Lazy Me

I haven't posted for a couple of days. Lazy me..

Spring has sprung and April showers are around the corner. Got to get out in the yard. Planting to do.. I need to get going... See ya...

Sad Day

Yesterday two cyclists were killed and a third person is critically injured when struck by a car. Goodness, such a sad thing. People enjoying a beautiful ride on a nice, country road one minute and then carnage the next minute. Everybody is sharing this sorrow. The cycling community is in shock.

I know the sport I love and enjoy is dangerous. There can be crashes at any moment. Not every incident involves cars. Other bikes can cause you to crash. Or you can just fall off all by yourself. I have done most of these type things during the years I have been riding. I've even had a helicopter ride off a mountain to a hospital. Crashes are a part of the sport. We can't avoid them. We can only use extreme care and caution. All of the time on every ride.

I feel very sorry for all the families of the people involved in the accident yesterday. The pain will last many years..

Spring Forward

Spring forward. I think it is less painful to go in that direction then the other, go back. I went to bed at the regular time. Eleven PM. And when I woke it was eight o'clock in the morning.
I don't miss the hour I lost. Yet..

Now to change all the clocks. Start upstairs and work my way down. Some need new batteries. All need to be set AHEAD one hour..

The computer and the cell phone already know the time changed. One computer, on my bike, didn't know that it was leap year and I also had to set the date. I wonder if I missed any other date modes??

Everything in the house is changed and now I just have to do the clock in the cars...

Bike Ride

Today was my monthly bicycle ride which I lead for my bike club. It was well attended. Twenty four riders turned out for the ride. The weather was great. Sunny and warm.

We have all levels of riders attend the ride. Since it is still early in the riding season some people are having some bits of trouble with the pace and distance. We ride a minimum of thirty five miles. A few stronger riders complete about forty miles.

Tourist for a day

My honey and I went to the City today on the train. Being a senior citizen has a benefit half price fares on the train and then another discount on the city buses.

She was born and raised in the City. We visited her old home and walked around the neighborhood. She remembers the area pretty well.

We visited the big park and saw the Hall of Flowers. That is a giant glass building with tropical plants. The building is hot and humid. There is even a rain storm about every fifteen minute.

It was a fun day and almost like a mini vacation. With the price of gasoline that may be all the vacation we can afford to take this coming year

Good Beans

Okay, I have discussed the cooking of evening meals. Tonight we had a new soup made with black beans. Boy, was it ever delicious. My Honey says the receipe was in a flyer from PGE with the utility bill.
I spent way too long cleaning my bicycle tonight. I realized today that I had not cleaned the drive train for over a year... I pulled the rear wheel and took the cassett off to scrub with degreaser. Then I removed the crank arm with the big chain rings. I disassembled the three chain rings and cleaned each chain ring.. After that I pulled the rear derailler and cleaned the jockey pulleys. After I cleaned it I forgot how to "thread" the chain and had to go in the house to look at my other bike to see how to get the chain back together again. When all the parts were together, I lubed the chain and now it sits in the garage waiting for me to wipe the excess oil off the chain.. I hope it works as good as it did before I cleaned it all.. Usually, a clean drive chain will be more efficient.

Remote Control

I had an opportunity today to learn the difference between "On Demand" and "DVR" controls on the remote control. I called the cable provider to report that some programs which I had recorded on the "DVR" were stopping and not playing when I tried to watch them at a later time.

I told the service rep that I was experiencing the problem but I told her that I was recording using the "On Demand" function. I was not thinking about which button I was inputing on the remote.

The nice service rep tried to straighten me out that I could not be recording using the "On Demand" key ... I was finally on the same page as she was and then I reported the problem. The result of all this is that a service person will make a house call tomorrow.

Now I know the difference between "On Demand" and "DVR".

Let's Get Cooking !

It seems that I have become needy during a certain period of each day. I have to eat a dinner.
Eating is okay but fixing the meal is a pain. Getting all the stuff together after it is decided what to have for dinner is a chore.

There is plenty of grub around the place. If a person remembers to take some entree out of the freezer in the morning that helps narrow down the choice.

