fourteen miles

rat bones

so after posting yesterday i decided it would be a good idea to pour about 64 ounces of malt liquor down my throat and head out to meet the ride that was supposed to be heading out to the beach. i figured i'd roll the bianchi since the weather was nice.

i barely made it by noon, but those folks are never on time so i sat and ate some good vegan food and passed the time by reading an old bmx magazine.

after a bit some other folks showed and we loaded up and headed out. after the three mile bridge we stopped at the new publix for strawberries and to pick up some beers.

we made the bridge to the beach and stopped to meet some other folks and then headed over to the pavillion on the main beach. i peeled a couple beers and a low end shot of sailor jerrys and then it was about time to head back into pensacola. one of the local "free spirits" gave me a book from operah's book club. he said he'd read it a couple times.

after heading back over the beach bridge and then through gulf breeze and then over the three mile i stopped to wait for ryan. he caught up in a couple seconds and then we made haste up to southern east hill to his abode. a new chain awaited him and shea's folks were phoning me and it was time to head out.

after all of this i manged to add a couple more miles before actually making it back home and crashing. i was dehydrated, fairly tipsy, and physically spent. i slept great lst night.

nobody outcleans the maids

it was a groggy morning for me. it came way too early, but i managed to pull myself out of bed around four a.m. and get kitted up and head out the door for a ride. it was humid, but somewhat brisk after last nights thunderstorms. it wasn't real wet outside but there was a lot of debris on the roads.

i met up with peaches at his house and we picked up the pace a bit. my legs felt like bags of sand. they were barely, just barely, doing the job. we made our way around bayfront after bombing down spring street and chatted a bit about the state of the world. i'm glad to live in a time and place that allows me to have a second refrigerator filled with quarts of malt liquor.

we continue chatting as we head through east hill. finally 12th avenue comes with the first real hill of the day. peaches beats me to the top. my legs are starting to feel better.

finally we meet up with some other folks. a gentleman on a blue cannondale tags along and then we meet up with john and chung. the pace picks up.

we ride the road behind the airport twice, then hang a right on summit as john takes the lead. the pace picks up dramatically but everyone is still keeping up. we circle the airport and somewhere peaches falls off the back. he's taking it easy due to a pretty hard spill he took on the thursday morning ride. i stay behind a bit just to keep a tab on him and make sure everything is going fine. he ensures that he's doing fine and urges me to go catch up with the group, so i do.

after i pass chung and mr. blue c-dale we hang a right on scenic and john is my main focus. i want to catch up with him and hold on as long as i can since he is the fastest one in the group today. after a fast descent we pull a right on to langley avenue and the second hard climb of the day. at the top i almost catch john, but he's just far enough ahead to get the green light and i get the red by the time i'm at the intersection.

i make a left on spanish trail and i see chung has cut through the apartment complex parking lot to take the shortcut around the intersection. cheater.

once again behind the airport we all regroup. peaches has sped up a bit and it only takes a minute or less of waiting and he is back with the group. we head back out to scenic at an easy pace and then hang a right. scenic highway is death. the speeds increase dramatically because everyone wants to be off of that road as soon as possible.

i pass the group and hold on to john's wheel as we round out to cervantes. we climb a bit and the group is going right on nineteenth as i make a left on nineteenth to head back to the house and hopefully catch shea before she has to go to work.

i make it home, have half a cup of coffee and then she is off.

now, i'm lucky enough to be here with you.

turn off that black light before it gets too late

it is a nice and sunny day today. mid to upper eighties depending on what website you check and when, with a pretty nice breeze that seems to be gusting strongly every now and then. these being the conditions i planned on riding from work up to the bike shop to tighten my headset and replenish my dwindling supply of long valve 700c tubes. i'm happy about this ride for three reasons: 1) this is the first time, other than riding to work this morning, i get to ride with my new toe straps, 2) i just got my track bike back together and i'm stoked to be pumped on riding it again after so many weeks, and 3) it's a beautiful day for a bike ride.

i unlock and start heading north for the shop. i make it about five blocks and my rear tire completely deflates. usually i have an extra tube and some co2 and tire levers, but what i meant before by my dwindling supply of tubes was that i am totally out; so i'm stuck like chuck and have nothing to repair my flat with.

as it turns out, it is a pretty nice day for a walk too.

a term widely abused

oh, and i totally forgot to bring my camera to my own surprise party, so i have no pictures of my own to post. sorry.

faux deadline

wow.
shea planned and executed an awesome surprise birthday party for me on friday night. it was amazing to see so many friends and family gathered in one place to help me celebrate my 30th. i cannot thank her enough as words could never describe the good time that i had. so rad.
and on another note, those kashimax toe straps i spoke of in an earlier post materialized friday morning via the most awesome, beautiful, talented, understanding, and kind hearted girlfriend to ever set foot on this planet.

to give notice

congratulations to shane and melissa on the arrival of their new baby girl!

hebrew national

so for my birthday i was hoping to get a pair of $170 kashimax njs double straps. realizing that this was almost surely unobtainable, my good friend jacob hooked me up with a pair of dimension double straps and added a little personalization.

thanks for these and for the top tube pad since i can't bring my bike into the office and i have to lock it up outside.

no photo available

yesterday i started back with another architectural firm. it feels as if i haven't missed anything by not being in an office. but i do have a feeling that in a couple weeks i will miss not being outside all day. i guess that's the price you pay sometimes.

one good thing: now i will have time to actually start riding more. i'm looking forward to it. i got myself a trainer so hopefully i can get some form of legs back prior to going out for the group ride and totally embarassing myself.

soon i should be taking some more pictures as well and then i'll have some post that are a little more interesting to view.

until then....