Tag Archives: Person of Interest

5 Days Until the Triple Bypass

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After a fantastic and raucous weekend, the GF and I are just about ready to head to the hills and face the incredible climbs of Vail, Loveland and Juniper passes. I’m not sure what the week will entail, aside from some high altitude light cardio training, some paint ball, and lots of visiting with my brother and my friends out there.

I’ll have my laptop with me, and a camera, both of which I intend to use. Last week was a really slow week for blogging, but aside from being rained out one day, a very good week for riding.

This week, I’m going to try to force myself to write more, but I may have to simply face the fact that I’m in a bit of a blogging slump.

Tonight we head to the parents, who are taking care of our puppies. Tomorrow we make the drive to Evergreen, CO, where we’ll spend the next three days acclimating at altitude before the big ride on Saturday.

Weekend Recap – All Miles, Booze and Crap for Sale

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I’d love to say this weekend was relaxing, but I seem to be having a hard time finding anything relaxing at the moment. I won’t go through the laundry list of things on my mind (including – but certainly not limited to – laundry), but it’s a pretty hefty load. It’s really quite minuscule compared to what others are experiencing, or have experienced, but it’s mine, and like any other white, middle-class male, I have no sense of real hardship or struggle, so little things piled up sometimes get to me.

Enough of that.

Friday night was spent, at least in part, preparing for the garage sale that would span Saturday and Sunday. In addition to that, I spent it preparing for another epic training/endurance ride. I don’t remember much of Friday, so let’s move on…

Saturday morning arrived much too soon. We got up at 07:30. On the agenda was moving the copious amounts of flotsam and jetsam for sale out of the garage and onto the driveway, pricing what hadn’t yet been, and getting cash from the bank for change. That done, I had to get a good breakfast, go over the Torelli, get together all the stuff I’d need for a long day on the saddle, and get myself on the road. With the TBP fast approaching, I have to get all the good miles in that I can. I’m feeling the pressure.

In short, I did so, and it was a great ride. My route, available on mapmyride.com for ease of exporting to my Garmin Edge, proved to be fantastic, as I knew it would. I’ve ridden every foot of that route, but never in this particular configuration. Normally I’ll head to Lawrence via 24/40 and come back via K32, or I’ll head out from Olathe, and come back via the same route. This time I did one big loop, heading out 24/40 to Lawrence, and back via country highways south of K10 and into Olathe, where I picked up the roads I learned on the Spring Classic ’08 route.

The way out was noteworthy only in that I took fewer breaks than I normally do, and had a mild to brisk headwind nearly the whole way out. Arriving in Lawrence, I was most pleasantly surprised to find a friend actually at home. Until Saturday, I was 0 for 2 catching her at home. We sat and chatted in her living room, giving me a chance to have a bite, rest the legs, and catch up with a bit of her life.

As I left her place, I was looking forward to having a tail wind, but it wasn’t to be. It wasn’t that the wind switched… on the contrary, it just died out there, so I had neither tail nor head wind. All things considered, it certainly could have been worse. I wasn’t complaining then, and I’m not complaining now. At least not about that.

It is with no small amount of irony that I report that the most noteworthy part of the ride back into the KC Metro area was being passed by an old style roadster driven by an older blond woman. There was a triple take on that one. I’ve always been a fan of that style of car, and would someday really like to have one for lazy Sunday drives around a lake somewhere. I imagine by the time that desire becomes reality, cars will be powered by small nuclear reactors and only touch tire to road when at rest.

By the time I got home, just over 90 miles and 6 hours later, the sale was packed back into the garage and the doors closed. Fortunately, the GF had help in the form of our next door neighbors as well as a friend of hers from Lawrence. I felt more than a little bad leaving her alone, but she assured me that she understood the need for miles. When I found out for sure that she had company, I rested much easier. The rest of the evening was spent on the couch watching the idiot box and counting the money we’d made. Almost $300 for a bunch of stuff we just wanted to get rid of. Not bad at all.

