It’s been four days since I was last on a bike. Because of that, I feel fatter, saggier, flabbier, and more bloated and useless than ever. Thankfully those days weren’t complete wastes of time.
Archive | September, 2015
New To Me
In recent weeks I became increasingly unhappy with the performance of my trusty Canon s95 point and shoot digital camera. I’ve been using an s95 for years now and it was perfect for riding: small enough to fit in a jersey pocket, easy enough to operate one-handed in most cases, and used ones could be found cheaply on eBay. But since I started to do rides using my Nikon DSLR I found the quality lacking to what I had become used to, but the problem with a DSLR is that even though the DSLR Slinger from Porcelain Rocket makes transporting one on a mountain bike easier, you are STILL hauling around a heavy DSLR (often on an already heavy fat bike).
So I started looking into a new camera that is smaller than my D3200 but better than my Canon s95. In my research for a new everyday camera–for both on and off the bike–I kept coming back to a couple of different cameras: The Sony RX100 and the Fuji x100t. Sadly both where WAY out of my price range.
Alternatives
Today felt like Monday in every way except the fact that it was Tuesday. Of course all of the things that went and felt wrong about the day were trivial in comparison to the fact that B-Man had to take a trip to the ER because he had a fever of nearly 102˚ this afternoon. That boy, he will never just let me complain and moan about my petty problems without making me look like the self-absorbed, slacker douche that we all know I am (or at least the way I come off like on this blog, on social media, on the phone and in person).
Thankfully the boy is fine, he just has a bit of a virus and the fever is coming down*. Great! Now we can turn the focus back to me and how the monsoon of a day ruined my ride plan but made my hiking plan.
Harvest By Association
Recently Wifey and I said goodbye to some good friends that moved to Mt. Pleasant at the same time we did back in 2010. Wifey worked with the woman and we hung out with her and her husband a lot over the past five years, especially since they lived just a couple blocks from us. Anyway, they moved to Florida, leaving us to deal with the long Michigan winters on our own now. In the moving process they ditched us with generously gave us a bunch of stuff they didn’t want/couldn’t take with them: Adirondack chairs, a snowblower, hundreds of pounds of salt (to melt ice), a kick ass drum kit (it’s very therapeutic to belt out a Neil Pert like solo once a day) and a ton of potted vegetable plants. There were tomatoes, red and green bell peppers, banana peppers and jalapenos.
I Was Due
I hadn’t been on my “real” mountain bike for about three weeks due to a broken shock lockout and all the logistics that go into having a broken shock lockout, getting the part ordered, receiving the wrong part, getting the right part ordered and having it installed. But today, FINALLY, I was back on the Superfly for a ride on the trails at Mid Michigan Community College.
The Moisture of The Wetness
After thirty-six to forty-eight hours of thunderstorms and torrential piss downs, Ma Nature finally relinquished her soggy grip on central Michigan and permitted folks as myself to venture out-of-doors without fear of being washed away into a river ripe with E. Coli.
The Last 36 Hours
Any riding that I planned to do on Thursday morning was washed out, as Ma Nature unleashed storms and torrential downpours on Michiganderburgh all day and night. As I type this on late Friday afternoon things remain dark, dank, dreary and soggy and I have no desire to leave the house for anything other than beer and pickle juice (I’ll explain that in the near future).
Overestimated
This morning I sat at the computer drinking coffee and mapping out a ride that I hoped would come close to yesterday’s mileage and have me in the 40 to 45 mile range. Then I walked upstairs.
Playing The Percentages
After two days off the bike for various reason (laziness + shit to do) I was back on the bike for some miles today. With my time at the shop on hold for the foreseeable future, my thesis in limbo (that’s a joke of course) and B-Man back in school, I can now start to set my sights on trying to get some longer (for me) rides in and try to burn as much man fat as I can in between my husbandly duties (don’t judge!). Because before you know it, the snow will be flying and I’ll be reduced to twenty mile fat bike rides on ice packed dirt roads while freezing my tits off.