Well…got two rides in this morning but it was just brutal going into the 20mph+ wind and it gusted so hard on the point that it almost stopped me dead in my tracks…I think I may have injured my right thigh from it, too, since it now hurts just sitting here…and it was cold enough that I needed gloves and double socks to make it bearable…it was only 48 when I went out at 8:15 and it had not really warmed up much for the second ride…a finger on my left hand was white from it and it took about 20 minutes to get the feeling back in it…but I think part of that is just my hands doing what they do every day and getting numb after 25 miles or so…I really did think about abandoning the second ride but kept slogging forward until I got past the point and then the trail was a little sheltered from the NW wind…and that made the ride back a top gear sprint all the way from the beach and that was fun…but now I just want to sit here and stay warm…and maybe find a political topic for later…who knows?

Well…it’s really disappointing when you wake up and then lie in bed for what seems like a long time and it’s still only 7 when you get out of bed…and I’m still pretty darn sore today with my back and obliques still howling at me and I sure don’t know how I could have hurt them this much…will have to think about that so I don’t do it again….had an okay day yesterday but didn’t get a lot done and today looks the same….going to clean in here a bit and maybe get two rides in but it’s only 44 out there so that will wait a while and I am enjoying that the weather change won’t allow me to get out for a while…I know I’m going to have to go to my full thermasuit soon and I probably should have yesterday with my hands and feet getting pretty cold but that means a season has changed and I’m not ready to accept that yet….I am thinking about doing a color tour in a couple of weeks and it will be the first one out here so I’ll need to look at some maps to see where I want to go….I do have gps on my phone so that should help…I do need to get started on looking at the suggestions my daughter has been sending me for our UK trip so I’ll be ready for the zoom meeting later in the month with the travel agent…it’s a lot of work that I wasn’t expecting…and I need to call spectrum since I haven’t gotten any info on my colonoscopy that is scheduled for later in the month, too, but not now…I’m taking the weekend off to just relax for a bit….not much to do today…need to get everything done before the Michigan game at noon and there are a couple of races on later that I will be able to nap to…need to decide if I want to go out on the bike early in full thermasuit or not…don’t want to…it’s nice and warm in here and it’s only 44 out there…more later…

Well…yeah, I know I said that I was going to take the day off the bike but when I went out to the garage to get the gallon of coolant I bought last week to water it down to 50/50, it felt okay and warm enough to go so I checked the temp and it was 51 but felt warmer up here so I suited up and got out but when I got down the hill, the wind was blowing like crazy out of the NE so the ride out was okay but it was brutal coming back…and it was just about glove time and my hands were cold by the time I got back here and I am still cold even with taking a hot shower and now in sweats….but it was nice to get out and now I only feel half guilty and can have dinner today….and I have a clean garage! Just stood there and looked at it when I got back here….and I have a clean car, too….and tonight I get to have my one night of cocktails and catch up on some tv….

Well…it’s 12:42 and it’s still only 47 degrees out there so it looks like it’s going to be a day off the bike for me…I know I’m going to have to get used to the cold here pretty soon if I want to keep riding outside but not today…I am going to use the pain in my back and sides as an extra excuse since it still hurts to just sit here and it won’t get better if I strain them more today….I do need to try to get the feeling of enjoyment that I used to have on days off back again but I’m not sure how to do that…I’m terrible about just living in the moment and my mind races to think about what I should be doing even though I accomplished a lot this week….I used to be able to sit in front of the tv on days off and enjoy an old movie or two and now I have thousands of them available on plex and other streaming services but I can’t sit still long enough to do that…maybe I should see a shrink? I should be able to figure this out since I do have a degree in psych but I haven’t been successful at it yet….oh, well….I probably shouldn’t bitch too much…life is still okay and, as I always used to say to my kids when they had a normal problem that they were blowing out of proportion, “you’ll live through it”…and I probably will…