Sunday was in part a repeat of Saturday, at least for the GF. I didn’t get out and ride again, having developed quite a need for a rest day. Instead, we moved the for-sale contents of the garage onto the driveway, and started immediately in on the rum & cokes (or rum and RCs, as the case was). We had about $50 worth of business before the storm clouds rolled in furiously from the north, and at just after noon, we called it. It was dead as it was, and with no customers, there was no need to keep things open. I drove around and gathered up the signs, and we contemplated what to do with the rest of the day. Home Depot and Target played small roles, as did the idiot box, and a couple of movies.

This morning, I rode the Kona on account of the threat of rain. I rode sans lighting because I couldn’t find my light battery in the chaos that is our post-garage sale homestead. Furthermore, when I got here, I realized I had no shoes. Somehow, they’d all made their way back home last week, and I forgot to pick them up. Hilarity.

Ah, Monday…

Stop

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With no inspiration to write this morning, I set about my normal task of catching up on my daily blogs. There are the cycling blogs, the mockery blogs, the security blogs, and the comics. I came across this in my perusals, and remembered a near encounter I had (almost had?) this morning.

It was a very slow ride in, on account of having slightly too much fun yesterday for Memorial Day… at least up until the very last minute, but we’ll get to that later. As I was approaching 91st and Lowell, I noticed another commuter heading north on Lowell. He blew right through the stop sign, with cars entering the intersection from all 5 directions. He didn’t slow for the sign, and he made no signals that I could see. He just rode through as if neither the intersection nor the cars were there.

I briefly considered chasing him down, as Joe started to do, but came to the same conclusion. Going out of my way like that just wasn’t in the cards this morning.

So as he sped off heading north, surely to run more stop signs, and disregard more stop lights, scofflaw that he is, I turned south and made my way, slowly but surely, to work.

Part of the reason for the slow ride is because I’m sad. When the GF moved in, she brought her cat with her. A rag doll that looks like a little white tiger, he really is a great cat. I’ve really grown attached to him. He’s actually a dog in a cat body, which is why I like him. The best of both species, he is very affectionate and loves people, and has the agility and vocal chords of a cat. He sheds like no other animal I’ve ever known, but he’s gorgeous.

But… he pees. He uses his litter box, certainly, but he also uses the couch. And he used to use the bed before the bedroom door was kept closed. And who knows what else. The GF spent a great deal of money on a Cat Genie, hoping to make her life easier, and that a change in litter box might snap him out of it. She was also hoping the move would snap him out of it. “Stranger things,” yes? Not so much. I’m no help, b/c I’ve never had a cat before.

Last night, right before we turned in, the GF found more urine on her couch in the basement. She’d covered it in plastic, so the couch was very protected, but that was the last straw, and as surprisingly sad as it makes me, we have to find him another home. But I’ll miss the little guy, in spite of myself. He doesn’t pee a *lot* outside of the litter box, but it’s too much for us, and we don’t know how to make him stop.

On Recovery, Dinner, Wet Streets and Branches

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Yesterday was supposed to be a recovery day. I was supposed to rest and take it easy on the way to and from work. In order to maximize my training effort, and make my commutes actually count towards that, I need to apply a little structure to it. Unfortunately, both work and Kansas had different ideas. First, I had to head into work a little earlier than I planned, forcing me to up the pace a bit. Second, I had to fight headwinds gusting up to a reported 35mph, and steady at 10-15mph. That made the ride in pretty high on the intensity scale.

Work itself was anything but relaxing and restful. Many different issues converged to make me the nexus of many a foul temper. I don’t mind, though. It’s not my job to be liked, it’s my job to be vigilant and diligent in the protection of the customers the choose to grant us their business.

The ride home could have been relaxing, had I let it be. I wasn’t in a real hurry, but with the same winds I fought in the morning helping push me along, the temptation to take advantage of it was just too much. I’m weak. I caved. I hammered. I loved it.