The other thing is how long it takes to get a dinner prepared. Usually it is after 6 PM before a serious effort is started. Then by the time the meal is consumed it is after 8 PM.

My life partner, Karen, is NOT a great cook. She tries different receipes that are very difficult to prepare. The ingredient list is exotic and strange. Tonight a frozen bean dish exploded in the fry pan. So, we may have to eat those beans tomorrow..

I'm not a great cook either. So, when you live in a glass house you should not throw stones.
We'll struggle together and try to feed ourselves...

Plant the Garden

Spring is the time to get ready to plant the garden. Today we visited the local nursery and got some plants to start the garden. Tomato plants are high on the list and then strawberrys. Of course the soil has to be prepared for planting. That will happen later in the week.

"Spring has Sprung. The Grass is Riz. I wonder where the Birdies Is?"

Sunday Snooze

It's great to not have any thing to have to do today. Just kick back and relax..

"Oh honey, would you take down the cover over the tree outside?" I'm glad I have the time to do that.

While I'm out there in front I may as well check the air in the car tires. In fact I should check the tires on all the vehicles. Two hours and ten tires later I now have all tires at the recommended air pressure. That should help increase fuel milage..

Now I have to run a load of laundry to clean the clothes I wore while I was checking the air pressure on the vehicles. There was sure a lot of brake dust on those wheels...

Okay, now I am going to relax.. Want to bet?

In Like a Lion

Holy Molie, March has arrived. The wind got blowing strong enough to lift the fog / smog out of the area. It was a fine day.

When I first bought a sailboat in the 1970's the wind blew that spring for ninety days in a row. Small Craft advisory was flying at the harbor every day. I was new to the sport of Sailing and I had no idea how to handle a sailboat in those conditions. My wife, bless her dearly departed heart, was very brave to join me out on the water.. She did have an adversion to the heeling which resulted from having too much sail area exposed to the prevailing breeze. Her inner ear kept me on an even keel during those early years...

I was hooked on sailing for twenty years. It was fun. Now, I enjoy NOT owning a boat. The saying around the yacht club was that a boat is "a hole in the water into which you pour money". And "the two happiest days of a man's life are the day he buys a boat and then the day that he sells that boat".

Four bucks a gallon gas

Ouch, there is a rumor that gas will cost four dollars a gallon this coming spring. That will cut into my vacation plans. Driving a 20 mile per gallon van would cost too much to go very far.. No thousand mile trips for me.

I remember when gas first hit the one dollar mark. Back in the early 70's there was a shortage of gas which caused much consternation. It was a real shortage. Stations ran out of gas. People lined up at stations that had gas to sell. It got so bad the government ordered Stations to fly flags that told if they were open or closed. Red flag for closed and green flag for open. On top of that people could only buy gas on certain days. If your license plate ended in a even number you could buy on even number dates.

All this resulted in the birth of the little Japanese cars. Small four cylinder Toyotas and Datsons.
Detroit couldn't follow suit and that was the beginning of the end for big American cars..

Now even the Toyotas and Hondas have to find ways to stretch milage to keep us rolling in the manner to which we have become accustomed..

Error Message

My four year old laptop has developed a cough. There is a error message every time I boot it up. I'm no expert when it comes to computers and I fear there may be a fatal illness creeping into my hard drive.

But, the laptop still can connect and I can still check E mail and post to the BLOG.

So, if any one wants to offer any suggestions about what to do with my situation it would be appreciated.

Mow, mow, mow your lawn

The flowers are blooming. The trees are getting leafs. The grass is growing. And growing. And Growing.

Spring has sprung...

The cycle of plant life has been renewed. I helped Mother Nature out by feeding my lawn. This winter I used a "dormant" lawn food... Dang if it didn't make the grass grow real fast. Now I have to mow every week..

Next year I'll remember to NOT fertilize in the winter..

And the Winner Is...

Oscar time. The awards are on TV tonight. I started watching at 5 PM and now it is 9 PM. The are just getting around to presenting the best actor. Jon Stewart is hosting and he said at the beginning of the show that it would be five or six hours long..

I don't care. I'm doing other stuff.. My laptop needs to be defraged. That will occupy me for the next hour or two.

I may look up when they announce the best picture.

