "off time" too, but only the 20-30 minutes a day to and from work. Yesterday's longer ride felt nice. Lots to see out there on the prairie. Yep.

The newer bike got lots of attention after the flat tire. Lots of bike love this weekend, which for me usually includes a spate of repair and maintenance work. I replaced the bad tire and tube with new ones; lubed the chain, derailures, cables, and pedals; patched 5 spare tubes that had holes in them for later use (almost goathead thorn season - 2-3 flats minimum per week for a couple of weeks when those things go-to-seed); replaced the knobby back tire on my mountain bike with a slick city tire; and finally hooked up my old road bike to a stationary trainer in the basement.

chumlette: Meeting the authors was so cool. The common refrain from the authors was, that the conference was about the only time that they ever get accolades for thier work. They get some nice comments at book signings too, but they spend a vast majority of their time alone in front of a computer bashing out "work". The primary feedback that they get is editor-level critique, which is almost never "good job, I like it". What was also strange is how "normal" and diverse they all were.

As for the burned out issues, I feel a positive change coming. I've been thinking about what happened. Most of it was in my own head...but there were also a lot of individual events that made me more prone to feeling that way. Work was more stressful than usual, but that was not the big deal. I think that the real "funk" started when that lady got killed riding her bicycle by a drunk driver on the same bike route that I was on that same morning. I did not see the accident, because the cops detoured traffic (thank God). If I had left the house on-time, I may have seen it happen...or it could have been me...not a good feeling. I also recognized her face when it was posted in the newspaper. There are not many of us that head out on the bike right at dawn, and I'm sure that I had waved at going opposite directions, or one of us passed the other one, etc.

Tensions between motorists and bicyclitsts has also been worse this year. Bicycling has always been big here, but the number of people commuting to and from work has more than doubled over the last 18 months or so. More bikes, more novice riders that don't obey traffic laws and do stuff like swerve into automobile traffic while talking on their cell phone and riding at the same time, etc. It has gotten to the point where I get yelled at, deliberately buzzed, or something about every single time that I ride (even the short trips to work). The "new" thing that I see a lot lately is for people with big diesel pickup trucks to slow way down behind you, so that they can really punch it as they pass, so that you have to ride through a big cloud of black smoke. They do this on roads with a really wide bike lanes too. Anyway...it has all made riding a little less fun for me. And angry.

Have you ever heard about an automobile driver "not driving" because of ther fear of bicyclists? They may get upset, but they...are not afraid of being DEAD because someone waited in line too long at the supermarket. I talk to people all the time that won't ride their bikes to work, even though it would save them time and money (you can park your bike right next to your building, but often have to park your car at least 5 blocks away, and the price of gasoline...), because they are afriad of getting killed by agressive drivers. Maybe I should break down and get involved with the local traffic politics...you know...like a damn adult. Stop complaining, and do something about it, Fagan.

Okay...enough ranting. I should work. Later.

I'm glad to see you back on the bike and eating better. I understand your feeling of fear and anger about the biking climate changing there. I have always been afraid for you b/c drivers are terrible with bicyclists. And the incident with the drunk driver must have scared the living daylights out of you (it did me and I wasn't even there). I agree with you that you need to do something about it and get involved.

That's kind of sad about the authors and their lack of feedback. GAH.

I hope you have a good and productive day today my friend.

Okay, that all makes a lot of sense, I can certainly understand why you were reluctant to ride. I would be scared to ride after that also. I am so sorry you have to deal with that. I do however agree with you, get involved and work to fix it. Although I admit I wouldn't know what to do to accomplish that.

I hope you have a great day with a good long SAFE ride.

I agree with Chum that your funk makes total sense in light of that accident. I heard part of a big pro/con show on NPR the other day about drivers vs. bikers. They talked a lot about San Francisco's proposed changes. It was interesting hearing about how these issues work in a bigger city. Out here in the rural area where I live, I'd *love* to have bike lanes... Speed limit for cars is 50, and I don't like riding with them. :caf:

Glad you've got your eating back together again. It sure can be tough when you get off-track. Keep up the good work!

