Holiday Consumption Corruption.

Holidays are a pain. Both parents live around the corner from each other and one set of my wife's G-rents live less than 20 mins from there. To add to the demand of personal presence i have multiple friends engaging in long trips to the Asian continent just after the 25th; one left Sunday, another yesterday, and the last one today. 2 are going to Iraq and one to India. At this point in time both places have proven fatal. Anyway, on top of the demand of visiting friends and family, there is the added demand of consuming alcohol to make these visits more entertaining or maybe just to get us all through. Regardless though last night was one of the the former, and karma is reminding me that alcohol is fun's credit card, you pay for it later. I'm not a big drinker (not to say i wouldn't like to be if it weren't for all those health risks). And with cycling season quickly approaching (tomorrow is January), the alcohol intake will have to subside. I blame it on the holidays.

On top of increased alcohol %'s in drinks was a decrease in exercise time, and more importantly riding time. I got on the bike once last week and it was for a short jolly ride the neighborhood for 45mins. I couldn't find the means necessary to wear a helmet therefor causing my caution and concern. I did however get out and run 4 times, totaling somewhere around 20 miles. One day was only like 2 miles and that's being generous. Like i said before, the reason for the running, is traveling.

Last night i didn't feel like riding on the rollers when i got home and so i just left the house in the dark. Did some laps around a large loop in our neighborhood with a few intervals just to see how my legs were feeling....they weren't feeling good. A week off the bike (basically) and my legs were terrible. I was happy just to be riding though. I also rode in this morning after two nights of 5 hours or less sleep and a hangover. I thought i was going to vomit a few times. I was also brushed (literally) by an SUV. I tried to chase them down, but they caught the light we were approaching. Idiots.

Thank goodness the Holidays are over after tonight. I might go ride downtown DC tomorrow just for fun. Depends on the wifey-poo and what her plans are.

The bike I'm getting in a couple weeks...

Lace 'em up

I just had a good week on the bike last week (190miles). Thats good for me right now, specially considering we had weather advisories all last week. I put in another 50+ miles on Saturday. I was aiming for 60 but i got out of the house a little late, 30 mins to be exact. I finished the 50 miles just under 2:40. So i was happy. It was a fun ride. Details in a minute...

Well with Christmas being this week, that means it will be hard to convince my wife to let me go roll around for a few hours on certain days...also with a little holiday trip on the weekend, just long enough that i need to be able to get out and work out, and just short enough that i can't justify bringing the bike. And i imagine there will be a couple days like today where i have to run errands on my lunch break, which means no commuting via bicycle and my rollers are at my parents. So what shall i do....i guess i will do something i vowed never to do again. Run.
I found my running shoes yesterday (and they are @sics, because the only real running shoes are @sics). I'm going to go out for a run tonight. I just hope i don't injure myself. I'm actually looking forward to it, because of all the riding, which is usually just commuting. It gets mentally tiring and a change is good. So if all goes well i shall bring my shoes with me on holiday.

Epic Saturday Ride
Saturday morning i woke up at 6 because i was going to ride to my buddy's(Pete) place about 22 miles away and then go for an hour with him and then meet up Ben at 830 and head to work (A-1 Shop). Well like usual, things don't go as planned. I left at 645 and got there at 8, we left and rode for about 15mins and turned around and headed back towards Ben's. We passed a hand full of other cyclists which is weird because this time of the year a hand full is about how many i see a month. Anyway, on our way back one of the cyclists turned around and chased us down. It was a little odd because i knew who he was, that doesn't happen often. You can find his blog here. We started to chat and he said he would join us for a little while. So we were up to 3 riders and about to pick up Ben. I love riding in groups. So much fun. So we turned onto Ben's street and we were cruising along just fine when a squirrel bolts out in front of us from the left, which isn't the first time i've had a run in with a dumb rodent like that. Well i think this one was an ultra idiot because instead of me just running him over which i was poised to do, he paused for a half a milisecond and then lunged forward right into my spokes, subsequently whipping him counter clockwise into my front fork...and then somehow ricocheting out and into my crank...i looked back and saw his leg twitching in the air. Its not the sight i was wanted...

Like i said we arrived at the shop just under 2:40. Along the way Ben tried multiple track stands, one of the many screw off things we do on our rides, which are composed of tons of fun. Pete and District Cycling peeled off much earlier and returned home.

So yes i killed a squirrel. i felt bad.

For my wife's christmas present she is getting two kittens.
James i know you're not a fan of cats, but my wife is, so...yeah.

i'm excited to go running tonight!