1500.5 / 27.5 / na
Fair enough, took the bus home. Here's this morning's ride (the "Pleasant Hill" link).
Friday, October 19, 2001
1495.1 / 27 / 120+
Yes, that's at or over 25 miles this morning. That's how sick I am of 116, Roblar, and Stony Point. This 25-mile ride effectively avoided all three, at the cost of 9 more miles and a LOT of big and little hills. But also with the benefit of seeing:
- across the valley to Mt. St. Helena, tule fog clinging to the lowlands, orange sun just breaking the horizon (Pleasant Hill Rd)
- fog and sunlight mixed (Roblar after Canfield)
- An egret standing calmly next to a sheep (Walker Rd)
- wide shoulder or near-zero traffic, pretty much all the way
- Hawks and harriers and kestrels, oh my (all over)
Some of the time, riding my bike is like the times when I was younger, hitching... and I'd just be walking along an empty road someplace, waiting for a car to pass, not caring all that much if I did or didn't get a ride. My thoughts wander all over the place (and I thought I'd have a lot to write this morning), but if you stopped me and asked me what I was thinking during those 2+ hours I couldn't tell you. Hate to get all new-wavy-gravy (and what the f890 *is* up w/that, anyway, "wavy gravy," what a name to give yourself and live with for 40 years; what a maroon!), it's a lot like meditation, I suppose.
It *is* easier to do these explorations in the mornings. There is less wind, it's cooler, etc. I could *never* manage the reverse of this morning's route on one of those hot windy afternoons!
And so I close in on 1500, a LOT quicker than the first 500 or 1000...
Yes, that's at or over 25 miles this morning. That's how sick I am of 116, Roblar, and Stony Point. This 25-mile ride effectively avoided all three, at the cost of 9 more miles and a LOT of big and little hills. But also with the benefit of seeing:
- across the valley to Mt. St. Helena, tule fog clinging to the lowlands, orange sun just breaking the horizon (Pleasant Hill Rd)
- fog and sunlight mixed (Roblar after Canfield)
- An egret standing calmly next to a sheep (Walker Rd)
- wide shoulder or near-zero traffic, pretty much all the way
- Hawks and harriers and kestrels, oh my (all over)
Some of the time, riding my bike is like the times when I was younger, hitching... and I'd just be walking along an empty road someplace, waiting for a car to pass, not caring all that much if I did or didn't get a ride. My thoughts wander all over the place (and I thought I'd have a lot to write this morning), but if you stopped me and asked me what I was thinking during those 2+ hours I couldn't tell you. Hate to get all new-wavy-gravy (and what the f890 *is* up w/that, anyway, "wavy gravy," what a name to give yourself and live with for 40 years; what a maroon!), it's a lot like meditation, I suppose.
It *is* easier to do these explorations in the mornings. There is less wind, it's cooler, etc. I could *never* manage the reverse of this morning's route on one of those hot windy afternoons!
And so I close in on 1500, a LOT quicker than the first 500 or 1000...
Thursday, October 18, 2001
(Yesterday evening) 1471.6? / 25.5 / 90+
Man, that wind just kills me. I feel like such a wimp when it slows me down, and I'm all whining and groaning up some hill. It wasn't windy out at like 2:00 and I was thinking I could try a different route where I'd avoid some of the annoying 116; then at 4 it's like 100mph straight in my face and all I want to do is be done with it. I should do my exploring of different routes in the morning, eastbound, when there's no wind or it's at my back.
Have thought for quite a while, seriously, that the more often I do this ride, especially that stretch of Roblar Rd., the more likely I will die or be seriously injured on my bike, most likely from an errant driver. I also need to "cross-train" if I want to be more all-around fit than just having huge leg muscles. I sorta hit a peak two weeks ago by doing 120 miles - I could do more, but for any permanent benefit at that level, I'd have to do it *every* week. And in spite of all this pedalling (about 350 miles in 25 days, avg 15/day, if you're keeping track), my belly is not getting noticeably smaller. And the rainy season will start any day. Plus, there are so few options on this ride, it will get boring. I also hate the fact that I have to commit to 90 minutes/16 miles or ~30 minutes/5 miles -- no in-between -- if I'm gonna ride at all. In a 90-minute span, the weather can change pretty drastically 'round here. Heh, supplemental to yesterday's lists, "Reasons Not to Ride At All"! So, guess I'll be checking out the gym soon.
