Well…man, today is the first day in a long time I’m not going to get an outdoor ride in…it has been raining since I got up before 6am and it looks like we have 3 or 4 more hours of it before it’s over and I’m reveling in it…after the indoor rides, I got right after getting started on the basement and I have the tools all put away, lots of cobwebs have been vacuumed up along with cleaning the floor, and I took the AC unit out, cleaned and dried it, and put it away downstairs…so I think I’ve earned a little take it easy time before I get on to the weight work here in 15 minutes or so…have the grocery list done for tomorrow and really don’t have a lot to get so I’ll be eating out of the freezer for this week….it does feel strange to not even think about riding outdoors today but that is helping my thighs heal that I hurt yesterday in the wind…so now I’m going to read a bit and get out the weights…

Well…that was okay…went to bed at the normal time and just tossed and turned a little until 4:14 but was able to get back to sleep for another hour and a half so I’ll take it…no dreams to speak of but that was okay…feel good after the first night of no cocktails and I am looking forward to keeping that up til Friday…it looks like I’ll be doing at least the first ride indoors this morning with the rain and it’s supposed to rain all day off and on so I guess we’ll see if I can get outdoors later…I did need to get some work done today and get the basement organized and remove some cobwebs…will have to get the grocery list done this aft even though there is not a lot to get this week…will have to do some meal planning since I’m getting tired of sandwiches and would like some hot food but I don’t know what that would be yet…I do have the ingredients for chicken masala so I’ll make some in a couple of days……not much to do today…need to get on the bike by 8 or so to start out the day…it’s going to warm up over the next week or so and that will give me time to get out and do some yard work…might even have to mow the lawn with the rain we’ve gotten….more later….

Well…I start being good again tonight and this week I’m going to go all the way til Friday and then only having cocktails Friday and Saturday from now on…it hasn’t even gotten to 70 out here today and I had to do the first ride indoors since it was only 51 degrees when I got up and I’m just not up to putting a fleece on to ride yet…and my gloves, hat, and shoes were all still wet from riding in the rain yesterday and that would have been nasty to be cold and wet…didn’t get anything done today other than two outdoor rides so I wonder how the heck I can be running so far behind…the wind had picked up to normal of 15-20 out of the NE so both rides back were a chore and I think I hurt my legs from it…they are stiff and sore right now and it hurts to just get up from the couch so I’ll have to take it easier tomorrow…one good thing is the bike is working great after replacing the broken rear shift cable and I’m going to enjoy that…may even just do two indoor rides tomorrow since it’s supposed to rain all day…yeah, right…

Well…damn, I’m worn out this morning and I broke a pair of glasses overnight so I need to go out this morning and buy another pair so I can read…it’s such a pain to have to wear glasses to see anything…I’m pretty tired of life right now…it’s cold out there so I’ll need to wait to ride today unless I go downstairs and I sure don’t want to do that right now….so, I’ll have coffee and sit here for a bit and hope my body revives…one of these days I’m going to take a day off and feel guilty for the rest of my life…it’s only 52 out there right now and it’s not going to warm up much before the afternoon…cripes, I still feel cold from riding in the rain yesterday but I liked it…something new to experience and with how little rain we’ve had, i enjoyed how it felt…didn’t get a lot done yesterday other than laundry and it will probably be the same today although I should clean the living room and figure out meals for the rest of the week…Meijers has bacon wrapped pork loin fillets on sale for a buck each so I may get a few of those but I’m not sure what I’ll have with them…have a few potatoes left but the prices of them are too high at a buck a pound….not much to do today…it’s 7am and I’m not moving much but need to….damn, I’m tired…more later…

Well…got two rides in today but the only problem was that it was in the pouring rain…started on the first one with no rain gear and only got about 3 miles before it started to rain but I decided to just continue since it was almost 70 and no lightning…by the time I got back here my shoes were even squishing so I put on a dry t-shirt and grabbed my rain gear and went right back out for the second ride..it was just pouring down and I could hear the rain hitting my hat…when it started raining hard, it started to get cooler and was down into the 50’s so I was glad I had my gear on that kept me warm…riding in the rain gets the bike and me so frickin dirty that I had to hose my raincoat off after I did the bike and I had so much dirt on me that it coverd the floor of the shower…it felt damn good to be dry and warm again…and I didn’t get much else done but laundry so I’ll consider it a day off…back at it again tomorrow…

