Time Keeps on Slipping...

 Near 3 years since my last update in Sept 2021.  It's mind boggling how much has changed since then.  And in  , things keep on moving forward.

I've had some steps back unexpectedly.  Family has had challenges.  Love keeps supporting me.  And this year is gonna be SOMETHING else I can already tell in early March.

36 Logged activities for the year so far, though this month I started trying to be more mindful to log longer directed walks.   23 of those are bike rides, lots of MTB and looking to add in more road/cx but we shall see.

Big thing?  Watching the pie hole entrance.    Last May I hit a recent high of 215.  Got down into 210 range3 in Oct/Nov but now I'm finally progressing on the 205 zone.   I hit 206.3 today at pre-lunch weight in.  

For now I'm continuing to focus on a bit less chow in the mouth and a bit more activity.  

And I'm stoked for some MTB rides this spring and early summer!

Sunsets are life

 Today the Sunset on an old Friend.  It's been a while coming, but after 6 months of languishing in my basement and later outback, my trusty old 2010 Trek Paragon has ridden off into the Sunset.   

Hopefully as I donated it to Phoenix Bikes it finds a new home and has many more Sunrises and Moonrises ahead of it with a new owner.  

It was an awesome 2nd mountain bike and it went on adventures from Pisgah and Boone NC, to Rothrock, Rattling Creek and Raystown in PA, all the way up to the craziness of Vermont.  

Dawn Patrols, Night Rides, Day Rides, Races.  The bike has done it all.  Beer trips.  Snow Rides.  Wet sloppy muddy AF Rides.  Short, Long, Slow and Low, Fast and...well semi fast.  It did it all.  29'r was a huge upgrade from my classic 26'r.  It rolled over stuff that I wouldn't believe at first.  It also dumped me into a gully when I couldn't make a turn on it I expected on my first ride at Douthat.  

On the other hand it is too big (elbow issues from the 'Shed years ago still flare up).  No dropper setup.  And old school tech.  Rebuilding it to a modern spec and a new fork and everything even at team costs?  HUGE.  

A future hardtail is in my mind but no specifics, but maybe by next spring?  ZOOOOM!

Got the SLF's boy's out on bikes this weekend and for trailwork.  The younger now fits his 20 inch geared bike which is a HUGE step up.   He can't downshift properly due to the grip shifter being VERY difficult to shift.  Not sure if it's the shifter or the mech/derail.   Nice chill weekend!

Hoping to get out some on Tuesday on MTB as we have crap weather incoming Wed-Friday potentially.  

Keep your eyes on the horizon!

Take the Good, with the Meh.

Take the Good, with the Meh.

It's like medicine.  Or Physics.  Good things come with Meh things.  E=MC^2 and all that.  

The Good - My Weight is down to 201'ish.  My lowest in 3+ years of using my fancy scale.  200 is the Goal to float 198 to 202'ish.  The Bad News....Holidays are coming.

https://theoatmeal.com/comics/diet_train - The Oatmeal is Truth.

Relationship with the SLF is going well, though she's had some up's and downs but she's resilient and future plans continue to be made.  She met the X last weekend on a bike ride and it went well.  One of the best parts of the last near 2 years was my brothers advice to get back out there via Bumble.  

Cycling - Slowly climbing up from only 7 or 8 hours over the summer.  I won't hit my 2019 level of 1800 miles, etc but I'm not going to be in the SUB-1K miles club either and planning to push a bit more into 2021.  

Other Training - Running - Meh.  I've slacked off, going to try and run on Fridays and eventually get to 
"Bricking" in a month or by 2021.  Also looking into restarting bodyweight workouts.  Get Pumped Up.

Trumplestiltskin is a Loser.  Biden wasn't really my 1st choice and neither was The Bernie.  But 8 days of the week I would have chosen any functional human over Chester Cheeto.   

Weather - Well we had an epic warm fall, yes it felt warm at points but it was awesome, the cold now is bring the MEH but it's all about proper layers.  Get it figured out.  Feet are my real pain point currently.  Boots for anything sub 50 at this point if riding in low area's.  A few area's I rode thru last night were in low 40's meaning with Ride Wind Chill it was really low 30's.  No wonder my toes were semi frozen.  

Corona - Dumb fucks who can't be reasonable and wear masks when outside there door and not eating...I'm a bit spoiled around eating but now realize the fun days of summer are gone and I'm not happy with eating in at all and with more crowded/enclosed outside dinning.  

Stable Reduction - Sold the SIR9 after 6 or 7 years of it sitting in my basement.  Sad but necessary.  Any new MTB I want to have has to have a tapered steer tube.  I'm debating weather to rebuild/upgrade Miss Daisy this spring or just replace it with something mid-level.  Gotta get the roommate situation set 1st.  SLOOOOOOW.  Next up I'm selling the Fuji finally.  It's sat with a broken rear wheel for a year.  It's just to small/racer geo for me at this point.  Any new road bike will be touring geometry and will be able to run 650x50 up to 700x38.  Compact probably.  Steel.  Long time away honestly.  For now the CX bike works.  Maybe a more road'ish set of wheels at some point?  Then I have to decide the fate of ye olde schwin cruiser I've wanted to restore for years.  Maybe I'll minimally fix and upgrade it with an internal hub into a cruiser/townie.  But more than likely I'll give it away to someone with real interest in resto or making it into a cruiser, etc.  Crap reduction will continue to be my plan for 2021.  Tools and junk storage I will reduce then I plan to redo my "workspace" in the basement.  

Like everyone the big bummer is missing family this holiday.  I was as usual planning for Xmas in FLA with maybe a mixed family Christmas with my family and SLF down there.  2021 Maybe.  Hopefully the vaccine stuff gets normalcy in place by mid-late 2021, but I'm sort of worst-casing that 2022.  UGH.   

