1279.2; 928.9; 31.9
Wasn't sure where I was going when I left this morning--in fact, not sure where the hell I'm going still--but ended up going out to Forestville and then across River Rd., intending to get to 15 miles then turn around, but then not wanting to go back up the Mirabel Rd. hill, so continued on across River Rd. to Eastside to Mark West Sta, and on out past the aiport to Shiloh before returning on Old Redwood Hwy and Fulton Rd.
Really trying to shake this feeling of impending doom (as if it wasn't already occurring, what with the state of the state, country, and world...); trying to put some positive thought-power behind it, we WILL WILL WILL ride this out, but there's precious little security at the moment. Well, we're good through December I guess. I will continue to try to harness energy in a good direction (I heard that this works; it's a secret; only a few million people know about it).
About ten miles out, I stopped to take a drink from my hydration pack and realized it was empty. It holds 70 oz., so I don't always top it off for every ride, and today I didn't really expect to go as far as I did. Shades of a similar ride 6 or 7 years ago, also out by the airport, where I ended up getting hot water from a farm. This time, I got to a quikee mart and bought a large bottle of water and poured it in, and that served. REMEMBER TO HYDRATE, FOLKS! It's more important than you think.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Llano - Todd et al
1247.3; 897.0; 27.0
Wanted to get a few more miles, and want to try to improve my "personal best" for the week, but fell short of 30 and by the time I got home I didn't really mind--over 25 is enough for today, including as it did another road I probably won't do again--Llano Rd from 12 to Todd, and Todd over to 116--though not as bad as that stretch of Occidental.
Wanted to get a few more miles, and want to try to improve my "personal best" for the week, but fell short of 30 and by the time I got home I didn't really mind--over 25 is enough for today, including as it did another road I probably won't do again--Llano Rd from 12 to Todd, and Todd over to 116--though not as bad as that stretch of Occidental.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
DMV
1220.3; 870.0; 18.2
Afraid this ride has brought my average down. Maybe I'll ride in the afternoon too.
The DMV is approximately 9 miles away, and no, they do not have a bike rack. I guess I might need my car anyway--not sure if I just need to be present, or take a written or driving test, to renew my license this time. I do know they want money.
I really try to stay cheerful and not get annoyed with people on the path, but c'mon, you're walking two abreast with a dog, leaving 1/8 of a 12-foot-wide path with the dog not entirely reeled in, and I really don't want to hit your dog. I ring my bell from 50 ft, 30 ft, 20 ft, and you make it clear that you've seen me, and move two inches over... that's a little aggravating. I guess other cyclists have left a bad impression--maybe--but y'know? Two wrongs? And... you'd REALLY rather have someone (or an innocent pet) get hurt than just show a little courtesy? Tough world!
Afraid this ride has brought my average down. Maybe I'll ride in the afternoon too.
The DMV is approximately 9 miles away, and no, they do not have a bike rack. I guess I might need my car anyway--not sure if I just need to be present, or take a written or driving test, to renew my license this time. I do know they want money.
I really try to stay cheerful and not get annoyed with people on the path, but c'mon, you're walking two abreast with a dog, leaving 1/8 of a 12-foot-wide path with the dog not entirely reeled in, and I really don't want to hit your dog. I ring my bell from 50 ft, 30 ft, 20 ft, and you make it clear that you've seen me, and move two inches over... that's a little aggravating. I guess other cyclists have left a bad impression--maybe--but y'know? Two wrongs? And... you'd REALLY rather have someone (or an innocent pet) get hurt than just show a little courtesy? Tough world!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Banking On It
1202.1; 851.8; 25.9
Moved money to credit union, where it will await tax time. Ugh, I guess Obama won't be able to help yet then. Lots of surface-street riding in Santa Rosa, where it seems there are always bike lanes where they're not needed and seldom bike lanes where they are needed. Certain drivers make a point of passing as close as they think they can get. I try to avoid streets like that, but hate to go on the sidewalks, which, in California are mainly repositories for stuff they couldn't put in the street: telephone poles and their wire supports, manhole covers, garbage out for collection (from five days ago); also the concrete squares that comprise the sidewalk are frequently pushed up in various directions by tree roots and seismic activity...
In a similar vein, Note to Self: NEVER ride Occidental Road east of Sanford again.
Have been thinking about this quote and finally looked it up: "I will make a bargain with the Republicans. If they will stop telling lies about Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them."-Adlai Stevenson. It's hard to believe the Republican party still exists, if they were using the same tricks that long ago (this probably would've been 1952 or 56, when he ran for president against Eisenhower--my grandma remembered him as "ol' Snake Eyes"--a name, I think, of her own invention. I don't think her voting criteria changed much over the years; it was mostly based on who she did or didn't like the looks of). Grandma is one of McCain's lost voters--if she had survived another year, she certainly would've voted for him.
Think I'll go see "W" today...
