Sunday, August 12, 2007

Sunday is Funday

I started this post earlier this morning but I was having so much fun I didn't want to leave out one detail. Read on, friends and live in envy of my fun, fun Sunday.


Once a Year Whether I Need it or Not

We all know the sayings: I get a haircut once a month whether I need it or not, I brush my teeth once a week whether I need it or not, and so on. Well tonight we get the annual visit of the Perseid meteor shower. According to the fine folks at msn.com, this annual meteor shower occurs when the earth passes through the dusty trail of the Comet Swift-Tuttle. You can read all about it here, if you're truly interested. But if you don't have the time, here's the skinny...

During the hours of 11PM through sunrise tonight (August 12th) you'll have the opportunity to see up to one meteor per minute given you're in a DARK area. If I can remember it, I'll be up in the State Forest armed with some chai tea and a blanket if necessary. Oh, and bug spray. So get out there, crane yo necks to the sky and watch the "Tears of St. Lawrence". The new moon means the show won't be drowned out with a bunch of lunar pollution.


Training Update

Okay, today I took a ride on the Josh route, including a 12 mile warm-up from Stockbridge Bowl. Before you get all crazy, it takes roughly 10 miles to get warmed up on a bike, and the race route starts with a nasty hill. Plus it's just convenient to start at the Bowl.

When I pulled up to the Bowl to unload my bike, a couple rolled in shouting their times to eachother. From their times, I figured they were Joshing it today. I struck up a convo with them and sho nuff they were. We jabbered about the Josh a little, wished each other good luck both with the training and the race itself, and I hit the road.

As I pulled into Great Barrington where the race route starts, I tossed back my one and only energy gel. This would prove to be a real problem later on. You see, finely tuned athletes such as me need to kick back a gel every 45 minutes or so, or our blood sugar crashes, we get cranky and performance overall goes into the shitter. The Josh route is no place for a loss of energy, as each nasty hill is followed by another hill equal to or greater than the last in nastiness. By the end I was literally cursing every hill as if it had offended my mother or taken a bite of my sandwich without asking.

After the ride, I tossed the kayak into the water, stood in the cooling waters of the Bowl then set off on a slow, easy paddle. Nothing to report here. I shot the shit with a few people, mostly about the weather.

As I pulled back up to the boat launch this guy I met yesterday, whose boat had decided it was only going to steer in one direction, was launching his freshly repaired boat complete with who I can only assume were his sister and nieces (he mentioned them yesterday). I gave him some shit about taking his life and those of his kin in his hands with that boat of his, and he fired back with something alluding to the fact that I have been out in the kayak the last two days. What can I say, it was nice out.


Big Up to the Po=Pos

This weekend must be a big weekend for Tanglewood (where the Boston Pops, BSO, etc. play in the summer), as Lenox was a madhouse. The police are out in full force directing traffic in a surprisingly efficient manner. Normally when the local cops are directing traffic it's a cluster f*&#. But as for Lenox, I have to hand it to these guys; they're out in the heat in uniform, directing thousands of clueless people in a well orchestrated dance. But what's even better is that as I approached, rounded, and passed Tanglewood in a low blood sugar rage, they gave me preference allowing me to cruise through each intersection unimpeded. They didn't have to hold up all the cars, but they did and for that I was/am thankful. If any of the Lenox Police are reading this, thanks. I did thank each one as I passed in a genuine tone to show my appreciation, but I thought they deserved a written thanks.

The Chief of Police will also be hearing from me.


Well, I gotta eat some dinner, watch a movie and head out to catch the meteor shower.

P.S. After my ride/paddle I sat on the porch sipping freshly brewed iced green tea and eating a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and lox. Life doesn't get much better than that.

Over and Out,
Old Coot

1 comment:

Abbey said...

I don't see Copper's site at the top of the Blogs of Note list. Who's the favorite sibling now? Boo-yeah!

"Something inside of me just said 'Hey, wait a minute, I want to beat him.' and I just took off." -Pre