For now stay safe, wear masks, wash and sanitize.  Be Smart.  Get out and enjoy what you can when you can.  

Whoa...time is slipping...into the future.

Time keeps on slipping, into the future.

Can't believe I haven't updated in a month. 

I was probably 206-207'ish at the end of April, in May I've seen as low as 202.9 but assuming I was cruising in around 204/205'ish and trending down.  I haven't weighted in a while.  I should wait to check today as it's mid-morning already.  UGH.  207.7 but some is synthetic Water Weight but I had a pretty lazy weekend other than hiking Saturday.  Time to pay the piper with a nice long ride tonight.  Le Sigh.  We did have Kid Birthday party last tuesday with Ice Cream and brownie then more Ice Cream saturday. 

Otherwise this month has been pretty fun.  The SLF got her new ride a pretty nice higher entry level Norco.  We have hit so far:

Laurel Hill - She enjoyed
Cabin John - Too busy and too muddy we bailed after 1 section but ended up still with 6 MI'ish.
Lake Fairfax - A bit of a challenge she liked other than getting spooked and falling over due to douchy mcdouchface stravahole who wouldn't slow down as he passed her.  Sessioned a few things and she was close to full handling 2 of the most tech things there.  A dropper would help on one...maybe. 
10 Mile Creek - She absolutely had a blast on this. 

Next Up:  Rosary?  Little Ben?  Seneca Bluffs?  SRT?  Schaeffer Farm?  Not sure. 

Corona/Covid remains the same though lots more people out noticable social distance grouping the last 2 weeks but especially this weekend of Memorial day.  Expect a spike mid-June.  Sigh. 

Started the Witcher as we are down to 2 or 3 episodes of Mrs. Maisel before we are caught up.  The Witcher is pretty good.  Geralt is my grumpy spirit animal..........

Also watched Spies in Disguise with the kids, it was hillarious!  Will Smith is still one funny dude!

Creepin Down

Week 6 of Corona-Palooza. 

Things progress in a slow creeping sort of way in both work and life.   My riding went ok last week though Beaver Work at WF led to a few small spots of Poison Ivy...sigh.   I've gotta get to my hardcore setting and get used to cold showers post any trailwork.  Though where it showed up I think it was contact contamination. 

Weight is slowly creeping down.  Food insertion control is a major key.  206.9.   Not my lowest weight in, but I think it's a non-biased point in that I didn't especially eat light/carefully or such and didn't have a huge sweaty ride/run yesterday.  In fact my run yesterday was pretty good for lately and I actually felt pretty good and wasn't very sweat at all between cool temp and breeze. 

Hopefully a ride at lunch today.  We shall see.

Sleep?  Well I got none last night.  It's been a while since I've had a sleepless night.  Just couldn't wind the brain down then the body was still going.  Oh well I'll sleep like a log tonight.  Not the first time I've pulled an all night'er.

Rain is all over the forecast of the next 7 days I think 5 days.  Not all day but annoying as...heck. 

And it's been a ROUGH week for equipment.  My MTB helmet bit the dust Thursday post trailwork.  One of the plastic connector bits broke and it is done.  And Gone. 

Then on Sunday at some point on a Rock Creek/CCT Loop with SLF the stupid power button vanished from my Garmin.  By my reckoning the unit is probably 7 or 8 years old so not bad.  Way better than my old 305's that made it a couple years before button failure happened.  Replacement?  Eventually.  Right now it can't be used at all in wet conditions.  I can still turn it on and off with a pokey thing.  830?  1030?  1030 is on sale but not sure I want the hugeness and the new features on the 830 are pretty damn cool. 

And like 2-3 weeks ago my Garmin watch vanished at TW at Wakefield, though the band was in failing condition I should have already switched to a backup I had.  Oh well. 

Lights?  Failing also - Positive Side - I ordered a new light from Outbound Lighting for Bar as the current thing I have is a Piece of CRAP but it was El' Amazon-cheap-o.   If I end up with another Bonty helmet then I can stay with their light system...I think.  If i end up somewhere else?  Then I'll have to figure a new plan for new helmet light action.  Low Profile and integrated battery preferred on that.  We shall see though.  Part of me wants to go to Gemini again, or maybe I'll try the outbound helmet version.  Looks pretty wicked. 

Irregular Like a.....Fox?

A bit of habit building in making another one of these posts.  Really mostly about forcing myself to track the WT. 

Yesterday was a planned solo'ish workday to do some Canadian Beaver stuff down at Wakefield.  I was planning to get out one big tree and a small on the creek trail then work on pushing back encroaching stuff in phase 4.    Well it ended up being a LOT of cutting on the creek trail I think I must have made 30+ cuts in an hour and a half or so.  I was and am still BEAT.   It's a whole body workout. 

Didn't end up with as much of a ride as I wanted i should have done a short extra loop on CCT with trailer.  But I will say 2 hours plus 6 miles of hauling a trailer that is 40lbs+ is a decent workout.

Earlier in the week I had a crazy low weight in, and sorta knew it was semi-synthetic, I was probably a bit dehydrated.  Wednesday I hit 206.3 which was...low.  I re-weighted in today at 207.3 not bad post 2 beers and a decent serving of General Tso's w/rice. 

Today should be a run I think at lunch time...sigh.  Running sucks but it is quick and easy. 

And my favorite MTB helmet broke when I was back loading up at the car.   The side piece that connects to the back adjusty thing just snapped!  FUUUU.  I think I'd had the helmet 2+ year maybe a bit over 2.5.  The helmet was made in Feb 2017 though so it was over 3 years old.  ARGH.

I need 2 new helmets now.  And with the 'Rona not really the time to be trying on helmets.

