Well…that night wasn’t too bad…didn’t get up until 5:49 and 6 hours is better than 5 so I’ll take it…and I got my computer problems fixed so it doesn’t take 10 minutes to start it up in the morning or to load any site so that is cool…feel pretty crappy this morning, though, and I really do need to cut back on riding….did another 30 mile day yesterday and the only reason was that I wanted to get one last ride in wearing shorts and a t-shirt before it gets cold later in the week…I do have lots of work to do on the downstairs project today that involves getting out to get some dry ice and then abusing my back and shoulders for a couple of hours and that will take up this morning so there won’t be time for two rides today….had another electrical fixture fail over the weekend so I had to replace that yesterday and remembered that I got a light that straps on my head and that worked like a champ when I had to shut the power off to work on it…and I got that free from HF about a year ago…it was cool to not have to juggle a flashlight while wiring it in…and it was cool that I remembered it…and could find it….other than that, I didn’t get a lot done yesterday….I did start on the winter clean up of the yard yesterday and I think got the last of the pink tomatoes off the plants but I am leaving the rest of the peppers for a few days until it frosts to try to get them a little bigger before I pick them….not much to do today….just the project for this morning and then the normal stuff for the rest of the day…will probably have to take some ibuprofen after the work today since it normally hurts pretty badly after I do it….more later….

Well…that was weird…slept all the way through until 6:30 this morning and I’m not sure why that happened…if I did, I’d do that every night and not be exhausted all the time…hmmm…but I’m still tired today and I’m pretty sure that one night is not enough for my sleep deficit to be fixed…but, I’ll take anything I can get….I do think that cutting back on riding is going to help with the pain I feel all day since I don’t have much right now after only doing one ride yesterday…I am getting out as soon as it gets light, though, since it is probably the last day that it is going to be over 50 overnight….big change in the weather coming later in the week with highs in the 40’s and freezing at night so I’ll need to salvage the last of the tomatoes and peppers in the gardens and start taking out the plants that are left…..I guess that’s pretty normal for the middle of October but I am not ready for the cold yet….not much to do today…I have to get out to depot this morning to get a replacement fixture for one that failed downstairs and I need some crimp on hose clamps to fix my expandable hose…both of them have failed and I am trying to make one hose out of two to get through the rest of the year….more later…

Well…yesterday I wrote some about my 5,000 mile year on the bike but I didn’t talk much about the physical effects of the ordeal…and yes, it was an ordeal that I am going to take quite a while to recover from…there were some good effects….I lost 3 inches off my waist and my clothes are hanging off me and I look a little thin as compared to normal…and my thighs are huge and have definition in them I’ve never had….but, I am just damn worn out…so tired all the time when I keep doing 30+ miles a day…I know part of that is from lack of sleep…and that is confusing since you would think that so many miles would tire me out and I would sleep well every day…but my best days are around 5 hours and I don’t think that is enough to support 5k miles….and, with being tired, I am sore and stiff all the time…I know part of that is from getting old but not to the extent that I feel it every day….so now, I think I need to start the repair process for my whole body by gradually reducing the amount I ride along with the calories I consume…but cutting 600 plus calories out of my day means no more bagels with my coffee…and no more cheese and crackers or cocktails….okay, I’ll cut the cocktails in half but damn, what the hell am I saving my liver for? I am old and I don’t know how long I have and I like my cocktail nights…and the repair process has to include my mental state, too…I have to admit to myself that the guilt I feel from not riding has to be put away and I need to understand that I won’t recover until I cut back on riding for a while at least….so, one ride today and there was no way I was going back out in the 15 mph wind when my legs went flat at about 12 miles on the first run….it will be interesting to see if I did any permanent damage from doing the 5K this year…that would suck…

Well…hey, at least I didn’t get up til 5:02 this morning…and got another 45 minutes so that makes a whole 5 hours last night…I would just once like to get 8 hours in and see how that feels…I know I’m pretty worn out this morning so I am going to ease into it and watch the MotoGP and F1 race before I even think about getting out on the bike….I did get 30 miles in yesterday but I’m not sure if I’ll do two today….just starting to get bored with riding and I guess that’s to be expected after all the miles this year….but, I’m not too sore this morning so maybe…..didn’t get a lot done yesterday and today will probably be the same since I don’t have much to do but look for houses….and I need to cook two meals today with no leftovers in the fridge….not too motivated to do that right now and I am getting tired of what I’ve been making….think I need to change up and start making some pasta and more veggies…need some different flavors and lower calorie foods….not much to do today….just don’t want to do anything right now and I’ll need to think about what there is to do later on this morning….more later….

