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I hate it too
Posted On Thursday, October 30th, 2008 By David Veatch
Please, take some time and let Elden and his family know you’re thinking about them. He’s had a very hard night.
1. Place Bit Between Teeth 2. Chomp
Posted On Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 By David Veatch
The Dew Drop is about a week away, and I’m chomping at the bit. I’ve hardly ridden at all this month. Looking back, it’s been almost as slow as February, and I was sick and out of town for much of that month. And perhaps most distressing is that somewhere in there, I missed Fall. When I tore down the Fire Mountain (pics), it was warm. I was wearing shorts. When I pick up the Dew Drop, it’ll be cold, and I’ll be wearing long layers. That’s really only a shame for my fan club here at work that likes to watch me ride off… they’ll have to wait until Spring for the Good Stuff again. Back to the point at hand, what happened to it? Where’d Fall go? Granted, I’ve been a little bit preoccupied with personal stuffs around here, but still… I thought I’d notice when Fall stepped aside for Winter. One day it was nice, the next it was freezing at night, and barely hitting 60 at the height of the day. And here I was, completely oblivious. I mentioned to a friend, aghast, that it had hit 27°F the night before. She looked at me, clearly more »
Looming Goals
Posted On Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 By David Veatch
My 5,000 mile goal for 2008 is looking… dicey. Cold weather approaches. A couple of trips out of town coming up. A certain lack of a commuting bike at the moment. It’s a perfect storm standing between me and safe harbor. Perhaps worst of all, Noah is slated to pass me TODAY! Gah! And I love that windbreaker too, btw… it’s brilliant! Tell me… Loading…
Nice Little Ride and Persistent Flats
Posted On Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 By David Veatch
So, by way of clearing my head and getting some miles, I took off last night on a quickie 33 miler over some of the best hills that Johnson County has to offer. At least, insofar as I know. If you know of others that aren’t on this route, please… do let me know. Due to some aforementioned chaos, I wanted to get out and clear my head some. Unfortunately, before I could clear my head, I first had to fix (yet another damn) flat. They’ve been plaguing me lately. It seems every time I want to get out and ride these days, it’s either one tire or another, on one bike or another. It’s tiresome. Last night, it was last-straw sort of frustrating. I found the hole, didn’t find anything in the tire, replaced the tube and admittedly amidst a small amount of cursing, finally got out the door. It didn’t take long for my mind to turn away from flats to the issues at hand, and turn it did. Over the course of the 33 miles, I did exactly what I set out to do… 1) Get miles in. Not many, but every little bit counts. 2) Confront more »
Self Improvement
Posted On Monday, October 20th, 2008 By David Veatch
It used to bother me that I could look back at who I was 4, 5, or 6 years previously, and would constantly ask myself “Who the hell was that? What an idiot!” Now it bothers me that I look back at who I was 4, 5, or 6 years ago and pretty much see the same person.
News on the Dew, and Quickies
Posted On Monday, October 20th, 2008 By David Veatch
Ok, it doesn’t look like the Dew will be here until the first week of November. Bah. So, it’s either ride the Torelli to work, or drive, and make up the miles after work on recreational/training rides. I think I’m opting for the latter. I may not make my goal of 150 commute days this year, but I’m damn sure going to make my goal of 5,000 miles this year. 750(ish) to go. Friday night we went to BB ‘s Lawnside Bar-B-Que, where we saw the Bill Lupkin Blues Band. I prefer southern blues, specifically the Stevie Ray Vaughn style of blues/rock, over the Chicago/KC jazz imbued blues, but that said, I’ll take live over recorded any day, and Mr. Lupkin delivered. Cafe Casbah, at 8609 College Blvd, Overland Park, KS 66210 just east of Quivira on the south side of 119th is a fantastic little restaurant. It doesn’t look like much on the outside, but the food is phenomenal. Saturday night, I had a seafood stuffed pastry in a lobster sauce. I sopped every last bit up with bread. I wasn’t that impressed with Dungeon Siege 2 at first, but it’s grown on me. I know, I know… I’m more »
The Dew is Late These Mornings…
Posted On Friday, October 17th, 2008 By David Veatch
The Dew Drop isn’t in yet… not sure when it will be. That means I’m stuck in the car indefinitely. Bah. I made it this far, only to be stymied by ancient components and delayed shipping. I could ride the Torelli, but… no. It’s been through a couple of hard crashes, and I’m not interested in providing any more opportunity for the same than necessary. I’m saving it for rides that are not commutes… the daily wear is not what those expensive components are destined for, at least not on my watch. So… it’ll be evening and weekend rides for me until the Drop gets in. *sigh*
Very. Slow. Cycling. Weeks…
Posted On Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 By David Veatch
Due to some serious upheaval in my personal life, and the fact that my regular commuter bike has been reduced to a component-free frame hanging on a nail in my garage, I’ve had very little in the way of saddle time recently. I hope to see the arrival of the Dew Drop here very soon… today or tomorrow, or at the latest, Friday, but we’ll see. That is all. Just a placeholder today.
Hammerfest to Lawrence and Back
Posted On Saturday, October 11th, 2008 By David Veatch
I just joined a fellow Defined Fitness Training LLC member, and two others for a quick out and back between Shawnee, KS and Lawrence, KS. It was a last minute invite yesterday, and since I was planning (and needed) to get out for a ride, it fit the plan perfectly. Now… when I mean quick, I mean just that. We rode hard and fast nearly the whole way. I was hard pressed to keep up… in fact, I didn’t. Had they not slowed the pace a bit, taking mercy on my lack of riding lately, it would have changed from a group ride, to a solo ride for me. I’m a little confused by the stats reported on motionbased.com… my Garmin shows a moving time of 3:54:18 and an average speed of 18.82mph vs. the 4:53:35 time and 15.6mph average the site recorded. I’m going to go with what’s on the Garmin itself, thank you very much. ;) Normally when I make the trek to Lawrence from my house, I’ll stop a couple times… typically once on the way out, and once on the way back. Not so much this time. It was hard spinning from our rendezvous point at more »
The Fire Mountain’s Last Ride
Posted On Friday, October 3rd, 2008 By David Veatch
Well, I’m going to have to call it. Time of death: 06:58. Now, a few words… You were a good bike, and carried myself, as well as several others, through some lean times, some fantastic trails, and finally back into the wonderful world of commuting by bicycle. But, as with all things, both good and bad, it’s time to lay you to rest. It’s for the best. You’re simply not safe to ride. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Every full stop is a moment of fear… will your chain slip again this time, throwing both feet, undignified and sloppy, to the ground? Will your cables finally snap with this change of gear? You’ve been fantastic, but your rings are shot, and your cogs are squeaky. Your cables frayed and your headset shows signs of rust. But I don’t blame you. It’s not all your fault. I’ve been woefully lacking in taking care of you. I’ve not held up my end of the deal. You’ve given more than I ever had any right to ask of you, and only recently have you started complaining. I understand. You’re old. You’re tired. You’ve never asked for anything, and to my discredit, I’ve given more »