August and Everything After

rlb

Well-Known Member
Soak up all you can. They grow up fast.

That's what everyone says, but honestly we're both looking forward a few months to when things are a bit more normalized. But I'm an asshole and always look forward and back without much ability to enjoy the moment. She's slowly changing that in me.
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
Adorable! Congrats! What an amazing part of life for you and your family.

My son just turned 7 weeks today.

I have been off the bike about the whole time as well, just had my first ride in this past Thursday.

Thanks man congrats to you too. Glad I invested in some quality lights a few years ago. Not much guilt sneaking out when the rest of the family is still asleep. Good luck with all of it.
 

jmanic

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
Staff member
JORBA.ORG
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Congrats Rob, she's awesome!
Bring her to Six mile- there'll be plenty of room for her and the bobinator in Utah's weehoo trailer.
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
Nothing remarkable happened over the weekend in terms of bikes. I skipped Saturday AM due to the rain. We had some visitors and the rest of the day played out with me catching up on some household stuff, so a ride never happened.

I hit the road early on Sunday. Wife was confused as I rolled out of bed at 5am since it was a weekend, but I wanted to make it happen while I knew I could.

Pics or it didn't happen:


There was nothing notable about the ride itself but I did hit a suicide squirrel. The little dude crossed my path about 13 times in 2 seconds and bounced of the rear wheel as I passed.

Shortly after that I saw what I’m pretty sure was a small secret service convoy. 4 back Tahoes (may have been suburbans) with US gov plates sandwiching a white Expedition with NY plates. Maybe it was his hair stylist or one of the kids, who knows. Also at 2 separate times in the day there were Airforce jets flying over my house. I hope this doesn’t continue for the next few weeks because those fuckers are loud. Semi-related, on Thursday I got stuck on Rt. 78 in Springfield as some convoy went by. I assume it was in relation to captain orangutan’s arrival, but I could be wrong. In some way it’s cool to have the president nearby, but given who it is I just can’t get too excited about it.


Unrelated but I need new road gloves and I happened to be near a shop last week so I stopped in. They had crap selection (PI and Bontrager, that's all) which included only one style without gel. And they were white. They happened to be the same glove I was looking to replace but I'm not buying white fucking cycling gloves.

Is this just a product of what the stores are forced to carry by the big guys (i.e. Bontrager)? I need to get over to the place with the good accessory collection (and no treks) some time soon.
 

clarkenstein

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
those fighters were scrambled because two small engine private planes flew into restricted air space. primates need their elbow room in the sky.

you have a crap weather bike? i'm not getting out as much as i used to, but i will say fenders and/or a crap weather bike make a big difference. if its raining, or just freshly rained, i'll go out now. unless its a crazy thunderstorm. only issue i have in the real wet now are my glasses.

waking up early on the weekends sucks but i think its worth it. i can do a two hour ride and come back in, start the coffee machine, and have a half hour to myself before someone else in the house starts to stir.
 

RobW

Well-Known Member
those fighters were scrambled because two small engine private planes flew into restricted air space. primates need their elbow room in the sky.

you have a crap weather bike? i'm not getting out as much as i used to, but i will say fenders and/or a crap weather bike make a big difference. if its raining, or just freshly rained, i'll go out now. unless its a crazy thunderstorm. only issue i have in the real wet now are my glasses.

waking up early on the weekends sucks but i think its worth it. i can do a two hour ride and come back in, start the coffee machine, and have a half hour to myself before someone else in the house starts to stir.
i wonder if you can use rain-ex on your glasses...
 

clarkenstein

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
i wonder if you can use rain-ex on your glasses...

i have thought about it... but don't have a spare i can experiment on. next prescription i'll do it with the old ones - or at least try an anti-fog spray, like what they use in swim goggles.
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
i have thought about it... but don't have a spare i can experiment on. next prescription i'll do it with the old ones - or at least try an anti-fog spray, like what they use in swim goggles.
Is there a product called cat crap for foggy glasses?
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
those fighters were scrambled because two small engine private planes flew into restricted air space. primates need their elbow room in the sky.

I did see a small plane in the air at the same time, I was wondering about that. Im not sure I love close enough to be under the restricted air space.

Crap weather bike is currently being built. I still need to pick up a few small pieces and a cable set, then find the time to assemble.
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
Hit one of my usual loops this morning. I usually keep it to 1 hour for pre-work rides, but WFH today so I had wiggle room.

Took this crappy pic

IMG_20170809_060224.jpg


Which immediately reminded me of this (turn up the volume and call the boss over)

 
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rlb

Well-Known Member
Congrats to both of you!

Thanks!

I suppose I should update this thing. Let's start here:

StravaCal.JPG


I'm taking Jan-July as write-offs, so let's start with August. I came out of the gate fairly well, but I've got nothing but excuses after that. And no one wants to hear excuses....

The AM rides tailed off after a few weeks and I just got back into them this past week. They are the key, and I need to keep my shit straight in that regard. However my wife goes back to work tomorrow and she needs to be out of the house by 7. I don't see room for a ride in this scenario unless I wake up at 3:45. The good news is that she's returning to her previous job in 2 weeks, which was "floor" nursing. This means she works 3 shifts a week, so I'll be able to get AM rides on those 4 off days in the week. Excuses....

How about a ride? I hit this loop about once a year, 65 miles out to Round Valley. This time I took a little detour through Ken Lockwood Gorge. It was nice, but slow going on the skinny tires (for me anyway). I might do it again if time wasn't an issue, but I hit a 15mph pace on a good day so an extra 10 mins here + an extra 10 mins at a water stop by some dude gabbing me and it all starts to add up.... The ride kicked my butt for some reason, but I made it home in one piece. Skipped the Stanton Mountain Rd climb this time around because I had enough at that point.

Obligatory (crappy) Hippo pic:
IMG_20170916_072355.jpg


Crappy and foggy RV pic, from the North dam. Surprised to see the water level so low still.
IMG_20170916_091435.jpg


Looking out to the other side
IMG_20170916_091516.jpg


I need to slap together a shorter route to get out this way more often. Are you a route person? I always like to know where I'm headed and about how long it should take me. It's a rare occasion when I ride off and wing it.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Looks like you are ready for hillier than thou with me next sunday.....

i don't like to ride pleasant run rd. no shoulder, and busy(not union ave busy) - to avoid it, i've been routing down to barley sheaf off 523 - locus, lazy brook, summer. and that gets onto the other side of 202, where old york,
and the back roads on the other side of the south branch river(opie or mill, or stop by my place)

good loop! i'm going to add the cokesbury rd loop to my next rv ride.
 
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rlb

Well-Known Member
i don't like to ride pleasant run rd. no shoulder, and busy(not union ave busy) - to avoid it, i've been routing down to barley sheaf

Good detour, I will use it next time. Yes, Union Ave sucks but it's a fact of life where I live. I could have done myself some favors and avoided it yesterday, but I'm numb to it by now. That's how you get yourself in trouble....

Union Ave going west over 287 is where I got my garbage truck shower earlier in the week.
 
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