Feel like, after almost 4 weeks clear of That Thing Which Dare Not Speak Its Name, it *is* getting a bit easier, and things *are* getting back to "normal." I'm able to concentrate somewhat more on my work. My two daily walks have become "necessary," but those two 15-minute breaks merely replace the 8-15 3-minute breaks I used to take in the course of the day.
Man, that wind just kills me. I feel like such a wimp when it slows me down, and I'm all whining and groaning up some hill. It wasn't windy out at like 2:00 and I was thinking I could try a different route where I'd avoid some of the annoying 116; then at 4 it's like 100mph straight in my face and all I want to do is be done with it. I should do my exploring of different routes in the morning, eastbound, when there's no wind or it's at my back.
Have thought for quite a while, seriously, that the more often I do this ride, especially that stretch of Roblar Rd., the more likely I will die or be seriously injured on my bike, most likely from an errant driver. I also need to "cross-train" if I want to be more all-around fit than just having huge leg muscles. I sorta hit a peak two weeks ago by doing 120 miles - I could do more, but for any permanent benefit at that level, I'd have to do it *every* week. And in spite of all this pedalling (about 350 miles in 25 days, avg 15/day, if you're keeping track), my belly is not getting noticeably smaller. And the rainy season will start any day. Plus, there are so few options on this ride, it will get boring. I also hate the fact that I have to commit to 90 minutes/16 miles or ~30 minutes/5 miles -- no in-between -- if I'm gonna ride at all. In a 90-minute span, the weather can change pretty drastically 'round here. Heh, supplemental to yesterday's lists, "Reasons Not to Ride At All"! So, guess I'll be checking out the gym soon.
Feel like, after almost 4 weeks clear of That Thing Which Dare Not Speak Its Name, it *is* getting a bit easier, and things *are* getting back to "normal." I'm able to concentrate somewhat more on my work. My two daily walks have become "necessary," but those two 15-minute breaks merely replace the 8-15 3-minute breaks I used to take in the course of the day.
Wednesday, October 17, 2001
1455.6 / 25 / 90
We Bad. It was actually just starting to get light in the east when I pulled up to work today.
Reasons to ride to work in the dark:
- less traffic
- lights make you more of a "sore thumb" than in daylight
- vehicle lights allow you to see them coming from behind
- cooler
- no sun in face, or faces of drivers coming up behind you
- can go home earlier
Reasons NOT to ride to work in the dark:
- fog makes it impossible to ride with eye protection
- can't see more than about 60-80 feet
- can't see gratings and other road-colored hazards till you're almost on top of 'em
- can't see around curves
- can't go over about 20mph (with visibility provided by current headlight)
- can't take eyes off road for a second
- tunnel-vision from not taking eyes off road
- dying raccoon flung, rolling, in front of you on the shoulder by passing car that hit it
- skunks and opossums running in front of you under their own power
- worry about lights running out of juice
- warmer
- Starbucks no less crowded
All in all, not really something I'd want to do all the time, but not too bad.
Frigid Bonehead's Diarrhea (2001): Not bad, really, I just like playing with the names (and hey, *they* used "diarrhea" to describe her M.O., not me!). Quite funny at times. Unfortunately, I'd expected it to be more "liberated" somehow - I mean, women I know talked about the book as if it was something new and different, and it's just this poor girl worrying about becoming a spinster and doing Mr. Wrong while waiting for Mr. Right - a plot as old as the hills, and not very P.C., either. Renee Zellweger is always charming with her funny half-shut eyes and tacky zebra-print underwear, but there's nothing earth-shaking here, just a light romantic comedy. "Whippy" plays himself, a Certifiably Annoying Twit. I'd probably have liked this more - or avoided it all together - if I hadn't been expecting more.
We Bad. It was actually just starting to get light in the east when I pulled up to work today.
Reasons to ride to work in the dark:
- less traffic
- lights make you more of a "sore thumb" than in daylight
- vehicle lights allow you to see them coming from behind
- cooler
- no sun in face, or faces of drivers coming up behind you
- can go home earlier
Reasons NOT to ride to work in the dark:
- fog makes it impossible to ride with eye protection
- can't see more than about 60-80 feet
- can't see gratings and other road-colored hazards till you're almost on top of 'em
- can't see around curves
- can't go over about 20mph (with visibility provided by current headlight)
- can't take eyes off road for a second
- tunnel-vision from not taking eyes off road
- dying raccoon flung, rolling, in front of you on the shoulder by passing car that hit it
- skunks and opossums running in front of you under their own power
- worry about lights running out of juice
- warmer
- Starbucks no less crowded
All in all, not really something I'd want to do all the time, but not too bad.
