It was hard not to ride today given how nice it was outside today. It was harder still knowing that a bunch of my friends were riding the trails at MMCC today while I spent the day going to the doctors, baking bread, doing loads of laundry and hanging out with the B-Man who was off from school today. It’s not much of a life, but it’s the only one I got right now. Oh well, there was still much bike-ness crammed in there.
I’m never sure whether to love fruit, hate fruit, laugh at fruit or be scared and run the fuck away from fruit. Jesus H., look at this strawberry! It looks like something they lopped off an old man’s back.
Other than a trip to the gym to work on my glutes and pecs, today was something less than special. Oh well, it could be worse.
Later.
The Trip Home, Part I
I’m finally back from a whirlwind few days of travel. Wifey, B-Man and I headed back to Pittsburgh to be with family and say goodbye to Wifey’s grandmother. A long trip for a funeral is something that no one ever wants to do, nor is introducing your ten-year old son to the grieving process, but both are part of life.
It’s sort of funny [not really] that nearly all of my favorite meals look like something that was scraped off the piss smelling coat of a bum passed out in an alley after three bottles of Wild Irish Rose and a “found” half eaten gas station burrito. Funny or not [mostly not], any combination of brown rice, meat, beans, peppers, onions and a bit of cheese usually results in me being fully satisfied in the gut (and more than a tad gassy).
Tonight’s rice & beans was based on what Bon Appétit magazine calls the “hottest trend to come out of American kitchens since the kale-splosion of 2012.” Tex-Mex-Cajun-Italian Fusion.
The past two days have been less than fun: more ongoing frigid winter temps, a tooth filling that may need worked on for a 3rd time (probably needing a root canal), a dead battery in Wifey’s clown car (due to a certain ginger haired 10-year-old leaving the door ajar overnight) and an ongoing battle with my thoughtless neighbors over their two big ass dogs that they leave out in their yard for hours at a time to relentlessly bark as if the rest of the neighborhood REALLY enjoys hearing them bark at anyone, everything, anything everyone! Yeah, I know this all minor shit, but the minor shit is adding up and I’m letting it get to me. I need spring!! (REAL spring).
With all the dead battery drama this morning I missed out on a ride (not that I felt like riding in 15 degree temps), missed my time window for going to the gym and I had NOOOOOOO desire what-so-ever to ride the trainer. So I did what any red-blooded, stressed-out, depressed, American male who doesn’t have a real job to go to would do; I baked bread.
OK, now shit is starting to get better in my mental dojo! I just found The Sword Black River t-shirt. This is going to be perfect to wear après race this summer and will look awesome as I wield my (yet to be purchased) Viking sword at throngs of recovering racers with one hand and hold aloft a goblet of strong ale (or reasonable facsimile) in the other while screaming “MAKE YOUR STAND WITH THE GREAT HOUND, THE FRONTIER IS LOST! BLACK WATERS LIE BEFORE YOU, TOGETHER YOU CROSS!!” as Jake The Dog walks menacingly at my side (until he falls asleep in a pool of his own jowls).
This week has given me very little and in return I have given back even less. So far, aside from two trips to the gym (with varying results) and spending ten minutes on the stationary trainer before saying “fuck it, this is like the dumbest thing ever,” I have pretty much done nothing. And when I say “nothing,” I mean NOTHING. Well, unless standing at the back door and blindly staring out the window wondering what people with real lives are doing is something, but I am pretty sure that qualifies as nothing. I guess I could consult The Idiot’s Guide to Depressive Slack & Ennui for an official ruling, but I’m way too busy doing nothing .
It’s the time of the year when I have cracked. I have NO desire to ride in the ice, cold and snow, I hate my stationary trainer and the idea of going to the gym makes me a bit sick in the stomach. On top of that I let myself get sucked into reading daily updates from the Cyprus Sunshine Cup [seen above] and watching the Mellow Johnny’s Classic XC race online yesterday.
I need a real ride and some real dirt. Sadly, in looking at our 10 day forecast, I don’t see any relief from the snow and cold in our immediate future. I am trying really hard to hold my shit together, but with each passing day I anticipate the snug unwelcome grip of straight jacket. Deep breaths… Deep breaths….
Photo: Adelheid Morath (Sabine Spitz/Haibike Pro) during Stage 3 of the 2014 Cyprus Sunshine Cup
©Marius Maasewerd/EGO Promotion
Most of the paved roads surrounding my neck of Michiganderburgh are snow and ice-free. The dirt roads are however are not, nor is my driveway (seen above) or the neighborhood sidewalks.
I believe my driveway perfectly illustrates the Seven Levels of Ice that we are currently encountering (Six and Seven are not pictured above). The sixth levei is giant piles of frozen solid snow at the corner of every driveway, parking lot and sidewalk in town caused by copious amounts of shoveled and plowed snow, followed by rain and 40˚ temps which then froze solid when arctic temps and high winds returned last week.
The Seventh Level of Ice is two to three ice cubes direct from the kitchen freezer, placed in a high ball glass and covered with 4 fingers bourbon, vodka, scotch, gin or boxed wine of your choice.
Speaking of ice and wind, the National Weather Service has issued ANOTHER Winter Winter Advisory for the next 24 hours that includes: blowing snow, wind gusts reaching up to 35 mph and wind chills of minus twenty degrees. I really need the weekend (see next post) so I can give myself the green light to enjoy the Seventh Level (except in beer form).
This photo has nothing to do with anything other than it’s the only photo in my recent stash that comes close to illustrating how I feel right now.
