Well…after feeling so darn worn out the past few days, I decided to take it easy today…and I think I may have a cold…at least that’s what I feel and have a bit of a sore throat…I even took it easy on the bike this morning to try to heal up my legs…a funny thing happened this morning that made me laugh…for some reason I got the thought that I have only replaced the batteries once since I bought my house almost 6 years ago…so I took a look at the face of it and the low battery warning was flashing on the display…weird, huh? Not sure how long it has been doing that so I took it off the wall and replaced the batteries and I still like the idea that it keeps all of my settings even when the batteries are changed…so that took all of 2 minutes and will probably be good til I die…I did get to ride through the construction work this morning and that was a good thing but it looks like they still have a couple of months to go to finish it since they have just done the first layer of asphalt and 1/4 mile of the trail is gone still…it looks like they are going to shrink the road a bit and take away the parking spots that were on the north side of Lakeshore and replace them with another trail which makes no sense…I’ll bet the people who live there are not happy with losing their on street parking…I did have a flat back tire when I got on the bike yesterday so I put a new tube in it and then checked the old one to find the leak in the downstairs sink…but I couldn’t find it so I put more air in it and set it in the bike room just to see if it would hold air…as of this morning it is still aired up so I guess the valve must not have been tight since I took it out to let the air out for changing the rear tire…so now I still have 4 good tubes and that should get me through a few years…okay, need to continue to take it easy and read a bit…

Well…darn, just noticed I didn’t come here for another post late yesterday and I’ll try to make up for it today with 4…up and moving this morning at 5:38 but with how cold it is out there the rides won’t start until 8 or so…and that means I need to figure out a schedule for the day…yeah, I know…I really don’t need a schedule anymore but it’s a habit that I haven’t been able to break…so, do I go out at 38 degrees or sit here for a while? Probably sit here and drink a lot of coffee to gain the energy I need to get started…need to figure out meals for a few days and I think I’ll do the grocery run Tuesday to get some chicken from aldis that will cover me for the next week…and I think there will be some pasta to use up the 6 jars of pasta sauce I have in the pantry…and I can use one of them to make another batch of chicken/potatoes/carrots/rice in the cast iron half dutch oven that will last until I cook a turkey for t-day…my body protested the rides yesterday and my legs felt so damn flat with lots of pain so today is going to be one of “leisure” ride days that I should do at least once a week to give them a little rest…have less than 100 miles to go to get to 7,000 for the year and while that’s 2K less than last year, it’s still not bad for an old guy and I still have 6 weeks to go this year…okay, need more coffee and a bagel for fuel….more later…

Well…didn’t drag my butt out of bed til after 6am this morning and that can be good and bad…good that I slept more but bad that now I’m behind for the day…yeah, I know, I don’t have a schedule anymore and I am working on just winging it but I’m not good at it yet…oh, well…my damn skin cracked on both thumbs so now every time I shift the bike it hurts like crazy and this is in addition to the long term pain in my right thumb from arthritis so I treated that a few minutes ago to see if that will help…it’s not 40 out there so it’s going to be a cold ride when I get out by 7 but I think I know how to dress for it…but I know my feet and hands will be white when I get back from the damn reynauds that I’ve had for a few years now…and that hurts like crazy but there is nothing you can do about it…have thought about some heated socks and gloves and I may yet buy some but they are not cheap…the new power band is pretty cool and I’ve only used 7% power in 5 days so it will last weeks before I need to charge it…didn’t have a bagel yesterday but I am going to take time for one this morning since I need fuel to ride the bike after under eating for a few days now….not sure what I’m going to do after the rides but will probably just read with the heating pad on…don’t really have much to clean and food will still be leftovers today…need to take another container of soup out of the freezer to use them up before I make a turkey in a couple of weeks…more later…

