BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR A RIDE!

Of course, ANY day is a great day to ride, but some ARE better than others. Today the sun was shining, but there was a crispness in the air. I overslept this morning by half an hour and almost talked myself out of going to Madrone because the drive is so long (45 min).

Sensibility prevailed, as I did a long ride last week, then another 11 miles at McAllister before Weight Watchers yesterday. I was looking forward to a challenge and Madrone certainly delivers! I had been looking forward to this ride all week.

I have an interesting personality trait that before, I thought only applied to my bike riding. I have written before about the "voices" that always seem to try to talk me out of riding on any given day. As I pondered this today on the trail, I realized that I do that all the time in the rest of my life too.

Take Fiesta, a McNay opening, a concert, or any other event. I could be looking forward to something for weeks, only to back out at the last minute for one excuse or another. It could be the weather, parking, crowds, money, it doesn't matter. Sometimes I talk myself out of it and other times I go anyway and have a great time! When it comes to biking in particular, I have to continue to ignore the excuses and just do it.

Although I rode 11 miles before weigh in yesterday, I didn't lose any weight. I didn't gain any either, so I wasn't devastated. Considering Valentine's Day was last week, and considering I ate a couple of breakfast tacos Friday at work, breaking even is almost a victory.

Speaking of victories, my niece Michelle realized a dream of hers a couple of weeks ago - by parachuting out of a plane! This has been something I've wanted to do for years, and Michelle had the balls to beat me to it! I am SO proud of her. I watched the video of her jump yesterday and started crying. It was so freaking awesome!

I guess as we get over 40 our mortality is more real than ever and we tend to think about things like "bucket lists". A couple come to mind: mountain biking at Big Bend and Northern California (good reason to visit Bert), as well as traveling to Spain (if we won the lotto).

Whatever your dreams or demons are, here's to living the dream and overcoming the demons! Hasta luego!

GREAT WEEKEND!

First things first: Happy Belated Valentine's Day! (or as La Raza says it, "Valentimes Day). Friday I played the part of the cost conscious but thoughtful husband, as I personally delivered 1.5 dozen roses to Mel at work. It surprised her and got me brownie points, so it was worth it.

Since Valentine's Day is all about the women, I asked her how she wanted to spend the day. Initially we thought we'd go to the McNay after lunch and see their new exhibits, then eat dinner somewhere. Saturday morning, she decided we would forgo the McNay visit, and go to the Shoemaker's Inn for their going out of business sale.

Shoemaker's Inn is a San Antonio institution (or was, they closed yesterday). They were having a HUGE sale on men's and women's shoes. Florsheim and Rockport men's shoes that are normally $150 were on sale for $20/pair.

As I waited in line for AN HOUR, I watched their longtime employees pose for pictures with each other. Many of them were 50+ years old and you just wonder if they were able to find other jobs. Many of them had worked there many, many years. It was quite sad.

After I bought two pair of shoes and Mel bought a few more, we decided to head over to Soluna, one of our favorite restaurants on Broadway. We beat the crowds as we arrived at almost 5 PM. I thought we might have to take out a few Senior Citizens at that hour, but I guess it was past their bed time. I'll ask Mom; she'll know.

After dinner, we stopped by Central Market for some champagne and decadent desserts to take home and enjoy. Yes, we DID count everything we ate yesterday. Needless to say, we both had a great Valentine's Day since we spent the whole day together. Who could ask for more?

By they way, Mel and I BOTH lost weight at weigh in yesterday. I lost almost 3 pounds, which more that made up for last week's disappointing result (but I'm SO over that). So far, I've lost 10 pounds since we started in January.

This morning was gray and overcast; not ideal conditions for a ride. It was even sprinkling, so I ALMOST talked myself out of riding. I fought the demons and soon found myself at Salado Creek Greenbelt Trail again. If you remember, the first time I rode there, I broke a couple of spokes, so I wasn't able to finish the ride that day.

Today my bike performed like a champ! I was able to ride further than I did last time, going past Loop 1604 to the North. Seeing the canyon cliffs and rugged terrain, you would never know you are in the midst of a city. The only telltale sign was a water main cover here and there. The one pictured below looks like an island in the creek bed bottom, as the ground has eroded around it. This is NOT a place you would want to get caught in a flash flood.

Not wanting to continue riding the loose rock much further, I turned around and headed back to the trail head. In all, I rode 12.5 miles in just over 2.5 hours.

I was pretty tired, but extremely satisfied when I got back to the truck. Not only had I ridden further than I had in a LONG time, I also tackled a couple of ledges I couldn't jump last time, since I broke my spokes. A foot high ledge doesn't seem like much, but if you don't jump it just right, you'll wind up going over the handlebars and busting your noggin.

I'm not sure where I'll be riding next week, but hopefully there will be good weather for the ride!

I NEED AN IMPLANT

Alright, get your mind out of the gutter...I don't need one of THOSE. (At least not yet.) I went to the dentist this morning to get a root canal done on one of my lower molars. After giving me the numbing shot, the dentist started cutting into my crown to get to the tooth roots. At one point he stopped and said there was a problem.

He showed me a picture of my tooth on his computer and it had a crack in it! My choices were to go ahead and have the root canal and spend the $600 or $800 for it, but with a crack in my tooth, the odds were very high that I would need to have the tooth pulled soon anyway.

My other option was to go ahead and pull the tooth and prepare for a dental implant in 4 to 6 months. Timing is EVERYTHING, as my dental insurance just added coverage for implants last month! After going over my options, I told him to go ahead and pull the molar, then prepare for the implant in a few months.