Lisrey :)

Are you guys going to Denver tonight to see Obama's speech? I know it is a long drive but gosh, it would be fantastic to be a part of history. We've been glued to the TV every night, as you might imagine. Exciting times. Bill gave a great speech last night too, as did Joe. And his son was AMAZING. Wasn't a dry eye in the place (or in Brooklyn). I have such great hope for this country, as I know you do.

Been thinking about you my friend.

Busy, busy around here lately. I had a good meeting at a client's office yesterday. More work for me for new stuff that they want, and no more tweaking the base-layer stuff that takes forever.

I've been riding my bike at least 15-20 miles every day this week. I've been on my old mountain bike for the last couple of days. It was a nice change. Much more casual.

I heard from Bill yesterday. He went to live with his dad on the other end of the state, and a 9-hour drive from here. It started out as a trial to see if it would work out about 3 weeks ago, and thank God, he has settled in nicely. Bill's step-mother had a really significant impact on changing Bill's dad's life over the last 6-7 years (stopped drinking, acts...sane, etc.), and living with them has been great for Bill so far. Living with his biological mom here, Bill always seemed to be on something that she called "lock-down". That meant that he was not allowed outside the house, even into his own yard, without direct permission from one of his "moms" (biological and lesbian step-mother). He had to "earn" being able to play in the yard with the dog, leaving the yard (except for going to school), etc.

For an active-type like Bill, this was a recipe for disaster. The more he was cooped up, the more real trouble that he got into. He was constantly getting into trouble with his parents, mouthing off to teachers in school, and stuff like that.

His dad makes him help to take care of and work out the family horses (his dad's family are real-life Colorado and Wyoming cowboys, and his dad works cattle whenever someone has weekend work available), makes him participate in structured after-school activities, let Bill take a welding class and will let him get a weekend job sometime next month, etc. Directing that energy someplace postive is great for Bill.

Bill has been doing so well with his behavior and all over the last few months, that they let him off probation 5 months early. This has been one great summer for Bill. I miss hanging out with him during the weekend, but am so glad that he is out of his old house. I pray that things not only stay this good, but continue to get better and better for Bill. He has had a hard, short, life and deserves some long-term good happenings.

I'm planning on going on a group bike ride this afternoon. I've unsuccessfully tried going on 5-6 weekend group rides since early July. Two rides had been cancelled outright and I did not find out before I showed up, I was at the wrong park with a very similar name for one (Swift Creek West Park versus Swift Creek West Open Area...3 blocks apart on the same road), had a flat tire on the way to one and got left for one, and was the only person that showed up for a couple of early Sunday morning rides. I like riding with other cyclists, though, and am going to keep trying. I hear that this week-night group has much more stable attendence.

I also heard from one of my very best freinds in the world the other day, and she is doing great as well. She went through some really rough times, emotionally, and is coming out of it. I'm so glad for her. It makes me choke up and misty-eyed with happiness to write about it. I've been worried about her for...hell...at least 10 years. Who am I kidding? I've been worried about her since we first met over 26 years ago. When we met, we had both just finished living through some long spells of violent and abusive living/freindship/family situations; and we both wanted to...change everything in our lives to never be around that sort of thing if we could help it ever again. We bonded on an emotional-level right away. Now if I could somehow talk her into not dating some super charismatic, sociopathic, nacisistic dude that only wants to suck her emotionally dry... She has a serious weakness for all-hype and no-action con-artist types. I never could figure that out. She claims that she "is not attracted to" "nice guys"...which I just don't get at all. I know plenty of nice guys that are strong, and don't let you walk all over them. Blech. I'm doing the gloom-and-doom thing again. She is doing well. It is enough.

Man this is long. Replies later.

How wonderful about the changes for Bill & his Dad. Must make you feel really good to see him finally thriving. Too bad he is so far away and you can't participate in it. Do you ever go that way?

I hope you got to meet up with the other cyclists and had a great time! Can't wait to hear...

