Catching Up

Finally, a couple of weekend mornings to sleep in and catch up on some much needed rest. I've been dragging for this past week. Not sure if I can attribute it to the snow and cold combination of riding, general lack of sleep, or nutrition. Could be a combination of everything. Performing another week of experiment on diet, nutrition, and vitamin supplement this week and maybe into next. If I don't feel better, I am going to switch back to what I was doing. More to come on that though...

I slept in until nearly 10am on both Saturday and Sunday. Before you go and call me a slacker, I must mention that I generally only get about 6-7 hours of sleep a night on a good night. Week in and week out, that adds up to feeling tired. It is good to have caught up on some much needed rest.

Saturday I attended my 10 year old daughters 8th basketball game. Glad that I did as this was the first win. Finally... It's been hard to sit and watch a group of kids with such great attitudes get pounded week after week. I am one proud father... Proud of my daughter for putting in the effort each week, keeping a great attitude as the losses piled up, and for not giving up. I am also so very proud of my wife for stepping up to fill in as the coach. Without her, there would have likely been no team.

Saturday afternoon was mild enough for me to get a bucket of hot water and take my bike out into the snow to scrub off some accumulated dirt, snow, and ice. I brought it inside and performed a mid-winter servicing. I actually cleaned the bike! I did something stupid in building the wheels for winter with some used rims that I had. They have not held up very well as they were pretty-well abused in their previous life. With some time spent in the truing stand, they'll pass for several thousand more miles. The sidewalls will likely wear to a dangerous thickness by the end of the summer and the wheels will need to be rebuilt again.

I also replaced both brake cables as the housing had cracked in several places. I don't know if it is from the cold or just general abuse. Loving the Brooks leather handlebar tape that I have on the bars. It was so easy to unwrap the bars, replace cable housing, and then re-wrap the bars. Any other tape likely would have not lasted this long (almost a year so far) and have been able to be re-used. If anyone is on the fence thinking the Brooks bar tape is too expensive, I wouldn't have ANY reservations over using it again on any bike. Cleaned up, tuned up, caught up on some much-needed repair and maintenance.

So, today I was faced with the choice of tagging along with the kids, my wife, and my sister-inlaw and her husband to the Mall of America or stay home and go for a bike ride. Hmmmm.... tough choice there! :) Sunny skies, 35 degrees, and a clean bike. Wow, it felt SO good to get out with so little clothing. Two wool jerseys, lightweight wool long undies, Rivendell MUSA pants, and a Smartwool beanie. Not sure if it was the clean bike, sunny skies, warmth or just the general good feeling of knowing I could just ride wherever I wanted... but the combination felt wonderful.

Sunday - 35 Recreation, Leisure
MTD/YTD - 650