Brainerd Levee & Rolling Friction

Rode the 10 mile loop from the beginning of the Brainerd Levee at Shallowford to and around Camp Jordan and back on Thursday. That 10 miles, although flat, is much hard than the Riverwalk, because the rolling friction of gravel is much higher than that of asphalt.

Going to do the Riverwalk again this afternoon. I'm going to try for 12 miles this time. Then I get to go home and paint a ceiling. Woot.

IIIIIIIII'MMMmmmm Baaaaaaackkkkkkk!!!!!

Got a bike again (still need to pay for it) and rode 10 miles on the River Walk today. More to come later.

Missing Some Updates

I haven't been keeping this thing up like I should have. I missed posting about four or five rides on the River Walk, two with my lovely wife along. When the pollen got bad, she had to stay indoors and I went for longer rides, the longest being about 12 miles I believe. The battery is dead on the bike computer so I estimated from the car distance, but I can't remember if that included doubling the mileage to account for the trip back. I think it did, though.

Anyway, that screeching bearing needs fixing. I may do that this afternoon. I really need a new bike (or at least new to me).

Not dead, yet.

Road about 6 miles on the old, crappy mountain bike. Went up a decent hill, so I haven't lost everything. Hope to get the wife interested in a levee ride, sometime soon, and hope to have some money for a good bike before summer is over.

Blogger has switched formats, so I don't know how to kill the spam comments anymore. All comments from now on will be moderated.

La la la la laaaa....

Still no riding. Still no bike. Still no joy.

Still fit in my pants, but only barely.

Sigh.

At least I've killed some of the SPAM.

Has it really been that long?

Ok, last post 5/2/2005???? WTF?

I guess I'd better be getting me a bike, hadn't I?

Anyway, I only post here when I ride, and I had a ride, although I am not sure if it counts. You see, I got married on 5/27/2006. And went on the honeymoon 5/29/2006. The honeymoon was in Jamaica, and on Thurday of that week, my new blushing bride and I took the Jamaica Blue Mountain Bike Tour. How it works is they bus you up the side of Blue Mountain, where all that wonderful coffee is grown, then put you on a beach bike (fat tires, coaster brake and all), and let you ride the break all the way down the mountain. There was one place, about 30 yards total, that pedalling was actually required. Other than that, mostly riding that coaster brake. However, the scenery was beautiful, and we got to learn a little about how coffee is grown, harvested and prepared.


Here's a couple of pics...

Fortyfive Minutes With The Brain In Neutral

First off, I forgot to post last Monday. NottaAngel and I went riding. She did very good, considering it was her first ride in years. Plus it was nice to have some company. Too many of the people I could ride with ride faster than I can, or at times I can't meet them.

Second, today will likely be my last day with the borrowed mountain bike. The owner needs it back, so that he and his girlfriend can ride together. That's cool, it was fun while it lasted. When my tax return comes in, I'll have the folding cash to go get my road bike. Looks like I may need to put in on credit beforehand, as the darned check seems to be taking forever.

Finally, the title... I rode a ten mile loop today, on the gravels at the levee and around Camp Jordan. I pushed it, and made the loop in 45 minutes on the dot, counting four stops to cross streets. I needed it. I needed my brain to shut up for a while. Of course, the endorphin buzz has worn off now, and all that is back, but I needed it to be gone a while. Many of you that read this know what I have coming up on Wednesday, and that is a part of it. There was also this past weekend, which really bothered me on a lot of levels. It involved doing something I've done far too much of in the past, and something I have done far to little of, and I'll leave it at that. But I've been in a real funk the last two days, much worse than normal (and I've never been known to be a bright and shiny dispositioned person). All of which is why I may not wait on that tax check. I'm about to have a lot of time on my hands in the evenings and especially the weekends. I only know three ways to fill it, and two of them are decidedly unhealthy, physically and otherwise. It will help with what I've done too much of, at any rate, I know that. Fortunately, these moods rarely last more than a few weeks at most, usually a few days. I'm hoping this one is the same. I certainly don't care for how things are right now.