Moved money to credit union, where it will await tax time. Ugh, I guess Obama won't be able to help yet then. Lots of surface-street riding in Santa Rosa, where it seems there are always bike lanes where they're not needed and seldom bike lanes where they are needed. Certain drivers make a point of passing as close as they think they can get. I try to avoid streets like that, but hate to go on the sidewalks, which, in California are mainly repositories for stuff they couldn't put in the street: telephone poles and their wire supports, manhole covers, garbage out for collection (from five days ago); also the concrete squares that comprise the sidewalk are frequently pushed up in various directions by tree roots and seismic activity...
In a similar vein, Note to Self: NEVER ride Occidental Road east of Sanford again.
Have been thinking about this quote and finally looked it up: "I will make a bargain with the Republicans. If they will stop telling lies about Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them."-Adlai Stevenson. It's hard to believe the Republican party still exists, if they were using the same tricks that long ago (this probably would've been 1952 or 56, when he ran for president against Eisenhower--my grandma remembered him as "ol' Snake Eyes"--a name, I think, of her own invention. I don't think her voting criteria changed much over the years; it was mostly based on who she did or didn't like the looks of). Grandma is one of McCain's lost voters--if she had survived another year, she certainly would've voted for him.
Think I'll go see "W" today...
Friday, October 17, 2008
Petaluma & Back
1176.2; 825.9; 38.8
Wow, I grossly overestimated this ride. I gave myself 2-1/2 hours to get to Petaluma, and only took 1:15. I thought it would be close to 50 miles total, but actually was less than 40--my second-longest ride since returning to my biking ways. There are a couple of no-shoulder spots where there's a certain amount of danger, but it's mostly a pretty easy ride in the morning when the temperature and wind aren't too high. I did NOT expect the heat, coming back, but still managed a 1:15 ride.
I was starting to worry about higher readings on my blood sugar (thinking I'd need to go back to full doses of Actos), but that's dropped significantly (78 and 97 the last two days, after 130 130 124, 141), and my average this month is back under 120.
Talking to my friend, I find that I'm not the only one who senses in McCain a reluctance, almost sheepishness, about putting forth the lies his "handlers" have given him... In the local paper today (actually a Washington Post story), there's talk that the repubs might pull back on McCain campaign funding, thinking it better to spend the money on congressional campaigns, where McCain might almost be a lost cause. I am overjoyed at this prospect. In every debate and elsewhere, I have seen in Obama a man with an amazing memory and excellent command of data: a problem solver. He might bore some people with analysis, but he doesn't deliver the empty "I know how to..." lines, and he really did, I feel, minimize the dirtiness of the campaign, even while McCain and PitDog resorted to mudslinging of the worst kind.
President Obama! YES!
Wow, I grossly overestimated this ride. I gave myself 2-1/2 hours to get to Petaluma, and only took 1:15. I thought it would be close to 50 miles total, but actually was less than 40--my second-longest ride since returning to my biking ways. There are a couple of no-shoulder spots where there's a certain amount of danger, but it's mostly a pretty easy ride in the morning when the temperature and wind aren't too high. I did NOT expect the heat, coming back, but still managed a 1:15 ride.
I was starting to worry about higher readings on my blood sugar (thinking I'd need to go back to full doses of Actos), but that's dropped significantly (78 and 97 the last two days, after 130 130 124, 141), and my average this month is back under 120.
Talking to my friend, I find that I'm not the only one who senses in McCain a reluctance, almost sheepishness, about putting forth the lies his "handlers" have given him... In the local paper today (actually a Washington Post story), there's talk that the repubs might pull back on McCain campaign funding, thinking it better to spend the money on congressional campaigns, where McCain might almost be a lost cause. I am overjoyed at this prospect. In every debate and elsewhere, I have seen in Obama a man with an amazing memory and excellent command of data: a problem solver. He might bore some people with analysis, but he doesn't deliver the empty "I know how to..." lines, and he really did, I feel, minimize the dirtiness of the campaign, even while McCain and PitDog resorted to mudslinging of the worst kind.
President Obama! YES!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Absence
1137.4; 787.1; 31.2
No on 8. The (paper) Chronicle today shows people praying with mouths contorted and arms raised, presumably for God to take his vengeance on the butt-slammers (the ones He presumably created). How is it that people still believe in earthly representatives of a vengeful creator? The idea of a creator is not unreasonable, but the idea that someone like Falwell, or any of that ilk, has a direct line to a creator and is hear to communicate--and enforce--His wishes? That's just stupid. OK, let's play it through. Imagine that a majority of people vote yes. Do you really think all those gay people are going to go away? Leave 'em alone--if you don't like gay marriage, don't gay-marry. If you can't bear to vote No, just skip the question.