A bit later in the evening, the GF made a dinner for us and some friends that my own mother used to make when we were growing up. She, the GF, got it into her head to resurrect the dish, and she did so with great success. Not only that, but she cleaned out the basement to the point that, for the first time since I’ve lived in that house, we were actually able to USE the basement as an actual living space, rather than storage. Have I mentioned that she’s a keeper?

While the cooking and the eating and the relaxing were going on inside, the storm was raging outside. It rained pretty hard where we live, with a lot of great lightening and thunder, but the winds never got too bad. We watched the news for a while until we were comfortable that we wouldn’t have to find shelter or foot major repair bills, and then we just let the evening evolve until everyone went home satisfied and happy.

This morning, I was able to catch first hand the storm’s effects, at least in Shawnee, Leawood and Overland Park. I hear it hit much harder down south, but up in my neck of the woods, all I faced were wet streets and plenty of downed branches. Even the wind was down to nearly nothing. A most welcome change from the rest of the week, to be sure.

First thunderstorm with tornado potential of the season… check. Did any tornadoes actually set down?

Finally, this weekend I’m going to go buy a camera. There might be pictures.

Flat

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And by “flat”, I have several meanings.

The first deals with mood. I’m flat. In a bit of a funk. Neither super low, nor super high. Pool league last night was… uninspired. Normally I really enjoy the game, but I could have just as easily taken a nap last night. I won 3 of 4, but only because they were given back to me, after I gave them away to begin with. The fourth opponent had the audacity to keep it. Eh. Flat.

The second deals with my ride home last night. Almost 6 miles in, and just over 3 miles from home, I start bouncing up and down in my seat in an odd and unfamiliar manner. I start to get a sinking feeling, and sure enough, my rear tire is sinking to the rim. Slowly, but surely, it’s going flat. Nothing like forced recovery, eh?

And there’s me, with no spare tubes, no pump, and no CO2. Believe it or not, this is the first road flat I’ve had. Ever. 30 years on and off the bike, and I do not remember a single time a tire has gone flat due to road debris while still on the road. I know, I know… sounds laughably implausible, but it’s true. I’ve definitely had flats before, but never while I had miles left ahead of me.

The GF picked me up, and was cheery and upbeat in spite of my surly demeanor. Bless her heart, but she’s a keeper. I now have a spare tube and a pump with me, along with the requisite tire levers, and a little bit of baby powder to help the tube expand, plus the three spare tubes in my garage. You can’t prepare for everything, but I’m prepared for my next flat.

Moment from last night… the first hint that things weren’t quite right with my rear tire.

Moment from this morning… pulling up next to the driver that previously gunned his engine to pass me at speed for great effect only to be stopped by a light. I managed to maintain a demeanor of relaxed aplomb, in spite of laughing on the inside.

A Few Days Off

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My Big Ring streak continues, but this morning wasn’t a hammerfest, much less a slamhammerfest. See, at some point on Sunday, I developed quite the seemingly random, out of the blue infection on my right shin. At first I thought it was a spider bite. It swelled my shin to mammoth proportions and had the general look of a bite, plus the pain I would associate with same. For most of Sunday I was a slightly feverish and generally out of it. It was bad enough, in fact, to keep me up most of Sunday night and home yesterday. I did not sit completely idle, however, I took advantage of the freedom allowed by VPN, and hit the doc up for some meds between work related tasks. Since Saturday was spent helping the GF clean up her old apartment to expedite the retrieval of her security deposit, and Sunday was spent feeling generally lethargic, there was no riding for me this weekend. No riding this weekend translates to an easy pace into work this morning.

What I/we/she did accomplish, aside from finding health issues to deal with, was

  • give her old apartment a good thorough cleaning,
  • pack the remaining items and transport them to my overflowing garage and basement,
  • rearrange said garage and basement to make room for the GFs’ (much nicer) washer and dryer,
  • set up the Cat Genie in the basement bathroom,
  • install and enjoy Lazarus, a Dungeon Siege total mod,
  • gobs of loads of laundry, and
  • make it through seasons 1, 2 and part of season 3 of BtVS.

