Info dump

As I've been pretty slow to write on a regular basis lately I figure I'll just dump a bunch of info all at once and get it off my plate.

Last Wednesday I opted out of the Ritual Ride and chose to do the Taco ride with the CITA boys. The trail was in pretty great shape with just a couple muddy spots and the requisite creek crossings. I managed to stay upright more often than not but still took a few spills including the coveted "first rider down" prize! I still need to work on my obstacle clearing skills as I always hang up on the chain rings on steep or large obstacles. I have yet to master hopping the rear tire up and over obstacles and am content with the seat jumping up and slapping me in the ass. I definitely need some help and work on that skill. Hell, I need work on all my skills...

This weekend found me slaving away on the yard work, friends visiting overnight, working, and a potluck with other friends. Friday night found us hosting some friends from out of town. They were headed to Adventureland with their kids on Saturday so we put out the invite to drive down the night before and stay overnight so they wouldn't have to get up at the buttcrack of dawn on Saturday. We had a few adult beverages, spent some time in the hot tub, and had some good conversation. As the evening activities were winding down around 1 in the morning, their youngest son sprinted upstairs and proceeded to get sick in the bathroom. Awesome job on having the ability to make it to the bathroom in a strange house! They were in for a long night with him being sick, but still made it to the park and had a good time on Saturday. It was great seeing them again, but dang we need to get our activities rolling earlier in the evening as anything past midnight is getting rough on this old man (LOL)!

Saturday was the first lawn mowing of the year. I was actually a week late on this due to our mower being out of commission. I tried last week to get the parts to fix it only to find out that all mower shops apparently close at 1 pm on Saturdays?! What the hell??? I'm guessing, I'm not in the minority by mowing my yard on the weekend and would halfway expect a mower shop to cater to their customers by at least being open until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Guess I lost that bet. In any case, the yard work got done, along with the brush cleanup and a couple of brews consumed. After dinner I hauled the load down to my parents farm and hung out with them for a few minutes before heading back home.

Woohoo, Sunday was going to be a banner day. 70 degrees and sunny meant I was in for some long hours on the bike. Alas, I wussed out. I awoke to mid 30's temps with slightly overcast skies and decided it wasn't to be. I opted for a couple hours extra sleep, a side of nookie, and getting an early start on the work I knew was looming in front of me. Yup, I spent most of my Sunday at work. I stayed there until 4 o'clock rolled around and we headed over to our friends grandma's house on the east side. She and her husband were in town from Arkansas with their son who is only 4 months younger than Corley. The kids played, the house was packed, and we had a good time hanging out with everyone. We rolled the weekend up with some relaxing in front of the tube.

Monday was a red letter day! I hit the DMCC Monday night ride for the first time this year as I opted out of Tuesday and Wednesday this week to do the Elkhart Time Trial on Thursday. I also chose to save gas and ride to the start plus I got the bonus miles in. Long story short, I logged almost 50 miles Monday night and though the numbers weren't very impressive in regards to average speeds or total climbing, I still felt pretty worked by the time I got home. Once home, the red letter day really started with some new toys having come in the mail from our friends at F&E. Actually, we only got one of the toys we ordered, but it was the one I was most looking forward to putting to use. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it! Overall it's a great toy and we'll probably be carrying it in the store, but didn't quite fulfill every fantasy I'd managed to conjure up about wild drapery tearing, paint peeling sex. I'm sure part of that was at least due to not getting started until somewhere nearing midnight as both of us had a busy day. We'll definitely be testing it more in the future though.

Damn, I think that catches me up to everything. Hope to see some of you soon.