Shades of 2015 - Rainy Summer.

 Blerhg is useful for some things like looking back at Rain.

2015 was the last blockbuster year that included the W@W nearly catastrophe race with major flooding washing people down the run towards Accotink creek. 

 Near Wakefield we see

 May 2025: 7.82 Inches

June 2025: 5.48 Inches

July 2025: 4.58 Inches (14 days!).

 So in the last 75 days?   17.88 Inches - Average per day .238 of an inch, or .75 inches every 3rd day!

Not quite at 2015 levels but if july continues like this we could be way above 20 inches, I think at the end of august we were in the 25 inch range. 

Accotink Creek flooded 2x to the 8ft mark in the previous 2 days:

 

Plan  B again on Thursday the 17th, with highs in the 90's?  UGH tastic.

1 Tree down on the DC/MD CCT on the way into work, will it be fixed by the ride home?   

Good bye spring, Hell-o Summer

It's summer time here in the Nation's Capitol, unfortunately.  We had one of the most mild (and kinda rainy) springs in years.  Nice weather mostly till mid-June.  I think our latest 90F day at Dulles in 15 years or more.  Lots of awesome days commuting in for work on the 2 wheel freedom machine.   And some days of getting rained on.  Oh well.   

Now in mid-July'ish we got thru one of the nicest 4th of july days that I can ever remember with low humidity in high's in low 80's!   So frickin nice.  Now were' back in the heat and storms.  Honestly next days look more like how I remember Florida in the 90's with heat driven afternoon storms.

What Weight?  209 as of last Friday.  Le sigh.  Damn you brownies!   

 Other Things?
Dirty Soda Mix from Coffee Mate finally tried.  Sadly I might say Crush and the Orange/Cream one may be better than Dr.P and Coconut Lime.   Maybe a higher concentration on the Dr.P.  I'll try it this weekend again.  1 Small Can plus 1 ounce on both at first.   Will try at maybe 1.5 oz to the small can.  On Ice for sure in addition to chilled can.

Brownies Madness 2025

Brownie madness competition in June was a surprise.  Kenji Alt Lopez most recent simplified form of his brownie mix was the CLEAR winner.   Brian Lagerstrom's were good, but had an off flavor at first, maybe from cooking spray or the wrong olive oil used.  Will re-cook.  Death Brownies from Chef Steps, still damn amazing, but for the level of effort?  Not really worth it honestly.  With Kenji's being easy to do in 25 minutes+baking+cooling - Yep.  Brian's is also quick if you can setup your Mis-en-plas and rock it.  Though probably an hour with some waiting time.  

 

Sunset Photo from my commute home on 8-July-2025 - Post Storms: 

Stay Safe, Stay Smart - Shop S-Mart.

 

More More More, with a rebel yell!

 Greeting Netizens -

Ultimately this blog is more for myself at this point, really to track the ups and downs of my cycling and food consumption lifestyle of a rockstar in training.  

My weight-in tomorrow will hopefully be positive, though I admit I totally broke last night and went with the SLF and Kid-1 to grab some tasty IceCream.  The salted peanut butter with chocolate flakes was amazing.  210  for a 2nd week last week was a bummer, but still better than 216,000,000 a few weeks before.

 Cold AF on my 2 bike commutes, almost needed to pull out the bigger Woolie's for Wednesday morning, it was somewhere between 27-29 as I bottomed out in the leadup to Georgetown water front.  Brrr.  I was layered up in a mid-weight smartwool technical with a club ride short sleeve then my pearl wind/water shell.  On the way home the sun was out and it felt WAY warmer than the 52!  

Thru Mar I was a bit ahead of where I was in 2024 in total logged activities and in mileage.  It's kinda interesting as until the start of April when I started with GDub, I was not working other than applying for jobs and while working I'm ahead of that period?  Guess the general 2x weekly commutes for 4 rides is pumping things up.  And January wasn't the strongest month of riding either.   

Spring is here and now I'm looking at Trailwork, I've got some angry beaver work to do at WF for sure in the next week or so, was originally planning today but with potential rain, my beaver doesn't love being all wet (Silly Beaver!) so it stayed home.  I did sharpen it's buck teeth on Tuesday.  And a new airfilter.    I might even put a new sparker in it tomorrow.   Also finally got some new wedges after the crazy tree ate 2 of my 3 wedges last fall/winter on upper Phase 1.

Oh well, time to make the donuts, as they say.   

Happy Trails and Great Rides, to all!

Winter Slump is for REALZ

 What its almost April?  in 2025?  WTF?

I knew from previous years my steps take a hit in January and February.  I had one weight in, in early January that was 208.9 that I didn't love.  And then I forgot my scale.

Till a week or so ago.  After a quick battery change I hopped on and WTH??? 215.8!  Damn it!   Thats my heaviest hit in at least 6 years!  Last year I flirted with 213 around the summer and in 2023 I was at the high 214 area for a brief bit.   Well we'll see how things are tomorrow or Friday AM when I do my next weight in.  Start of this week I was at 212.  I'd really like to see 210.   

Riding wise I did slow a LOT over Jan and Feb due to MTB in the shop for most of January and then sometimes too much snow a few times and some work schedule changes.   I'm at my 42'nd logged activity of the year and I'm at 360'ish miles of cycling this year with commuting, versus about 300 at same point last year before I started my new job.  

Step/walk wise I just need to commit I guess to pushing to get my 8-10K a day a bit more regularly.  

The real culprit?  We've had a ton of AWESOME shows we've seen in the last 3-4 weeks and we've been eating out at some fun places.  Too fun.   Shows and food include:

• George Thoroughgood and The Destroyers - Immigrant Food in DC - Amazing cocktails and some really good food.
• Brass Against - ST James - Really good cocktails and amazing Carribean Food
• Alton Brown - Ala in Bethesda - Amazing tapas and good cocktails also.  
• Dream Theatre - Up next this coming Friday.

Time to ride more and eat a few less fun things.

Also I in the MOST unexpected thing gave up Soda now almost 4 weeks ago.  I emotionally miss it at times, but I also know it is better for me.  In another week or so I'll let myself have maybe 1 every 2 weeks.    Honestly, I probably haven't gone this long without a soda since MAYBE before moving to Arizona in the 80's when I had to ride to the convenience store 1.5 miles away to get a Nehi or a RC Cola.