Well…after doing an indoor ride this morning and making lunch, I decided to drag the bike up the stairs and go out to see if I was close on the adjustments…and I was but the thing about it is the shifter and the rest of the parts are so worn out that I’ll never get it better than it is now…which is okay…at least I have downshifts again and the front shifter works so I can ride it without it being a pain in the ass…so I went out for a 15 miler and it was good…I like the new rear tire and the bike looks normal again…so I’m going to have to order the rebuild parts to have them here when the chain starts skipping soon…the 7th gear teeth are no longer square as they should be but have worn down into points and the fronts have done the same thing so that means they don’t have much life left in them…I just hope they last until outdoor riding is over for the year…30 days or so and that means another 900 miles so I’m not sure it will make it…we’ll see…I did get my pump sprayer out and sprayed the weeds that are taking over the yard but still have 3/4ths of it to do before the snows start…let the weeds grow last year and when the snow melted they had taken over the whole yard so I hope this works…okay, time to settle in for the night…I just discovered that Jeffrey Deaver, who does the “Reacher” books had another of his characters “Lincoln Ryme” turned into a tv show and I’ll start the night watching that on plex…

Well…damn, this is weird…didn’t get out of bed until 6:15 and now I’m just taking it easy since I’m only going to do one ride indoors this morning with it only 33 degrees out there with wind and snow showers…and I need to do the fine tuning on the outdoor bike later and may do one outdoor ride but no rush for any of it…and I really don’t know how to act without bring in a rush…so I’m going to sit here and have coffee while I think of something to say…I am going to get to the leaves either Sat or Monday to get them out for pickup…oh, happy Friday the 13th for those who celebrate…boy, this not rushing is harder than it looks…I do need to figure out meals for this week and I may make the 99cent pizzas I bought at DD and thaw the last of the chicken to have mixed in with pasta…I bought a spicy vodka pasta sauce when the Prego stuff was on sale a couple of weeks back that I’d like to try so that will be 4 days of meals…not much to do today…just the one indoor ride and maybe a little cleaning with a load of laundry later…got some grease on my bike rug so that is in the washer with dish soap pretreating it…maybe I’ll do a load of rugs this morning…don’t want to have clothes in with the rugs….more later…

Well…after suiting up ad heading out in the cold this morning, I remembered that the bike has been acting screwy when I was shifting both the front and back shifters…the back one wouldn’t shift down and I had run out of adjustment for it and it reminded me of a cable starting to fail like has happened before…so, after crippling though the two rides, I carried the bike downstairs to let it warm up enough so I could work on it…didn’t want to do it outdoors since it was cold and raining…so, after I had my coffee, I went down to get started with first taking out the old rear cable and yep, it had started to fray inside the sheaths that it runs in and I could barely get it out and that’s probably why it was hard to downshift…so I put a new cable in and flipped it over to attach the cable to the shifter and adjust it…then I worked on adjusting the front shifter since it was not working right either…so now I think I have them right but couldn’t go out to test it with the rain off ad on all day…and I just didn’t want to get cold again…while I had the bike upside down, I adjusted both the front and back wheel bearings and put the new tire on the back so now they match again…and then lubed everything with light oil to keep it from rusting and sticking..and all of that took about an hour and a half and I noticed that the the whole driveline is about worn out and I hope it lasts until I put the bike downstairs for the winter…I’ll have to order the parts soon so I can replace the front crankset, the rear cassette, the rear shifter, and the chain and that will be almost 100 bucks but it needs to be done…and I probably should do that to the black bike, too but maybe not…it’s nice to have a parts bike…time to read…

Well…damn, I’m exhausted this morning and it even entered my head to not ride at all today but I know that’s not going to happen…and this is an extension of how I felt yesterday…no energy at all but I just poured the first cup of coffee so we’ll see how that works in a few minutes…didn’t get up til 5:25 today but was up and down all night…man, I hope I can take a nap later…tomorrow may be the first time in a while that I’ll be on the indoor bike since it’s supposed to only be 30 with snow showers…and that cold is going to last for a few days…oh, well…it is November in Michigan….I do like the new power bank I bought and it looks like it will last for about a month before I need to charge it again…I think I’ll pick the leaves up this weekend and whatever is left over I’ll just leave on the lawn…might go out to depot this morning t look for a new snow shovel but that is going to depend on if I can muster any energy after the rides…and yeah, I’m going out in a few minutes in the cold and dark…not much to do today but a little cleaning after the rides…got so cold yesterday that I was under the heating pad all day and I think that will be needed again….more later…

