Why is this so hard?

I can't get out on the bike.  I have tried and tried.  Was hoping for a ride on Sunday but called in to help my brother throw up some trusses on his garage.  Even that got cut short with a serious thunderstorm.  Trees down and the driveway was really cut up.  For anyone that thinks the Grand Canyon took millions of years to cut, come to my house when we get a hard downpour for 15 minutes, 40 days of downpours seems about right when you scale things up.

Monday was beautiful weather wise.  But with work and school open house, no riding again.  I ended up on the tractor fixing the storm damage after everyone got home, finishing in the dark.  Tuesday I brought my bike to work thinking I would at least get a lunch ride, and again, just wishful thinking.  Work had me, well, working through lunch.  Today is Team Athens Wednesday and what do I do?  I have my bike, helmet but my shoes are at home.  I could blame my oldest son who thought it was a good idea to sit his mother's cup of coffee on the arm rest in the car rather than the cup holder.  Instead of loading my vehicle for the day, I was grabbing towels to help with the cleanup.  Or I could blame a friend who needs my truck today.  My shoes are actually in my car. Or I could blame work for keeping my stress levels high and now I can't think clearly.

I need a vacation.

The End of Summer

I can't believe summer is over.  Shelly starts back to work Monday followed by the kids back in school on Tuesday.  My list for summer never got started, heck, the list from spring never got started.  No real summer vacation this year.  Money has been going to fix all the broken appliances and termites.  Time has been scarce with the way work has been.  Not sure how Brock would travel for a long time anyway.  Still, I know my wife is disappointed.

End of summer also ends the riding season for me.  Soccer has begun.  Ethan is playing with the U12 traveling team and I am assistant coach.  That means two practices a week plus two games on Saturday's.  I love the game and am glad to get to coach again, but I am going to miss the evening and Saturday morning rides.

I missed Wednesday World's this week.  Long story short, had to work late and missed the one hard ride I was going to do.  Brought the monocog to work on Thursday and ran around Strouds Run state park at lunch (OK, a slightly long lunch).  Was good to be on a trail, except for all the spider webs. Had them in my ears, up my nose, in my mouth, covering the bike.  It was crazy.

Friday started with a trip to Columbus with folks from NASA.  Shelly was going to be in Columbus anyway, so it was to be a great plan to meet up after meetings for a little shopping and dinner.  Things went kind of south when I got a phone call from her that she had a flat.  Lost air quick too.  Made it into a gas station where someone put air in the tire for her.  Got her from there to a Firestone (at Polaris).  They were very helpful to her, but would not repair the tire (due to liability) and since we have an AWD car, all four tires would need to be replaced.  Oh, did I mention that she had all three boys with her?  Pretty well ruined the day for her.  They were good enough to install the spare for her to get her back to Athens.  We hoped to try out a Greek restaurant for dinner, but had to change plans and go to UNO's.  Even that was a big wait because of the high chair for Brock and the "fire hazard".  Really?  We can't get a tire fixed and can't get a table. Too much liability.  Finally made it home and to bed at midnight.  Long day.

Saturday morning meant getting up early to get Michael to the school for drama rehearsal at 7am and on to Warehouse Tire.  They fixed the tire and I had it back on the car before 9am.  Shower, coffee, and out the door for soccer games.  Not sure what meals I have eaten today but 10pm sure is coming quickly.

A side note: saw some of the Pelatonia riders coming in to Athens.  Good job folks!  100 miles and lots of money for cancer research.  Special atta-boy to Chad and Jenn Sickles.

Where did summer go!?

Really?  My last post was over a month ago?  What happened? Sad part is, I can hardly remember.

First, the bike:
My history shows I logged 375 on the road and climbed over 24,000 feet.  I did get to ride with Team Athens several times on their Weds. Worlds ride.  They dropped me each time, but I am averaging 60 miles a week, a typical daily ride for those kids.

I was noticing trouble with shifting and drive-train noise on the Masi. Katsu did his best to adjust the shifting, but it was still there.  I also began to notice a snapping/creaking from the crankset.  Found the Jagwire in-line adjuster for the rear was broken.  Athens Cycle Path replaced them with metal ones and the shifting is like new.  Katsu could not find the noise in the crank so I pulled the crankset, cleaned it, and re-installed it per the manual. Noise is gone.  Of course, I had replaced my 18 year old pedals thinking that was the source of the noise first.  Feel like I have a brand new bike again.

The family:
I have taken a sabbatical from playing guitar at church.  This allowed me to visit some close friends when their daughter was baptized, in the Ohio River.  We took over the boat ramp in Belpre on a very nice Sunday afternoon.

Ethan's birthday really sneaked up on me.  We didn't want to just buy him more "stuff" so I took the day off from work and we went to Magic Mountain in Columbus to ride Go-Karts.  He had a blast (even Shelly enjoyed it).  Finished it off with some ribs from City BBQ.  Followed the next day with a mountain bike ride on the Athens Trails to Stroud's Run, a picnic lunch of Miller's chicken and fried perch, then a kayak paddle on the lake with his mom.

 Of course Brock requires much less for a good time, a pile of rocks would be fine...