Christmas Trees Roasting on an Open Fire

Halleluiah, it's FRIDAY! And on top of that, it's also PAYDAY! Geah!

So I busted my bike out of retirement last night to start riding around town. This town is too small to be driving everywhere, especially when I'm driving to go running. That just seems asinine. So towards that end, I busted the ol' mountain bike (MTB) out.

Ideally, I'd like to get my hands on something a little better suited for road riding, but the roads here can be a lot like the mountains elsewhere, so I'll probably stick with the MTB for now. I wouldn't mind getting it tuned up and maybe even some new grips, some gloves and so on. My hands take a beating the way I have it set up now.

And you know what else takes a beating? My ass. Man, I rode it 2 miles to the 'COW's house last night and 2 miles home. In bike land, that's really not far. When I hopped on it this morning to ride into work, I could feel the tenderness that is my ass. A little shifting around in the saddle (that's cyclist-speak for bike seat) and I was able to find a comfort zone, but I'm looking forward to when I'm used to it and it doesn't bother me anymore. Perhaps if I take it to the shop to get it tuned I can have them properly fit it to my body size/shape.

And after my hands and ass, my legs got whipped too! I would think that all the running I do would have me in tip-top shape for all things leg-powered. I was wrong. I'm sure I started out too fast and didn't properly warm up, but still, I was wobbly after my first ride. I suppose if the warmup time is anything like running, it should take me close to 2-3 miles (at my current speed) to really warm up. And since the two places to which I'll be riding are 2 miles from my house, I probably won't really get warmed up. Eh, it beats driving.

Last night was officially the first bonfire of the season. We cleaned up a bunch of crap in the 'COW's yard, including a Christmas tree that the ladies felt should be dragged to their house. Let me tell you, that is the best use for a Christmas tree that I can think of. The bastard lit the yard up like it was noon (it was closer to 9 PM) and threw off some HEAT! Ho-lee-shit. Me likey burning Christmas trees.

Well, it's time to go eat some pancakes. I was waiting for some people to come in so I wouldn't have to eat alone, but I guess they're not going to be in early enough for me. I'll holler at y'all later.

Over and out,
Old Coot