Well…December 26th used to be my favorite day of the year when I celebrated christmas…everything done, no more traveling and a few days off before I had to go back to work…have had a hard time figuring out what day it is over the past week or so…it’s Tuesday? Weird….it’s raining out there right now and just saw the high wind warning pop up on the screen so it may be an indoor ride today but I guess we’ll see…I did get 45 miles in yesterday and the third ride was a surprise when it was warm enough to go out in shorts…not sure why I’ve been sleeping okay for the past few months but I’ll take it…I mean getting up only once a night around three and then staying in bed til almost 7? And feeling okay as I have my coffee? Now that I’ve hit my 5,000 mile goal, I can start to think about taking a day off the bike this week but, as you know, that is really hard for me…maybe that is something to work on? Still don’t need to cook today with the soup and ham leftovers but I will need to start some meal planning today so I can get the food tomorrow…one thing I know is I have to cut down on the salt…not much to do today…the day will probably revolve around getting the rides in before lunch as it always does and then getting some cleaning in…need to start a new book today to fill the hours…more later…

Well…about 2:45 this afternoon, I noticed that the little weather widget at the bottom of the screen said it was 58 degrees out here so I decided to go out for a third ride and this time in shorts for the last time this year…put Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” in the ears and it started to rain as soon as I left here but that was okay since I had my rain gear on…not sure if this is the latest in the year that I’ve been out in shorts but it has to be close…I do remember being out on New Years day in shorts a few years back but that was that year without a winter when it never really snowed at all and I could ride outdoors all winter…oh, I did make it to 5,000 miles for the year with doing the third ride…might even be able to add another hundred miles by the end of the year…

Well…having a heck of a time getting started this morning with the first cup of coffee just poured and only one sip in me…it’s a fresh coffee day today and I always like those…slept okay and only woke up a couple of times then dragged myself out of bed around 6 and that’s pretty normal…going to get on the bike as soon as it gets light since I need to get three rides in if I’m going to get to 5,000 miles today…watching “A Christmas Story” and it still makes me laugh after all these years….didn’t eat a lot yesterday with only having a bowl of soup and I’m not sure how that is going to effect the rides today…my legs will probably be flat but they feel okay right now…not sure what else I’m going to do today…probably a load of laundry and maybe some cleaning but I did some of that yesterday so maybe I’ll just wing it a bit…sure hope cleaning the bike took care of the problems I was having yesterday…not much to do today…just need to get going but that’s not happening right now…so I’ll just pour more coffee down and wait for the light…more later…

Well…just a had a visit from a friend and his dog and it was a lot of fun…I did get two bike rides in outdoors today and then had to wash the bike since there was so much dirt, sand, and leaves on it that had jammed the front shifter and started to make a lot of noise…will take it out again in the morning to try to get two rides in before the rain comes in and it looks like it will be warm enough as soon as the sun comes up…I should get to 5,000 miles tomorrow and then everything after that will be gravy…the Lions won today and that makes them NFC North champions for the first time since 1994 with an 11-4 record…so now maybe some playoff football for the first time since I was much younger…now it’s time to make ice for the cocktails tonight…

Well…I really thought that today was going to be one of those days when you wake up at 5 and just know you won’t get back to sleep…but then I looked at the phone again and it was 6:26 so I guess I was wrong…and I can get going on the bike this morning at first light since it is 45 already and the wind is cooperating, too at only 6 out of the SE…so I’ll have both rides in before 11 and then can get on to doing nothing the rest of the day…I think the Lions play at 1 so maybe I’ll just veg out this afternoon…need to use the soup I made the other day and I need to keep with the one meal a day thing I’ve got going to keep losing weight…didn’t get a lot done but the rides and cooking yesterday and just need to clean the kitchen up a bit today so that shouldn’t take long…going to voltaren my right thigh before I get on the bike today since it hurt like crazy yesterday…my whole right leg hurt from my hip down and now the damn gout is back and my right big toe is killing me,,,might try voltaren on that, too, just to see if something works on that…not much to do today…just the rides to get started and then I’ll wing it from there…more later,,,

