Well…up a little before 6 today and I am looking forward to having an easier day today…yesterday was filled with tasks that kept me busy all day but rain is coming in around noon today so I’ll be taking the afternoon off…it’s already 54 degrees out there so I can get on the bike as soon as I finish these and have my coffee…I am a little curious how the adjustments I made to the bike are going to work but it appeared to work okay with the little test ride I did…I guess we’ll see…going to do more work on the vacant lot across the street since I only did the terrace part of it yesterday…need to pick the trash up from it before I can mow but what I’ve done already looks pretty good…I guess it’s my job now to keep it up and I don’t mind that…maybe it will set an example for the neighborhood and people will take better care of their properties….okay, yeah, that made me laugh, too…I do need to do some meal planning since the chicken masala leftovers will be done today…might take a couple of pork chops out of the freezer and grill them…and I have some brats in there that I can put on the grill, too…need to do the grocery list later…not much to do today…going to get on the bike by around 7 or so and I might be able to get three rides in before the rain…more later…

Well…woke up to a pleasant surprise this morning that my left hip is hurting much less than yesterday…have been able to walk almost normally and that is a relief after hobbling around here yesterday…woke up at 5 or so today but laid in bed til a little after 6 and I needed that…haven’t been sleeping all that well and any chance to get some more than normal is welcome…didn’t get much done yesterday but I do need to mow the lawn today and the plan is to get two rides in outdoors first and then mow the lawn…but it’s supposed to be warmer than the 51 it is right now…and then I’ll see if I do a third ride today…going to rain tomorrow so I may put the new shifter on the bike and ride indoors…almost at 3,000 miles for the year so I will get to halfway by the end of the month…it looks like thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon and that will be cool to watch…will wash the bike and take it downstairs after the last ride today and might even start taking it apart…I really should get some cleaning done today but with mowing the lawn, that is enough…I think the broccoli has come up in the garden and I have one chili pepper plant that has come up in the cups out back and I really hope I get more of those since my jalapeno supply in the freezer is dwindling….not much to do today…damn, I really want to figure out how to take it easy and relax at some point…this go, go, go is getting tiring….more later…

Well…running a bit late today with not getting out of bed til 6:35 and just pouring the first cup of coffee at 7:10…I wonder if this is kind of a day off? Not really but I will only do two rides outside today since I’m sore from doing three yesterday…my hips have been giving me fits lately and that’s probably just from getting old…it’s only 52 out there right now so I am going to wait a bit before going out…I did get the rest of the garden planted yesterday and put some stakes and twine in for the peas to hang on to…I’ve never grown them before but remembered that they need that…how I don’t know…I will have at least a few tomatoes with the plants I bought the other day but I am going to not stress about it like I did last year…the lettuce has come up along with some carrots and the pack of cherry tomatoes that I planted…and the bean plants are doing well both in the garden and along the back of the house in the overflow…have a couple of cups of tomatoes that have sprouted that will be planted in the overflow, too…and that will be the end of planting…going to make a pork shoulder in the instant pot today but I just took it out of the freezer and I cut more off it for steaks than I remembered so I’m not sure if it’s worth it…looks like only a few meals so I’ll have to think about what else to plan for this week…not much to do today…the temp just dropped to 51 so I’ll be waiting a bit to go out on the bike…and I’m going to allow myself to just sit here and have coffee for a bit…it is going to be work to relax and do that but I’ll give it a try…more later…

Well…happy Star Wars day to those who celebrate…didn’t get out of bed til almost 7 this morning and that is the wonder of cocktails last night…but I’m feeling pretty worn out today and it’s almost 8 and I haven’t got on the bike yet and I’m okay with that…don’t think I’m going to ride indoors today so that means 3 rides outdoors today…but that is going to wait a bit until the temps come up from 53 right now…I did get the new shifter yesterday so I do need to find time to replace it and get it adjusted but I’m in no hurry since I have some planting to do in the garden…have some pepper seeds that have sprouted in the paper towel and I put some chili pepper seeds in some yesterday that I hope will sprout….I have much less stress about the garden this year and whatever happens is okay with me…I’ll have beans and peas at least and maybe some tomatoes from the plants I bought the other day…it’s kind of weird just sitting here having coffee and not stressing about getting miles in…that will come in a few minutes when I realize I’m being a slug and the guilt will click in and do it’s job to get me moving…not much to do today…just the rides and no cooking…I need a day of just noodling around and I may take it…who knows? More later…