Yes on Obama. He's not perfect, but he's good. And the alternative is truly, truly frightening if you have even a tattered shred of intelligence. Just by the examples of the kind of people who are coming out of the woodwork for the repubs lately, you should recognize that you don't want to be on that side. OK, watch the last debate tonight, listen between the lines when they speak, and imagine which would really be "the cool hand on the helm" (an absurd phrase grammatically, like much of what McCain has been fed for regurgitation BY THE SAME PEOPLE WHO HAVE DIRECTED BUSH FOR THE PAST EIGHT YEARS, DUH!).
My friend and ex-co-worker Garrie, I learned, died (**died!**) in August. He'd had meningitis about two years ago and was pretty ill from then on, I guess, but still, he was only three years older than me, and it was a surprise to get an email response from "him" (his sister-in-law) saying he had passed away. It's funny (not ha-ha funny) that I'm reading "Seth Speaks" right now, and am in the middle of chapters about death. One of the things he says--and this was said to my unhearing ears a lot at alternative school in my teens--is "you're as dead now as you'll ever be." I think I never really parsed or understood this phrase before, and it gives an unfortunate negative cast, but reading it in context, it is actually a very positive concept. I'm really enjoying the book, and finding it affirms a lot that I felt/intuited/believed all along. Interesting: the idea of entities repeatedly reincarnating in an illusive physical time and space was making me wonder why there are so many more people now than in the past--and a visitor to a session, in the book, asks that question in conversation whereupon Seth "appears" and addresses the question... I'm remembering more dreams lately--fragmentary, but much more than usual.
Anyway, my warmest regards to you, Garrie, wherever you are now.
No on 8. The (paper) Chronicle today shows people praying with mouths contorted and arms raised, presumably for God to take his vengeance on the butt-slammers (the ones He presumably created). How is it that people still believe in earthly representatives of a vengeful creator? The idea of a creator is not unreasonable, but the idea that someone like Falwell, or any of that ilk, has a direct line to a creator and is hear to communicate--and enforce--His wishes? That's just stupid. OK, let's play it through. Imagine that a majority of people vote yes. Do you really think all those gay people are going to go away? Leave 'em alone--if you don't like gay marriage, don't gay-marry. If you can't bear to vote No, just skip the question.
Yes on Obama. He's not perfect, but he's good. And the alternative is truly, truly frightening if you have even a tattered shred of intelligence. Just by the examples of the kind of people who are coming out of the woodwork for the repubs lately, you should recognize that you don't want to be on that side. OK, watch the last debate tonight, listen between the lines when they speak, and imagine which would really be "the cool hand on the helm" (an absurd phrase grammatically, like much of what McCain has been fed for regurgitation BY THE SAME PEOPLE WHO HAVE DIRECTED BUSH FOR THE PAST EIGHT YEARS, DUH!).
My friend and ex-co-worker Garrie, I learned, died (**died!**) in August. He'd had meningitis about two years ago and was pretty ill from then on, I guess, but still, he was only three years older than me, and it was a surprise to get an email response from "him" (his sister-in-law) saying he had passed away. It's funny (not ha-ha funny) that I'm reading "Seth Speaks" right now, and am in the middle of chapters about death. One of the things he says--and this was said to my unhearing ears a lot at alternative school in my teens--is "you're as dead now as you'll ever be." I think I never really parsed or understood this phrase before, and it gives an unfortunate negative cast, but reading it in context, it is actually a very positive concept. I'm really enjoying the book, and finding it affirms a lot that I felt/intuited/believed all along. Interesting: the idea of entities repeatedly reincarnating in an illusive physical time and space was making me wonder why there are so many more people now than in the past--and a visitor to a session, in the book, asks that question in conversation whereupon Seth "appears" and addresses the question... I'm remembering more dreams lately--fragmentary, but much more than usual.
Anyway, my warmest regards to you, Garrie, wherever you are now.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Warming Up
1106.2; 755.9; 27.5
The first number is total miles since 7/13; second is miles on odometer on the main bike; third number is miles today.
Think I need to do something to warm up before riding, or maybe this morning was just extra cold. At any rate, I never really got going, and the whole ride was slower than usual--although I still rode as far as I wanted to.
If the weather holds, I'll ride to Petaluma on Friday, after a longish ride tomorrow and a day off Thursday.
The first number is total miles since 7/13; second is miles on odometer on the main bike; third number is miles today.
Think I need to do something to warm up before riding, or maybe this morning was just extra cold. At any rate, I never really got going, and the whole ride was slower than usual--although I still rode as far as I wanted to.
If the weather holds, I'll ride to Petaluma on Friday, after a longish ride tomorrow and a day off Thursday.
Monday, October 13, 2008
There's a River Down There
728.4; 21.9
Don't let that mileage fool you--this was a killer! On top of the usual bike-path loop out to Forestville, continued on Mirabel Rd. down to Trenton Rd., which is parallel to and in view of the Russian River. Then back up Laguna to Vine Hill to Green Valley Rd.
Laguna/Vine Hill climbs almost 300 feet in one mile. It's a beautiful ride other than that--not a single car passed as I struggled up the hill, and there's only one slightly scary part where the road curves right while climbing steeply enough to have me crawling in low gears. No wonder the runoff is in such a hurry to get down there!