Well…yeah, I didn’t do a political one today since I got so far behind with getting two rides in outside and then making the big ham and everything that goes with it…so, of course I’m still full and will only do one meal today…might have some cheese and crackers with ham and stone ground mustard later and that will count for my second meal…they’ve closed the beach road…hmmm…I think I talked about that yesterday so I won’t go on about it again today…I did get the tires all aired up on the car and bike today and got to use my new digital pressure gauge and it’s pretty cool for 9 bucks…the car tires were down about 6-7 pounds since I haven’t checked them in a long time…now I have them all within  a half pound of each other…okay…still have stuff to do so I’ll end here…

Well…up and down last night and finally out of bed at 6:14 but I feel okay so I’ll take it…it’s warm enough at 41 to get out on the bike as soon as it gets light so I’m going to try to get two rides in this morning before I start the ham on the grill….and it looks like I’ll be able to ride outdoors for the next couple of days and that is such a change from last year when I was off the bike from ice on the trail from Thanksgiving until March…crap…Man U plays at 7:30 so that throws a wrench into my plans…so maybe I’ll cook early and ride in the afternoon…had an okay day yesterday with getting lots of miles in and hope to do that again today…should probably clean a bit today but that could wait til tomorrow…need to find a new book to read today after finishing the Clarke yesterday and I’m not sure what genre I want to get into…scifi or mystery? I guess we’ll see later…the coffee needs to work right now so I can get on with it but I wonder why? One of these days I’m going to break the spell of doing things and just relax for a while…could that be today? Probably not but I can think about it….more later…

Well…it was a good day today and I got two rides in downstairs and then went out and did a ride outside for a total of 31 today…and I did the math and I only have 73 more to go to get to 5,000 for the year when I really thought I’d be lucky to get to 3,000…and I’m not too sore today but my damn right thigh hurt on the whole outside ride so I’ll have to voltaren it tomorrow if I get out…along with my right thumb…and my damn gout is back again so I’m drinking tons of water since not getting enough is the cause of it for me…I am so happy with the repairs I made to the bike and I’m even getting used to the new pedals with figuring out where my feet have to be on them to be comfortable…they closed the beach road gates today and that means they won’t be moving any sand until spring and I’ll have to cut the loop out that goes to my water stop on the boardwalk in  a couple of days…and make it up by riding past downtown and then looping back to here…and that will be okay since I want to look at the lights they have up downtown and see if anything has changed…break time…

Well..the pattern holds with waking up around 4 and the out of bed before 6…only two sips of coffee into the first cup and I need to pour it down to get moving…have an errand to run this morning then I’m going to try to get two rides in outdoors but it’s looking like I’m going to be a little short on getting to 5,000 miles this year and I’m okay with that…tried hard and worked my ass off to get there but how can I be disappointed with what used to be a triumph? I did make the potato soup with kielbasa yesterday and it came out great…now the question is do I make the ham today or tomorrow? Think I ate too much with two meals yesterday so I’ll have to cut back to one today and that means just a bowl of soup so I’ll make the ham tomorrow….didn’t get enough done yesterday but I don’t feel like doing anything right now at 6:49….I am going to take a day off at some point…yeah, that made me laugh, too….that’s probably not going to happen…not much to do today…just the errands and bike rides…might do one downstairs if it doesn’t warm up soon enough…the days start getting longer today and I’m up for that…more later…

Well…happy winter solstice to everyone….slept okay last night but the morning pattern is getting to be a bore with getting up at 3, 5, and then out of bed at 6:10…and it’s still going to be too damn cold to go outdoors on the bike until this aft if I get out at all…so I’ll start the day with two rides indoors…and then make some potato soup for lunch…I did buy another ham so that will be cooked tomorrow and that will keep me fed for another week…so that puts making ham soup after new years…didn’t get much done yesterday but I will try to get some cleaning done today….it’s going to get into the 50’s for a couple of days but with rain so I may miss getting outdoors for the end of the year…it looks like I’m not going to make 5,000 miles for the year but I gave it a good try…ate two meals yesterday and I feel pretty guilty about that…need to try to do three rides today to have 31 miles in to get closer but I’m not too motivated right now…not much to do today…just going to have coffee and sit here a bit…have a little over an hour before I need to get on the bike and I want the coffee to start working….more later…