Scrapbooking

The pictures have piled up for over several years. The material has been on the dining room table for longer than that. Now, at last, action is taking place.

We'll catch up now. Right. Sure we will.

I see a miniature print shop getting into production as we set rubber stamp tiles and cut out various shapes and forms. It is fun to make a stamp which spells a name backwards before you use it to make a word in the correct format.

It will be nice to see the dining room as a dining room when we finish with all the scrapbooks.

TGIF

Another Friday. Seems like we have one every week. Since I'm retired it doesn't mean as much as when I was working. I always looked forward to Friday when I worked. It meant the weekend was here and doing fun things.

Now my weekends are seven days long. I have to spend time planning what and where to go with so much time on my hands. What to do?

Vacation planning revolves around when school is out for the summer. Now I try to plan trips before school is out or after school starts again in the fall.

My playground is getting more crowded every year. Baby boomers are retiring and those folks are joining me during the prime retiree vacation times.

So, come out and play on the weekend. I'll get out of your way. I have all the rest of the week to play.....

Soaps

My dearest is enticed to the soaps. I resist becoming interested because every time I chance to view a tiny bit of the program it seems there is never any progress in the story line.

The same lead actor has been on the show for at least twenty years that I know of. The same problems occur over and over. Somebody is always in a coma in the hospital or dying.

I even saw a episode where a dead person comes back as a ghost. You just can't kill them off..

So, for an hour every day I find something else to do. I avoid the TV for that time period.

Pray I don't succumb to the disease of soaps..

Moon Shadow

Today is the Lunar eclipse of the moon. Clouds are blocking my view but it is happening just the same.
Today was also the bike race which came into town. My sweetie and I rode our bicycles over to the road where the race went up into the foothills near home. There were crowds of fans there cheering. It was a great race. We had fifty club members in attendance on the hill to see the race pass.
I guess I missed a day of BLOG this week. I don't even remember why I was so busy to even post a short item.
Oh well.

Walk the Dog

I have a very smart friend, the dog, he knows that when I get certain pieces of clothing out and put on my hiking boots that he and I are going for "the walk".

He helps me gather the necessary equipment for our walk. Get the leash, poop bag and off we go.

Dogs don't like to just "walk". They like to review every bush and tree we pass on the circuit around the block. I think it is like reading the newspaper for him. He sees who passed by since we last walked. He gets to leave his "calling card" on the message board.

I really appreciate his company on the walk and him helping get some extra exercise.

Thanks buddy Beau.

Hurry on Sundown

Golly, I almost missed doing my blog today. I went to the bike race and then came home and watched the same race on TV. Versus TV is showing the race every day for the next week. I already have the TIVO set to record the programs. Then fix some dinner and do dishes.

Then watch the last show from "Survivors" which I missed last Thursday. Now the day is almost done and I have BLOGed. So, off to bed..

Sorry 'bout that

Sorry that I did the lousy blog yesterday. Nobody needs all that "Blah".

Sweet day today. Did a nice bicycle ride with three good friends. Interesting group in that I am the "old" guy. I can keep up just fine on the flat part. If the road tilts up I have to slow because I am carrying my holiday stomach with me. Twenty pounds makes a world of difference on a hill.

Today we were all just spinning on the mostly flat 30 miles. Only one overpass.

The "youngster" of the group gets his hard workout on the day before our ride. So, our ride is a cool down for him. He still likes to try to "hurt" us every now and again. We mostly just let him go and just keep our pace mellow.

The two guys in the middle age group have their own problems. The big guy is way overweight. He needs to lose fifty pounds to get back into shape. Then the fourth fellow is closer to my age and he is a excellent cyclist. Actually, he is my mentor. I've ridden with him for close to fifteen years. Every thing I know about cycling I learned from him. He just needs to get more saddle time and he will be back in shape.

It was a great ride and good fellowship. That makes my day..

Blog Blah

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Boring Blog Blues

Happy Valentine's Day. I did remember and gave her the card at breakfast. We actually both had our cards on the breakfast table this morning. Hugs and kisses.