Frigid Bonehead's Diarrhea (2001): Not bad, really, I just like playing with the names (and hey, *they* used "diarrhea" to describe her M.O., not me!). Quite funny at times. Unfortunately, I'd expected it to be more "liberated" somehow - I mean, women I know talked about the book as if it was something new and different, and it's just this poor girl worrying about becoming a spinster and doing Mr. Wrong while waiting for Mr. Right - a plot as old as the hills, and not very P.C., either. Renee Zellweger is always charming with her funny half-shut eyes and tacky zebra-print underwear, but there's nothing earth-shaking here, just a light romantic comedy. "Whippy" plays himself, a Certifiably Annoying Twit. I'd probably have liked this more - or avoided it all together - if I hadn't been expecting more.
Tuesday, October 16, 2001
1439.9? / 24 / ~90
Pretty sure that was my mileage when I pulled in last night, but I thought did just the standard 16.4 mile ride...
Windier than usual, and the ride seemed longer, but actually it was about the same as usual. Finding that I can power up hills better - which stands to reason, I suppose, after the steeper hills of recent off-road rides. Roblar in particular is a stretch I never look forward to, but it really wasn't that bad once I'd done it. Thing is, I might start out in the highest gear, and then as the climb starts I reluctantly downshift one or two notches, and then the wind hits me full on and I'm a couple MORE notches down - it just kills all momentum, physical and mental. I do find now that I'm not quite as totally beat on that last stretch through Sebastopol and home.
A few bad moments with the Addiction Which Dare Not Speak Its Name, but nothing bad enough to make me start again. I get uncomfortable in my own skin, feeling very intensely that something is missing - and I take a walk, or eat or drink something, or whatever. I know the actual missing thing will not help. Even when I was using it regularly, one was never enough. Often required two or three in a row just to feel sated with it - for 15 or 20 minutes, anyway. What's missing was missing before I ever started THAT stupid thing, and that's what I'm dealing with now. I cannot stress enough how much the riding and walking has helped. I feel like I've made a complete 180 from self-destructive, apathetic, depressed to health-conscious, intensely emotional, and seeing a future. When I look at myself in the mirror, I don't honestly see any difference, but I see it in other people seeming to notice me, when previously I SO effectively managed to fade into the background that I did so pretty much all the time without even thinking about it, and generally thought of myself as invisible. Now I have a "presence" that is very new - I've actually had it before, in "manic" moments and when I was on anti-depressants before... So it's probably partly the Wellbutrin - but I think it's mostly the exercise. At the same time, as is well-known, I am generally more edgy than usual, affected more by things, more likely to be emotional and more willing to "get into it" when I am...
No ride today, though. Will take film in from Saturday's hike and do other car-required stuff. Brought in a fresh towel - nice, the "little" things! Tomorrow, a day-long meeting in that other city, but if I can get up early enough I'll ride in here and pool with someone else down there.
Man, last night's Cowbores and Deadskins football game was one of the dullest in MNF history, probably. Buddy and I slept through the fourth quarter.
DSL down this morning - I can count the times this happened with cable on one hand, but it's already happened several times with DSL - very disruptive to my routine of checking news, forwarding the daily cocktail, etc., and I have to head out (albeit early for a change) "empty-handed."
Pretty sure that was my mileage when I pulled in last night, but I thought did just the standard 16.4 mile ride...
Windier than usual, and the ride seemed longer, but actually it was about the same as usual. Finding that I can power up hills better - which stands to reason, I suppose, after the steeper hills of recent off-road rides. Roblar in particular is a stretch I never look forward to, but it really wasn't that bad once I'd done it. Thing is, I might start out in the highest gear, and then as the climb starts I reluctantly downshift one or two notches, and then the wind hits me full on and I'm a couple MORE notches down - it just kills all momentum, physical and mental. I do find now that I'm not quite as totally beat on that last stretch through Sebastopol and home.