Once he pulled the tooth, he found that there was quite a bit of infection in the bone & gums. He scraped most of it out and gave me antibiotics for the rest. It was a good decision to have it pulled. Otherwise, I could have had many more problems with the infection from that tooth.

I'll just have to survive on soft foods that are within my WW points budget; at least until the stitches come out and the incision heals. Man, if it's not one thing, it's another! It could always be worse though...

Until next time, Big Dog out!

BACK TO BACK RIDES!

This morning was overcast and very windy. Much like yesterday, but with more wind. Geez, I thought I got away from that crap when I left Odessa. For some reason, this year has been more windy than usual here in San Antonio.

Since my last ride at Madrone was less than monumental, I wanted to ride it again today. I felt good and figured I'd ride until I couldn't ride any more. There were no other cars in the parking lot, so I figured I'd have the trails to myself; I was right.

I finished the initial 2.5 miles of the trail with minimal breaks. There are several climbs, so I did have to stop and catch my breath, but nothing extensive. My recently tuned up bike was performing like a champ. Once I was done with the first section of trails, I decided to try and finish the other 6.5 miles.

I had forgotten how hard it is to ride the whole trail at Madrone. After the climbs and ledges in the first part, the bulk of the rest of the trail is rock gardens. SHARP ONES. If you're not careful, you can slice a tire, or worse, a body part!

It was kind of depressing to see the lake. Not only because of the overcast sky, but because the water is SO low. We haven't had measurable rain in our area for months and it is taking it's toll on everything. Everything is so brown, it looks like West Texas.

Although I was sucking wind on climbs by the time I finished, I FINISHED! I rode a total of 9 miles in two and a half hours. When I got home, I weighed myself before I showered and I lost 2 pounds of water from sweating. TAKE THAT WEIGHT WATCHERS SCALE! Oh yeah, I am SO over that (I forgot).

GREAT WORKOUT, NOT SO GREAT WEIGH-IN

I had already decided earlier this week that I would try to ride this morning before weigh in and get a twofer this weekend. This morning when I woke up and went outside to get the paper, I noticed that it was very windy and overcast. Immediately the little voices started their BS.



I blocked the voices out of my head, determined that I would ride before weigh in to see if I could lose an extra pound or two. I left the house to ride to McAllister Park, figuring it would save me time. The morning continued to be overcast, but at least it wasn't cold.



It took me 15 minutes to get to the main section of the park and I started riding the outer loop. I took minimal time for breaks, only stopping to let walkers/runners by on the trail. My endurance at Mac is not a problem since there are no big climbs. Madrone is another story.



By the time I returned home, I had ridden an hour and 15 minutes, and covered 11 miles! That's as long as my regular Sunday rides. A quick shower and Mel and I were off to Weight Watchers. I waited in line for my chance at the scale. When it was my turn, I confidently stepped up to be weighed. Usually the receptionist will tell me "good job". Not today.



When I got my weigh in book, I immediately went inside to the meeting room to find a seat. I hurriedly opened the book, only to discover I GAINED .2 of a pound! WTF? I busted my ass for 11 miles to lose extra water weight; FOR NOTHING.



Our instructor asked if any of us faced challenges this past week and I mentioned my ride and resulting gain. She said not to get dejected because sometimes it takes our bodies a few days to adjust to increased activity. FINE. I'll buy that. I'm so over it.



I'm going to enjoy the rest of my day today and head out to Madrone for a ball crunching ride on that trail. I hope the weather holds out, with minimal winds. Hopefully I'll have enough energy to complete the entire 8 mile trail. Stay tuned!

One cool thing this week, when I took my bike to get the spokes replaced and tuned up, I saw a Marin Bicycles jersey. I've been eyeballing one on the Marin website for several months now. When I got home with my bike Thursday night, I told Mel about it. She asked me if I bought it and I said no. She immediately sent me back to Cycle Logic to buy it! Thank you mommy!

I'll be wearing it proudly tomorrow on my ride!

RESPECTABLE RIDE

This morning I chose to try out a trail new to me - Salado Creek Greenbelt Trail. It is found off Blanco Rd., just South of Bitters Road. This is one of many trails that the City of San Antonio is linking together to total over 20+ miles of trails that will stretch from North of Loop 1604, to the southside Mission Trails.

The trail is not overly technical, but at the beginning, there is an off camber trail that is on the edge of a cliff, with about a 20 foot drop. Since I wasn't familiar with the trail, I decided to dismount and walk this part. As you can see, it was a significant drop with no room for error.

My objective was to ride the trail past Huebner Road, then continue past Loop 1604. Unfortunately, after 4.5 miles into the ride, my rear wheel felt wobbly. I stopped to check it and discovered I had two broken spokes on my rear wheel. Knowing that the rest of the trail was supposed to be rocky, I decided not to chance it and turned around to head back to the truck. Overall, I rode 8 miles in a couple of hours.

Although it is a good change of pace trail, it does not replace Madrone as my favorite. As I mentioned, other than the initial off camber trails and the occasional rock gardens, the toughest part of the trail that I encountered were the ledges and rocks pictured below. As you can see compared to my bike, this was not a section of trail I wanted to tackle with wheel problems.

I will definitely ride this trail again, after I get my wheel repaired and my bike tuned up. I still want to reach Loop 1604 to see what I find north of it. Once I got home, I ate, then washed my bike, and Mel helped me wash my Xterra and her car.

Now I'm ready to sink into my recliner to enjoy the Super Bowl!