But I do get the "Green Valley drop" as a little reward, back down to the path.
This brings (keeps?) my daily average for October over 12 and average per riding day over 20. And, I hope, brings my blood sugar down from today's and yesterday's consecutive 130s.
Don't let that mileage fool you--this was a killer! On top of the usual bike-path loop out to Forestville, continued on Mirabel Rd. down to Trenton Rd., which is parallel to and in view of the Russian River. Then back up Laguna to Vine Hill to Green Valley Rd.
Laguna/Vine Hill climbs almost 300 feet in one mile. It's a beautiful ride other than that--not a single car passed as I struggled up the hill, and there's only one slightly scary part where the road curves right while climbing steeply enough to have me crawling in low gears. No wonder the runoff is in such a hurry to get down there!
But I do get the "Green Valley drop" as a little reward, back down to the path.
This brings (keeps?) my daily average for October over 12 and average per riding day over 20. And, I hope, brings my blood sugar down from today's and yesterday's consecutive 130s.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Petaluma Hill
706.5; 25.5
Petaluma Hill Rd. seems mostly flat when you drive it. Like with many things, it's a different story on a bicycle. And the headwind! Be that as it may, I was able to cover the 12.7 mile trip out in 53 minutes--the trip back might have been a bit slower, especially that first part, which seemed to take all my strength to just pedal forward on a seemingly very slight incline. Anyway, bravo: 700 miles on the Marin Novato bike, a bike of which I approve greatly.
Petaluma Hill Rd. seems mostly flat when you drive it. Like with many things, it's a different story on a bicycle. And the headwind! Be that as it may, I was able to cover the 12.7 mile trip out in 53 minutes--the trip back might have been a bit slower, especially that first part, which seemed to take all my strength to just pedal forward on a seemingly very slight incline. Anyway, bravo: 700 miles on the Marin Novato bike, a bike of which I approve greatly.
Friday, October 10, 2008
"Nice Bike"
681.0; 25.3
When one of the loiterers along the less-savory portion of the Joe Rodota trail says "Nice Bike," I want to say, "No! It isn't! It's a piece of crap!" (knowing as I do that people HAVE been mugged on this trail). I have really tried to cultivate an atmosphere of goodwill, courtesy, and friendliness around myself, and I trust that to work for me. My bike is pretty unique, also, and easy to spot, so maybe not as desirable for theft as it might otherwise be. Anyway. Good to get out on another temperate autumn day, and to get more than 20 miles.
You with the headphones? There are MANY more certain and less potentially painful forms of suicide--why don't you try one?
I kid.
My numbers as of today:
Total miles since start (July 13): 1031.2
Calendar days since start: 89
Average miles per day: 11.6
Total riding days: 50
Average miles per riding day: 20.6
October:
Total miles: 113.9
Calendar days: 10
Average miles per day: 11.4
Riding days: 6
Average miles per riding day: 19.0
I keep track of all this on the same spreadsheet where I track my blood sugar, and there is some general correlation between bike-riding and sugar levels day by day (the effect really is more long-term than daily, though). FWIW, then:
Average fasting BG reading July 1-Sept 30: 121.2
Average fasting BG reading October so far: 121.5
No need for panic! These are good numbers. Doc was pleased. 126 and up will get you diagnosed as diabetic. I'm taking a variety of medications that help keep that number down, but the exercise REALLY helps--and more, helps to "normalize": my numbers don't range as widely when I'm riding regularly.
When one of the loiterers along the less-savory portion of the Joe Rodota trail says "Nice Bike," I want to say, "No! It isn't! It's a piece of crap!" (knowing as I do that people HAVE been mugged on this trail). I have really tried to cultivate an atmosphere of goodwill, courtesy, and friendliness around myself, and I trust that to work for me. My bike is pretty unique, also, and easy to spot, so maybe not as desirable for theft as it might otherwise be. Anyway. Good to get out on another temperate autumn day, and to get more than 20 miles.
You with the headphones? There are MANY more certain and less potentially painful forms of suicide--why don't you try one?
I kid.
My numbers as of today:
Total miles since start (July 13): 1031.2
Calendar days since start: 89
Average miles per day: 11.6
Total riding days: 50
Average miles per riding day: 20.6
October:
Total miles: 113.9
Calendar days: 10
Average miles per day: 11.4
Riding days: 6
Average miles per riding day: 19.0
I keep track of all this on the same spreadsheet where I track my blood sugar, and there is some general correlation between bike-riding and sugar levels day by day (the effect really is more long-term than daily, though). FWIW, then:
Average fasting BG reading July 1-Sept 30: 121.2
Average fasting BG reading October so far: 121.5
No need for panic! These are good numbers. Doc was pleased. 126 and up will get you diagnosed as diabetic. I'm taking a variety of medications that help keep that number down, but the exercise REALLY helps--and more, helps to "normalize": my numbers don't range as widely when I'm riding regularly.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Eh?
