new bike, awesome day

been forever since i wrote here.  the last time i wrote here i had fucked up my finger, a lot has changed.  my finger is still fucked up, but i have a brand new kick ass awesome bike, it's magical, i can do just about anything on it.  i rode the section that caused my finger to bend, i've ridden other stuff i hadn't ridden before.

two days ago i went for a pretty awesome road ride, last night i tried to ride but my legs were still not ready.  then there was today....

today was a great day, i am totally beat, spent, done.  went for a big ride to day, in the hot sun, drank a beer or two, and now i wanna call it a day.

great ride, i look forward to the many rides to come.

finally got to ride a bike

i haven't ridden in forever, today i felt good (for the first time in a while) and the weather was cooperating (sort of) and the trails were dry, so we went for a ride.  

february in colorado, out these parts it’s warm and sunny and the ground is dry. we went for a ride, it was windy, it was chilly, but it was pretty damn nice, because we were riding bikes in february.
coming down the drop in, i managed to fall nicely. i was fine, got up, and i felt something odd with my hand. thank the gods i had gloves on, because i grabbed the upper half of my left pointer finger, and without thinking about it, instinctively snapped it to the right, back in place, where it belongs. thankfully i did it before i realized what i had done, perhaps i was in a minor state of shock, and i’m thankful for it.
since it was pretty much at the beginning of the ride, my finger was pretty useless for the majority of the ride, which meant braking was a bit not that fun. holy crap i was tired too, i hadn’t really been on a bike for about a month, went for that short ride a few days ago, and now this. being all sick didn’t help much i’m sure, but although i was coughing like a 3 pack a day smoker, my lungs seemed to work ok, and they felt good.
after the ride, back at the truck, i had a bit of medicinal brownie, and now my finger feels fine and i can type. tonight we go to Ross’s house for moive night. i should be feeling way past fine in a few hours.
great day, despite the messed up finger which doesn’t bend too well.

bleh

i have not ridden a bicycle in about a month.  i did finally go to the doctor, when it hurt to breathe, and it turned out i had some kind of bacteria infection in my lungs and nose, so i'm on antibiotics.  yay, i got that going for me.   i want ride my damn bicycle. 

tomorrow, sunday, i work.  then monday i drive to amarillo texas, road trip for a week, then i'm back on friday.  hopefully after that i will be able to start riding regularly again.  i feel like i'm getting older and fatter and slower each day i don't get on a bicycle. 

and now i will actually get on a bicycle and ride the whole mile to the bar and get a beer.  my first ride in quite a while, and i'm actualy getting out of the house instead of sleeping on the couch.

disconnected

it's saturday evening, 7:09 pm, i'm in the same clothes i woke up in, haven't left my house all day.  it was gray and rainy, while i don't feel blatantly sick, i don't feel well.  i didn't do crap today, i finished a book assassins creed: the secret crusade by oliver bowden, based off the game.  it was good, bubblegum for the brain.  i practised the swe shift, it's my new thing, and i slept. 

i did make a tasty soup, simple, and oh so good.  sauteed mirepoix, added chicken stock, handful of dried shiitakes, barley, shot of whisky, shot of soy sauce, sqauirt of lemon and it was fucking deeeeeelicious.  i also made baba ganouj.  yum. 

i should have gone for a bike ride today, i haven't ridden a bike in what feels like a month.  i am hoping to ride next week, going down to hurricane to ride gooseberry mesa.

i don't know what to do, i dont' want to do anything.  i am missing my friends bachelor party, that sucks. 

fuck it, think i'll read some more, maybe watch crap on the internet, then go to sleep early.  

blah

it is thursday, it's sunny and actually warm out, but i'm staying in, i feel droopy, i feel disconnected.  been off lately, don't know why.  talk to my girlfriend, she gets upset for no apparent reason.  my friend gets upset for no apparent reason.  it's like i am saying one thing but others hear something different.  like tyler durden is speaking for me.  i don't get it. 

it makes me want to shut down, break up with my girlfriend, stop talking to my friend, and just be alone.  i don't know what the fuck is going on, i don't know what is wrong or why.  i don't feel edgy, but people seem edgy to me, they seem to be getting upset over nothing, mistaking what i say, reading into shit i say. 

i havent ridden a bike in a week or so, i need to go ride, i should have ridden today.  i feel like i've lost any motivation to do anything, and i have no reason to. 

i hope i get out of this strange murky morass. 

a big day, now i'm sick

yesterday kicked ass.  it was our fouth day out in a row, and yesterday we went big.  we rode 30+ kms, about 20 miles, which doesn't seem like a lot, but these were hard mountain bike miles, lots of climbing, super wicked decents which were technical and you were working, followed by more climbing.  the day was spectacular, weather perfect, trails perfect, my legs actually held up way better than i thought they would.  i was spent, completely and utterly spent. 

woke up this morning and i was sick.  some cold thing.  i wasn't going to ride today anyway, but now that i'm sick, i am definately not gonna ride today or tommorrow.  fuck.


other than that, my phone went all wonky and istn' working and i'm just having a shitty day right now.  i want to go home.  not that it would be any better there, but still. 