Well…that sucked…up at three and then out of bed by 5:25 and I can’t believe how worn out I am just from driving 85 miles and having a couple of beers with friends…just getting old, I guess…at least the car worked well and survived the thrashing I gave it flying along at 85-90…getting close to 200K miles on it and I am still a Mazda fan after having two of them with super high mileage on them…it was a pain in the butt getting back on 96 coming back here with the ramps closed and had to detour down by the Whitecaps stadium…glad that it was on a weekend or it would have been a backed up mess…the F1 race is on at 8 this morning and it won’t be light enough to get a ride in before that so I’ll have to wait til 10 to go out and that means a short day again today with only 25 miles…my right elbow and knees hurt like crazy this morning and I am tired of being sore…I look forward to getting back into my routine today and I really do think I’m becoming a hermit being alone all the time…but I’m okay with that…it’s relaxing…not much to do today…I really should cook something since I’ve been living on sandwiches for days now but it looks like just a salad and pasta for today…I need more coffee…more later…

Well…I did make the trip into GR and it was fun to see K an K again…and I even texted my son to come and hang out sine he lives about 10 blocks from O’toole’s…and he gave me the idea to not sell my house when I go but to turn it into a family house that everyone left can use to take vacations and go to the beach…to rent a place like this for a week would be a thousand bucks and I like the idea of leaving something for the kids to enjoy after I’m gone…I’ll have to discuss it with my daughter and see that she thinks…all in all a good day…

Well….it looks like I’ll be heading into GR this afternoon since K’s husband is turning 50 and they are having a bash for him at O’toole’s at 3:30…still pretty apprehensive about it with covid still raging but they do have huge windows that should be open today with the nice weather and there is a breeze blowing so that should help…going to wear a mask anyway just to be safe…the thing that tipped me over to going was checking the coolant level in the car and it was still full three weeks after I checked it last but I did put a gallon of coolant in the trunk just in case…haven’t seen K since last year around this time and I think her sister is in town, too so that will be cool to see them both…

Well…running a bit late this morning and I’m having trouble getting going today and I know I did it to myself with only have a sandwich and pasta salad for lunch and a bowl of soup for dinner and doing three rides yesterday….need to get out on the bike here by 7:30 so I can get a ride in before F1 qualifying at 9…the get the second ride in before Man U plays at 12:30…so it will be a 2 ride day today…and I can use the rest…no rain again today but I have my fingers crossed that it will rain tomorrow…slept okay last night but I’m pretty worn out this morning…I’m old after all and I wonder if I’ll ever feel energy again? Not likely…and that sucks….boy, this is strange waiting for it to get light to get on the bike…the season is changing and I kind of like that…have always loved the fall and for a long time it was my favorite season…the leaves have started to fall but I think that is more from the stress of no rain out here than the season change…the trees have looked pretty wilted with the lack of rain and I wonder how that will affect the colors this fall…man, it’s dark out there at 7:15am and I’ll be out without sunglasses for the first ride…not much to do today…just the rides and then into sports with F1, soccer, and then the nascar race from Bristol tonight…need to take it easy soon and today could be that day…more later…

Well…I shouldn’t have to be repairing a handlebar bag that is only 5 months old but the zipper on mine failed yesterday and I needed to figure what I could do to salvage it…so I got the velcro out that I bought for a repair on a set of riding gloves and got to work…and it worked out just fine to keep the flap closed on the ride this morning and it’s easier than the zipper that was always stuck so I consider that a win and will probably use that bag for years…I did find the waterproof cover that came with the bag and stuffed that in the bottom  just in case I ever ride in the rain again…I feel so bad that I forgot to do the dishes from dinner yesterday and broke my rule of no dishes in the sink overnight…and that’s the first time since I moved out here…and I can’t figure out how that happened…damn, maybe it’s I’m getting old…I did get three rides in today for 38 miles so I can have two meals today…and I am really happy with how the bike is working with the new shift cable and eyeball adjustment…I may just be able to get the rest of the year on the broken shifter…but I am going to order the parts for a rebuild just in case…when it snows I’m going to tear the bike completely down to service it since it has over 45,000 miles on it and I haven’t greased the wheel bearings or the bottom bracket; the axle that the pedals connect to…okay, need to do the weight work…