Riding has been absent from my life over the past few days and soon I will be hurling myself kicking and screaming towards western Pennsylvania for the Thanksgiving holiday. With that, I thought I would post a few of my favorite photos from the past year. Most are from while out riding, but some are from shooting events or my boy’s soccer matches. I’m sure there are photos I’m missing, but this will do for now.
Small Bottles & Paranoia
If there is one universal truth concerning my “doing stuff” in the months of November through March it is that the size of my water bottles is reduced. Under the mid-morning August sun I might drain two large-sized water bottles during a ride, come November I’m either doing stupid workouts indoors or riding outside in the full-nip cold and, despite still being needed, sucking down large amounts of water is pretty unlikely. Thus I start sipping from a smaller bottle instead of big ass magnums. Whatever, it’s just an observation, moving on…
A Night in 2008
Last Sunday evening I sat in my chair1 sipping a beer and thinking about the week ahead. It was only about 6 PM or so and it was completely dark. This is of course is not unusual for this time of year, but it can be a shock to the system given that I live in an area of the country where it often stays daylight until nearly 10 PM during the summer months.
I’m not sure if it was the Backwoods Bastard, the early darkness, or the fact that I had the volume up to eleven (one louder than 10) on the TV but I found myself thinking back to a ride I did in late October of 2008 when I was still living in White Oak, PA.
It was an ill-advised solo night ride that started at the Boston trailhead of the Great Allegheny Passage rail trail. The plan was to ride the trail down to Sutersville, then hop on a shitty paved farm road loop for a few miles before heading back to the trail. The mileage would be roughly 33 miles, and almost entirely in the dark.
Going Full Bratwurst
‘Tis Tuesday, probably Wednesday for most readers, so let us first backtrack to Monday…
The Frigid South
After a cold ride that failed on multiple levels on Friday, I reluctantly headed back out on Saturday to attempt some sort of redemption. Redemption was had, but just barely.
The Shortest & The Coldest
Friday was one of the coldest morning of this fall and pre-winter season. Temps at normal ride time were in the low teens, and warmed up to a balmy 19˚ by the time I finally pushed myself out the door to try to get something in.
Short and Unsweetened
Wednesday morning brought sunny skies but cold temps and a steady wind out of the west. Motivation to ride was high, motivation to ride in the cold wind was low. A compromise in the form of a Better Than The Trainer Ride™ was made. Who says you can’t have it all!
Finally Forgiven
Heaven, earth, hell, multi-dimensional planes, planets, and universes lined up on a crisp and cool Tuesday morning to make the love making-like magic of a slow rolling dirt road ride happen. Joy to the f-ing world.
Try This
Riding has been on the back burner for a few days now due to schedules, weather, travel for B’s soccer, and other crap-ol-la. Things finally look clear for a Tuesday but I haven’t gone for it yet, so this post has nothing to do with it.
More Tales of Woe & Idiocy
After Wednesday’s lackluster ride which featured me working more on a jacked up shoe cleat and taking photos than it did actually riding my bike, I was hopeful that Thursday would be more fruitful in the mileage department. Sadly, it was not.