i need to sleep. 

a short ride

"i just wanna do a short, easy ride, nothing big today"   this is what we said, what we agreed on, what we apprently felt.  it's not what happened. 

the weather was beautiful, just a hint of cool in the air, but our hands and ears weren't screaming in pain from the cold.  we were in short sleeves and shorts, and it was glorious.  took off from the house, got on dirt, and it was ON! 

it felt like riding through an M C Escher painting, we somehow were always going up a fucking hill.  the trails were in perfect condition, i know somwhere along the way we had to be going down a hill, but it felt like all climbing.   we came out by the road, i thought we were done, but oh no, "lets do one more" seemed to be the attitude of the day, and so we did. 

three and a half hours of riding overall.  my legs were jelly.   twenty + miles on a mountain bike is not a "short, easy" day.   overall, it was a good day, a fun day.  


that was yesterday.  today we are going on a slow, short, easy ride.   we shall see about that.....

sedona

it is almost 11 pm in the evening, i'm in a house in sedona, arizona.  yesterday we did a quick mountain bike ride up at 18 road, i rode strong, and faster than i have, it felt great.  today i drove down through utah, to sedona for our shop retreat/month of riding and partying vacation.  good times. 

i'm tired, i'm going to sleep, but i just quickly wanted to type something while i'm down here. 

now i snooze, tomorrow we ride!

the ottoman slap

yesterday was a great start to a new year, and so far, it's kept on being awesome. 

i'm currently reading the possessed: adventures with russian books and the people who read them by Elif Batuman.  it's pretty fucking hilarious and super interesting.  i learned about "the ottoman slap" (osmanli tokadi), as well as other things.  great book, so well written, it's not like reading, it's like listening to someone talk to you.

i will probably finish it in a day or two.  i have been thinking about trying once again to read 52 books a year, a book a week.  i also want to start riding my bicycle waaaaay more, and on top of it all, i remain super lazy, so we shall see what wins out: books, bikes, or laziness.  i'm sure laziness will prevail, it's pretty fucking strong.

speaking of bikes, went for my second actual ride of the year.  it was such a beautiful day, i had to get out, and my legs were itching and twitchy.  i only rode 31 km, about 19 miles.  i did some sprints to make me feel like i did something.  it was a "recovery" ride, i am indeed a "Recovery ride specialist."  and i'm good with that.   i don't think i will ride any more this week.  i'm gonna rest up and get ready, on the 5th i drive down to Sedona, Arizona, where we will be riding hard, drinking hard, and pretty much having a kick ass time.   i figure i will give my legs a break before i abuse them in a few days. 

the other kick ass thing that happened today is, i got paid!  tomorrow, tuesday, i shall deposit my check, and then wednesday, i shall spend every fucking penny of my paycheck on a goddamn brand new windshield for my car.  awesome.  but overall, i'm not too upset.  it will all work out, it always does. 

now i shall have a cup of tea and read more about russian books and the people who read them. 
and there you have it.  an overall great day. 

the first ride of the year

january 1st.  just got back from riding the monument, and i feel great.  i only rode a total distance of 24 km, about 15 miles, but a good half of that was climbing up 8% grades.  i felt strong today, i didn't think i was gonna make it, but my legs kept pumping, the wheels kept turning, and at the halfway point up the climb i knew i was gonna make it.  instead of stopping at the top as i usually do, i just kept on pedaling, kept on climbing, rode for another km or two.  i could have kept going, did the whole thing, but i had really just wanted to do the first steep climb, and i felt like turning around and coming home, so i did.  my legs weren't tired, my lungs weren't tired, i felt great, i just, for some reason, felt like going home.

the descent was pretty good, i made some turns faster than i had before, i was off my brakes for a good portion, the bike felt good under me.  it was a beautiful day and i had a great ride, a great way to start off the year.

today, i went to get food for dinner, and there was a leg of lamb on sale, from $50 down to $22, so i snatched that up quick and tonight i shall roast a leg of lamb.  i feel rich.  life is good.  i think this year is gonna kick ass.   

riding with joe

it is tuesday, 27 december, about 1514 hours pm in the afternoon, i just got home from a ride. 

today i rode 48 km, it was a good ride, it was about 35 degrees out, my feet and ears are a bit chilly despite being covered in what i thought was adequate protection. 

today's ride all started yesterday on facebook.  i had posted the status update "i have lost my will to suffer."  a friend, joe, said i should go for a ride with him, no suffering, so i agreed.  

joe is a badass.  he has type 1 diabetes, and last year was going to do a century a month for ten months.  He did eight centuries.  the guy is strong, and pretty damn cool.  i was intimidated, but i knew i should ride with him.  first off, when i ride alone, it's just too damn easy to cut my ride short, turn around, and go back to riding a couch.  second, i knew if i rode with him, we would be talking and i could ride a bit faster than i normally would have, and finally, if i committed to riding with someone, i knew i wouldn't blow off my ride.

so today at 1:00 in the afternoon, we met outside his house and took off.   we rode at a good pace, talked, the weather wasn't too bad, a bit chilly, but thankfully no wind.  30 miles later, i am  home.  and i felt great during the whole ride.   who knows, perhaps i am getting stronger?  we took it easy, about 15mph the whole way, and it was pretty flat. 

