It's Been a Busy Week !!!!!!!!!!

Since the last time I posted it's been busy! Cody came home Tuesday and we enjoyed him till he left yesterday morning. It's hard to believe but we are near the end of his time in Pennsylvania, he went back and only has about 10 more weeks and it's over. He graduates and comes home.


Nine months sounds a lot longer than it really is. It's amazing how quick this has went! Plus every time we see him it's neet to see how much he has grown, not height wise either! I am referring to him just growing up! He has managed to make it for 6 months doing everything! From keeping himself feed right down to washing his own clothes.


I still can't believe how good he has done. Considering he had a hard time even finding the washing machine at home. He now seems to do alright! He's growing up!


Plus Chase had drivers ed last week and he now only has to do his driving and then I will have kid number 2 behind the wheel. Life comes and goes and it all happens really fast. All you can do is hang on and hope for the best. It's still hard to believe how fast the kids are growing up! I am proud of both of them!


Yes I have been riding and my body has the bruises to show for it too! I have crashed twice lately and both times it was in the worst possible place! A rock garden!! Yesterday I managed to go over the bars in a really rough spot down at Cane Creek and I honestly though as I was flying through the air that this could be bad.


When I hit the ground I tried to tuck and roll but that's not really an option when your landing in rocks and some of them are the size of a basketball. Total count: one bloody foot two bruised arms and one really bruised upper arm. Not counting the hip that is killing me! On top of that I still had about 8 miles to get back to the car.


I managed to make it but I need a few days off the bike now. It seems like I go forever without any mishaps and then I will have a couple in a row.. I look forward to the next dry spell! Crashing hurts! Plus I had a birthday, I am now 47. One of these days I might have to grow up! It just won't be today or tomorrow.........

Time For Tires !!!!!!!!!!

At least that's what I think! The reason for thinking this was the time I had to think about it. Both times I was on the side of the road changing flats. Yes I said BOTH,,, Saturday I get ready and head out with a big ride planned.


I make it 7 miles and hear the dreaded hiss sound, the one you hear when your tire is going flat! I stop and proceed to change it out. Keep in mind I haven't had a flat in a long time! Now with that in mind I managed to pinch the tube and as I re-inflate it it goes flat again! Now I have no tubes and a flat tire and I am 7 miles from the house. Great! Karen is working and Chase ain't old enough to drive yet.


My mom lives on the other side of the county so I hated to call her for a ride. Plus it was still pretty early in the day so I decided to suck it up and start walking. I make it about a 100 yards and a friend of mine comes along and sees me walking. He turns around and loads me up and takes me to the house! Score, I got home and didn't walk very long and still didn't have to call anyone.


That left me with a new delima? It was still early and I was already home, fix it and ride? Or grab a beer and hit the pool! I called it a day and hit the pool. You knew that anyway.. I figured I could just make it up Sunday.


Then Sunday I do as I planned and guess what! 10 miles from the house and flat number 2. Keep in mind I haven't had a single flat, much less two flats in the last two years! So now I am on the side of the road for the second time in two days changing a tire. Of course this time I take my time and make sure I don't pinch the tube and it all works out and I am rolling again in no time.


Once I finally get home and inspect my tires I decide that must be the reason. I need to change them after 2 flat in two days. Pricepoint.com here I come..........

Getting Better,,, Must Be The Pool ...........

For the last 3 days I haven't ridden, I decided to let the bike sit and stay in the new pool. Kinda of enjoy the fruits of my (our) hard labor. Plus it feels good on my back and I like taking a break sometimes.


Believe me I love my time on the bikes and look forward to every ride. But I have found myself drifting more and more toward the fun side of cycling over the last few years. The longer I stay away from the racing side of things the more I find it just more fun to ride and play. Not just try to use every ride for a training session.


I am still in good shape and can cover as much ground as all my racer buddies but just a little slower. I like my pace!

Why I Say !!!!!!!!

I managed to tear down the pool last week and I did it with care. Care for me, not the pool. You see when I get out of my normal routine I always know my back is behind me! As in, "doing something totally different from what I usually do" I tend to make my back hurt.


All day Saturday we worked on the new one and then Sunday we just had to let it fill. We even got in and played around in the 2ft deep water Sunday afternoon. Finally Sunday evening came and I knew I needed to do the last thing. Hook up all the hoses, no big deal. I climbed under the deck and did just that.