I like the integrated mounts with the Bonty Rally MIPS.  My old helmet was a Bonty Lithos MIPS.  The wave cell....is interesting.  But  is it Snake Oil?  The Rally MIPS would be 390G near 100G lighter than my Lithos.  If I went to the Blaze it would be 440G but still near 50G lighter.  We shall see.

Next weeks plan?  Bike maintenance.  Need to do the rear tire on the Snuggler.  I need to A) Fix it Directionally and B) Re-Toobless it.  It's been a year I think.  UGH.  Or replace the tire really.  Tire is 2.5 years old and I found signs of weepage this week.  Will recheck on Monday.  Tread seems okay so maybe it just needs a solid re-application of Stans.  Meh.    Both bikes need some love.  And sometime soon I need to deal with the Ye Old Road Bike.  It's been busted for...near a year? And then I need to figure out if I'm going to build up the Sir9 or just buy a new HT and then dispose of both the Trek and the Sir9.  Also need to deal with the cruiser out back. 

Corona Corona Part 1 - 2020

Welcome to Sping!  Now Stay the F#@$ Home! 

Thanks Corona/C-19 for mucking up a beautiful spring (at least here in DC) for everyone.  Sigh.

Really I have no reason to truly complain compared to many.  My job is stable.  I've been on Work From Home mostly since in Spring of 2019 or so.  So far no one I directly know has had Corona. 

I have the standard spring allergies in fact, they are already cranked up to near May levels I feel with itchy eyes and runny nose and drainage.  I also have a cough but it's not dry.  Thanks post-nasal drip while sleeping!   The weather change from to cool to warmer has been pretty crazy.  We've already almost hit 80 already in late March and now again in early April. 

March was a better month activity wise than both January and February combined with 19 hours of logged activity on 153 miles.  My running was lame at 1 run.  But better is better than 133 in 2 months.  So far April is trending better already have 4 hours logged at 53 miles.  Going to try and hit the 200mi mark and really 20+ hours but we shall see.   Steps in Mar was 344K nearly matching my best month of Nov with 360K.  And was my 2nd best month in the last 12 mo. 

Weight...Meh.  Early March with the start of Corona I was eating...too much for sure.  I hit 212.  Today I weighted in at 209 so things are working.  And I'm probably retaining a bit due to 2 beers last night so I think I am closer to 208.  By end of month my goal is to be SOLIDLY down at 205. Again.  Cycling 2x and running 2x. 

Riding it's been mainly stuff around the area like Navy Fed loops where I don't encounter many other cyclists/people minus the short bit of the WOD and then Wakefield via CCT.  The CCT on the way down tends towards busy.  Vs coming back near dark or after it's almost clear!  Usually doing a mix of trailwork then just riding a bit. 

Off this Friday for Good Friday so hoping to get in an extra ride in the AM. 

Relationship = Fair Winds and Clear Skies for now.  Wishing that COVID hadn't impacted both our separate trips that should have started this week but having each other now is a major good thing we both agree.  Now we are looking for summer options but who knows?  Will things be back to normal by 4th of July?

Speaking of normal one bummer was that W@W the weekly race in June/July at Wakefield is probably cancelled for this year.  A bit of a bummer in some ways, in other ways it takes a load of us trying to get ready in a rush to say start in mid-June if stay at home does end on June 10th. 

My prediction - Stay at Home/Shelter in Place goes thru the summer.  With some slight restrictions being lifted but who knows.  I'll revisit in June if nothing else.

Stay Safe, Stay Active, Stay Sane.  Stetch, Relax, Go for Walks.  Appreciate Life. 

Awakening from Hibernation - Spring 2020

So after the months of relative Winter Hibernation Season I got on the scale this AM knowing I would be heavier.  Several pairs of pants in 34 are....tight'ish..

211.6 - UGH FML for me thats WAY more than I want to see, 3 weeks ago I had a 207'ish. 

Insert Weird AL Photo from FAT here.... Well lets just use the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2mU6USTBRE

My tolerance for cold and/or rain has really put me off the track this winter.  That and time off has had the feedbag on also.  So in my case I really just need to kick myself in the pants and get back to running 1x a week and 2 or 3 cycling a week.  50 miles as a goal.  Wakefield plus a commute is near 25 miles typically.  so 1 mid-distance or 2 shorter rides.  I'd like to even shoot to start doing an occasional hooky ride with Pete for 50 or 60 miles by end of April.

Wakefield Trail Work season is ramping up.  I put 5 hours in some trimming and mostly digging out drains that are new/rebuilt or cleaning existing in Phase 1 and on part of Phase 2.  A few trees down need clearing including one near the mid-intersection of phase 1, 1 on creek trail behind the rec center and 1 on phase 4 that is badly ramped.  Also have a TON of cuts to make to clear tree's and crap that are covering prime lines in Salamander and Phase 4. 

More regular notes to self to follow.

Positive Outcomes and Negative Issues

Lots of positives in time since last post.  Success and such in many area's.  General happiness meter is near a 9 out of 10. 

But the negatives not directly impacting me but out there are....just there or rather everywhere.

Gun Control needs real discussion, and not just online discussion or posting meme's on Facebook/Twitter.

Fact 1 - As of 2017 the estimate was 390M Guns in America with 340M American's.  With 33% Gun Ownership when you move to households it moves to 44%  estimated have guns in there house.  I actually think it is higher but who knows. 

Fact 2 - Another fairly large percentage who don't own a gun currently would potentially own one again.

Fact 3 - Most crimes with guns are either pistols or not reported (60% vs 20%). 

Fact 4 - One May 2017 there were 2 Million legal/tracked gun sales in the US.  Say 20M a year.  How many non-tracked/personal/illegal gun sales/transfers happen a year? 

