Wind at Your Back

It is hard to understand the significance of having the wind at your back until you spend some time with the wind in your face.

It Was Cold

It was cold this morning when I set out for my ride. the coldest morning yet, somewhere in the vicinity of 38 degrees. I had mittens, sweatpants and a jacket, I was prepared. Things were going great, the sun was coming up and the sweat was beginning to drip.
I noticed that my rear tire was beginning to get mushy, I pulled over and yup. I had a flat. I carry a spare tube but I was only a quarter mile down the street from my parents house and time is limited on weekday mornings. I pumped the tire back up, and limped into mom and dad's driveway.
I am still new at this cycling thing and I learned this morning that the pump I carry on my bike is nearly useless. I am also a bit intimidated at the notion of changing a tube out on the road. I have done it twice before, both times in my yard. Live and learn, soon enough I will be able to hop off the machine and switch out the old tube in no time.
The funny thing is I feel frustrated that I got up and out this morning and only got to pedal six miles. I was hoping for twenty. I will get twenty tomorrow no worries.

Back In The Saddle

I have not been on the bicycle for 12 days. I have had different excuses. A couple of days I had a chest cold, it rained for a few days, some mornings arrived far to soon to get my ass out the door in time to ride and get to work. The rain is the only legitimate reason to not be out there.
I brought Merry to her Ballet class in Boston on Sunday morning. Merry has one special friend in the class and it happened that it was her father's turn to go to Ballet as well.
I decided to introduce myself, "Hi, our friends are daughters." He looked at me, as though he did not understand and I tried again. Hi, our daughters are friends." This time I got it right and a conversation started. I mentioned to him that I just started riding a bicycle. Turns out he has been riding for quite some time and we had a topic we were both interested in.
When I mentioned that I had not been riding recently and gave him my list of excuses, he told me to stop making excuses and get out there. That was exactly what I needed to hear.
I rode this morning, and I am getting the gear together I need to be able to ride until it snows.

A Month

Its been a month since my last post and lots of things have happened. The thing that has affected my life the most over the last 30 days is the shorter days. I do not like shorter days, I like longer days. The sun is not getting up over the horizon until almost 7am, the mornings have been cold, mid 40's. The combination of cold, dark and the need to be in the shower by 7:30am is pinching my opportunity to ride. I need to figure something out and I am sure I will.
I have been painting my house, since The 4th of July, and I finally feel as though I am making some progress. I started with the prime a long, long, time ago took a year and one half off and it is now starting to feel as if there is an end in sight. And I must say that it looks pretty good. I finished the area where the scaffolding is yesterday.

Heidi and I celebrated 12 years of marriage on Sunday the 21st, it has been the most challenging, rewarding, exciting and magical stretch of time I have experienced. I hope and believe that this journey we are on together will continue always and look forward to the twists and turns down the road. Working together to raise a family has tested our patience but not our commitment to each other. I love you Heidi.
Merry has started a new school year, she is now in the first grade, she is learning to read and growing like a weed. David has returned to another year of pre-school and now Thomas is attending as well.

Last but not least I signed up with facebook and it has been great finding and touching base with friends from different times in my life. I appreciate the ability to get reacquainted with long lost friends. I can not wait to see what fruits these connections will bear, I predict there will be laughter.

Not as Strong

When I was sixteen I used to water ski three or four times a week. During the summer three or four of us would get together after work and head out on the Essex river to test our skills.
After graduating from high school the water skiing stopped. The reason, I got to big for the boat to tow and the kid with the good "ski" boat sold it.
We took a mini vacation this weekend to a lake house in Maine, it was great, the house was perfect and the company was terrific. It seems every lake house ought to have a "ski" boat and this house was no exception. So I gave it a go, twenty years without trying and BAM I am up and skiing.
I opted to get up on two ski's and drop one. Unheard of twenty years ago but I figured better safe than sorry.
Not five minutes into the adventure my arms began to burn and my grip began to loosen. I was experiencing total muscle failure, or TMF, as we used to call it at military school. By the time I got back to the dock not only were my arms ready to explode, it felt as though the blood vessels in the side of my head might pop too. Not Good.
I went again on Sunday and it was a little better. Until I woke up Monday morning. I could barely move my arms and had to bail on my morning bicycle ride.
Today I feel much better and am thinking I had better add push-ups to my morning exercise routine, clearly I am not as strong as I used to be.

Merry Can Ride

Merry can ride a two wheeler! The training wheels are off and she is flying. She still needs a little help getting started, but with one quick push she is off. Remember when you learned to ride a bike? The feelings of freedom and flying.

So cool!

BIANCHI FORZA

This is my bicycle, I got it on 7/30/2008, I have ridden 5 of the first 7 days and traveled just over 65 miles. Every day I get stronger and more comfortable. The route I have been riding is 13.9 miles, my fastest time is 51 minutes. My speed has increased each day out. The last ride averaged just over 16 mph. It has been a good start, here's to the future.

First Ride

I got out on the bicycle this morning and started to learn to ride again. It took five miles to figure out how to shift the gears. The shifters are built into the brake levers, what will they think of next? The tires on the machine are very narrow, if the rider were to swerve off the pavement and onto the soft shoulder there would be an accident. The bike is wobbly and does not like variations in the pavement.
I can tell that with more time spent on the bicycle the more comfortable I will become. I will be out there again tomorrow morning, becoming more familiar