Sure enough that's when I did it. My back has been killing me! Today is the best it's felt yet but Sunday night I had a hard time even sleeping. Yes the pool is done and the pump works great and all that, but I sure wish my back felt better.


I even slipped in a nice 40 mile ride Sunday morning. But I haven't even touched the bike since. I hope to get out today but that will be a decision made at 5pm. By the way I am still riding without any electronics and I like it! I am a little slower but who cares! I ride at the pace I want to and I feel fine. I don't even keep up with the miles.


I am using the Strava app on my phone, which is in my pocket the whole time I ride. I get home and then I checkout my miles and average speed. Here lately I end up with 25-35 miles and an average speed of about 15.9. When I had a computer mounted to the bars I rode the same miles and pushed myself to an average speed of around 17.5 to 18 miles an hour..

                   Big deal! I like going at the speed I want and not worrying about it...

Getting Close ,,,,,,,,,,,

I must be "Getting Close", close to being an adult! I don't like it either.... It seems like I have had 30 different things to do the last week and I am getting them done. It's almost like I am an adult. I don't like it.


Like today I have 3 things to do on the way home and then I still need to run and get a trailer of sand for the pool tomorrow morning. The only thing I have to look forward to is a new pool! That and father's day and my birthday...


                                                   June is a good month for me.......

In All Directions............

All except the bike! OK, I rode Saturday and actually turned on Strava and recorded it. Plus I had plans for Sunday, then it came and plans changed. I ended up going to the golf course later in the day but not until the day was about over.


I recorded the ride Saturday and planned to keep the info private, I wanted to see how much climbing I could find in Monroe. I guess it's been so long since I used it I don't know what I am doing. A few hours later I started getting "kudos" on my ride from a few of my friends. "Kudos", just mean they saw it posted on the website. How I did that I don't know..


At least I had enough miles I wasn't totally embarrassed by it. Now it's Wednesday and I brought my bike. I have to get in a quick ride today, I have a lot of stuff I need to do and the bike is falling to the tail end.


The rain has held off so long it had been 2 weeks since the last time I mowed and I still need to mow the driveway. But the biggest thing taking my time right now is the new pool. Yep, we are replacing the pool the weekend and I have to take down the old pool to make room for the new one. Fourteen years we got out of the first one and I planned to just leave it this year.


It wouldn't hold water anymore and the walls were rusted out. I planned to just replace it later this year after we got Cody home from school and fall was here. Sounded like a good ideal until the pool turned green and basically made the whole back deck unusable! I have a deck built about 3/4's of the way around the pool so taking down the pool was not really an option!


Then it got hot and I wanted to swim! The new pool came in yesterday and the old one has to be down by Saturday so we can put up the new one.. By next weekend I will be swimming again!!!!!!

Plans ............

My favorite thing is when a plan you didn't have turns into a great plan all by accident. Make sense? Thought it would,,,


OK, I rode the mountain bike last night and then came home and parked the car. Got a shower and headed to bed, it was late and I was tired. This morning I got up and the bike was still loaded! Score!! All I had to do was grab some riding clothes and I was good to go.


Usually I don't have time in the morning to load everything and get to work on time. Why not take advantage of my forgetfulness! Ride today it will be.............

I Know It Sounds Weird !!!!!!!

But even as bad as I was hurting it still felt good! Now get your mind out of the gutter! Ok, here's how it worked out. Friday I have plans to ride Saturday, I knew but apparently forgot she had to work Saturday. Friday night she starts with the "list"...


I hate lists! The main thing on said list was we need new mulch in all the flower beds around the house. That's a big one! We have been in this house for 14 years. There reaches a point when you have to finally dig out the old mulch to put the new mulch down. We were at that point.


I decide to just bit the bullet and do it. Saturday AM the dog and I head to the dump and then to the mulch yard. $35 bucks later we are on the way home. I do the first couple of beds and then head out on a ride. While I am gone she calls and says she is on the way home. 25 miles later I am home again and back on the wrong end of the shovel..


               We work the rest of the afternoon and now it's done! Sunday the pain starts!!


I wake up and realize right away my legs are killing me. Of course I go ahead and go for a ride. I was so slow and sore, it was kinda funny. But it was a great ride, I stayed out for almost 3 hours and enjoyed every minute of it. As I said "It Sounds Weird" but it was good. My legs were killing me but I stayed out and even did quite a bit of climbing.


It was slow but fun. I did the mountain bike all week last week and the road bike all weekend. I like both......