Conjecture 1 - Outlawing things never really works.  War on Drugs?  Can you imagine what a war on guns would look like?  Outlawing firearms and getting them collected would be...near impossible. 

Conjecture 2 - More guns makes people safer......Sure....right look at number of mass shootings since gun sales boomed.

Conjecture 3 - There are many legal uses of guns as outdoors people, hunting, target/sport shooting, and defending your home.  A constitutional change to modify the Second in todays environment?  Want to see a HUGE spike in Uber Conservative Republicans or even Conservative Democrats, etc?

Conjecture 4 - State level control in the short term is the most likely approach but rural/conservative states will skip so this is where in a normal situation the Federal Government should set standards. 

Conjecture 5 - Licensing just like a car, you need a license to operate and own.  Cheap license, High Training Requirements.  Background check, Health Check, Etc.

Conjecture 6 -

Hate has also become the norm - I hate PersonA and would kill this person.  Even said jokingly or non-seriously.  Kids here it and they don't get that subtlety. It permeates them over time that someone you don't get along with or don't like, you hate.  Hate is easy.   That's part of the whole thing about Light Side vs Dark Side.  Such an easy slope.  Dislike things, explain why you don't like/approve/etc.  Save hatred for true evil.  Hate on things not on people generally.  People fear different and want to have things like themselves.  But until you put a face on what you fear and discover it's human it's so easy to hate things.  Hate things that aren't fair.  Hate on practices that are evil.  Hate on ignorance, not the ignorant, though those willfully ignorant....

This is more just to purge the stuff in my head and make room for what might be a useful idea or suggestion even. 

2019 - Progress on a New Me

2019 I see is a major point to really turn around my life.  To manage work, to manage my MORE activities, to manage BikenetiCX activities, and to manage my life and happiness.  A large part of it is around being Positive and the power of being Positive and making a Positive Impact to those in my sphere of influence.  Being a better friend.  Being the guy who checks in on people and not just via FaceBlech.

So 1st up is health and wellness.  I'm surprisingly down to 202.7 lbs this AM.  I got on scale last week and with clothes (not typical) was at like 207?  And heavy stuff clothes wise as it was COOOLD.  Being 210 in December sucked.  I was 210 at early Sept before Australia.  Came back and was at 204.  So at 202.7 I'm definitely at my lowest in a while, hell last year I maxed out at probably 213 to 215, I'm discarding a 218 data point as a real anomaly. 

Sleep has been an issue I think due to 2 factors I'll discuss below but I've changed several things and I seem to be sleeping better this week so far than last few.  Stress sucks be it work, life or other stuff.  I'd been very regularly 7 to 8 hours up until January. 

Activity wise November and December were terrible.  Though I was walking a fair amount so not bad but it reflected above in the weight.  I had maybe 8 and 14 hours of activity respectively.  January I hit 20 hours which was much better though was a lower month.  It also does not reflect probably 4 hours of shoveling, so there is that. 

The Change in View
In Fall of 2018 I was again sent to Australia for work for a good while and this trip was so much better than the Spring 2017 trip, I was only doing 1.2 jobs versus the 2.5 jobs I was trying last time.  2017 was such a crap year due to the big customer project until I stepped way back in November.  So this trip I did have way more time.  I was running tons, walking around tons and tons and seeing things and living.  And it really struck me how much it sucked to be somewhere so awesome and no real reason to stick around and take a vacation as I had no one to vacation with there.  Years of being single/divorced had finally REALLY hit me.  So I watched a LOT of people there and the loneliness sat inside.  I spent a lot of time wondering if I would be single forever and did I want that to change.  Lots of thought about this under the surface when I came back. 

Went home to my parents for the holidays and my brother and I talked a LOT for us.  He had been pushing me a bit on dating on and off since last winter but fairly mildly.  Now we really got into it and my dating history and other stuff.  And finally I agreed that I would try and be positive and keep my expectations to reality.  Managing those is almost the toughest part of dating even in your 40's. 

So I spent time figuring out what I wanted, what I have to offer, and who I am and who I want to be and what i want from a partner, in a relationship.  I want a partner someone who enjoys spending time together and also has their own life and friends and hobbies and passions.  That they can compromise and I will share compromises where we can.  That they like to travel.  That they enjoy some of the same music and movies and books but I don't expect everything to be shared.  To put up with my odd sense of humor.  And all that stuff.  It's way more than this.

So I decided to join Bumble on Jan 1.  Kind of shocking how much response/interest there was.  January was the wild wild west and really went on what was  12 first dates.  Several second dates, and so on.  Some complete failures, some friendships and some stuff still going.  Also got back in regular contact with someone I had spent time with in 2015 and 2016 a bit on some casual dates.  But at that point I can honestly say as much as I might have thought I was okay to date, I just wasn't.  I hadn't really processed it out due to work and other stuff.  Then 2017 happened and it sucked.  I was so hosed.  2018 was better but I realize a lot of the first part I was kind of resetting from 2017 and regaining myself a bit.  Summer 2018 I fell into a major work project and several changes that due to the Australia trip did put me behind the ball and so I was busy and not really paying tons of attention to friends and others.  And for that I'm ashamed on how I treated my friends.  I wasn't a good friend most of the time.  Taking things slow and enjoying whatever life and my meetings bring me.

So as 2019 started and I set my personal goals and intentions (not resolutions), I reset how I looked at things and how I looked at work, volunteering, and life.  And I decided to be the person I want.  To be happy, support my family and friends, and have fun.  So far I'm doing well.  Not perfect, but I don't really expect to be perfect but I am doing better.  And I will continue to try and improve myself and how I interact with those around me. 

2018 Wrap Up

2018 was a pretty crazy year as I look back on it.  Just like 2017 was, capped with another 6 week trip to Australia in the fall for work.  Way less stressful though.