Lisrey :up:

the Bill news is awesome. I'm glad to hear that you're back in the saddle again, and sounding like things are rolling into place. I know for me lately, it's been so hard to get things on track between exercise, food, work, and sleep, and I know I've taken an overall mood/outlook nosedive. I sense a positive change in how things are going for you-- feels like a great things :)

I am so relieved and thrilled for Bill. This is such amazing news and so welcome! I know how happy you are for him. This circumstance sounds like just what the kid needed. I hope you still write letters and such. Maybe someday you can go for a little visit?

I hope you were able to do the group ride. That sounds like fun.

And good news regarding your friend too. Isn't it wonderful when you get good news about so many people in your life? I know what a good friend you've been to us here, so I know how lucky your best friend is to have you by her side. Lots of women are attracted to the wrong kinds of men (probably the reverse is also true), but maybe she will find a good one. They still exist, you know. ahha

Have a good weekend.

Well I'm SO GLAD to hear your still riding! The days of summer are winding down...gotta take advantage of em! Before you know it the six letter dirty word will be here...and the outdoor biking will come to a screeching halt!:(

I'm also glad to hear Bill and your other friend are both doing well! The bad guy fascination...oh..who knows why that appeals to some women....for me a "nice guy" who is strong and willing to take charge when the situation calls for it is PERFECT....no arrogant guys...or smooth talking car salesmen....or "bad guys"...life allready has enough drama in it...I wouldn't want to add more of the bad drama with my choice of partner...no THANKS!

Well...I hope you were able to get out for your group ride...and I agree, I know a lot of people that would love to ride more, but being scared for their life prevents them and thats just sad!
There is a guy that rides to and from work on his bike year round...(he puts chains on his bike tires in the winter...) and you would THINK with all of his riding, that he would obey traffic laws...but he's an idiot...and totally goes against all traffic laws...people like that ruin it for the rest of us!
Go ahead...get politically involved in the bike scene...that thought has crossed my mind...starting a few letters, etc...worth some thought anyhow!

I am so glad to hear that Bill is doing so well. I was just thinking about him the other day and was going to ask you if you had heard from him. You beat me to it.

I hope you got to go on your group ride, what a bunch of bad luck on the tries before.

Have a great weekend.

Well...I had another bad food weekend. I did not ride, either. I showed up for the ride Thursday, and nobody was there. I later found out that I was there 12 hours late. They leave that spot at 6 AM. Duh. I felt pretty stupid about that.

I spent most of the weekend doing stuff with Debbie, helping her with some work, etc. Nothing active...blech.

So, today is a new day. I've seriously been caught up in the "you blew it, so what the hell" mind-set. Today, I've been on target with my food and exercise. I'm really watching my carbs, and rode for a couple of hours this morning. Nice ride. I feel fine so far, but am expecting carb withdrawal symptoms to start sometime tonight and be fairly pronounced for 3-5 days. No way around it, if I want to lose some of this weight that I've gained.

And I do want to lose it. Not for looks or health issues, really. I feel pretty healthy. I want to make sure that I don't slide back to become over 300 lbs again, and I want to be able to ride my bicycle faster, and be able to try new physical things over the coming years more easily.

Replies:
Lisrey: The news about Bill is really fantastic. I miss him, but the fact that he is doing so well is much more important, and feels much better to me in general. It was hard to see him being so misurable every week.

jessica: How much sleep I get makes a big difference in how I feel. I also need goof-off relaxation time every 6-7 days or so, or I tend to have mood and food issues in general. Enough rest, relaxation, and a little bit of fun can make a big difference. HUGE.

chumlette: I know that there are plenty of nice dudes out there, and I'm sure that one or more will show interest in my friend. She has always had the worst taste in guys. I can't figure it out. She is so smart, fun to be with, and darn attractive too. But she only seems to be attracted to guys that on the outside seem like a "master of the universe", but usually need to have a constant supply of new freinds (romantic and non-romantic friends) to tell them how great they are when the relationship is new and fresh. In the past, whenever she dates a guy more than 2-3 times, the dude always turns out to have 4-5 girlfreinds that think that they are "the only one", and where there is some version of "we are the only people in the whole wide world that udnerstand each other" with each woman. I think that it takes more than 2-3 dates to figure that one out. :shrug:

Women are weird. It's not like I'm advocating "settling", either. I think that you should really love someone to make a go of it. I just don't see how you can be serious about someone that...seems like they are putting on an act all the time.

