Working on the tandem bike...

I was proud to be able to get the Black tandem back shifting like before and having the rear wheel turning freely again. I hope it will remain so. When we go on the big Katy Trail ride, I don't want anything slowing us down especially on that first 60 plus mile day.

Bike riding in Georgia and Tennessee

The first of this week, we traveled to Georgia and rode with Paul and Cheryl on the Silver Comet Trail. That was some really great riding. And toward the weekend we traveled to Tennessee and rode with Mike and Mitzi and rode in Jackson, Tennessee locally and on the Howard Keas Memorial ride. We would have ridden as much at home but we got to spend some time with some special folks in both places. In the middle of the week, I took David and Chris on an overnight campout at Cheaha State Park. So it was a busy week for me. I am looking forward to getting back to work and a routine so I can recharge and get ready for next week. We might be able to go ride in the Four Hills Feast. Chris found a job so we don't know if we might have to baby sit. Meanwhile, Bev and I will have to ride in order to be in shape for the Missouri ride.

Zeitgeist : Religion

After the Safari...

Mike called yesterday after they had returned from the Safari. It was cold this week. The forecast for next week is summer like weather. If they had gone ahead with the original week they planned, they would have had beautiful weather. He came back with a bad cold it seems. Nighttime temps got into the 30's with daytime highs only reaching the 50's. Although the cold dampened the event somewhat they still had good rides, good food, and a good time.

I've had two days of good rides. I got in 27 miles yesterday on the road tandem. Today Paul and I got in 40 miles out to McGowan's Ferry Road and back around home. I need one of those rides every day for a month. Then I could see getting back into my 34 pants. I may have to do something about that.

Bit by bit...

Slowly I am getting better. If I can do a bike ride tomorrow, I'll see how I have progressed. The coughing is getting better. In another week I expect to be fully recovered. I sure have missed riding. And what riding I have done, I sure have missed having my full breathing capacity.

Sunday I took Johnny around the projected route for the next section of single-track. I think he and little Tim were going to do some work on it over the past couple of mornings. I don't know if the cold might have slowed them down or not. If Bev works the last few days of the weekend, I'll get out there and do another couple of bridges and get the ramp up onto the new trail fixed. There needs to be a crossing early in the new section across that drainage ditch. Then another in the creek just past the four oaks.

Cold snap...

After a week of recuperating from inhaling that paint thinner, I find myself on a week of cold weather. I checked the temps for Live Oak and Madison, Florida. They are having the same weather as here. Lows in the 30's and 40's. That would be some brisk mornings. Next week, when we would have had the ride, it will probably be perfect weather. Maybe Bev and I can bundle up in the morning and get in some small ride.

Leo is gone. The combination of deafness and sleeping by the wheel of my truck spelled doom. How I hate it happened. The little guy had a tough life. I hope the last year of kindness and treats were a joy to him. How he managed to sleep through me banging the tailgate shut and starting the engine is a mystery to me.

All the work for the metric century produced small results. If it weren't for our members riding, we wouldn't have broken even. Maybe next year will bring better weather and better participation.

Repairs....

Bev wanted to ride the mountain bike tandem today. So I got out there early and used a big screwdriver to bend that timing crank back to straight. I read about doing that from the Sheldon Brown website. I wouldn't have known if it was possible or advisable, but the cost of a new one was going to be prohibitive. But the clunk is back when it is under load. I'll put the new front bb in and see if that fixes it. If not, it is time to grease the seatposts and tighten the pedals.

Our ride today wasn't that long but we did ride for almost 2 hours. I didn't realize how tired it made me till I got home and sat down on the couch. Right now I am practically keeling over. The combination of lower calories plus biking is kicking my butt.

Storms passed through...

This morning the remnant of the storms of Friday were lingering. We had misty showers all morning and further drenched the soaked ground. If it hadn't been raining, I might have gone out onto the new section of trail I want to open up. I am sure that the creeks were brimming full. This will be a good opportunity to see if the bridge is high enough above the creek bank. The trail itself will be too wet to ride for a couple of days. Too bad since it is my week off. It may be a road riding kind of week.

The long range forecast for next Saturday shows a sunny day on one page and rain on another. That is just about what I expect. A 50/50 chance of bad weather that will knock our century down to a minimum. All we need is a rain free morning. Maybe we can manage that. I recall that flood I rode through for the Cheaha Challenge. Next time, I'd just pass on it. That made a difficult experience even more challenging.

More work for the MB Tandem. When the crank fell off, it bent the chain-ring. Now I either have to order a new left crank or try to bend the old one back to round. I have found that Nashbar has a right crank that would have worked nicely. I could have saved some money fixing it up for off road. But with those cheap cranks, who knows if it would have held up to tandem pressure.

Staying the course...

When the Florida Safari changed the date and our plan to attend went in the tank, so did my resolve to get my weight back down to my optimum. There just wasn't the motivation I needed to get back in that firm frame of mind that is needed to cut out the extra calories to get back to the old low. I am asking myself, when did I let up and allow those 8 lbs to come back? Although I have slowly added more calories back to my daily intake, the most likely cause of the weight gain was a decline in activity. There was a span of several months where the weather combined with schedule restrictions to curtail my riding. Meanwhile, I consumed a riders share of calories. The other factor that has derailed my effort was the addition of braces for my teeth. I can't have nuts now so that excludes the old Balance Bars that I liked but didn't "love" like I do the Peanut Butter ones. It is too easy to overeat with them. So yesterday, I took a stand and kept my calories below the max. Today I am heading into evening with a calorie deficit and no Balance bars to gulp down. My only possible slip up could come when I get home. With a few minutes of will power, I can get to bed and keep up the good work.

So why? The main goal now is to fit into those 34 pants that I bought around Christmas. I was in them comfortably and was looking forward to even those becoming loose fitting. How? Because I still had a band of belly fat that I was looking forward to dropping. So I have firmed up my resolve and have put my goal weight date on my calendar. By the time Bev and I are riding the Horsey Hundred, I expect to have lost all those extra pounds. And by the end of the Katy Trail Ride, I expect to be sub 190. At 180 something, I will maintain.

Backup plan...

Bev suggested that I simply relocate all the existing shelves rather than go in for the elaborate building process. It would save some labor and expense. Although I had made a plan to go ahead and do it the hard way, I think I've reconsidered and will attempt to just relocate all those items. It would leave me having to move the existing work bench and add a 5 foot section to it along with some shelves.

We received confirmation of our registration for the Katy Trail Ride. That will be our big ride for the year. I think Bev is looking forward to it. Sometime between now and then I need to let her try out our sleeping arrangements for the trip. It would be bad to get out there and find out we don't like the tent or mattresses. I don't know if I should take the backpacking tent or the 3 man tent I carried to Florida. I probably should take the big tent. At least enough room to bring the bags inside. Instead of a tandem cover, I might just take some seat covers. That is the crucial part anyway.

This means I should put the date down and get serious about losing that other 8 lbs I've gained back. We should also be doing lots of rides to build up our endurance for that first 65 mile day. That will be a serious ride especially on fat tires.