Work was pretty insane with a trip to Boston, Princeton NJ and 2 trips to Dallas plus the Australia trip.  All told I think I had near 80 hours of work flying alone covering what was 37 or 38 business days on work travel.  No wonder I have have only used half my vacation for 2018 so far so I've gotta burn 3 more weeks in January thru March.  Major project at work started in February and looks like will push on into May/June of 2019.  2 Manager changes, and a position change coming in early 2019, to a new role.   Exciting stuff hope to be in UK in 2019.

Biking.....Well it's been a rainy year and add in the travel and I lost close to 2 months due to Australia and work travel.  Only biking 1x in Australia was a let down but it was the rainy spring while i was there.  And I apparently brought the rains from Northern VA.  :)  Here on the home front it was a WET year I think in my area we are near 70 inches of rain with some spots near/over 80 inches.  Normal is 40.  And right now the pattern looks wet as hell over the 1st 2 weeks of 2019.  So my cycling with 165 activities.  My commute total was low till I considered in 1st 3 months of 2018 I only drove to work 2 or 3 times and till training in June I had more rides than drives to work.  Then I add in 30 days of walking commutes and it wasn't a terrible year!  :)  With all the rain though MTB riding has suffered and it's going to take a while for me to get it back together.  Get back to 3K of cycling at least in 2019.

Running.   ON running shoes were the best find.  Buying them in the summer was huge.  Especially while down under I ran near 100mi since the end of September.  I think I had maybe 60-70 miles total in 2017 mostly in the spring while in Australia the 1st time.  At 200 miles this year it's my biggest run year since 2013 with Tough Mudder training/etc.  Running with the monday TAA group is a huge boost to keep the "streaks" going.  Continue running with another 200 mile year or more.

Other stuff?  Concerts, saw a few with top notes on Coheed and Cambria, In this Moment and Halestorm.  Tenacious D also.  But was slightly underwhelmed due to huge venue and bad position.  Muse is on deck for 2019 with maybe Iron Maiden this summer. 

Personal Travel?  Not much hoping to put a BIG trip on the map for Fall 2019 back on the other side of the world but not Australia this time.  New York to see my buddy Eric is also a spring priority!

Otherwise hoping that my stupid tennis elbow from the last snow of 2018 gets better a bit more.  Hauling luggage around airports and Sydney etc put it back to being crap after finally feeling mostly better in July/Aug finally.  Joys of old age to come?  Maybe race some MTB and CX again next year?  Lots of other stuff to look forward to.  Get out.  See more folks and have more fun.

Australia - 2 - The Entry

I'm back in Australia, again left town at the end of last week and well I'll be here till late October.   

I'm bummed to be missing fall though it seems like it's staying rainy so far so the weather isn't awesome.

In Sydney it's early spring with again lots of rain in forecast and generally cool at 50 to 70'ish degrees most days. 

Got in at 715AM local time in Sydney and was able to drop my gear at the Hotel at 830.  I traveled back into the CBD and wandered a lot of my old haunts from my previous trip going down to Chinatown and then out thru a lot of Darling Harbor.   Did my regular visit to the Chinese Gardens, it was very different in Spring versus when I visited it in the fall on my first day in 2017.   Finally had brunch at Taste around 11AM.  Soo good, ended up talking to the bar staff lady about beer places and got a few recommendations and had 2 beers.    Then ended up making a failed decision check and ended up getting another beer at the Pumphouse.  OOOPS.  Oh well.   Wandered my way back thru town and stuff was opening up a bit more finally getting to my hotel to checking at 2:15PM. 

After unpacking I crapped out intending to only NAP but stayed in bed till about 3AM when I woke up near 10 hours later.  I read and did a bit more napping till I rolled out at 730 to the office.  Had an awesome breakfast at Bunker in North Sydney and then boom work.  Got Destination Roll on for lunch, hell yah.  Dinner I was Rag and Famish for a Guiness Beef Pie, Chips and a Akasha Freshwater IPA.  Slept out till 4 or 5 then next morning.  Fell back asleep at 630 till 830.  OOPS.

After waking back up late I rushed in and had a busy morning at office getting access and such sorted finally.  Got lunch with a coworker and it was all good.  Then  it was time for my first visit to one of my favorite bars:  The SG (Spooning Goats) - The star wars bar.

The SG was having it's monthly event of William Shakespeares Star Wars.  This time it was Act 1 of The Jedi doth Return.  It was hillarious, eventually I'm going to upload and link a short clip to the youtube's here.  Drank wayyyyyyy to much beer.  2 IPA's and 1 stout. 

Hit up my favorite burger bar in the CBD after Grill'd for a most excellent Wagyu Truffle burger.  Hell yah!

Also did my first run, across the Sydney Harbor Bridge was bummed I didn't bring phone so I missed a couple awesome photo's of the moonrise.  It was HUGE! 

Wednesday - No idea may run if the rain stays away again. 

Week 22 - A bit of a "plateau", called b33r.

Week 22 - A bit of a "plateau" week.  Lots of bad behavior end of last week.

Too much b33r.  Though it wasn't like I got S-Faced in a major way it's just been a beer or two a night on weeknights and 2 or 3 a day on the weekend.  Probably 10-11 beer week last week where I really want to be a 7-8.  Then add in a TAD bit of eating not awesome and not being as active as normal in riding and no running last week.  So I stayed off the scale till today after some more recent penance on Monday and Yesterday.  204.8.  Not bad.  Now though I am going to re-focus and start trying to move to the next goal of 200. 

200 is doable.  If I can float 197-203 I will be happy as a...Clown? 

Anyways a busy few weeks ahead.

Trailwork at WF this saturday.
Training Class All Next Week
Possible Travel 15-17th.
Product Work 18-22st.
Family Reunion the 23rd
Friends Housewarming the night of the 23rd
Dallas the 25th-26th. 

