The Clouds Broke and I was Out

While yesterday was slightly better than the day before, it wasn't 100%. I did manage to finish a document I've been writing at work, which has been the bane of my existence for months now. It's out for review, and I expect it to require some real rework. However, for the next couple of days I don't have to work on it. The real ballbuster was that when I left, I went to a real hardware store to buy some concrete lag bolts. They didn't have them and the store that was most likely to have what I needed closes at 5:30. Come on now! Can't we have stores with real store hours?

So I went home, did some more research to find out what exactly the bolts are that I need and stumbled upon a few references to exactly what the guy was trying to sell me. So now I'm gonna go back with my tail betwixt my legs and buy the stuff he showed me. Either way, I was set back yet another day. But not to let it go to waste, I decided to get out in the sunshiny day and ride my bike.

Minutes after I got home, the sky closed up with monstrous dark clouds and the air was filled with debris and garbage can lids. A storm was a-brewing. No bikey for me. I looked at the radar (on weather.com, not my own personal radar) and thought maybe it would pass and the sun would be back out. I ate dinner and sho-nuff the sun made an encore appearance. I changed into my cycling gear, filled up my Camelbak and shoved off.

At this point it was 7:15 so I knew my riding time was limited. I figured I'd ride as far as I could in half an hour, turn around and head home. Conveniently, that half hour took me to the middle of the rail trail (from home, not from the beginning). I had to take the visor off my helmet so I wouldn't have to crane my neck so hard, then I was back on my way.

I'm not sure, but I don't think this bike is quite set up for me correctly. I rode for an hour and was experiencing what is commonly known as "numb ass". You have two substantial nerves running between your "sit-bones" which is the medical term for your ass bones (not your tail-bone). When you sit, your sit bones support your weight. When you sit on a bike for too long, you can hit the nerves running between the sit bones and you start to feel numbness here and there. Numbness = doing something wrong. Often, it takes a few rides to get used to the saddle again, so I'm gonna tough it out and see if I can figure out the correct seating position. I did find a few that kept me from going numb, I'll try those first next time.

All in all, my trip was just shy of 20 miles and it took me just a hair over an hour. To the average John Q Mathematician, that relates to an average speed of roughly 19-20 mph. Suh-weet! The best part is that when I was really flying down some of the hills, I never felt like I was going to die. On my mountainbike, high speeds even on the road felt like death was imminent. Not on the A-ride, that puppy feels so stable at high speeds. PlacaTAN!

Today is the first day of the killer sale at EMS. I'm going to leave work early to get in there and buy myself a kayak! They open at 10:00 and I plan on getting there a few minutes later so as not to run the risk of them selling out. I'm not 100% on the paddle I want yet, I'll probably let them talk me into the expensive Porsche-quality one. I think it's actually made of recycled Indy cars. As for the jacket, I'll probably do the same, but I'll be more discriminating. Hopefully the dude who ran the demo will be there; he's friendly and very knowledgeable in the area of kayaks. He's one of those crazy waterfall jumping, backflip doing 'yakkers who claims to be able to do cartwheels in a kayak. Dag, I just plan on paddling around some lakes.

So, friends, I hope to be able to tell you all about my new 'yakking setup in my next installment of Rantings. Oh yeah, and about the uber progress I will have made on the porch. In the meantime, start putting your donations together (I prefer my cash bundled) and get that in the mail to me. My goal is to raise a buttload of money, so whatever you can do to help would be appreciated. Maybe all you can afford right now is $500; that's fine, just get me the rest whenever you can.

Over and Out,
Old Coot