Spring cleaning

Well, we are on our way into the shop this morning.  We have stopped off at Aroma Roasters Coffee shop for some refreshments and 10 pounds of coffee.  Yesterday we spent 4 or 5 hours in the back cleaning things up.  Boy, did that make a difference.  We can fit many more bikes in there.  I wish I had some before and after pictures.  Maybe I can describe it for you.  Close your eyes, now imagine a big room filled with bicycles placed safely, but chaotically around the floor.  Now imagine all of the bikes in a nice row with some hanging safely from the ceiling.  That is before and after.

A good couple of days off

It is back to work this morning, but not before Claire and I had a couple of good days off.  I was able, with Claire's persuasion, to get out for some exercise 4 days in a row.  Saturday I rode into the shop, taking the hilly route.  Sunday morning, I got us out for a run around the neighborhood.  Monday I rode the rollers for an hour, see graph on the right, and then we went out for a hike in Armstrong Redwoods.  We got hailed on a bit, which made it all the more interesting.  Yesterday I went out and did my favorite loop again.  I felt much, much better than I did last week.  Last week my whole body was aching on the ride, and this week I felt great.  I was around 6 minutes off of my best time.  And to top it all off, yesterday I made 6 loaves of sourdough.

Willow Creek loop AGAIN

Well, after being off the bike for a couple of weeks, I decided that I needed to get out and hurt myself a bit. I did my favorite loop on Monday hoping to beat the rain.  I did beat the rain, but just barely.  I was about 20 minutes off of my summer times for this loop.  I knew that I would be slower, but I didn't think I would be hurting quite so much by the end.  For the most part, the ride was uneventful as far as traffic goes.  I did see a couple of mountain bikers up in Willow Creek State Park, and I think I startled them as I cruised by on my cross bike.  Duncan road was a bear as usual.  It is around a 20% grade at the bottom, and it is always a hard transition after coming down the flats of Hwy. 116.  There were a couple of more trees down across the trail, but nothing that I couldn't claw my way over.  When I got home I realized how sore my entire body was.  At first I thought it was the ride, but after even waking up the next morning still feeling the same way, I figured I had caught a little bug.  Claire knew I was feeling too good when I chose Sprite over beer and only one slice of pizza at Zachary's in Berkeley.