655.7; 18.5
Hearing aid fitting appointment today.
I have trouble hearing soft sounds, and individual sounds with a lot of background noise, and at work, I was having a LOT of trouble understanding people with heavy accents. Analyzing this last, I felt that it might be the different emphasis on different syllables common to some ESL speakers.
So, I went to get my hearing tested three months ago, while I was still employed and fully insured. These people thought they could do something for me, and they said it would cost $2500, with $500 going to me. I paid the $500, and was laid off the next week. At the point of being laid off, I would have canceled the whole thing except for the fact that it was already paid for, and I was pretty certain there was no way I was gonna get that $500 back.
So I waited.... and waited... How long does it take to prepare a hearing aid for a person? They didn't take a plaster cast of my inner ear or anything! Finally, about a month in, I called them, and they informed me that they were waiting for payment from the insurance company.
So I waited... and waited... FINALLY, last week, they called me to make an appointment for a fitting, and I went in today (1111 Sonoma Ave., Santa Rosa, hence Monday's 1111 blog entry title, and the ride to scout for a bike rack).
After sitting in a tiny room for 20 minutes with nothing to do, hooked up by a wire to a laptop, the doc (or audiologist?) came in and ran a few test wherein I could barely ascertain any difference between the hearing aids' being on or off, and when it was on, there was a tinny reverb-y sound to everything he or I said. Okay fine. It surely would take some getting used to, and they usually try to set it low and move it up gradually, so I was ushered out to make an appointment for a couple of weeks hence.
At that appointment, the woman nonchalantly added, "and eight hundred fifty-three thirty-five" or something to that effect.
Had I not been wearing a hearing aid, I wouldn't have believed my ears! Still I had her repeat it.
Upshot, she will run it by the insurance company again--"sometimes they are wrong"--and get back to me, so at least I get a brief reprieve, but jeeze! Eight Hundred Dollars is not small change, especially for the underemployed. And I don't really even need the damned things anymore, for now--the reasons I originally went are all but absent from my life now!
On the ride home, the wind noise was amplified so much I couldn't hear anything else.
On the lighter side, as of the end of this excursion, I have officially biked 1006 miles, in 87 days. Whoopee.
Hearing aid fitting appointment today.
I have trouble hearing soft sounds, and individual sounds with a lot of background noise, and at work, I was having a LOT of trouble understanding people with heavy accents. Analyzing this last, I felt that it might be the different emphasis on different syllables common to some ESL speakers.
So, I went to get my hearing tested three months ago, while I was still employed and fully insured. These people thought they could do something for me, and they said it would cost $2500, with $500 going to me. I paid the $500, and was laid off the next week. At the point of being laid off, I would have canceled the whole thing except for the fact that it was already paid for, and I was pretty certain there was no way I was gonna get that $500 back.
So I waited.... and waited... How long does it take to prepare a hearing aid for a person? They didn't take a plaster cast of my inner ear or anything! Finally, about a month in, I called them, and they informed me that they were waiting for payment from the insurance company.
So I waited... and waited... FINALLY, last week, they called me to make an appointment for a fitting, and I went in today (1111 Sonoma Ave., Santa Rosa, hence Monday's 1111 blog entry title, and the ride to scout for a bike rack).
After sitting in a tiny room for 20 minutes with nothing to do, hooked up by a wire to a laptop, the doc (or audiologist?) came in and ran a few test wherein I could barely ascertain any difference between the hearing aids' being on or off, and when it was on, there was a tinny reverb-y sound to everything he or I said. Okay fine. It surely would take some getting used to, and they usually try to set it low and move it up gradually, so I was ushered out to make an appointment for a couple of weeks hence.
At that appointment, the woman nonchalantly added, "and eight hundred fifty-three thirty-five" or something to that effect.
Had I not been wearing a hearing aid, I wouldn't have believed my ears! Still I had her repeat it.
Upshot, she will run it by the insurance company again--"sometimes they are wrong"--and get back to me, so at least I get a brief reprieve, but jeeze! Eight Hundred Dollars is not small change, especially for the underemployed. And I don't really even need the damned things anymore, for now--the reasons I originally went are all but absent from my life now!
On the ride home, the wind noise was amplified so much I couldn't hear anything else.
On the lighter side, as of the end of this excursion, I have officially biked 1006 miles, in 87 days. Whoopee.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Fresh Oil
637.2; 16.5
Occidental Road is being repaved and so has a lovely shoulder-to-shoulder coat of oil.
Autumn is definitely here, and it's nice to coast through whirling leaves and cool brisk air (and have perhaps relatively fewer people on the trails).
I think the little nubs on the sides of my tires are almost entirely gone now.
Occidental Road is being repaved and so has a lovely shoulder-to-shoulder coat of oil.