A few bad moments with the Addiction Which Dare Not Speak Its Name, but nothing bad enough to make me start again. I get uncomfortable in my own skin, feeling very intensely that something is missing - and I take a walk, or eat or drink something, or whatever. I know the actual missing thing will not help. Even when I was using it regularly, one was never enough. Often required two or three in a row just to feel sated with it - for 15 or 20 minutes, anyway. What's missing was missing before I ever started THAT stupid thing, and that's what I'm dealing with now. I cannot stress enough how much the riding and walking has helped. I feel like I've made a complete 180 from self-destructive, apathetic, depressed to health-conscious, intensely emotional, and seeing a future. When I look at myself in the mirror, I don't honestly see any difference, but I see it in other people seeming to notice me, when previously I SO effectively managed to fade into the background that I did so pretty much all the time without even thinking about it, and generally thought of myself as invisible. Now I have a "presence" that is very new - I've actually had it before, in "manic" moments and when I was on anti-depressants before... So it's probably partly the Wellbutrin - but I think it's mostly the exercise. At the same time, as is well-known, I am generally more edgy than usual, affected more by things, more likely to be emotional and more willing to "get into it" when I am...
No ride today, though. Will take film in from Saturday's hike and do other car-required stuff. Brought in a fresh towel - nice, the "little" things! Tomorrow, a day-long meeting in that other city, but if I can get up early enough I'll ride in here and pool with someone else down there.
Man, last night's Cowbores and Deadskins football game was one of the dullest in MNF history, probably. Buddy and I slept through the fourth quarter.
DSL down this morning - I can count the times this happened with cable on one hand, but it's already happened several times with DSL - very disruptive to my routine of checking news, forwarding the daily cocktail, etc., and I have to head out (albeit early for a change) "empty-handed."
Monday, October 15, 2001
1422.9 / 23 / na
Started a page of links to our various hikes and bikes. On the way out today, saw the bus sitting there, and it was too good to pass up, so I rode it to SSU, biking the mere five miles to work from there.
There are some severely challenged people riding those busses, including those who are generally acknowledged as having "challenges," and those who have perhaps slipped through the institutional cracks, so to speak. I suppose I should be kind, and open-minded, and tolerant, but y'know, for the most part they *do* give me the willies, and I really hate having some guy grunting, moaning, and drooling in the seat right behind me, and not knowing what he's gonna do next. Meanwhile, he's "conversing" with another ward-of-the-state across the aisle, in a very repetitive, barely sensible conversation which focuses mainly on the fact that he has given the other fellow a red lighter and the other fellow can have a light now for his three (3) cigarettes, and he gets two checks, one at the workshop and one at home in the mail which the mailman brings, and he has given the other fellow a red lighter... And I'm thinking, if this is where smoking gets you, maybe I should quit or something.
Petaluma Hill Road is boring, with heavy traffic and a bit of a headwind, but has mostly wide shoulders and is blessedly short from SSU to Penngrove.
Started a page of links to our various hikes and bikes. On the way out today, saw the bus sitting there, and it was too good to pass up, so I rode it to SSU, biking the mere five miles to work from there.
There are some severely challenged people riding those busses, including those who are generally acknowledged as having "challenges," and those who have perhaps slipped through the institutional cracks, so to speak. I suppose I should be kind, and open-minded, and tolerant, but y'know, for the most part they *do* give me the willies, and I really hate having some guy grunting, moaning, and drooling in the seat right behind me, and not knowing what he's gonna do next. Meanwhile, he's "conversing" with another ward-of-the-state across the aisle, in a very repetitive, barely sensible conversation which focuses mainly on the fact that he has given the other fellow a red lighter and the other fellow can have a light now for his three (3) cigarettes, and he gets two checks, one at the workshop and one at home in the mail which the mailman brings, and he has given the other fellow a red lighter... And I'm thinking, if this is where smoking gets you, maybe I should quit or something.
Petaluma Hill Road is boring, with heavy traffic and a bit of a headwind, but has mostly wide shoulders and is blessedly short from SSU to Penngrove.
Sunday, October 14, 2001
1417.6 / 22 / na
Biked most of yesterday's hike - not as hard as I thought it would be, and fun. Brought plenty of water this time, but was out in the sun for a much shorter period, so didn't need as much.
Did figure out that we probably would have had to turn back if we'd tried to do the loop. Also figured out, I think, that we didn't actually do "Drake's Head," which is on *top* of the bluff, whereas we went down one of the valleys. I didn't go all the way out to the "Head," figuring we'll do it together sometime.
Biked most of yesterday's hike - not as hard as I thought it would be, and fun. Brought plenty of water this time, but was out in the sun for a much shorter period, so didn't need as much.
Did figure out that we probably would have had to turn back if we'd tried to do the loop. Also figured out, I think, that we didn't actually do "Drake's Head," which is on *top* of the bluff, whereas we went down one of the valleys. I didn't go all the way out to the "Head," figuring we'll do it together sometime.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)