Well…had the doctor appointment this morning and it was nothing but good news…BP was down to 136/55 and my cholesterol, while a little high, was no higher than last time so they are not concerned at all…and my tiny bit of high glucose is explained by being dehydrated (which I always am) and how hard I work on the bike, and my weight is down to 172…was hoping to get down into the 160’s but I’ll get there at some point…they did see a wax blockage in my right ear that is a result of using the earbuds so much and removed it…damn, it was the size of two peas and hard and it took them almost 20 minutes to soften it enough to get it out…weird…I can hear better so that’s cool..so I feel pretty good right now and I am going to have a couple of cocktails tonight to celebrate since it’s been weeks without them…and I think I deserve a reward for all the hard work to stay healthy…

Well…it’s going to be hard to get started today with no coffee before my doctor appointment at 9:30…trying to keep my blood pressure down sine I’m already going to get bitched at for high cholesterol and my glucose level is two points into the elevated range…but I know that I’m pretty dehydrated and that will have an effect along with the stress from riding 41 miles a day for the last two weeks…they have never seen a 70 year old like me so I’ll have to explain that to them…sleep was a little better last night with getting up at 1 and then out of bed at 4:56 and I need to get on the bike here in 25 minutes to get two rides in before the appointment and that will probably raise my blood pressure, too, so who knows what it’s going to be…mots of the rest of my tests are right down the middle where they should be so I guess that’s something…going to plant the peppers and tomatoes I got yesterday when the rain stops today but that won’t be til the afternoon after I get the bike rides in…the new shifter for the bike is supposed to get here today so I’ll drag the bike downstairs and pull the old one, install the new one and put a new shift cable in if I can’t salvage the new one that’s in there…not much to do today…and as always, that’s not true…I don’t have to cook with the leftovers in the fridge…can’t wait to have my coffee after I get back here…more later…

Well…after trying for a couple of weeks to “find the wall” with my body after riding 12 days of 41 mile days, I think I may have found it today…but it took a combination of getting out of bed at 3:41 this morning, not eating enough, and all the riding…just frickin exhausted and even tried to take a nap this afternoon but nope, even with not getting much sleep for the past few days, I just couldn’t fall asleep but I did lay down on the couch for a few minutes while soccer was on…and it is really weird, no matter how little sleep I get on the previous night, I still don’t sleep well the next…after today, you would think I’d sleep like a rock tonight but I don’t hold out much hope that tonight will be a good night…man, it used to work that way…when I stayed up late or got up early, the next night I would sleep the sleep of the gods…just looked at the rest of my test results and for some reason my glucose is high but with the abuse I’ve been heaping on my body, I’m not sure I can trust the results..it could be that I’m dehydrated again and my right big toe is telling me I am…I guess I’ll  just let them bitch at me at the appointment tomorrow and try to find out what I can do to normalize the tests next time…just want this over with so I can have a cocktail or 11 tomorrow night…

Well…darn, another night of not enough sleep with getting up at 3:21..okay, I did go to be at 10 so that gave me about 5 hours and there have been times in my life that I would have killed for 5 hours…but this starts my days way too early and I’ll be on the indoor bike by 6 and have both rides done before 9…think I may go out to a green house to try to get some pepper plants since not one of the 3 packs of seeds I planted sprouted and I can’t figure that out…cripes I may even have time to get both outdoor rides in before lunch if the temp comes up…I am making chicken Masala with Jasmine rice and then have some potato soup for later…I still feel pretty good about the PSA test results I got yesterday but the rest of the result are iffy but I sure don’t want to start to take medicine for cholesterol if I can change it with dietary changes….damn, just got the “high winds today” notice on my screen and I am so damn tired of it being so windy out here…went into a 25mph wind yesterday on the way out on the second ride and everything hurts from it…I may have to just do three rides indoors and that will cut my mileage down for the day that won’t work if I’m going to get to my goal…I did get a little cleaning done yesterday and need to do more today but I’m not sue what yet…not much to do today…and that is almost true…one of these days I’m going to make it true especially after 133 days straight on the bike…I need a day off…more later…

Well…as you know, I had a PSA test scheduled for this morning and I was a little freaked out that it was going to show that the cancer had come back…just got the result on the mychart page and it is still undetectable which is the best result you can get…so we stay in “wait and watch” mode for another 6 months until the next test…I am really relieved that I don’t have more treatment that has to be done…right now, anyway…