Then things calm down a little bit. 

Can the CAPS do it tonight.  I think so!  GO CAPS!  Regardless we better win this series!

Awesome weather this week was the payoff for all the rain, lows in the 50's and 60's and barely hitting the 80's so far this week!  It's awesome!

Saw Kit for Trimming...friends trees is almost RTG.
Saw  - Stihl 261cm
Boots - Redwing Loggers 9" Steel Toe
Chaps - Husqvarna - Technical Apron (Meets 1897 which now satisifies non fireline FS 6170-4G (2016 Rev).
Gloves - Stihl Promark Leather
Helmet - Stihl Promark w/faceshield and hearing protection.
Wedges - 3
Trauma Kit - Yep w/Israeli Bandage.
Pack - Dakine Builder 40L
Bottles - Yep 16 or 32oz for Fuel Mix, 8 Oz for Bar Oil. 
Axe/hammer - TBD, may have dad bring up my family hatchet.

32 Hours of Activity in Strava in May.  So far 119 Activites and 1340'ish miles for the year. 

Week 21 - Shred to Shed

Wow, was really good to actually look at this today,   15 Weeks ago I noted I'd hit 214.4 officially.  Today's weigh in was 204.7.  I'm stoked, I hit my initial goal of 205 by end of May with a week to spare.  I'm now looking down the line and that by the end of June I want to be 200 SOLIDLY.   I fluctuate a bit and can very by 2 even 3 lbs at times.  This means I want to occasionally see 198 or so. 

I was trending down into April but had a BAD weekend and other stuff and had gotten on a real plateau at 210.  In fact 1 point i spiked up to 218.8 briefly. 

But I really cracked down, cut back on VitB(eer) and started really enforcing portion control and trying to eat a tad earlier on evenings.  And it's working.  211.6 down to 204.7 in last 4 weeks. 

The other side of it is I've been running and riding my butt off.   I looked back at 2017 for up thru May and while a bunch of my walking in Australia wasn't logged it was a pathetic spring in 2017 and early this year was not....  75 Hours logged by end of May 2017 (though probably 50-60 hours of walking in Australia wasn't logged).  As of today?  120 Hours.  And I think by end of month it will be more like 135'ish.

So regardless I'm stoked on my progress.

Riding area wise I'm a bit down on the stoke, but I have checked out Schaeffer this year with the new trail sections/redo work which is super nice!  And Cabin John's new stuff.  But no shed.  No travel.  No plans for an MTB trip.  Thought about Stoke-ville this weekend but between various issues and inbound shitty weather it's a no go.   Maybe PA or Richmond soon. 

Long term?  I'm thinking Japan.  Last year Hawaii was beast for J-Dog's and KM's wedding.  So I'm long term planning against Japan in 2019 currently. 

And I think my right elbow issue is slowly working out finally since the last heavy/wet snow in March I think.  Oy tennis elbow SUCKS. 

Week6 - Tuesday - EotWAWKI

So it's time to pay the piper for the last several months. 

My activity level has been low since October, though Strava does not cover things like Trail Work and Volunteer hours at MoCo where I put in near 30 hours in 4 days of running around. 

2018 has been hot and cold...More Cold. 

So with the lack of regular commuting to work on bike, general winter bad behavior (Stuper Bowl, Hibernation Eating, etc), it has led to something...bad. 

The last few years I've been weighting in at work on a decent scale there.  And in the fall prior to holidays I was hovering around 210'ish.  Over the holidays I opted to get a Garmin Vivosport for tracking/steps/activity/etc.  So last week I weighted in for the 1st time at work and saw a moderately horrible number.  214. 

So I knew it was time to get serious.  So I've now acquired a Garmin Index Scale.  It tells me just how @@##$ fat I really am.  MORE winter party and superbowl party were I suspect big negatives.

214.4 LBS this morning.  Sigh.  It's going to be a long grumpy spring.  Goal for by end of May?  205.   10 LBS in 4 months?  Should be doable. 

Plan this week and in General. 
Run - Tuesday
Ride - Wednesday
Ride 2x - Thursday
Run or Ride - Friday
Ride - Saturday
Run - Sunday


Techno - Part 2 -
Several weeks ago I borrowed a ShockWiz from Bikenetic and have been tuning against it a bit. 
My rear airpressure at 225 was way low.  I"m now at 245'ish and it still thinks I"m low.  But if I'm ridng at 230 then 255 might not be terrible.  So up it goes. 

Session 3 - Last Week Feb 1 2018
245 - More Air - 15-20%!, argh it didn't save. 

Week 38 - Post Camping Wrap

Week 38 of 2017. 

It's been a hell of year.  Today marked my 37th bike commute of the year.  On the face of things thats a shade less than 1x per week.  By the end of the week I should hit 38 or 39.  But also take between Australia and HI I spent 8 weeks basically out of the country.  So if I hit 39 on 30 weeks basic thats not too bad.  Then you add in work, other stuff and random crap trap I'd say 26 weeks vs 39 rides would be 1.5 rides per week average.  And I'm definitely working from home an average of 1x per week plus all the other above crap.  So as I look at it between travel and bike and working from home 117 days of not driving the car to work out of 190 ain't too terrible.  Sure, if I maintain 2 a week I"ll be near 65 or so,  but the reality is I'll have probably 2 weeks of vacation where I won't commute, except to the bar.  And probably loose 1 week or 2 to weather. 

Last year's commute count 58 and that ended in....November!  Ugh. 

But onwards and upwards!

The MORE Fall Camp 2017 Edition was EXCELLENT!