Well…yeah, I know, I promised to do this one yesterday but I actually did some cleaning around here and that took up a lot of the afternoon…but, I’m here now so let’s go…got to 5,000 miles on the bike Thursday! Not sure how I really feel about it, though…on one hand, it’s pretty cool that I reached my goal, but on the other hand…why was it even a goal? Not sure what I was trying to prove…and who I was trying to prove it to….I think there were probably  a couple of reasons for doing it…like the reasons people climb mountains I guess…”because it’s there”…or because I can still do it….and to prove to myself that I not a washed up old guy waiting to die….okay, that’s a little depressing…and I do have to say it was fun riding all year and it’s only been the past couple of weeks that I’ve gotten a little weary with doing 30-40 miles every day and being on the bike for 2 1/2 hours every day….but, I feel that I’m wearing out some in those weeks, too, just fatigued and sore all the time…but did that keep me off the bike the past two days after I met the goal? Of course not…I am an idiot after all…and did 30 miles a day…the bike that I bought in the spring has been so damn reliable and comfortable and that has made this year so much easier…no flats or breakdowns of any kind and I figured out that you should never, ever lubricate the rear shifter…when it sticks, I just blast it with water and it’s good to go…I did have a back tire fail at about 4K miles but I had one on the old bike I could use but I do need to order a new one so I’ll have one here when I need it. So, it has been a good year on the bike and I guess that 5K miles is pretty damn good for an old guy….not sure what the new goal is going to be for next year…one thing that has been floating in and out of my head is doing 100 miles for every year of age…that would add a couple of thousand to this year and I’m not sure I want to I want to make that much of a comittment…after all, I’m not sure why I did the 5K this year and wherever I end up I may not have trails that are as convenient as the one here….hmmmm…

Well…this is starting to suck…have been regressing on wake up times over the past week and last night was the worst so far…went to bed late and still woke up at 3:35…but I will say I did get back to sleep in about a half hour and stayed in bed until after the coffee maker started so I guess I’ll have to live with it….I did get out to hang with T for a while yesterday and even had a couple of beers at LC which I didn’t even know was open….so that was fun to get out, put the top down on the car and have some laughs….and it is over 60 outside right now so I can get out on the bike as soon as F1 qualifying is over at 10…only did one ride yesterday but cleaned this place up some and it really needed it…you know, making it to the 5K goal has reduced my sense of urgency to get out and do two rides a day…I may still do a few as the weather allows but only having about 400 more miles to go for the last goal of the year and having 3 months to do it keeps the stress level pretty low….now I just need to start cutting the extra calories out that I was doing to support 30+ miles a day….and, I know how to but just don’t want to…need more fruits and veggies but doing that will be a long process….not much to do today…just going to veg it out for a while and have more coffee and watch MotoGP qualifying until F1 comes on….or not really watch it but have it on in the background as I read the news…I think there are races on later but I’m not sure about that yet…..more later….

