Lotta Ridin' Goin' On.

Today I started out riding with DTP in Forest Park. He actually showed up early. That was a first. I was on the Curtlo Cross and he was on his Fisher 293. I was running on tubbies and he on fatty 29er tires. I had just one ring, he had two, both of which were smaller than mine. Oh and we are almost the same weight now. Last year at the Spudman Triathlon he was over 30 pounds lighter than me. He has gained and I have lost since then. It showed. I could really have some fun at his expense based on todays ride, but that schtick is old.

We rode up Germantown and instead of jumping on Firelane 10, I mistakenly led us down Firelane 9. Whoops. At first I thought about riding back up 9, but I could see in DTP's face that he would rather be kicked in the groin that ride up that steep mutha. So we meandered down to Hwy 30 and then over to Newton Road--if you can call it a road. It is just a trail for the first while before it goes double-wide. If you have never ridden up Newton road, I recommend it. It is hard, but shaded and a great place to spend some time. There are some really tough spots though. I was running a 39 tooth ring up front and an 11/32 cassette out back. I felt pretty comfortable with that set up. DTP was in his 22 tooth ring most of the time up front and an 11/34 cassette and he still didn't have enough gears. The climbs made him a bit woozy he said. So if you aren't in moderately good shape the road probably has a couple spots you will need to walk. Did I walk any? Heck no.

Anyway, I had some time constraints so once we got to the top of Newton we emptied out on to Skyline and rode over to Springville Road and down to Leif Erikson. Then from Leif Erikson we went back toward Germantown Road until we got to this little trail that Fish named Daisy after some body's dog. The trail empties out down near the bottom of Germantown. I don't know if this last part is strictly legal or not but I have seen bikers on it numerous time before and the trail is obviously well used by cyclists. It has some technical descents and on a cross bike they are especially tricky. Back at the car we headed back to my place where DTP dropped me off. I hung out with the wife and kids for about 30 minutes and then got ready to ride to work.

Work was lame as usual. I am especially frustrated for obvious reason. I feel like part of my brain is withering away at the shop. Luckily, some of the fat is withering as I ride to work and back almost every shift. The extra rides really seem to help as well. I feel good about the load my body can take these days. To do the climbing we did at Forest Park (about 1600 feet total in 10 miles) and then riding to work and bike (25 miles round trip doing a new route) is a pretty good amount of time in the saddle. I feel good about my progress on the bike despite the lag that is going on elsewhere in my life.

By the way my lovely wife made a REALLY good pasta salad tonight. It has cheese filled tortellini, broccoli, cauliflower, red onions, marinated artichoke hearts, marinated sundried tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, just a bit of some small fresh leafy stuff(maybe parsley--not sure though), and some tasty Italian dressing (don't know what kind either). I ate it just a bit ago after riding home from the shop. Seriously good stuff.