Well…darn, what an unproductive day…I did get the two rides in this morning but that was about it….didn’t even get out to the beach since I needed to give my skin a break after all of the sun this week…and my beach chair is falling apart after 15 years so I need to find another one but this late in the summer, it’s not easy to find a cheap one….and I still have two months to go out to the beach….I did go down to the fishing contest that was supposed to be a big deal at Heritage landing but I just laughed when there were just a couple of canopies and about 5 guys standing around when there was supposed to be live music and a beer tent….so that was a bust and all I did after that was water parts of the lawn and gardens…and cooked…need to get some room in the freezer since aldi’s has chicken leg quarters for 59 cents a pound starting wed or 5.90 for a 10 pound bag….so that will be my protein for the week….I sure hope I can be more productive tomorrow….and I am going to the beach….with the temp approaching 90…

Well…it’s been a good week up here and pretty quiet but I can feel that’s going to stop tonight and I’ll be making some noise calls to get them to shut the hell up….the guy with the crap brown suv to the south of me is testing the waters right now with turning his stereo on and off after a couple of minutes to try to avoid someone making a call on him…and that is the guy that someone else called on the other day and that kept my streak of not calling going until today….and that is something I don’t understand…how enjoyable is it to sit in your car turning the stereo up and down every couple of minutes so the cops won’t catch you? I think some of these folks are addicted to the thump, thump, thump and need to have it or why else would they tempt a fine just to hear their music…exactly this thing was discussed out on jalopnik the other day when they reported that Florida has a new law that says if you can hear the stereo outside of the car, they can be pulled over and fined 112 dollars….and I couldn’t believe the support for people being able to blast their stereos there…calling it just another excuse to pull over minorites…but I had to retort and ask them if they’ve ever lived anywhere where 150 cars a day go by thumping their music with up to 85db from it in their living rooms? Not one of them have had to endure that so I told them they shouldn’t really be commenting if they don’t have any experience with it…otherwise, it’s just an opinion not supported by evidence. Didn’t go over well….I think there should be the same ordinance here to make this a livable city where people can have their windows open without having to listen to that crap….and maybe go to an event or to the beach without some ass pulling in and blasting the entire place….I think that needs to be suggested when I talk to the city commission at the end of the month…

Well…damn, running late this morning with not getting out of bed til almost 7….and the two day rule is in effect today with my legs hurting a bit after the long ride thurs…and they are pretty stiff, too, but I am going to get on the bike here in a few minutes to get two rides in before the F1 sprint race at 10:30….I do need a day off at some point and I think today would be a good day for that but I know I won’t take it off….there was a miracle last night when there was no campfire smoke, no loud music, and no fireworks and that made it a pretty relaxing night….it’s been a pretty good week out here and I sure hope it lasts through today….I did get some garden work done yesterday with weeding and moving two cuke plants from the end of the garden into the open spot where I was supposed to have my peppers but only have 3 that came up….cukes need a lot of room and I really didn’t want to have to move them when I mow the lawn….some damn animal has attacked one of my sunflowers and ate part of the flower that hasn’t even opened yet and that sucks….probably one of the squirrels…I did have one of the young ones eat out of my hand the other day and that was pretty cool….not much to do today….just going to water the lawn and fool around a bit after the bike rides…I do need a day off at some point…I am just damn tired but I have 7 minutes and I have to get on the bike….more later….

Well…okay, this is weird….after doing 75 miles on the bike yesterday, my legs don’t hurt at all….not even a little stiff and they should be…how the hell did that happen? At my age, they should be howling in pain this morning but they feel pretty good…I guess I’ll see when I get on the bike here in a minute if I’ll have any effect of the long ride….didn’t get out of bed until almost 6:45 this morning so I guess that is an effect of the ride…I’m sure I didn’t have enough calories yesterday with only a brat and 4 chicken drumsticks and burning over 3,000 but that’s okay…the long ride is never about the calories…just proving to myself that I can still do it…didn’t get out to the beach yesterday with the ride and the scorching I did to myself Wed but I am going out there today….and I will have 50 sunscreen slathered on me for the rides this morning that will last for the beach…I do need to do a better job of taking care of my skin…didn’t get anything done yesterday but pick some beans and water some of the lawn and it looks like today will be the same…I am going to have to ease back into working on this place soon or I think I’ll never do it…kinda used to doing whatever I want and I have lost all my discipline for the first time in my life…is that a good thing? It is what I was going for taking the summer off…to finally be able to just live and fool around without being bound to a schedule like I have my entire life….okay, need to get going…have 11 minutes to get on the bike and still need to do my teeth and slather the sunscreen on…more later….

Well…just a bit after I got back here from the ride, I was sitting here doing a couple of these and catching up on the news when I heard the moron that lives to south of me crank the music up in his piece of crap brown SUV and try to have a party in his yard…thumping the whole damn neighborhood and I was minutes from calling central dispatch and reporting him again but a miracle happened…someone else must have called since a police car pulled up and shut him down…again…and I didn’t have to call! I really hope that this is a trend…that other people in this neighborhood are getting used to it being quiet and are taking it into their hands, too…I don’t hold out a lot of hope that is what is going to happen but I’ll take one time and hope for more….maybe these loud asses will get the hint?

