Well…it finally looks like rain here after weeks of drought and it’s not too soon to keep my yard alive…but there is no way we are going to get the 5 inches to quench our deficit and that sucks…I did get the lawn mowed in between outdoor rides this morning so I guess that’s something…the rides were fun with the bike working like new but damn, it was windy and coming around the condo building and heading south stopped me in my tracks…almost…was down to 3rd gear on the back sprockets when I normally go through there in 7th but I made it with some work and I am stiff and sore from it..I did get to 2,000 miles for the year this morning and that’s cool but it’s almost 1,000 miles under where I was at this time last year so it looks like I won’t be getting to 8K miles this year…and I blame the damn cold weather that kept me inside almost to May this year…so I’m trying to make up for it by doing 26 miles a day and have a full week in of that but I’ll have to do that every day to get even close…didn’t get anything else done today and I am going to read this afternoon before I have to figure out what’s for dinner…I do have chicken in the freezer and aldis has it on sale for 2.19 a pound and I may buy another tray and then figure out how to cook it…don’t want masala so maybe just bake some to make sandwiches? Don’t need to figure that out right now…back to reading a I wait for the storms…yeah, right…that’s a laugh…

Well…this is weird…it’s over 70 here right now at 5:40 am and maybe spring is here? But it’s only going to be 59 for a high Wed with a low of 41 Tues night so nature is still screwing with us…trying the new dark roast coffee and I really can’t taste it so I guess it will be a good CDS anyway…it was cheap at 11 bucks for 35 ozs so I can live with it…I am going to get out on the bike as soon as it’s light so that give me about 45 minutes to get the weight work done and figure out if I’m going to mow today…it’s been 2 weeks since I did it last and I think it may need it since we’re supposed to get rain this aft and off and on for a few days…it still looks like it’s dying but it has spots that are still growing so I guess I can even it out…the wind is blowing over 15 right now so the rides are going to be a little work but I should have 26 miles in by 9 or or so and that would get me done for the day by around 10 if I get off my butt and get moving…I do have to figure out meals for the rest of the week but I do have the last frozen pizza to use with the mushrooms and green pepper in the fridge so that will probably be tomorrow…not much else to do today but aren’t the rides and mowing enough? More later…

Well…just got the coffee and earplugs I ordered yesterday and the can of dark roast Chock full o’nuts is huge…so I opened it to set up tomorrow’s coffee just to see what it’s like and if I like it, I’ll probably order another can to put in storage for later…not going to open the Lavazza beans since I still have a bag and a half of the 8 O’clock beans that I’ve had for a while…and I won’t buy that again since it went from 13 bucks for 38 ounces to 38 bucks for 40 ozs…the Chock is all Arabica beans which is supposed to be pretty good as is the Lavazza so I have a lot of stuff to try over the next few weeks…and the ear plugs are supposed to lower the noise by 37db which will be cool…and for 7 bucks for 60 pair that is a pretty good deal..okay, sitting here in the living room and I can smell the new ground coffee…yay!

Well…I worked on the new/old wheel this morning and got it on the bike after changing out the cassette, putting the tube protector in, and putting a new tire on and I can’t believe how well it works…dead straight and the ratchet works like new…it’s step up from the wheels that came on the gray bike…a Weinmann and they make good wheels…glad I saved them from my first mountain bike, a Motobecane 400DS and was able to use them after having them laying around for more than 10 years…I greased the bearings with some moly wheel bearing grease that I don’t use anymore since the wheel bearings on the Miata are all sealed and it is so smooth and quiet that it made me grin…now if it just lasts until winter and then I’ll buy a new bike…yay!

Well…crap…the ratchet on the used wheel from the black bike failed at the bottom of the hill on the way back this morning so I’m down to my last wheel and I sure hope this one works…just painted it and now I need to let the paint dry before I mount the tire and transfer the cassette and axle…I do need to tape off the ends of the spokes on the inside of the wheel to make sure I don’t get a flat…I think I’ll head out to the last bike shop here in Muskegon just to see if I can order a wheel that will work but that is going to be a ridiculous amount of money and I wonder if I’d be better off getting a new bike and the parts to convert the gearing to road bike that will cost me another 70 bucks on top of the 450 for a new bike…oh, well…at least I was able to take the brake pads from the black bike and replace the worn out ones with them…there wasn’t much pad material left on them…I did try to work on the wheel but it’s not dry yet so that will wait a while…

