Busy doing nothing…

I haven’t been posting much lately. It seems like life has been really busy lately and yet, when I sit down and look back at the past couple of months, it doesn’t seem like I’ve really done anything.

You always hear people talking about how life goes by faster the older you get and I guess that’s true. I can remember summer breaks in grade school and jr high where, by mid-august, we were actually bored. Hard to fathom right? 3 months with no school, our chores our only responsibility, nothing to do...boy wouldn’t that be nice now?

As I was riding up Diablo last night, I was contemplating just how busy life is and how filled my days are with regular stuff...
Obviously there’s the work thing which takes up 8-10 hours every day depending on your schedule. Then, Tuesday and Thursday evenings I ride the bike. That leaves Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings for family, spouse time, chores around the house and all the regular stuff we have to do like laundry, grocery shopping, paying bills, etc.

Every other Saturday I try to get a long ride in. (Hopefully this will be enough distance training to get me in decent shape for the Coast Classic) and then on alternating Saturday’s we try to spend the day doing something as a family or getting projects done around the house. (no, the new lawn isn’t done in the backyard so don’t ask)
Sunday's are church and usually lunch then puttering in the yard....

I wonder sometimes if this is what life is supposed to be like. We work hard to get ahead and be able to buy a house and all the toys and stuff, then have to work even harder to maintain and keep the house and toys and stuff….(as you can see, spending 2 hours pedaling up Mt Diablo on the hottest day of the year probably gave me too much time to contemplate these types of things)

I also wonder if our parents were this busy. I don’t remember life being this busy when I was young, but that could just be that I was looking at it from a kids perspective where my only responsibility was making sure my chores were done so I could go play.

So, where does this go from here? Obviously if I quit my job, I’ll have a lot more time to enjoy my bikes and work in my yard. Of course then I’ll have no money so I’ll end up selling my bikes and the bank will take over my yard so that’s not really an option. (at least they would actually finish the back lawn)

Maybe though this is the way it’s supposed to be and things aren’t that out of whack after all…
I usually get to spend an evening every week with my wife, I do see the kids and the grandkid pretty regularly, I am getting in a decent amount of riding, my yards aren’t in that bad of shape and the house isn’t falling down around us….

So, I guess it’s possible that this is what life is like and it’s even more possible that our parent’s were just as busy….I think though, that it’s good to think these types of thoughts and have these types of discussions with ourselves just to make sure we don’t let things get out of whack….(don't have discussions with yourself out loud though, people look at you funny if you do that)

The lake is so much fun, we should do it twice….

Last night was our regular Thursday loop around Lake Chabot. It’s always one of the highlights of my week since it’s such a good workout and a chance to hangout with some friends at the after ride bbq...

It’s so much fun, that last week I thought I might try to do the loop twice...and actually conned Jack into trying it with me...

The first lap we decided we’d go out pretty hard and really get a workout. That way we could take it easy on the regular loop and not be totally destroyed...at least that was the plan...

Turns out we did go pretty hard the first lap. I was pretty much winded the entire loop and felt like I was working pretty hard. We ended up finishing in just under 1½ hours.
The second loop, wasn’t actually that bad. A couple of the climbs really worked me and all the way up the last road section to the truck I was on the verge of cramping. But we took it easy and had a fun ride…..the interesting thing…..it took just over 1½ hours.

So, evidently whether I’m hammering or cruising, the lake loop takes me about 1½ hours…Of course on the last climb of the last loop we had the additional motivation of beer waiting for us at the top so that may have skewed the numbers
Total ride 26 miles 3400ft of climbing

Three Months and Three Days…..

It dawned on me last week, that I now have just over three months to get ready for the upcoming California Coast Classic Bike Tour. The problem is that I tend to be somewhat of a procrastinator. If you give me something with too much lead time, I'll assume I have lots of time to get ready for it and I'll put it off...up until the point that it becomes a crisis and all of a sudden I'm stressing because I now have this deadline looming over me and have to really crunch to get ready....

In this case, I'm really trying to avoid doing that but it's difficult for a couple of reasons....1 - I really have no idea how hard it's going to be to ride 525 miles over 8 days. It could be I'm already in good enough shape. (although I doubt it) and 2 - I've never tried to raise $5000 for a cause before.

When I was thinking about doing this ride, I thought about all the people in my family that have been affected by arthritis and how cool it would be to raise a large amouint of money for this....$5,000 seemed like a pretty ambitious number so I set that as my goal....is it realistic, am I out of my mind? Who knows.....