either way, i had a great ride, and i feel pretty damn good.  i look forward to my next ride with joe.

christmas 2011

it is 4 pm on the dot, sunday, christmas 2011, i just returned from a ride. 

woke up this morning at about 5:26 am, back to sleep by 6 or so, up again at 8:30, groggy, tired, legs sore, for no real reason.  i think my body is fighting something, at least i'm not full blown sick.   went down to the coffee shop and had a bagle and cream cheese and a coffee, talked with friends for a few hours, then came back home.

i wanted to ride my bike, planned on it, but i didn't want to.  yesterday i was going to ride and i just slept all goddamn day, again, i think my body is fighting something.  so, yesterday i didn't ride as planned, and i'm sort of glad, it was a high of about 27 fucking degrees out yesterday.   at least today it reached a balmy 34 degrees, with a slight wind.

so i didn't want to ride today, but fuck that, i need to ride, i want to ride, and i claim to be a cyclist, so i put on my ibex knickers, my leg warmers, my jacket and gloves and cap, and i got on the bike and i rode.  i was tired, i was going to cut it short, but at about mile 9, when i was heading back home, the tailwind gave me a false sense of strength,  and instead of turning left to head home, i turned right and kept on riding.  i got to a point where i am quite familiar with, i knew i could just tag on some extra and it not be too big a deal, and so i kept on pedaling, along the roads i'm familiar with, yelling out greetings to the cows and horses and sheep and little jackass dogs who bark at me, as i always do, and it was good.  my legs were tired, but somehow, they wanted more, and i liked that, so i gave them more.  i did the occasional sprint, i pushed it hard up the little hills, i enjoyed the bike gliding over the road.   of course, heading back was against the wind, but that was ok with me, i am learning to accept the wind, and almost tolerate it.  

i managed to tack on an extra 10 km or so, and when i got home, yeah, i felt like i could have gone farther, but i was happy with today's ride.  i only rode a mere 40 km, and it took me an hour and forty one fucking minutes to do it, which is sort of pathetic, but there it is.  that is where i'm at. 

i hope i can get stronger, i don't seem to be able to, and i always seem to be tired.  whatever, i will keep at it and hope i see some form of progress.

even if i don't, at least i am out on my bike, and that feels good.  i look forward to my next ride. 

wiping off the cobwebs

so....

haven't written here in a few years, frankly never expected to come back here...much has changed.....i think i want to change the focus of this here blog....

this used to be a random, whatever was in my head, hodgepodge of fiction, dumb ass ideas, book reviews, and talking about cycling.   i will probably keep the book reviews, maybe write some random stuff, not much,  and write primarily about cycling.  i will save the fiction and other ramblings for elsewhere.  for now. 

been riding a lot, i want to ride more, i want to ride a bike all the damn time, the name of the blog *is* saddlesore review, and so i want this to be a no shit bike blog...

probably won't happen, but for now, for just this night, i will act like it will....

tomorrow i ride, hopefully tomorrow i will come back and write about it....

now i sleep.

it was 11:15 in the evening, 45 minutes till midnight, binky mcsmithers leaned against his car looking at the stars. He pulled a pall mall from the pack and lit up.

as he inhaled the first draught of smoke, the tip of his cigarette CRACKLING with it's "birth", binky thought about his childhood, how he liked to imagine great adventures, and was told by those around him to "grow up" and how he was wrong in how he was thinking. Binky didn't argue. he didn't like to argue. he realized the ones who speak the loudest and the fastest were the ones who won the arguement, regardless of who was correct.

halfway into the cigarette's "life", which is also halfway to it's "death", binky blew smoke rings, and as the undulating rings of smoke floated
up
up
up
toward the stars and heaven, disipating as they rose skyward, binky thought of his life as an adult. He would share his ideas and dreams, fantastic and unrealistic as they might be, with his wife, who would point out the flaws in his plans and tell him how wrong he was, tell him how wrong his thoughts and feelings were. His daughter would tell him how wrong he was, speak to him with no respect at all. At work, he was told how wrong he was, and even though he managed to obtain a reletively high position at his office, his co-workers, bosses, underlings, all treated him with little to no respect. he was the butt of thier jokes, a mere amusement, never to be taken seriously.

Binky realized, in the gameshow of life, he was the all time worst contestant in history. any time he rang in with an answer, he heard the dissonant BZZZZZZZ of the wrong answer buzzer, and the flashing red X would flash onscreen to show those who may be hearing impared that Binky was wrong.

Binky realized his words were just ammunition he provided others to shoot him down with, cut him down and put him in his place. if you were having a bad day, you could always step on binky to elevate yourself. that was his job in life.

As the cigarette burned to the end, reaching the small printed words "pall mall" right against the filter, binky decided he would no longer play the game. He would no longer offer others the chance to show him how his thougths and feelings were wrong and not worthy of respect. Binky dropped the cigarette and as he ground it out with the tip of his shoe, binky decided he would live the rest of his life and never

ever.

ever.

talk.

again.