Well…damn, I’m running late today with not getting out of bed til almost 6 and needing to get out on the bike by 6:30 to get the first ride in before Man U plays at 7:30…so no time to do the weight work…again…but I’ll do that during the match…not sure when I’ll get the 2nd ride in with Indy qualifying rescheduled to 9:30 this morning and running all day…I hurt so much after the 26 miles in yesterday that I had to take an ibuprofen and I hope that works on my hands and elbows since that is where the worst pain is…I did make extra coffee this morning since I’m going to want more than the three mugs that I could have without it…as I said in the last post yesterday, I did lay in a bunch of coffee before the price explodes worse than it has…and I really did want to try the Lavazza beans that I’ve heard a lot about…and I paid a premium over what I used to pay for the 5 o’clock but now it’s almost 50% more than it was…so I’ll have coffee for the whole summer or close to it…not sure what else I’ll get done today but I have no plans to clean other than the kitchen floor and I may not get to that…going to be able to see the pink sunrise this morning and it looks pretty cool from here…I did have to make a call on the rental sine they were out there blasting their music all damn day and I’m not going to take it this year…more later…

Well…was out on the bike before 7am this morning and that meant I was done with two rides before 9am and got 26 miles in today…and the rides were fun even though at 56 degrees my right ring finger had turned white from the Raynaud’s that just sucks…the trail is open up the hill to the beach after they finished the rebuild of both the road and the trail…it was so cool to be back to the old routine of dropping into the tunnel of trees from the right direction…and they even had the trail by the beach completely clear of sand…I know they did it for the obstacle course run but it was still nice to go clockwise again and get back to the old routine…with the huge increase in coffee prices that is coming, I bought myself some ground and beans today…Chock full o’nuts ground at 11 bucks for a 35 oz can and Lavazza whole beans for 21 bucks for 2 1/2 pounds…and that was 15% off on sale on amazon…and I bought a bucket of 60 pairs of foam earplugs for 7 bucks since I’m out of the ones I was using…the silicone ones I use for the lawnmower are no good for sleeping in that they hurt my ear canals before the night is over…so I spent some money today but I saved that in one week of not drinking so I don’t feel bad about it…back to reading…

Well…damn, it’s 6am and I feel like this day is already getting away from me and I need to get off my butt and get going or the day will be a total loss…have decisions to make right now about what rides I’m going to do…looking at the radar, it looks like I have a window to get an outdoor ride in as soon as it gets light but then another batch of rain is coming in that will push me back downstairs unless I want to miss some of qualifying day at Indy…it is warm enough to go out in shorts if I go this morning but I really don’t like having my day disrupted like this…or am I moving on into spring/summer mode on the bike? Whatever it is, I need to have everything done before 11 am when qualifying starts…I wonder why I feel like such a slug with only getting 21 miles on the bike yesterday…that should be enough to feel good about it but my brain won’t let me do that when there was a possibility of 34 miles…yeah, I know, that’s sick but that’s me, too…so today looks like Indy qualifying and reading for the day after getting cleaning done yesterday…really need to do the kitchen floor and do the baseboards but I’m not sure if I’ll do that or not…I am going to treat my left elbow and right thumb with lidocaine since they hurt like crazy this morning and I need my thumb to shift….more later….

Well…I cut the riding back to only 21 miles today so I could get some work done around here…and I did get the living room cleaned from top to bottom including getting the couch cleaned and the cushions rotated along with getting the cover washed…it is nice to have a little firmness back into the cushions so I’m not sinking into them…I even dusted the tv and stand along with my stereo…and the rug really needed a vacuum so that’s done, too…didn’t get out on the bike in shorts today since it was only 49 when I went out and that is just too darn cold…but it was still a good ride…still pretty sore from yesterday’s ride and it’s weird that nothing hurt on the bike but my thumb and that always hurts so no big deal…made an omelet for dinner today to use up some of the mushrooms and green pepper that I bought to go on the last pizza in the freezer so that will have to be used in a few days…okay, the truck race is starting and I have reading to do…

Well…still in the pattern of getting up at 5am but last night was the worst sleep I’ve had in a while and I even tried to go back to bed after I got up and that didn’t work…oh, well…I am really sore after the first 34 mile day yesterday and I’m not doing that again today…maybe…but you know that I’m almost compelled to do it and I need to get going right now to get the indoor stuff done before it warms up enough to go outside…I do have lots of coffee for this morning after making extra yesterday and drinking it all day…and it appears that helped keep me not lose as much energy and crash around noon…but I’m not sure if it’s the coffee or eating more and I really should have only changed one variable so I could tell what works…going to clean the living room and rotate the couch cushions today since the dust is getting pretty bad…my eyes are still pretty good and I was able to watch tv all day yesterday without glasses on and that is a major reason why I’m staying off cocktails for the foreseeable future…and I do feel better so that’s a bonus…I did make a pork chop for dinner yesterday but could barely taste it so the rest of them will probably end up in the freezer…not much to do today…just cleaning and the normal stuff…it may be warm enough to open this place up but that will mean my allergies are going to go nuts just like they did on the outdoor rides yesterday from the mowing along the trail…more later…