Yogi-girl: You hit the nail on the head. She really likes the...big-business/entrepreneur version of a used car salesman. Mixed in with some "I'll take care of my beautiful love" thrown in there. From the outside, it all seems so fakey to me, but not to her. She...is in love with a fantasy. I never could figure that out either. I can love fanciful ideas, but when it comes to people, I want the real thing, and not some show.

I have to admit, that I don't always follow traffic laws. Especially at intersections. My objective is to not get hit by a car, and spend as little time in the intersection as possible. The theory is, the more time you spend in the car-lane, the more likely you are to get hit. I don't blow through stop signs, although I usually don't come to a full stop in my neighborhood, and I always stop at red lights. But...if a car is leaving at the same time that I just get to a stop sign, then my favorite place to be is 2 feet off their back bumper, and a little bit to the right. Drivers are much less likely to hit another car, and they just don't see you on the bike. If I don't do that, I may be there for quite a while. Or I may almost get hit by someone that either did not see me, or thinks that they have the right-of-way, just because I'm not a car (tough crap attitude).

RayeViking: the weekend was good. Nothing special happened, but it was nice. Peaceful. hmmmmm.

Glad to hear that you had a good weekend, and that you are having a good day eating wise. Carb withdrawals are going to suck, but you can handle it.

Have a great day, get some riding in, and don't work too hard.

Hope you're doing well :) Just stopping by to show support! I've been slacking on that as of late!

The news about Bill is wonderful. It sounds like he is where he is suppose to be. What a wonderful environment to get your life back together.

Carol

Okay...so I was riding my bicycle up Rist Canyon yesterday morning, and on the very last 100 feet near the top, I BROKE MY SADDLE. I had grimly clamped my butt onto the saddle to grunt up the last switch-back, and the saddle starts creaking. The next thing I know, there is a loud pop, and a piece of metal from my bike is pinging downhill behind me like it came out of a slingshot. The rear part of the metal rail on the right side of my saddle, that attaches the saddle to the bike, had snapped in two. I think "Holy s#!t".

I found a nice pine branch on the nearby forest floor, that was just the right size to wedge into the gap left by the broken part. A couple of minutes of scraping it on the pavement to make it fit better, and using one of the velcro reflective strips that I wear on my ankles when it is dark, and I was in business. I could lean back on the saddle with my legs on descents, but decided that it could not take up-hill pressure of sitting and pedaling (especially since I had already broken one side of the saddle doing that!). The trip back from there usually takes me about 1:10, but having to stand up and also go a lot slower to be safe down those steep hills, took me over 2.5 hours.

Since the bike shop where I bought the bike is closer than home, I went straight there. They replaced the saddle right there. For free. Most bike shops make you get a refund from the manufacturer yourself. I love that bike shop. My new saddle is the same brand, and practically identical to my old one (old one felt better than any other saddle I've ever had to sit on), but the new one has heavier steel rails. The saddle that broke had light-weight titanium rails. Titanium is lighter and stronger than steel, but does not bend or flex as much.

Apparrently I'm the first person that they have ever seen break a titanium-railed saddle. They have heard about bike racers breaking them, and regularly see racers permanently bend steel rails, but I'm the first one to actually break a saddle in their shop. I feel like a freak.

I've gained about 20 lbs over the last 1.5 years, but am definitely not as big as I used to be. Years ago, when I was over 270 lbs and especially over 300 lbs, breaking athletic equipment was a regular occurrence for me. I hated it. I used to break and wear out leg-weight machine belts/chains/pullys on a regular basis. I broke the metal weld that held the foot attachment on a rowing machine once, by pulling back against the straps too hard (I had just gotten into the "groove" of the motion when it snapped). I was always scared to get on any bicycle that was not a super-tough mountain bike. And even on mountain bikes, if I rode it for a couple of months, I would chew up bottom bracket berrings (used to take them apart and re-apply berring grease once a month), deform chains, break sprocket teeth, pop tire spokes, etc. I had thought that I had left all of that "fat-ass strong dude" stuff behind me...and here I am tearing stuff up again. I have just the right combination of fat and muscle strength genes, so that when I'm above 12% body fat and try to work out like a normal person, I tear things up.

