Let's Try This Again

OK, my ass is up and out of bed once again and I am getting ready to leave sooner than later. I just had my awesome blueberry, raspberry and almond oatmeal and washed it down with a 14oz cup of coffee. In hopes to also kick start my ass into a good day of riding and burning some fat off of my ass and my body to improve my heart, my body in general to increase the longevity of my "being" and give myself a positive outlook on the day and the week ahead of me.

Of course today is also a day filled with mowing the lawn just as it is every weekend. That will not be too bad this week since I did so much of the cleanup on the edges and most of the bushes last weekend in hopes that it may be the last or second to last time that I have to take care of that this season. Thankfully those areas grow much slower than the rest of the yard so there is no need to maintain them each week. I think there are those that do, I don't - it does not improve the look of the lawn enough to take the extra hour or two doing so.l

Anyway, once done and towards the end of the day it will be time once again for a haircut. Every two weeks just as I have for the past, oh I don't know, 18 years or so. I think there has only been a handful of times or less that I have missed getting the haircut in that time-frame. Even then it was only ever missed by a week or less and usually because the person that cut my hair back then, before Cicely started doing it, was out of town or sick or something like that. Otherwise I never missed the appointments and was able to always make them. Yea, little crazy I know!

Ride

So I am back from my ride and that means that it is time to eat something and drink a small juice box size of low-fat chocolate milk. It's supposed to really help get your muscles and related the nutrients that they need after pumping hard for hours and being depleted of them. I figured that it was some bullshxt marketing thing when I first heard of it but after this one ride on a really hot day I became sick and was not doing so good. Cicely ran to the store and picked me up some chocolate milk, I started sipping it and wham, I was feeling better in under 30 minutes.

I should mention that I also did the usual once home. I ate some food, tried to continue to drink water and even had some Pedialyte that day because I knew that I was a little on the dehydrated side based on the color of my urine. No luck with any of those products, the only thing that worked was the chocolate milk of all things. Now I make sure that I have some when I get back home and so far it has proven to work really well and I feel good. I just have to drink it very slow otherwise it will have a tendency to stir up my stomach a little. After-all I usually have nothing more than water and maybe some powder additives in it at most the previous 2 hours. Depending on the ride I probably had a peanut butter sandwich or something as well, still not enough most long rides.

Today I only ended up doing a little bit over 31 miles but I am happy with that. I am not sure the final amount of elevation that I gained because I have not uploaded my stats yet. I think I was somewhere just over 1000, maybe a little over 1100 but I don't think much more this time. My goal was to try and not do a lot of climbing but to just get some seat-time in on the bike and a good ride. I did not get out there super early like I planned. Mostly because I was up last night until after 1:00 AM after finishing up the bike adjustments a little after midnight - yea, no joke!

The bike worked well today and shifted good and felt good as well. It's still a little bit noisier than I think that it should be but I really don't want to start poking at it again unless I have to. The only other option would be to see if the shop can upgrade it to the electronic system for me and put all new parts on the drive-train. The entire thing should cost under $1500 to do which is not bad.

The one thing that keeps me from calling the shop and pulling the trigger on it is that I have to consider I could put that into a 2015 bike of the same brand that I have now and be done with it. I dunno I will have to wait and see how bonuses are this year and if they are even given out after the year that we have had in my industry. Trust me when I say that I am ready to put down 5 to $10,000 in a heartbeat to get something that will work when expected and I don't have to think about it, instead I can focus on my riding and related - as it should be!

Mowin'

Okay I have to get up and get my ass out in the yard before the sun goes down. That way I can mow the front and backyard without the need of my headlights on the mower. While they are super handy and I like the fact that I have them I have a feeling that I will start making a habit out of it and the next thing I know I will continue to put off doing the yard every summer until the last minute. The days are starting to get shorter already, I think sundown today is 7:21 PM.

Back in July, maybe June I was able to go for a bike ride and it would not get dark until almost 9:00 PM. I am going to really miss those days once winter gets here. Coming home and having it dark out at 5:00 PM is not something we look forward to. Not to forget that I will have to figure out what I am going to do about my rides once winter gets here.

I can either go the trainer route (another way to use the $1500 or so that I mentioned above for the electronic gear upgrades for my bike) or I can dress warm and buy the clothes to be able to. The other option is to ride the mountain bike depending on what the weather has done to the roads. Riding that bike is tough on the street, heck it's tough in the dirt - it weighs so much more than the road bike so it really kicks my ass. Dunno how it would be in the snow but at least if the roads were just wet and sloppy I could still get a ride in.

Another option is to pick up a FatBike, then I can cycle in the snow, sand, pretty much what-ever I want. Problem is, they are BEASTS and honestly I don't know if one of those is something I want to add to my arsenal at this time, or if I really need one in the first place and would ride it. I love my toys and love getting new toys so I have to be careful that I don't buy things like that for the wrong reason. On the flip-side that is kinda how I ended up getting my road bike and I do not regret that decision on bit, actually probably one of the better decisions lately when it comes to buying things on a whim based on cool-factor.

My helicopters and quad copters have sat idle because I don't have the time to set them up and all the maintenance that is required to keep them going. Plus I stop for a short time and boom, I forget a lot of the stuff that I have learned. Once you get to a certain point muscle memory will kick in,  but it takes a lot of flying and practice to get to there. A commitment that I am just not that interested in at this time and would much rather use the time on my bike or with my daughter.

Alright, enough stalling - I am not stalling "intentionally" but I think my mind knows that if I just keep sending signals to my fingers to continue making paragraphs in this entry I can in-turn continue to put off the mowing and nearly 10,000 steps I will be taking while doing so. Yes, I know this because I wear my FitBit all the time. The thing has become a part of me - kinda crazy I know.

Work tomorrow - I hope your weekend was a good one - that-is if you are heading back to work as well tomorrow and are on a Monday through Friday work-week like I am. For me, this is going to be a little bit of a busy week for me once again because of meetings and things that we have to get ready for our annual gaming show. Then reviews are right around the corner so I have to start preparing those for my team and then having the 1 on 1 reviews with everyone. More on all of that jazz later I am sure, especially once I am in the thick of it. For now, type to you tomorrow!

Photo: Yep, mowing in the daylight with the warm sun on my neck, no dice! Well I was able to do the front yard with the last minutes of sun, the back was dark as dark can be - full moon and all. Kinda cool photo though.