April Foolishness

Hi all,

Well, this week’s post is a mixed bag. I enjoyed a 42 mile ride yesterday that ended up being one of those “ignore the bike computer” rides. The weather was cold and windy, and within the first 2 miles, it was readily apparent that I didn’t have any mental zip to ride hard. This was partly my fault as last Wednesday I had overcooked an upper body workout at the gym, and ended up tying my muscles in knots for 5 days. At the time it was great stress relief, but the long term implications made it a bad experience. This meant I had to stay off the bike and away from the gym until I could get all the muscles back where they were supposed to be.

So, I was off on a lovely island ride with strong north winds and beautifully clear skies. Leaving at 7:15, I thought it was warmer and didn’t dress well for the beginning of the day. 5 miles and I still couldn’t feel my fingers! I just kept riding to the west, anxiously awaiting the sunshine. The pace was noticeably less than my usual, but the lovely weather buoyed my spirits as I made my way to the island. I enjoyed riding around some new roads that I had up to now, never ridden before. It really did end up being a pleasant ride. Lovely skies, lots of animals, no bugs, and very few people!

I think it is probably a positive thing to not make every ride a training ride, where one expends a lot of effort, tracks data, and sets mileage or speed goals. It is just as satisfying to actually just enjoy a ride! I mean, that’s what is all about isn’t it? Riding?

I even took a half an hour to enjoy a short hike up the hill above the snack shack (officially known as the “Bistro”) at Buffalo Point.

So, keep that in mind as you ride on down the road wherever you go, on whatever bike you ride. It’s not always about training and goals. Get out and ride!

These sunset pictures ended up being very expensive!

And finally, enjoy the photograph of the remains of my glasses. While in a rush to get my camera, lenses, tripod, coat, and dogs in the car to go sunset hunting, I inadvertently left my glasses in their case on the roof of my car. They ended up on a busy street, and I was able to recover them 14 hours later. Of course, there wasn’t much left! Sigh. So, several hundred bucks later, I have new glasses.

When I break something, I really do it!

The enclosed baseball picture is just an example of what happens to things in our back yard that are found by the puppy dogs. Metaphorically, it is a lovely illustration of what I would like to see the American League do to the Yankees all season long.

Yummy snack...

See you next time, Jim