Basically, I had to be that strong to be able to barely keep up with my wife and freinds when we did stuff like go hiking in the mountains, rock climbing, bicycling, etc. It has been a few years since that I've had to deal with breaking stuff like that, and I was really used to approaching "normal" for once in my adult life.

Now there is an incentive for really watching my carbs and blood sugar!

I have to admit that I like the cheaper saddle better than the more expensive one that I broke. It fits exactly the same, but is just a bit heavier (I can't tell, but it says so on the package :D), and the top is totally smooth. The old saddle had lots of fancy stitching all over it, that actually tended to irritate my bum, even while wearing cyclings shorts.

I took the new saddle out this morning for a maiden voyage to ride on a scheduled group ride. It is the same group that I tried to ride with last week, but I had shown up 12 hours late for the ride (no morning or AM designation on the website). :o These guys are really nice, and not hammer-heads like all of the other groups that I've ridden with over the last couple of years. It was a hill-route up over the first hog-back, along the dam road, and back through town. It was nice not to be the absolute slowest on on hills for once. :) Nice attitude with these guys too. They are riding for the same reasons that I do. For fun, to get into better shape, and to look at the scenery as they ride through the country-side. Not every hill, stop-sign, curve, etc. is a death-race. I'm going back next Thursday for sure.

This is long, and I need to get some work done. I did not know that much would come pouring out of me, but once I started writing, it just kept coming out. :shrug:

Replies and visits to other people's journals after lunch! Later.

You never cease to amaze me. You are resourceful in fixing the seat and finishing the ride home. I guess all is well that ends well. :)

Carol

yikes, there's an adventure for you! (and yeah, incentive) -- if it were me, though, I'd blame defective equipment ;)

hahahhahah the first thing of thought of is you are like MacGyver...finding whatever is near by to fix something..very resourceful fella you are Fagan.
Glad that you found a group to ride with that you like..
i am chomping at the bit to get back to the gym next week after this chest infection.. need to get my mojo back.. my eating has gone to **** while i have been sick..need to get back in the saddle.
Any plans for the weekend???
hugs bell :)

OMG my grma used to LOVE MacGyver. hahahaha I guess the postal worker sisters of Marge on the Simpsons would love our Fagan, huh Bell?

Wowee. You had a totally different reaction to breaking the seat than I would have. I never blame myself for that kind of stuff, I figure that the seat was made badly and I would have been pissed to pay a lot for a bike only to have the seat bust on me. hahahahaha I blame myself for the bigger things in life, not the more obvious little ones. hahahah Well, regardless, very impressive bit of jerryrigging. Kudos.

That group sounds fun. I'd never heard of regular group rides before. Very good way to make new friends, I'd think.

How's your garden?

I say totally blame the equipment. If they had made it stronger, you wouldn't have broken it. Although I do get where you are coming from in the feeling like it is your fault. I broke a toilet seat once when I was at my heaviest. Talk about embarassing.

Have a great day Fagan.

Replies:
Carol: you described me as "resouceful"...hmmm. I guess so. I'm definitely adaptable, I guess. Figuring out ways to make things work the way that we or our clients need is my main job at work.

In this case, to me it was simple. I had no choice but to try to rig something up. It would take me 5-6 hours to walk home from there (25 miles or so in the mountains?); and best-case scenario, at least 1 hour to walk to the nearest house with a phone. If anybody up there was home at all. Amost everyone that lives up there, even the ranchers, work or go to school someplace down the mountain during the week. I had not been passed by a car in over an hour either. A definite "So now what are you going to do, Fagan?" moment.

I was totally stoked that the stupid stick idea worked!

jessica: I also think that the saddle construction was somewhat at fault. While I know that they are very picky about saddle appearance, padding, contour-shape, etc.; the rails are one of those things that are just stamped out in a metal shop some place overseas, where the people never will even sit on one of the saddles to test them.

