Thursday, July 21, 2016

2016/07/21 - Huge Change, Psychic?

This morning I listened to a clip from Pence's speach where he said that if you elect Trump, the change will be HUGE!

And that hooked me. For a second I felt the same excitement that I would get from an announcement of a new exciting season of my favorite TV series.

And I realized that I, like many Americans who don't seem to be effected by whoever becomes president, can be attracted to "huge change" just from an entertainment perspective.

Let's face it, we all like reading the news when something huge happens, otherwise it's boring. 

What scares me more than the thought of Donald Trump being president, is that we might be foolish enough to let it happen. 
.....

Believe it or not, I actually predicted (and fantisized) that Cruz would use his speech to NOT endorse Trump. Attaboy Ted!

Later,
Steve

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

2016/07/19 - A fool's plan, Fox TV

I didn't do any of the riding that I planned on my trip to Arizona.

I punked out of the early morning ride I planned on Friday, mainly out of fear that I would somehow mess up and miss my early flight.

But once I got there, I realized Mesa Arizona is not exactly a mecca for biking, especially in summer. 

Early morning rides would be best, but unfortunalety the only Mesa bike shop that rented bikes didn't open until 10:00 AM and was closed on Sundays.  


So as I feared, I spent too much time in from of my motel room TV eating snacks.
.....

I haven't watched cable television in many years and finally got a chance to watch FOX TV for the first time in my motel room. 

Not only was I in a different state, I felt like I was in a different country. 

Later,
Steve

Thursday, July 14, 2016

2016/07/14 - Cycling Addiction, It don't make sense

Some people just can't take a day off from cycling.

I'm leaving for Mesa AZ tomorrow morning and I've been going through cycling pre-withdrawal all week. The thought of three days without riding is depressing to me. I could wind up eating potato chips in front of a motel TV.  I could come home out of shape and fat.

And I can't bear the thought of missing some nice rides in a new area. I could see cactus, snakes, and all kinds of stuff you'll never see in Arvada.

So I've decided to ride tomorrow morning at 4:30 AM. That gives me enough time to do a quick ride and shower, before I leave the house for DIA (we shall see how that goes).

On Saturday and Sunday I hope to rent a mountain bike down there.

Tomorrow's forecast for Mesa... 110 degrees daytime, 83 degrees nighttime.
.....

Every time I wake up from sleep, or come back from drifting asleep, I'm left with the last thought in my head.

And it never makes any sense. 

But it seemed to make perfect sense a second before. Go figure. 

Later,
Steve

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

2016/07/13 - Dirty Bismarck with Dave

My friend Dave and I did the Dirty Bismarck loop today on our mountain bikes.

We hadn't seen each other in months, so we had a lot to catch up on. Unfortunately sometime during our catching up, we missed a turn and somehow got off trail.


Luckily neither of us got flats from cactus or goatheads as we rode along what was more like a deer trail than a bike trail. 

After finally getting back on course, we wound up with a total of 16 miles.











Later,
Steve

Monday, July 4, 2016

2016/07/04 - Burnt on the 4th

One of my earliest memories of July 4th was in my uncle Charlie's back yard. My parents were in Florida and my aunt and uncle were watching me.

In the late 50's,  almost everyone shot off fireworks. Kids played with sparklers, cracker balls, and fire crackers, while parents shot off rockets, cherry bombs, ash cans, and other big fireworks.

On this particular 4th July holiday, my uncle had attached a special firework to a tree and when he lit it, it spun around like a big fire wheel. 

But suddenly it got out of control and detached from the tree. Then it flew into the air and landed on my chest, burning my teeshirt as is spun around.

I freaked out and screamed out "F_ _K!'

Everyone on the yard went silent. That was a word that was not spoken in uncle Charlie's house, especially by a child, and in his eye's an offense much more serious than causing me get burnt by fireworks. 

I felt so guilty for the rest of my stay there, but even at that age I saw the irony.


Later,
Steve




Sunday, July 3, 2016

2016/07/02 - Snake Crossing!, NTM Ride Shots

I had to stop riding this morning until this bull snake finished crossing the trail. 

I like to give them, and geese the right-of-way.






And here's some pictures from this morning's mountain bike ride on North Table Mountain:













Later,
Steve