Don't Say You Gave It All...

It hit 60 degrees again yesterday, but with a stiff 18 mph WNW wind I wasn't going to go for bike ride, so I put in a nice run instead. Since the weather has been so chaotic lately and I have been putting in the serious hours in the lab I have not been running regularily, so pinching off a quick four miles may not have been the smartest idea. Of course, its me, so every hill I see has to be run up, and when I got to the steps in front of Brookings Hall, I had to take them two at a time. As the poet has said "don't say you gave it all if you ain't gave it all..." Dr. Bones has also weighed in on the subject of how to do things with "If its worth doing, its worth doing right, so don't fuck around". When I run, I run until blowing chunks is a distinct possibility, regardless of whether I am commuting by bike later or not. My ride home was much easier than I had expected... so maybe I should run my arse off more often?
On other fronts, I decided to put off an auto purchase indefinately and buy a new road bike. The Red Trek is really starting to show her age and mileage. The probability of total bearing failure in the hubs and bottom bracket is increasing with every revolution of pedals and wheels, and the Modolo Equippe brakes are not quite as responsive as they used to be. Of course they were never intended to get the kind of punishment I dish out on the commute. Whenever my IRS refund gets here, its off to Big Shark for a new roadie. Then I can start policing parts to convert The Red Trek to a fixed gear.

So it is written, so it shall be done.

The Heart of Darkness

Destroyed another light last night. As I made the left turn from campus onto Forsyth I hit the big bumps and in the midst of all the shaking and the traffic the front half of my Topeak light went flying. Same place my Cateye came apart. Crap. No way I can stop and look to see if its ok amidst all the SUV's being piloted by cranky people. So now I need another light. I have the Goodbye Batteries lights, but that will involve mounting them, which for reasons no one can fathom, I haven't done. Still went for a ride in the park last night, it stopped raining and it was gloriously warm and not to windy. The new fender is the cat's meow. Better living through plastic.

20 Percent Chance

I cannot decide if I hate the weather-predictor-people here in the Lou, or feel pity for them. They tend to be horridly wrong most of the time, which would be ok, except I ride a bike to work most days, and need an accurate forcast. For instance, today was supposed to sport a 20 percent chance of showers. Indeed. Its been raining pretty steadily for the last hour or so, and I left the booties at the house today because the weather-oracle said 20 percent chance of a spot shower. Liar.
Yesterday was amazing, 65 degrees and windy. Did two laps of the park despite a sore left knee and some tight hamstrings. Did a little jaunt through the park again this morning, and will probably do one tonight, just cause. I bought a new rear fender, its an el-cheapo that clamps onto the seat post, but if it keeps my arse dry, I don't really care. I used to be a serious gear-head, obsessed with the latest shiny expensive bike thingy. Especially if it were made of titanium or carbon fiber. Now I worry about function, and wether it will fail under the constant abuse of commuting. Can't decide if this is a change as a result of living on a stipend, or some derived wisdom that I have developed over the years. Hopefully, its wisdom.

Let It Snow

Woke up early this morning. Something in the air of the house has been irritating my allergies and I just couldn't sleep. Looked outside to see a dusting of snow on the cars, but bare wet roads. Nice day to ride. Went back downstairs, had some yogurt, read some more of The Smartest Guys In The Room, when the clock said 7 am, I started to gear up, walked upstairs and noticed that there was now snow on the road and more snow falling. Decided that I would still ride the road bike, but take the corners a little slower than usual. Tried out my new Topeak light. Its a tricky little LED that I paid 10 bucks for on ebay. It takes some ridiculously expensive little Li ion batteries, but it has a simple attachment system that will allow me to mount it on any of the bikes in the house without any fuss. As an added bonus, its small enough to fit in a pocket. Sweet. Of course I forgot my lock, which was not sweet, so the bike is stashed in a corner of the lab, where it will piss someone off just by being there.

Colder Than...

20 degrees with a strong North wind this morning. Colder than I would like. Warmed up to 30! Damn near tropical. Time to ride home for a nap, after a spin around the park, of course.

Basho Is My Friend

I'd never sent a woman flowers before yesterday. I was nervous and out of sorts all day. First I had to find a florist, luckily Google Local was ready for the task... then I had to pick an arrangement. Something tasteful, yet beautiful, and not too big. WTF people? Ask me to pick the right combination of initiator, transfer agent, cosolvent, reaction conditions and monomers for a successful Reversible Addition Fragmentation and Chain Transfer polymerization and I am your man. But picking flowers? I am just not equipped for that sort of thing. Once I picked something I had to come up with something for the card... Google to the rescue again, I looked up Basho (the 17th century Japanese poet) and found a nice little haiku about irises and conversation. Put it on the Visa and let it be. Based on the phone call I got that afternoon, I did the thing right. Thanks Basho. You are