But I also have a long-standing track record of breaking crap. Not just at the gym. I used to break a lot of things at work when I did more physical work as a field/lab biologist, and ESPECIALLY when I was a restaurant manager. The number of times that I almost got fired from a job for breaking crap...

bell: McGyver? :laugh::o I felt like I had no choice but to come up with some way to rig something to get me home. I was stuck up there, ashamed that my fat ass had broke the thing, and too angry to communicate with anyone for a bit (riding burns off my temper). Physically doing something about things like that also relieves a lot of the stress for me in such situations.

What am I doing this weekend? I'm going on a 100 mile charity ride on Sunday. My original goals for how long it would take me to complete this ride are blown to hell. I'm still going to do it, though. My new goal for the ride is to have fun while completing it, talk to and meet some of the other riders during the event, and not to bonk or have bad leg cramps after. I'm going to stop when I have to use the bathroom before I'm about to burst, and everything. I'm looking forward to it.

chumlette: As I stated above, I have a long history of breaking things due to the combination of my size and, to a much lesser extent, strength. Going back to my teen years, I've been breaking things for decades. I once tried to open a restaurant walk-in refrigerator door from the inside with my hip, and pulled the hinge screws out of the wall. The door went flying, and hit the floor on the other side so hard, that it broke the floor tiles. Thank god nobody was in the way... The list of stuff that I have similarly broken accidentally is HUGE. Meh.

My garden sucks. I planted my tomatoes in big planter boxes, to avoid having pest issues with growing them in the same soil every year, and the plants have produced almost nothing this year. Similar story with everything else, but the pumpkins and honey dew melons. None of those are ripe yet, but they are coming along.

RayeViking: My take on it is, that it was a BICYCLE seat. It was not designed to be a perch for a weight lifting machine. I did not think about it like that until the instant that it broke, but it was the first thing that came to my mind. I was using the saddle like a wall or something to push against, so that I could push down with a lot more pressure than my body weight on each pedal stroke. That is okay for most people, but the combination of my body weight and me being able to apply at least as much additional pressure against the saddle over and over for 10+ minutes at-a-shot...no wonder the thing broke. :o

Okay, I've opened those large heavy restaurant refrigerator doors, those things are strong. And you broke one? Holy cow, someone must have loosened the hinges or something. JUST kidding, really I am. I can see where that would start to bother one after a while.

Have a great time on the ride this weekend, I will be thinking about you.

Resourceful, indeed! :)

I am glad you liked the new group. The long ride this weekend will be good for you, too, I'm sure. 100 miles! Wow!

If it's any consolation, my garden sucks, too. I planted one row each along my deck of onions, carrots and garlic. The onions I apparently planted too shallow. They are small and on top of the soil now. The carrot tops got eaten by rabbits. The carrots I actually pulled up the other day were only about 2" long. The garlic grew beautiful green foliage, but the cloves didn't get much bigger than what I planted. I also have one orange pepper plant in a pot on my deck. Although it had a number of blossoms, it only produced one pepper. It looks like a good one, and is just now starting to turn orange... I told Sweetie we have to make fajitas again when it's ripe. :o A lot of work for one pepper!

Good luck on the long ride, and have fun!

Lisrey :flower:

I rarely break things that are not attached to my body. Sigh. DLIP breaks everything he even THINKS about and it is due to inattentiveness I guess. He doesn't mean to, it just happens. I swear his suits are always torn. He zooms around the corner and riiiip. I keep the two small pieces of crystal I kept of my mothers and the few pieces of her china wrapped in cloths and kept in a sturdy fabric box on a high shelf, way in the back in a kitchen cupboard, let's just put it that way. heh Some people are prone to breaking things I guess. I am distracted often too but I get different results.

Sorry you had a bad garden this year. My dad always did containers for his tomatoes and cucumbers (for years at least) and had excellent results. Maybe you have to start with certain strains of plants? Water and feed them differently?

We just watched Jesus Camp. Gosh I didn't know Colo. Springs was a hotbed of evangelism. Scary film. Yet somehow respectful. Have you seen it?

Hope you have a nice Sunday.