Well…damn, just finished the 6 1/2 hours of my “ride my age day” to get to 75 miles…and no, I’m not 75 but I have to ride laps in multiples of 15 since that is how long they are so 5 laps at 15 miles each gets me to 75 miles for the day…and the worst lap was the third one for some reason…just no energy and had a struggle on the homeward leg so I made sure to eat something when I got back here for my water refill….and that helped on laps 4 and 5 and I still had enough energy to sprint a bit on the way back since I knew I could leave it all on the trail….it is kind of a relief to get this done before my birthday and it is a little cool that I didn’t plan it so I didn’t have time to worry about it….now I’m good til next year…I think I may have earned a cocktail tonight….I know I can eat a big dinner so I may have 4 chicken legs and corn on the cob…yummy….I’m sore…..

Well…I didn’t really plan this but it looks like today is ride my age day…this is a little test I do every year to make sure I still have it in me to do 75 miles in one day…and I’ve got 30 in so far so only 3 more laps of my 15 mile route….that should take about 6 1/2 hours of seat time for the day…feel pretty good so far but I do have to remember that I am going a long distance and takes a completely different mindset than my normal sprint days…so I won’t be back here until around 3 this afternoon for a recap….more later…oh, and I get to eat whatever I want after I’m done with burning 3,000 calories on the bike today….

Well…yep, got scorched yesterday and I’m already starting to peel from it…and that is the first time I can remember that happening in a long time…so, I guess that means no sand and sun for me today….and that’s okay…my ears were full of water again yesterday and they even hurt a bit so I am going to have to get some swimmers earplugs and I wonder what happened to make them fill up when they never did before? Oh, well….I did sleep okayish last night but was up at 3 am for the first time and then out of bed a little before 6…was good last night and feel it this morning…it seems to take so long to get moving in the morning these days but I’ll be on the bike by 7 or so anyway and that may just help….I do need to cook today and I have lots of protein that I got on the grocery run…got some chicken legs for 99cents a pound and some pork chops for 1.49 so I’m set on that for the rest of the week…and I need to make another batch of potato salad since that comes in handy when I don’t feel like cooking…so today is going to be chicken legs smothered in bullseye along with an ear of corn and some green beans then I need to marinate some chops for tomorrow….going to be back at watering the lawn again today and really don’t want to see my water bill this month….ow….I did get some different garden food yesterday and need to give the beans and sunflowers a jolt  and I even have two cuke plants that could probably use a bit, too….really need to work on the garden today and I think I’ll do that instead of the beach….I have a few tomatoes that are growing but it still looks like a month before I have any ripe….not sure why I’m a month later than last year and I do need to start finding recipes to use them while I have them….not much to do today….the only plan I have is the bike rides and garden work and then to just wing it for the rest of the day….I do have to remember to put on sunscreen before the bike ride this morning…my skin just won’t take any more abuse and I have tons of 50 spf lotion in the drawer…cripes, my head is peeling….oh, well….more later….

Well…darn, I could get used to this…out to the beach again today to take advantage of the lake being just perfect to swim in and the center of the lake buoy says it is even 68 degrees all the way out there…so it must be over 70 inshore by the beach….all I know was this was the first day I didn’t have to get used to the water at all and it was completely flat and nice to walk in and out without getting beat around like you’re in a mixer….but I do think I made a mistake…normally when I go out I have sunscreen on from riding the bike but today it was cloudy and I forgot to apply it so I was out there with bare skin and I got pretty scorched so I think I’ll need aloe later….I do need to put a tube of screen in the cooler just in case I want to stay out there longer than two hours….I think I’m going to need a new beach chair since mine is starting to come apart in place and it should with being 15 years old…probably will have to buy a nicer one but it still has to be small so I can fit it in the trunk….hmmmm….

Well…darn, another 5:04 morning and that makes it another 5 hour night of sleep and that sucks…but is pretty normal for me…at least I’m not depressed this morning…or not as depressed I should say…not sure if I’ll ever not be depressed completely since I don’t remember ever being that way….I did sleep okay even if short and need to get moving here in  few minutes if I want to get on the bike by 7am to get the first ride in before the grocery run…it did rain again last night but the weather channel missed it completely and didn’t have any rain in the forecast…but now that means no more rain for the next 10 days or so and that means more cash going into the lawn…the flowers I planted along the back of the house are blooming now and it looks pretty cool to have all of the styles and colors back there…and my sunflowers are getting close to opening but they are going to be small since they are only about 4 feet tall right now but are supposed to be “giant” and 8 feet tall or so….might have to feed them more….need to look for garden fertilizer at menards when I hit there this morning….didn’t get much done yesterday other than getting the phone thing straightened out and today will probably be the same….I do have the two store grocery run to do along with menards this morning and I want to get started on that around 8 or so after I get back from the first ride….I was counting on it raining tomorrow to get a day off and get some rest but that is not happening now so I may have to schedule one…yeah, I laughed at that one, too….not ever going to happen and I still need to ride my age here in the next week and I do need to start planning for that today…only 5 laps of the 15 mile route but that will keep me on the bike for 6 hours or so and I’m not sure if I’m eating enough to support that…I do have the electrolyte drink mixes my daughter sent and those will be a help but I probably should have some pasta for a couple of days before to load up…more later…