Sunday night and last night I really didn’t get that much sleep. This infection on/in my leg causes a fairly consistent and constant low level ache accented by moments of sharp pain. That makes for the tough time sleeping. I’m pretty sure today will *not* be a decaf day. Regardless, I’m back up in the 230′s for my mileage deficit, so tonight I pick things back up again with the long way home. Pain or no.

Slowly Crawling Against the Wind

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Last night I took the long route home again. I wasn’t sure if I was going to when I set out, but at the do-or-die point (83rd and Quivira), I decided to do.

The way there was a constant battle against 10+mph headwinds. Coming out of the NW, there was no way I was going to avoid it. My average speed, typically up in the 14-16 range, dropped to the 11-13 range. It was tough going… but unlike many previous rides where I cursed the wind, I welcomed it. Head down, I welcomed the fight. The more resistance the better as I struggle and claw my way towards the Triple Bypass.

The moment came, and the deciding factor was the wind. I wasn’t going to have an entire ride home against this kind of wind. It was going to work for me for a while. I turned back into the wind at 83rd and Quivira with the promise of tailwinds in a few miles. The neighborhoods from the Resurrection Cemetery up to Lackman and back around to the Happy Hunting Country Club are all your typical upper middle class suburbs. Nice, to be sure, and well maintained, but lacking either the character of the rougher neighborhoods, or the more inspiring architecture of the upper crust locales. Still, it’s a very nice change of pace from the merciless position jockeying type of traffic you’ll find on the main arteries. I welcome the vanilla blandness.

The promise of the wind is kept as I turn east on 71st Terrace. Though the hills are brutal in their grade, they’re short and to the point. The wind helps, but not enough to nudge my average speed significantly in the upward direction. I count every foot of elevation climbed as a foot towards Colorado, and stick hard and with conviction to the hammer ring. I decided when I set out that I was going to continue the big ring streak, and though the wind tried my resolve, I stuck to it.

Tired, but not exhausted, I pulled into my driveway with an overall average of 13mph and moving time of an hour and 10. 10 minutes waiting at lights made for an hour and 20 on the road. Opening the garage door, I am greeted with the familiar site of piles and piles of boxes waiting to be unpacked and sorted. The results of moving the GF in. The wind just doesn’t seem to let up, does it?

A Saturday Quickie

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I wasn’t sure how much riding I’d be able to get in today, due to needing to help the GF move some of the rest of her stuff out of her old apartment, but I can get it on with this:


View Larger Map

It’s way too late to ask people to join me. I leave in about an hour. But I do like being able to run my normal “Renner Route” from home, so I put it up here for you to enjoy too. As a bonus, I’m including some of the more hilly parts of my most recent commute route.

A Day of Rest, a New Route and new Contacts

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I drove to work yesterday. I have no guilt. Recovery days are a critical part of training, and I am officially In Training now. As of today, I have 3 months and one week remaining before the Triple Bypass, and it is time to kick it up a notch.

On Wednesday, I rode the new route I spoke of. It was pretty brutal. Noah suggested I take it up a notch and head to 67th before turning off Lackman. Tonight, I’m going to give it a shot. It will add a bit more distance, and a few more feet of climb. I’ll let you know how that works out for me. ;)

Yesterday, taking a recovery day was as much due to running errands as it was about recovery. I *finally* went to the optometrist to get my contacts replaced. Washing the contacts twice a day due to discomfort and haziness was just too much, and I caved. What really sent me over the edge to spend the cash (to be recovered via pre-tax Flex money) was that it was affecting my pool game. It was becoming increasingly difficult to focus on short shots, much less long shots. I hope to have the new ones by League next Tuesday.

Tonight, it’s going to be a quiet night at home with the GF, some wine, and Buffy.