Amazing Weather
Amazing Trails
Amazing People
Amazing Food
Amazing Dogs
Ama....fuckit.   It was the best year in Davis since year the 1st time 3 years ago.  It was most excellent, the trails were in great shape excluding the Black connector.  Rolled some big stuff, rode tons of rocks, did more of the Crack Trail this year than ever before, including most of the CRACK.  Sick.  Fun.  About the only negative was it was so warm, we didn't really need campfires much.  Sitting around the fire was way too hot for this young buck! 

Pictures to come. 

Friday - Black to Dam to Yellow to Swamp West Black 2 To Swamp East to Blue
Saturday - Jumps to Voodoo to Black to Crack to Yellow to Black to the Big X upto Pine Spur to Yellow to Gene's to Swamp East to Blue.
Sunday - Black to Swamp East to Yellow to Black to Mother of Crack to Fern to Yellow to Chunder Mountain to Yellow Down (So bad now!) to Black. 

Trails to Hit - Fern (Down), Gene's (Down), Mother of Crack (Down), Pine Spur (CCW), Crack, More Crack (maybe), Chunder Mountain (Down), Little Canaan
Trail to Skip - Voodoo (Not worth the effort).  I'd rather add do More Crack trail. 

Next on the horizon.  MoCo Epic 55.  Oh yeah, really frickin bright on my part! :) 

Summer's a Wrap - 2017 Ed.

Well it's near the end of Summer here in the Nations Capital.  CX is in the air and so are some hints of fall for really the last few weeks.  The end of summer has been very very mild so far.  Though we are looking at a spike back to high 80's on frickin Thursday.  Argh.

Other than Wake-o-tink this summer my MTB has been way more pedestrian this year than in the past.  Sure I rode a ton in July and Aug of total mileage but it was mostly road.  (Near 500 mile in Aug or more probably).  Sure I did a 40 miler up around schaeffer and  I hit up CJ recently to find some awesome re-routes in place.  A mild but hard hit at the shed, reminding me why tech skills are a continuing objective.  But over all MTB was sorta, MEH.  No VT, no NC, etc.

MEH ended on Saturday, at the PVSP Trail Fest 2017.

I did the 27mi.  It was hard.  And Fun.  And Wet.  I haven't even had the energy or time to download the GPS yet so I only have vague memories of totals, etc.  But it took a tad over 4 hours moving time with total time being near 5.5 hours.  Though 30 minutes of that was letting the enduro brah's get it on so I wouldn't slow anyone down.  It was a good call.  That first section had some sick stuff.

The first 6 miles were brutally hard as I wasn't well warmed up and hadn't felt optimal all morning.  The sweeps were chasing me till the 1st rest station.  2nd Section was much much better and I felt good most of the way.  Did some technical rock stuff.  Rode well.  I think i built near a 15 minute lead that I completely blew at the 2nd rest station.  Argh.  Off again and pushed hard from Daniels to Woodstock though by the way to Woodstock Inn I started to feel I was burning a bit hard.  But never saw the sweeps again.  In fact for a while i was ahead of a large group of riders who had started at the main start time meaning in total time I had BOOKED!  Lots of pushing heading out of 3 then riding got hard, really hard.  Mile 21 my left leg had mild tinges of crampiness but I spun it out and with some sports legs and extra food it seemed ok.  By the final descent around 24 my forearms became the big problem.  Too much braking.  Sigh.  That last climb into the park both legs cramped at about 50% but I spun on and kept going.

Ernie beer'd me as soon as I rolled into the finish zone.  Awesome!  So good.  Hung out, ate, talked to tons of guys I don't get to see very often.  About an hour later I was done and as I was heading out the sweeps came in pushing the final group.

Hard but Fun.  Patapsco has some awesome riding.  Yes the creek crossings....sucked sorta.  And I wouldn't do this ride in the winter.  But it was a good day.  And part of me is already planning how to do this again this fall.  Maybe in late October a few weeks after MoCo.

And as a barometer it was about what I expected though I forgot HOW techy PVSP is in area's.  The interesting part was 27 mile there took me as long as 40 in MoCo.  Oy.

Next up!  Big Bear for the MORE Fall 2017 Campout this weekend!  Woot!  Awesome riding ahoy!

MORE Fall Camping Trip - #23

This weekend was the 23rd Annual MORE Fall Camping Trip.  The third year in a row to Big Bear Lake WV (Bruceton Mills, WV).

And damn it was good.

Friday was a fairly warm day and a late start due to never ending work meant I didn't leave the house till 11:45.  By the time my shopping was done it was 12:30.  Oh well.  The drive out wasn't bad after getting thru the usual BS on I270.  Made it in just after 330.  A quick setup of tent and stuff and I was out for a ride with E-dog, MOBL and Germ.  We hit a nice set of ....mostly....chill trails.  10 miles and we were back for b33r and relaxation.  Team XXL was the party hub as usual and with it being Joel's b-day we had a hell of a night.  Good food, tons of Tequila, Bourbon, and Beer.  The camp had Hop Nosh and an Amber on draft.  They survived thru the night some how.  Many people came in late or on Saturday AM it seemed.  The night was warm but once I sacked out I slept well.  Nice to get 7 or 8 hours of sleep!

Saturday became a HUGE day.  Breakfast was catered and awesome this year!  Then it was time to prep and stuff and we were off a bit past 10:30.  We hit the burly shit. The first 10 miles took near 2 hours.  By that time I was tired and not being in the 1st bail out I lead out the 2nd group.  We got an awesome gravel and paved road set of descents that were mind blowingly fast.  Picked up bits of trail and ended with 14+ miles.  Got in a nice long shower as we were in a slow time and then had snacks and beer.  Cranked up the homemade grill and cooked 2 AWESOME flank steaks.  Asian bombs of flavor.  Then it was off to the potluck.  Somehow I didn't make top 10, I think my label got lost!  Oh well it was all gone and I got tons of complements.