I know several people who have February 14 birthdays. We helped celebrate one of those birthdays with a luncheon. Actually she prepared the soup and dessert. We just went and sang off key.
My special person has been reading my blog and she told me it is boring. Darn. I guess I lead to tame a life. One guy I know suggested I write about some imagined affair. Have several girlfriends and live a dangerous blog life.

No, I'll just keep writing boring stuff and be very happy with the life I have presently.

Thanks for reading.

Big Race Coming

Lots of stuff to do this weekend. The big bicycle race is coming to town. Almost two hundred elite, professional racers will participate in a race which will cover almost one thousand miles and eight days.
I have been to Europe several times to see the big races. The Tour d' France, the Giro d'Italia are the two big races. Bicycle racing is a very big deal in Europe. People flock to the mountains to cheer the riders. They spend days camped out on the mountains to see the race pass. It all happens in a flash. In less then five or ten minutes the peleton sweeps past.
It is going to be exciting.

Work out day

Today was a day for a "work out". Work out in the garage, where we spent the afternoon. Since I can't see the top of the work bench I decided to try to sort out some of the mess.

After a couple of hours I had cleared enough space to get my elbows on the work area. What I found is that there is enough stuff on the bench to open a "Ace Hardware" store.

At least thirty screwdrivers and almost as many pliers. Four hammers, three hand saws. At least twenty pounds of assorted sockets. Then the battery operated tools. Boy, I sure will have fun with them.

The other half of the garage belongs to her. She has control with what is stored on her half. She spent the afternoon sorting cans of paint stored for several years. Some cans were bought and never used. We'll get around to painting that room later. Much later.

Now that we have done the deed we can hold off any more cleaning until next year.

Baby Steps

This is a trip down memory lane. The baby steps I refer to are my learning about our world of media and electronics. Back in the days of my youth I experienced the "birth" of television. The TV sets had small pictures. The pictures were in black and white. The stations didn't broadcast all day. When there were no shows on the air the stations displayed a "test pattern". The test pattern allowed us to adjust our picture. The picture would roll over and over if the horizontal hold was not just right. Or the picture would slide sideways. Then we would adjust the vertical hold. The TV sets had tubes like light bulbs. The tubes were vacuum and sometimes burned out just like light bulbs. We would have to go to the store and buy new tubes. The tubes had lots of pins sticking out of the bottom of them. You had to get the exact same tube or it would not fit.


To get a picture you had to have a big ariel on the roof of your house. Some people used a ariel on the top of the TV which were called "Rabbit Ears". You would turn the ariel until you got the sharpest picture possible.


The first color pictures were made using a screen over the front of the TV. The screen made the picture look like it was colored.


Now today the tubes are long gone. The TV is very big screen and skinny. The picture comes in on a cable. The shows are on 24/7.


I have lived in a historic era, that's for sure.

Circque du Soleil

We went to a circus today. Cirque du Soleil here in town. Wow, what a great show. The costumes, the music, the lighting, the skits, the performers. Everything was wonderful.
This is the fourth time I have been to one of their shows..
We did the total experience. They have a red carpet, VIP cocktail for one hour before the show and you are treated to hors d'overies and drinks. There are special gifts and during the 30 minute intermission dessert and coffee.
If you get a chance to go, don't miss it.

Giro d'Bici Bike

On the second Saturday of each month I "lead" a bicycle ride for my cycling club. Today was the day. The ride is the same route every month and the riders who do it frequently know the way around the circuit. Forty miles is the basic route. We ride from the Bici bike shop in a group and exit town into the foothills. The ride is well attended. It is very popular with the club members. It is not unusual to have as many as fifty riders on the ride.

As ride leader my responsibility is to record the names of each rider on the sign in sheet. Then I ride at the rear of the group and help any rider who has a mechanical problem. The ride regroups at a coffee shop about half way through the ride. Conversation and coffee is what everybody enjoys. Then back on the bikes and finish the ride.

Today I rode very close to the forty miles. I did 38.6 miles.. Guess I did a short cut. Ha Ha.
Now, as I sit and write this blog I can feel all my leg muscles getting tight. I hope I can get our of bed in the morning. Since it is early in the cycling season those muscles need to get back into shape..