Autumn is definitely here, and it's nice to coast through whirling leaves and cool brisk air (and have perhaps relatively fewer people on the trails).
I think the little nubs on the sides of my tires are almost entirely gone now.
Monday, October 06, 2008
1111
620.7; 18.6
Oh the numbers! I had really hoped to get in the habit of regular "short" (under 25-mile) rides this month, and then got off track with work, rain, and the weekend, so now I'm playing catch-up. I now have my spreadsheet tracking average miles per RIDING day AND per CALENDAR day.
I have an appointment at one of the medical offices in Santa Rosa Wednesday afternoon, and wanted to see if there was a place to lock the bike so I could ride there. No bike rack out front of a medical center! Isn't there something wrong with that? There's a bike rack in back, at the STAFF entrance, where most people won't look, and I might have to walk around the building to actually enter after parking and locking, but...
Oh well, good to get back on the bike.
Oh the numbers! I had really hoped to get in the habit of regular "short" (under 25-mile) rides this month, and then got off track with work, rain, and the weekend, so now I'm playing catch-up. I now have my spreadsheet tracking average miles per RIDING day AND per CALENDAR day.
I have an appointment at one of the medical offices in Santa Rosa Wednesday afternoon, and wanted to see if there was a place to lock the bike so I could ride there. No bike rack out front of a medical center! Isn't there something wrong with that? There's a bike rack in back, at the STAFF entrance, where most people won't look, and I might have to walk around the building to actually enter after parking and locking, but...
Oh well, good to get back on the bike.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
(Generic Title Here)
602.1; 16.5
Quick trip to Forestville and back, probably the fastest I've ever done it. No stops; very few peds and dogs on the trails. Rain is forecast for the weekend, and it seems to be starting now. Though it will put a crimp in my biking style, I welcome it.
Work is going well, I guess. A great deal of uncertainty as to whether or not I am meeting expectations, but I feel like I'm doing good work--I'm catching a lot of errors, cleaning up a lot of poor grammatical and structural choices, making it easier to edit for others, and now, creating a summary for later use. I'm hoping all of this carries weight.
Quick trip to Forestville and back, probably the fastest I've ever done it. No stops; very few peds and dogs on the trails. Rain is forecast for the weekend, and it seems to be starting now. Though it will put a crimp in my biking style, I welcome it.
Work is going well, I guess. A great deal of uncertainty as to whether or not I am meeting expectations, but I feel like I'm doing good work--I'm catching a lot of errors, cleaning up a lot of poor grammatical and structural choices, making it easier to edit for others, and now, creating a summary for later use. I'm hoping all of this carries weight.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Pomo
585.6; 18.5; Short ride to warm up after a week off. The standard Forestville run, but I added about a mile when I stopped to talk to a woman on the path near Occidental Rd. who was looking for her malamute/shepherd mix, and then saw the dog further up the path. I asked a lady there if she would wait with the dog while I went to notify the owner, returned to find the lady and she was gone; returned to the lady who was watching the dog and said, "well, we tried," and then saw the owner on the Graton end of the path, in her car. The dog ("Pomo") was within earshot of there, so dog and owner were reunited and I rode on without waiting for thanks. Would she have had a better chance of finding Pomo on foot? I dunno; seems like it, but she DID find the dog (with no small assistance).
Saw a gray fox on the path near Forestville, and got to within about 10 yards of it before it took off into the brush. Also bunnies, and a large dead gopher snake.
Actually, don't seem to have "lost" too much in terms of being in shape for riding, and felt like I could've gone much farther without undue exhaustion. But it's good to spend more time at home and get some work done.
Saw a gray fox on the path near Forestville, and got to within about 10 yards of it before it took off into the brush. Also bunnies, and a large dead gopher snake.
Actually, don't seem to have "lost" too much in terms of being in shape for riding, and felt like I could've gone much farther without undue exhaustion. But it's good to spend more time at home and get some work done.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Numb3rs
567.1; 22.3
End of a big week (135 miles) and month (428 miles); mom visiting, so won't be riding for the next few days. Good to get a break now and then. With that in mind, in the 80 days since layoff (ending October 1), I've biked 917.4 miles for an average of 11.9 miles per day (damn--I really wanted to stay above 12!).
Interestingly enough, with previous stints of bike riding, I noticed my hands/wrists getting *number* as I logged the mileage *numbers*. I've had some of that this time, but it seems to be more from time spent on the computer than from biking--even though the new bike is much more rigid, with no front or rear suspension, and thinner, harder tires.
I think I need to buckle down and do some work now, as long as there is work to do! Third Java course, coming up.
End of a big week (135 miles) and month (428 miles); mom visiting, so won't be riding for the next few days. Good to get a break now and then. With that in mind, in the 80 days since layoff (ending October 1), I've biked 917.4 miles for an average of 11.9 miles per day (damn--I really wanted to stay above 12!).