Well…darn…back to waking up at 3:54 again but luckily, I was able to get back to sleep for a couple of hours and don’t feel too bad this morning…still have that damn cough that has been bugging me for a week now and the wheezing kept waking me up all night…I know it’s just allergies, though, so I can deal with that…I did make it to 5,000 miles on the bike yesterday but I’m going to talk about that in a separate one later so I won’t talk about it now….didn’t get a whole lot done yesterday but some gardening and that’s okay with how crappy I’ve been feeling…just so damn worn out lately and part of that just may be how many miles I’ve ridden this year…I’m not young anymore and I guess I need to really look at a training schedule that would have some more recovery time in it…just so damn sore all the time that I must be doing something wrong….and I need to be able to stop taking an ibuprofen every day to tolerate it…I am going to take Monday off if it rains and I need to start throttling back my calorie intake if I start riding less…I am going to miss having a bagel in the morning since I just added them to make up for not having enough calories when I ride 30+ miles in a day…..oh, well….not much to do today…have to meet up with T some time today and get the rides in but that is about it….I think I’m going to take the weekend off and just ride how much I feel and putter around here…I do have cleaning to do so that will be something to fill the time….more later…

Well…it’s 5,000 mile day today! Only have a little under 15 to go to get there so that will be done this morning…not sure if I feel relief or disappointment that I reached the goal for the year and there is only one more left to do….need to ride 415 more miles to have a combined 10,000 miles for the past two years…the funny thing is that it’s 6 times more than I’ve driven my car in that time…not sure if I’m going to do a second ride today or take the afternoon off…if it’s not windy like it was yesterday, I’ll probably go out for a second one and wait to take the day off I had planned until it rains Monday….I did sleep okay last night and only feel sore today…going into a 20 mph wind really puts a strain on the legs and I’m feeling it today…I did talk to my son who I’m fixing the house up for yesterday and we were on the phone for almost an hour and that was pretty cool…hadn’t talked to him in quite a while and I am happy he and his wife are so excited to be moving here in March…he seems tired of living in NYC and they are looking forward to less stress from just living….now, I just need to get my butt in gear and find a house for me…I think I have one more rehab in me even as old as I am….not much to do today…just going to take it easy this morning and wait for the temp to come up for the bike ride at 9…and have a bagel with my coffee and news….more later….

Well…running at about the new normal time this morning but the extra sleep didn’t help with how crappy I feel…damn, I thought I was over this bug when I quit coughing yesterday and felt quite a bit better…but, the coughing is back and now I feel a little warm again so I guess I’m not….oh, well….I did get two rides in yesterday and I’m down to about 40 miles left to go to get to 5K but I won’t get out until after the grocery run today since it won’t be light enough to go to be back here before 9….so it looks like I’ll just sit here feeling crappy and reading the news with my coffee until then….and that kinda sucks since it is over 60 right now and it would be nice to be out to see the sunrise on the bike…but, I don’t have the energy for it anyway….got the last of my gardening with the big plants done yesterday and now all I have to do is wait a little while to see if I get any more tomatoes before I start taking those out…I did get the lawn mowed yesterday and it is starting to look pretty good with filling in but could use some more seed….not sure if I’m going to do that, though….I do need to fill in the garden that I put in the lawn and put some seed in there to reclaim it as lawn before fall is over so I think I’ll save the remaining seed for that….not much to do today…just going to do groceries and the rides today…I may have overdone it some yesterday and that could be why the bug came back but I still need those two rides today….will just live with the consequences I guess….more later…

Well…I think I could get used to this not getting out of bed until 6:30…but that makes late coming here and I’m not sure if that means anything…after all, I don’t have a whole lot to do and most people aren’t  reading this stuff yet…I do feel a little better today but I still think I have a cold since I have a little sore throat and I’m coughing some, too, but I seem to have energy that I didn’t have yesterday…my normal allergy meds, the little red dots, weren’t working well enough last night so I broke down and used some flonase spray that helped quite a bit…but, I have to be careful since that stuff suppresses the immune system and with the virus still here I need to make sure I don’t use it too much…I did get 30 miles in on the bike yesterday but they were really hard rides with feeling so crappy…so, that gets me down to only 70 miles to go and I hope to do another 30 today and tomorrow and finish up the 5K on Thursday….it looks like I can get out early today with it already 49 degrees outside but I still have to wait for the sun to come up and that should be another hour or so…not much to do today…I do need to mow the lawn and get the buckets that I grew some crops in emptied but that is about it for the day…I should clean the kitchen floor since it is getting a little dirty and the stove and sink could use some work,too, but we’ll see after the errand I have to run this morning….more later….