Crosswords

Working easy Crosswords puzzles is great for keeping your brain in shape. Exercise for the "Gray Matter". The book of puzzles has over one hundred easy crossword puzzles. I work a couple of pages in the morning with breakfast.

The easy puzzles have only four or five letters. And I don't need to know the names of actors in movies. Mostly the words are simple and common things. It still provides enough challenge for the hour of the day, early morning. Who can get it going early in the AM? It is a good way to start the day.

Oprah and Dr Oz

Everybody should watch her show. She has this Doctor Oz on who is really into good health. His approach is simple. Eat good things and exercise. Duh! We all know that. Right?

There was one thing he said about a food which I could not believe. Chia seeds are great for your health. Now, I have seen the planters with the Chia grass growing into green animal forms. Every Christmas ads promote them as a great gift.. But how will they help me? You use them in baking things like muffins. They absorb all the fat, that's how.... No way, you say. Way, says Dr Oz.

So, does he think he is? The Wizard of OZ??

I Wanna Ride?

Had a nice ride today on the Suzuki. Joined two buddies for a breakfast ride. We rode to a diner in the next valley over the hill from our homes. We all chose the senior 1-2-3 special. 1 egg, 2 sausages, 3 pancakes. Just right for the price.

Getting out on the bike this time of year is sort of "iffy". The weather is not really nice enough to be comfortable. I need it to warm up to about 70 degrees and then I can enjoy the ride...

Did My Duty

The election primary day is here. I did my duty and mailed in a ballot. Now we wait to hear and read the results of the vote.

My candidate usually loses. Or things pass that I vote against and items fail to win that I vote in favor of... But I did my duty.

I do think change in coming in the political world. We need fresh faces and ideas to get our Country back on track.

Now the next round of fun will be the political conventions. It is always fun to watch the party.

Aftermath

Giants are the Kings of the Super Bowl. It was a really great game. No one could believe that Eli could pull off the win. He deserved to be the Most Valuable player.

Life goes on and now focus shifts to the political arena with the big vote tomorrow. Who will get the edge. It will be interesting to find out which person comes out on top. I have made my choice and sent in my ballot by mail.

Lent starts this week. Fat Tuesday is tomorrow and Ash Wednesday on Wednesday. I wonder when Easter is? Forty days later, that's when.

Super Bowl Day

Okay, the day has finally arrived. I've been waiting all year for this day. At last there will be commericals that I will watch on TV today.
I don't care about the football game. I just will concentrate on the ads. Normally I abhor TV commericals.
The advertisers know everybody leaves the room to head to the refrigator for a snack so they ramp up the volumn on the commerical.
There has already been news items about the one ad from "Your Daddy.Com". The ad is so racy that viewers will have to go to a web page to see the whole ad. Let's all be sure to power up the laptops and join the fun.
Go team...

Ground Hog Day

The Ground Hog saw it's shadow today. Six more weeks of winter. Sure glad I don't have to shovel snow.
That's why I live where I live. It is very unlikely it will snow here any time soon. I am so glad.

02012008 (02/01/2008)

New month started today. February is only 28 days til leap year gives it 29.

Chinese New Year is now. Year of the Rat, I think. Yin and Yang. Happy New Year.

Super Bowl tomorrow. Brady and Patriots against Eli and the Giants. Should be a interesting game. The defense will have to be strong to stop such potent offense.

The other part of Super Bowl are the TV commercials. Big money is spent to sell their stuff..

I hope the half time show is a good one. I'll be watching.

Lost

The TV show "Lost"has started a new season tonight. Since I didn't watch last season's show I don't have any idea what the show is about this season.

Other shows on TV this year can be placed in a crap can as far as I'm concerned. I don't need to see thirty people try to survive in a jungle for a couple of months. Maybe sports will have some good shows on this year...

Maybe it is because I can still remember when TV was still in it's infanicy. I was a kid when TV was first developed. We would gather around a neighbor's TV and watch anything that was being broadcast. We even watched the "Test Pattern". Heck, even the static was interesting. We said we were watching a "White horse in a snow storm". All the houses had 40 foot arials on the roofs so we could get the station from the "Big City"...