Then we got a drive-by golf cart parade from the locals.  Throwing out candy.  In retrospect I think it might have been leftover from last Halloween after looking at the skittles!  But like 50-60 golf carts!  Music, Lights, and Laughter.  Hung out but as usual Saturday sent me to bed early and by 9 I was chilling and reading.  Loud groups kept me up till about 12, but it was all good.  Relaxed and reading is fine.  Slept till about 7:30 then read again.

Morning was finally cool and pants paid off for the 1st bit.  Cocoa and Oatmeal for breakfast.  Yah. Packed up everything mostly and was out to ride by 10:45 solo.  Went out and knocked down 10+ miles on my own running into several groups.  It was a great day.  Done at 12:30.  Hung out till 1:30 and then headed home.  A lazy drive back, then unpacked and am now 90% done packing/etc.

Trails

Friday - Jump line, purple, black, yellow, grey, green, roadside.
Saturday - Red, purple, black, red, red, yellow, blue, ???, pines, road back.
Sunday - Jump Line, Road, Green-West, Yellow, Orange, Fern, Yellow, Blue Kids course, Yellow, Little Canann, Roadside.

2017 Cat-chup.

It's been a LONG time.

In a Galaxy Far Far Away.

I've been around the world and life is beautiful.


:P

So tonight I was running late to come home.  It was getting dark.  And I had no lights.  So I went on the Highway to the Danger Zone and cranked out an epic ride home.  Huge pace.

27 Minutes.  Perhaps my fastest ride home.  And it could have been faster, by the time I got to Courthouse on the south east side of 123, it was getting dim.  By the time I entered Nottoway park, it was pretty dark almost at 9::05 especially under the tree's.  Had to really take it a tad easy up the path to Vaden.

If I'd held my pace all the way into vienna then pushed harder up Courthouse and then thru the park, I think 25 would have been possible.  Typically my ride home is the slower part. 31 minutes.  Sub 30 I consider pretty good.  And the moving time versus total time?  32 mins total.  That's bonkers, it's usually 45 minutes nearly with stops/lights/etc.

Total Ride - 58.15.  And my lazy 31 in could have cut 4 minutes off.  Easy.

2013 - 54:07 - https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/324916846
2013-2 - 57:13 - https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/412845125 - Dec 2013
2014 - 59:31 - https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/472470681 - April 2014
2015 - 58:54 - https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/749098180 - April 2015
2016 - 1:00:32 - https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1187058047 - May 2016
2017 - 58:15 https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1813423305 - June 2017 - 27 Home

What sucks?   I was at 20 rides to work by early APR 2016.  2015 I'm only 4 or 5 off pace.  Sure I was on the road for err.... 7 weeks, so say 14 commutes.  Hmmm.  34 in 2016 still put me at June 1.  argh.  97 hours and just under 1K miles.

Stats from Strava - So doesn't have "Everything" like trailwork and such.
Year - Activities - Miles
2016 - 314 - 3451
2015 - 317 - 3591
2014 - 204 - 2157
2013 - Partial - 184 - 2124

Cool places I've ridden:
Manly Dam, NSW Australia
Sydney,NSW Australia
The Big Island HI - Just a tiny bit, more hiking and running. VNP, Greensand Beach, etc.

Beer I've Drunk - 2 much.  Highlights include tons of Australian, KBS 2016, and Doom 2017.

Vermont is SHARP!

Back from a 6 day trip to Vermont.  Hell of a drive but we did well and never had any REALLY bad traffic.  We left DC around 1130'ish after a food stop but due to food and other detours/scenic routes got in at around 11PM after a LATE dinner of beer and chips and salsa.

We got a garage apartment outside of Waitsfield VT.

Next morning we woke up early and we hit The Sweet Spot in Waitsfield for awesome coffee, pastries and food.  Damn good!

Then we got ready and headed off for Perry Hill Trails.  We rode up the huge frickin hill to the top of Joe's trail, then descended it, crazy stuff.  Some beyond me for sure.  Then back up to Burning Spear and down to Rastaman then down Rastaman and back to the car for 10 hard miles.

Will link to the ride HERE later.

Back to town starving. We hit the brewer by Prohibition Pig and had awesome taco's then rolled out.  We ended up finding out about a demo of Yeti at Saxon Hill trail.  We rolled onto that after a quick stop at the house.  Hit that at a bit before 5.  Tons of people.  Took out a SUPER SWEET Yeti 5.5c  X01 setup.  BAD ASS bike, but damn $7k!!!!

Saxon Hills was generally more buff singletrack though there were some big ride features up at the far end.  Rode tons of crazy stuff on the bike with no issue where my HT wouldn't.  It was super plush and pedaled almost like a hardtail once my legs warmed back up.  The way back was super flowy and twisty and a riot.  Tons of boardwalks.  Even some crazy skinny and turning ones.  Just blasted it out.

And we were DONE.  Time for dinner.  We drove back over to Mad River area and up a CRAZY mountain to hit Mad River Barn.  Good food and awesome beer.  Still think we were both food defecited from no dinner the previous night.

Rolled back to the pad and waited for Teresa to show up.  She got in around 10:30 and we chatted till 1230 and planned to shuttle the next day at Tucker Hill just outside Waitsfield.

T rented a Yeti 4.5c from the local shop and up we went we drove my car to the top as it had the rack.  Then the adventure began with another 500 feet of climbing.  Then more on and off climbing.  We ended up back in a HUGE syrup collection field and apparently rode some abandoned/closed trail.   Ooops.  Finally got onto the fire road and finished down cyclone.  1800 feet of descending and 1100 climbing on a shuttled ride is still pretty epic.  I think like 10 miles again.

Ride Linked Here.

Off to Prohobition Pig for an amazing dinner and more beer buying.

More Later.