Interestingly enough, with previous stints of bike riding, I noticed my hands/wrists getting *number* as I logged the mileage *numbers*. I've had some of that this time, but it seems to be more from time spent on the computer than from biking--even though the new bike is much more rigid, with no front or rear suspension, and thinner, harder tires.
I think I need to buckle down and do some work now, as long as there is work to do! Third Java course, coming up.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Flattery Will Get You Nowhere
544.8; 26.9. Another flat, coincidentally (?) right after pulling off to the side of the unpaved road, in the middle of a bunch of star thistles, to let a work truck go by. I examined the tires before I started to roll again! Less than a mile later, the back wheel is floppin'. Nice to have a spare tube and tools, and to be able to repair it on the spot, but I'm considering the "thorn-proof" tubes the guy showed me today. Otherwise, nice pleasant ride, not too hot or cool.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Five Hundred
517.9; 28.6 (2hrs, 10min)
Entered dates and miles into a Facebook app, Bike City, and wondered the whole time why I was doing that when I have it all in a spreadsheet, in which I can crunch the numbers any way I like. For example, the FB app doesn't track by week, doesn't appear to be able to compare one month to another (or even show the numbers for past months), provide average miles per day (I've been tracking my avg/day and seeing how high I can get it by the end of the month (79 days since I started). Today's ride just bumped the avg up past 12 mpd...
Anyway, bored with the regularity of numbers like 31.3, 26.0, and 16.6, I extended the Forestville route a different way today and so got a different number.
I was prepared to just go to Forestville and back, and instead took off north on High School Road to make an additional loop to the unpaved section of bike path, Fulton Rd., and back.
I'm seriously concerned about my contract job--(deleted possibly incriminating content).
I think some employees just don't require feedback in their work--and some employers just don't think of it as a requirement to GIVE feedback. I, not being one of the former, have trouble dealing with the latter (and probably they with me too). (snip!)
Entered dates and miles into a Facebook app, Bike City, and wondered the whole time why I was doing that when I have it all in a spreadsheet, in which I can crunch the numbers any way I like. For example, the FB app doesn't track by week, doesn't appear to be able to compare one month to another (or even show the numbers for past months), provide average miles per day (I've been tracking my avg/day and seeing how high I can get it by the end of the month (79 days since I started). Today's ride just bumped the avg up past 12 mpd...
Anyway, bored with the regularity of numbers like 31.3, 26.0, and 16.6, I extended the Forestville route a different way today and so got a different number.
I was prepared to just go to Forestville and back, and instead took off north on High School Road to make an additional loop to the unpaved section of bike path, Fulton Rd., and back.
I'm seriously concerned about my contract job--(deleted possibly incriminating content).
I think some employees just don't require feedback in their work--and some employers just don't think of it as a requirement to GIVE feedback. I, not being one of the former, have trouble dealing with the latter (and probably they with me too). (snip!)
Monday, September 22, 2008
Tightening
489.3; 31.3
Lovely morning for grabbing some mileage, hoping to top my biggest week yet (that was 120.9 miles--I'm almost halfway there already). It dawned clear and still, and so it remained, a crisp autumn morning (now that we're officially into autumn). I got new tights that are specifically for biking--if nothing else, they won't catch on the front sprocket. I like 'em, overall...
Returned the clip-in shoes yesterday, and bought toe cages, which I'm already used to on bike 1. Anyone wanna buy a pair of Shimano SPD pedals (PD-M424)? Only about 500 miles on 'em...
People and dogs all over the paths, but I'm really not that bothered by it, and I would like to bothered by it even less. Let it go, move on, etc....
Lovely morning for grabbing some mileage, hoping to top my biggest week yet (that was 120.9 miles--I'm almost halfway there already). It dawned clear and still, and so it remained, a crisp autumn morning (now that we're officially into autumn). I got new tights that are specifically for biking--if nothing else, they won't catch on the front sprocket. I like 'em, overall...
Returned the clip-in shoes yesterday, and bought toe cages, which I'm already used to on bike 1. Anyone wanna buy a pair of Shimano SPD pedals (PD-M424)? Only about 500 miles on 'em...
People and dogs all over the paths, but I'm really not that bothered by it, and I would like to bothered by it even less. Let it go, move on, etc....
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Mister Early
458.0; 26.0
Not THAT early--it was after nine when I left--but seeming early because of the low mist (hence the "Mister" part of the title) hanging around through the first half of the ride, causing poor visibility not only via moisture in the air but also via moisture on my glasses. Also, wearing full-on sweats rather than the usual shorts and t-shirt made everything more muffled.
Tough pedaling early, when it seemed like all I could do to keep up a 15mph pace, then it was easier on the return trip, especially when I got behind a pair of guys on racing bikes who I expected to leave me in their dust, but I actually had to slow down at times to stay behind them until Wright Rd., where I shortcut the corner and left them behind.