Turbo Tax

I'm trying the Intuit's TurboTax program to do my taxes this year. Even though I don't have a complicated return there was one "event" last year which needs attention. I got out of the stock market at a nice high on the last shares I held. Now I have to "Pay the Piper".

I've loaded the program in the computer and started the return. It really seems simple so far. Of course I haven't gotten to the part about the Capital Gains yet. I feel the "other" shoe will fall when I crunch the numbers. I'll have to pony up a sizeable chunk of my nest egg from the sale of the stock, even though the gain is "Long Term".

I hope before I pass on to my heavenly reward the Tax code and all the associated paperwork gets changed and simplified. I heard of one plan which had only two lines on the form.

Line 1. How much did you make last year.
Line 2. Send it all in to the IRS

How much simpler could it be??

Tuesday Tirad

I cringe when I see the television ads for new cars. Bigger, slicker, faster and the ad people make us think the cars are supposed to race and roar along just driving to the corner market.

More power and more distractions. Just what we all need. Touch the gas and rocket to ninety miles per hour in 4.5 seconds. Adjust the sixteen woofer speaker stereo system to the ear shattering volume which will vibrate the windows of the cars beside you. You are ready to roll.

NASCAR races have shown us how the "bump" draft has won lots of races. Sure there a couple of bent fenders and bruised egos of the superstar drivers who are revered like rock stars. But, then Joe or Jane Average gets behind the steering wheel and tries to set a new land speed record for the commute to the office.

As I see it, the problem is the way the ads show the cars doing crazy stunts, performed by "professional drivers on closed courses", which lead people to drive like nuts. If Madison Avenue would cool it then maybe everybody would calm down..

Poem to Ponder

My forgetter's getting better,
But my rememberer is broke
To you that may seem funny
But, to me, that is no joke

For when I'm "here" I'm wondering
If I really should be "there"
And, when I try to think it through,
I haven't got a prayer!

Oft times I walk into a room,
Say "what am I here for?"
I wrack my brain, but all in vain!
A zero, is my score.

At times I put something away
Where it is safe, but, Gee!
The person it is safest from
Is, generally, me!

When shopping I may see someone,
Say! "Hi" and have a chat,
Then, when the person walks away
I ask myself, "who was that?"

Yes, my forgetter's getting better
While my rememberer is broke,
And it's driving me plumb crazy
And that isn't any joke.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Who mentioned peanut butter cookies? The smell of a baking batch drives me nuts.. Talking about a peanut butter cookie makes my mouth water. People even use that smell to help sell their houses. Realtors will make a batch for the "Open House" they hold on the weekends.

I have dabbled in baking cookies. I made all my Christmas gifts one year by baking Peanut Butter cookies for everybody on my gift list. Boy, my house sure smelled good.

Today was a really good day to bake. Rainy day outside. Bright, warm kitchen with a willing companion to aid in gathering the necessary equipment and ingredients. Mixing and baking took about an hour. My aide likes her cookies a little bit more done then I do. I make her a special batch just the way she likes them.. Now after I finish my share I will help her finish her portion. Yummy Yum Yum

My cabin up north

I have to make a trip to my cabin up north every now and then to check that the facility is still okay. It takes a lot of planning to get ready to make the trip. Check supplies. Load the van. Get out on the expressway and drive the freeway. Usually the trip is pleasant and traffic is not too bad. The cabin is unheated during the absent periods between visits. I have to start the heat and check for critters that may have burrowed in during the time I was away.
Tonight I had almost forgotten to post for the 365 blog. So here it is. Not much news here. Yawn.

T G I F

Always appreciate the T G I F day. End of the work week and beginning of the weekend. When I was a working person I really enjoyed every Friday. My hobby then was boating. We spent almost every weekend at the boat. The boat was our vacation home. For twenty years we sailed and cruised around the bay. Great fun and fond memories forever.

Now that I'm retired and don't own a boat the weekends are no longer special as they once were. In fact I like week days better now. Everybody else is at work. I can play every day and not wait for the weekend. Yipee

Rainy Day Exercise

Staying fit in winter is difficult. If you don't have a membership in a health club how do you get any exercise? Since my favorite exercise is to bicycle. I like to ride at least twenty miles for a good work out. That equates to about two hours riding. Of course I take a break at the half way point. But, I'm still on the bike for the majority of that time.