Well…it has been a good day so far but it started way too early…out of bed at 4:30 and on the bike about 5:30 to get both rides done before the grocery run…and I did that but I think I have a rear shift cable fraying inside the shifter since the downshifts have become very hard and erratic…so when we have the cold weather later this week, I may take the bike downstairs to tear it apart just to see what’s happening…I have a bunch of extra cables so no big deal…adjusting it is always a pain but I’ve done it enough so I know how to do it…the new power bank ran the mp-3 player for 2 1/2 hours today and hasn’t moved off the 99% it started with so that’s cool…after the rides, I started off on the grocery run and I hadn’t driven the car in a week so the tires took a bit to become round again just like when I got back from Italy but in about 4 miles they were okay again…got two more furnace filters from menards so I’m set for the winter with the new one I put in yesterday…nice to have spares since this house is so dusty…then over to aldis where I started to get the stuff I need for t-day and discovered another new mustard…this one is a honey/dijon and I can’t wait to try it…then to Meijers to continue to build the t-day dinner and use up some coupons…and then over to DD to get some buffalo turkey slices and ham for 99cents for a half pound…so now I’m set til I get the turkey in a week or so…took a container of ham soup out and still have two left before I’ll make some turkey with the carcass after t-day and put that in the freezer…the car was just so much fun to tear around in today…and I even put the top down for the run to DD and home…it was only 37 when I went out on the bike but I dressed for it so I was comfortable…and the heater in the car is more than capable of keeping me warm with the top down in the cold…got gas at Meijers for 3.77 today so I filled the car up and won’t need gas again for a month…okay, time to read…

Well…I really don’t know why I do this to myself but I was out of bed at 4:45 this morning to get 2 rides in before I head out for the grocery run…and it’s only 37 out there but I am going to see if I really do have the thermasuit figured out…okay…the weather widget disagrees with my phone and says it’s 42 so that’s a little better but I’m still going full thermasuit just to get ready for the 31 degree low tomorrow morning…slept okay last night and feel okay this morning but I could have slept in if I didn’t have the run to do…oh, well…I put the last new furnace filter in yesterday so I need to stop at menards on the run to get a couple more so I can change it out in Feb…I did get my new power bank yesterday and I’ll try that out this morning after charging it up to 99%…sure hope it lasts like the first one so I can get a week or so out of it…it appears to work just like the first one, too so I don’t have to learn anything new…have the lights charged, too so I can see out there…it doesn’t appear that the wind is blowing too hard so that will make for okay rides…going to pick up the leaves Sat and call it good for the year so I can put them out Tues…going to start getting the t-day meal bought today so I’ll have everything ready for smoking the turkey….more later…

Well…today was an easier day after all the work yesterday and all I did was continue to clean off the dining room table and got food out of the freezer to use later in the week…the rides were really cool this morning with getting out for the first one before 6am…it was dark and clear and the stars made the sky look huge and when I got to the beach, Orion was right in front of me over the lake and that was really cool, too…on the way back on the 2nd ride, the sky had started to lighten up with just a few wisps of clouds on the horizon that lent some pink color to the sunrise…very nice rides today but it gets progressively colder overnight until the lows are near freezing and even a little below…but I know the thermasuit to use for those temps and I can take the cold…don’t know how but I am getting used to it…still not going as hard as I can and that is still working to keep the pain from my legs so I’ll keep that up for a few days to let the healing continue…I did get my new power bank today and it is exactly the same size and weight as the earlier one and I figured out what I’ll do with the old one…I’ll charge it as high as it will go and then stash it and a cable in the bike bag to charge the front light if it goes dead while I’m riding…need to still use it since it does still work…okay, just started a new book and want to read a bit…