The farther portion of this trail, the last segment of the part called the "Santa Rosa Creek Greenway," is about 2-1/2 miles of unpaved road on either side of the creek. At the very end, someone has taken to hanging a sign about how there are plans to pave this segment. Below the sign hangs an open envelope of orange slips of paper with the anti-creek trail web site address printed on them. These slips fall out of the envelope and scatter on the ground around the trailhead, and it's hard to muster much sympathy for a cause that litters the trailhead like that while professing to be in the interest of saving it.
I'm with 'em, sorta, on the need for study before putting in a paved bike path--except, bikes are ALREADY USING that path--it's among other things, a BIKE PATH.
And it's a much safer option than the parallel Hall or Guerneville roads. From my own personal viewpoint, I have no problem at all with the paving of this stretch. The other side will presumably remain unpaved (as it is still on the rest of the Greenway's south side, all the way back to Stony Point).
Since bikes are already using the trail, the arguments they're using pretty much center around the faster speed of the bikes that will ensue, added danger to peds, blah blah blah, but what I see on that trail is almost EVERYONE disregarding the leash law. Then there's a bit of a non-sequitur in the the inclusion of an endangered species list--including trout in the stream. Now, there is just NO WAY faster cycling would have ANY effect on said trout--unless indeed, it scares the illegal fishermen away.
They also don't mention the fact that this paving provides access to wheelchairs--and I DO see people in wheelchairs on the other segments.
Be that as it may, they have succeeded in at least delaying construction.
I can live with it either way, but the protest rather reeks to me of NIMBYism with which I'm not altogether unfamiliar. Something else interests me on that map, and that is all the "proposed" bike paths in the area that would make for much safer biking in a much more extended area, including, apparently, completion of this near-loop that I ride almost daily by extending the trail across Willowside Rd. and past Delta Pond, to Frei Rd (which the reader may remember) where it looks like a bike path is ALSO planned. Honestly, I'd be happy with more unpaved paths than more paving of existing ones... I suspect the thing will be paved eventually, but can't be arsed to attend a meeting about it, for all of these reasons, but mostly: BOTH sides--the NIMBYs and the racing bikers--annoy me no end.
Proud to have passed 800 total miles today, this 70th day since I started biking again.
Not THAT early--it was after nine when I left--but seeming early because of the low mist (hence the "Mister" part of the title) hanging around through the first half of the ride, causing poor visibility not only via moisture in the air but also via moisture on my glasses. Also, wearing full-on sweats rather than the usual shorts and t-shirt made everything more muffled.
Tough pedaling early, when it seemed like all I could do to keep up a 15mph pace, then it was easier on the return trip, especially when I got behind a pair of guys on racing bikes who I expected to leave me in their dust, but I actually had to slow down at times to stay behind them until Wright Rd., where I shortcut the corner and left them behind.
The farther portion of this trail, the last segment of the part called the "Santa Rosa Creek Greenway," is about 2-1/2 miles of unpaved road on either side of the creek. At the very end, someone has taken to hanging a sign about how there are plans to pave this segment. Below the sign hangs an open envelope of orange slips of paper with the anti-creek trail web site address printed on them. These slips fall out of the envelope and scatter on the ground around the trailhead, and it's hard to muster much sympathy for a cause that litters the trailhead like that while professing to be in the interest of saving it.
I'm with 'em, sorta, on the need for study before putting in a paved bike path--except, bikes are ALREADY USING that path--it's among other things, a BIKE PATH.
And it's a much safer option than the parallel Hall or Guerneville roads. From my own personal viewpoint, I have no problem at all with the paving of this stretch. The other side will presumably remain unpaved (as it is still on the rest of the Greenway's south side, all the way back to Stony Point).
Since bikes are already using the trail, the arguments they're using pretty much center around the faster speed of the bikes that will ensue, added danger to peds, blah blah blah, but what I see on that trail is almost EVERYONE disregarding the leash law. Then there's a bit of a non-sequitur in the the inclusion of an endangered species list--including trout in the stream. Now, there is just NO WAY faster cycling would have ANY effect on said trout--unless indeed, it scares the illegal fishermen away.
They also don't mention the fact that this paving provides access to wheelchairs--and I DO see people in wheelchairs on the other segments.
Be that as it may, they have succeeded in at least delaying construction.
I can live with it either way, but the protest rather reeks to me of NIMBYism with which I'm not altogether unfamiliar. Something else interests me on that map, and that is all the "proposed" bike paths in the area that would make for much safer biking in a much more extended area, including, apparently, completion of this near-loop that I ride almost daily by extending the trail across Willowside Rd. and past Delta Pond, to Frei Rd (which the reader may remember) where it looks like a bike path is ALSO planned. Honestly, I'd be happy with more unpaved paths than more paving of existing ones... I suspect the thing will be paved eventually, but can't be arsed to attend a meeting about it, for all of these reasons, but mostly: BOTH sides--the NIMBYs and the racing bikers--annoy me no end.
Proud to have passed 800 total miles today, this 70th day since I started biking again.
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