So, today I set up the "trainer" in the bedroom and "cycled" for almost an hour. I say almost because I found reasons to stop. To get my I-Pod and then another time to turn on the floor fan. I actually worked up a bit of a sweat while pedaling on the trainer.

The trainer is a device which holds my bicycle on a frame and allows the rear wheel to turn against a resistance wheel. You pedal and the trainer hold the bike stationary. Since you just sit there you need a breeze to cool you and some music to keep you from becoming too bored. So, I got my exercise today even though it was raining.

Getting Back to Business

My significant other is getting back into exercise and cycling after a two month "rest". Her ankle was badly sprained just before Christmas. Trying to exercise in cold weather is tough. You need to dress warm to start but after you ride about ten minutes you get too warm. We dress in layers. Base layer, second layer and an over layer. Plus gloves and head cover under the helmet. Remember to wear your helmet every time you ride. Serious injury can be caused even if you just fall over from an upright position.

The drill for the ride is to loop around our block two or three times. The distance of one lap is 1.5 miles. We got 4 miles today before we stopped. We'll be taking it slow for some time to come.

Wintertime Blues

It has turned cold here. Actually it isn't really cold like in Alaska. It is about 50 degrees and raining. There is a chance of snow on the hills around the valley. I will not need to go play in any snow that might fall here. I grew up in Nebraska where there is real winter. I hope to never have to step in snow again during my lifetime...

When I was young I loved to play in the snow. We ice skated on frozen ponds and even made ice rinks in the back yard by piling up snow and flooding the yard with water. The water froze and we could skate in our back yard.

School would sometimes close because of bad weather caused by a big snow storm and we would get to stay home from school. Instead we would go outside and play all day in the snow..

Snow and winter are fun when you are a kid but winter is a really big pain in the butt when you are an adult..

Thinking about things

I wonder if I should blog in the morning or afternoon. Evening would be good as I would have all day to think about what to write in my blog.
Then after I decide when I next must figure out what I want to write about. I have been writing about what I do during the day. Maybe it just turns into a diary ( or is it dairy )of my life. Should I become journalist of thoughts which run in my mind? Will I leap forward as the next blogmeister of the senior generation?
The answer will come to me soon, I hope...

My True Love

Yesterday I ended my post with a statement that "Life is Great". Well, the reason life is great is because of a wonderful lady who has become a giant part of my life. Karen and I found each other last year near her birthday in November. We both belong to a bicycle club in our local community. We have been members for years and had done numerous club rides but not especially drawn to each other. Karen lost her husband in 2005. I lost my wife in 1994.

What event brought us together? A simple E mail from her to me asking if I was doing any rides other than the one ride I lead on the second Saturday of each month. I answered her E mail and then decided to go on one of her rides. Karen leads a weekly ride around the neighborhood in the east side of town. I went to her ride and as we chatted during the ride I learned that Karen was ready to begin a relationship, or at least start dating. The rest is history. We are a couple now. We are engaged. We are in love and we want everybody to know about our love.

Now I can really say "Life is Great"...

Keeping track of my blog

Had a hard time finding my blog today. Seems I have used a very secret password and ID for my blog. I've used every reserve I know of to access it today. Finally I'm ready to blog.
Rode my bicycle 28 miles today with two friends. The pace was mellow. Average speed to the half way mark was 10.8 MPH. After coffee the return trip was a bit quicker and brought the average up to 11.7 MPH. The weather was brilliant. Sunny and mild. Temperature in the mid 60's. Life is good, no, life is great.

First ride of the year

I did my first ride of the year today. Twenty miles on my bicycle. Oh, the pain... Here are the sore points: Seat is sore.. Quads are sore.... neck is sore... pretty much everything is sore...
The flat part of the ride was not a problem. It was the part that went UP HILL that was the biggest problem. In the twenty miles there was a cumulative total of 1,500 vertical feet of climbing. Okay, that isn't a very high mountain, but for this first ride it was a struggle.. My favorite saying is: "the hills are our friends". Maybe later in the summer they are but not right now...