Well…as I’m taking it easy this morning, I was looking out the kitchen window and saw the leaves start to fall and it always makes me think of the song “Ramble On” by Led Zeppelin…”leaves are falling all around, time I was on my way, thanks to you I’m much obliged, for such a pleasant stay, but now it’s time for me to go, the Autumn moon lights my way, for now I smell the rain, and with it pain, and it’s headed my way”….it’s funny how much the events of living trigger me into thinking about music that I like….time is passing and I know I’m getting closer to the end but I’m not sad about that…maybe more introspective but not sad…I do find it kind of odd that I’m almost 70 and I’m still out there working on my car, cleaning the garage, riding my bike, and working on this house…when I was young, 70 was ancient and there were no old people doing this kind of stuff so I consider myself lucky….but I have done the work to stay healthy…I mean how many other almost 70 year olds ride their bikes over 5,000 miles a year? Here’s the weird thing….the other day I put my height and weight into a BMI calculator and, at 175 pounds, I am still considered almost obese…overweight at least, and I can’t figure that out….oh,well….more later…

Well…that was a strange night…woke up at 4 or so but went back to bed until 7 then just laid there until 7:44 and wanted to just not get out of bed at all…and I still feel that way…just frickin worn out and I may take the day off the bike today since it will be a long pants day if I don’t…it’s barely going to get over 50 this afternoon and I really need a day off after all the work this week….it’s only 40 out there right now and there is no way I can take that right now…I’m still very sore and moving gingerly today and that could be another reason to take a day off the bike…I wonder how that would work? And how do I cope with the guilt? Hmmm…I did get a lot of work done yesterday as I did all week and I should clean in here today and I just might…the bathroom can use some work as the kitchen does and I still have all of the tools to put away after working on the car yesterday….I really like the new electric toothbrush but it feels weird like you have a bunch of bees in your mouth as it vibrates….and it does clean better than the spinbrush….and I do like my phone a lot better with the new case on it…I can feel where the on button is when I had to look at it before…and it’s pretty grippy feels better than the naked phone that was just too thin….not much to do today….it’s 8:25 and I don’t want to do anything and my back and sides still hurt like crazy just sitting here so I am heading toward a day off….I think I may have done enough work this week to hold the guilt at bay if I do just hang out and do nothing…but, we’ll see…..more later….

Well…damn, getting old is literally a pain….after working on the car and garage the past couple of days, I can barely move my back and sides hurt so much…I guess bending to get in the wheel well to lube the parking brake is not such a good idea when you are getting old…but it has to be done at least once a year or they will hang up and leave the parking brakes on and you go nowhere….and I had to hit the rear suspension bushings with some wd to keep them from squeaking..again, at least once a year….and I think all of the sweeping and cleaning didn’t help much but I have been planning on doing that to the garage for quite a while now…and I just walked out to look at it a few minutes ago and it makes me feel good to have a clean space to store my car and tools in…I probably should have taken some ibuprofen when I finished up at 2:30 since it hurt to just reach for my laptop on the back of the couch but I still don’t want to take any more of them than is absolutely necessary…and the dust from all the sweeping has plugged my head up and I should have taken something for that, too…but, I’m an idiot and I would rather suffer and be able to bitch about it…yeah, I’m that weird…oh, well…I am done for the day…no more later…

Well…I’m still drinking coffee at 2:30 in the afternoon and there is something wrong with that…but I am not going to dump out good coffee or make it last for a third day….it’s been somewhat of a theme of being busy lately and I did it again today…I was able to get out on the bike as soon as it was light this morning so that meant I could get two rides in before 11 and then get the last of the lawn food on before lunch….right after lunch I got started on the car and while I was waiting for the rust preventer to dry, I thought it would be a good time to finish getting the sand out of it and then wash the glass and the plastic inside since that needed to be done…I had planned on doing that tomorrow but I had plenty of time just standing there so I thought I’d finish the car today….once I had that done, I decided to sweep the garage floor and that turned into sweeping the interior walls, too, and I could not believe how much dirt was on them…they probably had never been cleaned since the garage was built and there were so many cobwebs that I think they were helping hold the damn thing up….that took quite a while but it was worth it to have a clean garage for the first time since I bought this place…that took until 2 or so and I have just gotten cleaned up and here to do this one…so, I really do need to take a day off here soon….the rain just came in and that’s why I put the food on the lawn today…I love it when a plan comes together….now it’s time to relax and read some news…I think I’ve earned it…