The Tour starts in San Francisco on Saturday the 3^rd of October and ends up in Los Angeles 8 days and 525 miles later. 525 miles divided by 8 days is only 65 miles per day... I’m actually not at all worried about riding the 65 miles on any given day….it’s the 8 days in a row that concerns me. I’ve never ridden back to back long days before and figure I better start getting my butt in shape….and I literally mean my butt since saddle sores are a major concern on multi-day rides from what I hear….

So, this past Saturday I officially begain "training" for the Coast Classic. A couple of friends and I met in Castro Valley to do the Moraga Loop...of course it also turned out to be the hottest ride of the year so far with temps well into the 90's....All in all though, a great day with 45 miles and about 2800ft of climbing…just barely more than our shortest day on the Tour and nowhere near where I need to be, but it’s a start…..

Thoughts of Home-Made Ice Cream....

Tuesday night we had our usual Mt Diablo training ride. When we met in the parking lot in Danville, Lynn’s car was showing an outside temp of 92 degrees….oh goodie….won’t this be fun….Sree, Lynn, Gary and I took off….

We start at the Walgreen’s parking lot on Diablo Rd. This is for several reasons. It’s easy to find right at the bottom of the offramp, parking is free and, it allows us a nice flat warm up as we spin through Danville and the Diablo Country Club before we have to start the climbing.

As we ride through the country club, I’m always struck by just how incredible this area is and how low key, yet obviously expensive an area we are riding through.

You know you’re in the country club because you ride right past a sign that says so, but it’s not like Blackhawk where everything is behind a huge gate and perfectly manicured. The roads are narrow, there aren’t any street lights or sidewalk, but the homes are huge!

Most have a gate of some sort and several have bridges over the creek that runs in front of their home and there are giant trees everywhere. (You know the trees that in my neighborhood were removed so the City didn’t have to fix the sidewalks every year…)

The other thing that strikes me is just how nice everyone seems to be when you ride by them. Many are out walking and will respond cheerfully when you say hi… I’ve ridden through Stonebrae Country Club up in the Hayward Hills and everyone that you see looks at you like you’re trespassing….which I guess I was since we had to sneak in around th eback fire road and not through the main gate... but that’s beside the point. They didn’t know if I lived there or not….

Anyway, now that I’ve totally gone off topic, let me try to get back on track….so we were riding up Diablo and it was hot….did I mention it was 92 freakin degrees when we started? Anyway, it was, and a majority of the climb up Diablo is in full sun….between the sun beating down on my head and the heat coming up off the blacktop…it was hot….we hadn’t even climbed 1000ft yet and I already had sweat running into my eyes…(did I mention it was like a bazillion degrees outside?)

By the time we were half way between the first and second ranger station I was pretty much totally soaked with sweat and my mind was starting to wander….and, as I usually do when I’m miserable, I went to my happy place….which in this case, was to thoughts of homemade ice cream…..why? Well, as I’m sure you can see, it’s a perfectly logical place to go….its hot and what’s the opposite of hot? Cold….and what’s really cold (frozen, actually) ICE CREAM!

And not just any ice cream….I was thinking of the ice cream we made over Memorial Day which is the best thing in the ENTIRE WORLD!!! (sorry about the shouting, but you had to be there to understand….it was AMAZING!!)

As my mind continued to wander – actually it wasn’t wandering, it was totally focused, unfortunately it was focused on the ice cream and not on the ride – it dawned on me that I really like ice cream….but I like homemade ice cream different than I like store bought ice cream. With the store bought ice cream, I have to have some texture. I like rocky road ice cream or cookie dough ice cream or just about anything with texture. Chunks, chewy pieces, anything except plain ice cream. (I actually made a mental list of my top 5 favorites, but I'll save that for another post....)

But, with homemade ice cream, I really just want plain vanilla ice cream without all the stuff….nothing to take away from the creamy goodness….(goodness being a flavor description and not in any way a good for you connotation…because anything that starts with 4 cups heavy whipping cream and 2 cups of sugar can NOT be that good for you)

Anyway, as the ride progressed and we got closer to the second ranger station, I made the mistake of asking Lynn how we were doing on time….at which point it looked like we would make the station in under an hour….our best yet. The reason this was a mistake was that it somehow motivated her to increase the pace….Now, I was already not having fun…I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, I had sweat running in my eyes (did I mention it was like riding inside an oven set to broil?) and I was busy thinking of ice cream recipes and the bags of frozen Olallieberries in my freezer….anyway, we made it to the ranger station in just under an hour where I used the excuse of having to use the restroom to take a few minutes to shove my lungs back down in my chest…..evidently, I’m not really accustomed to the heat just yet.

After a brief rest we started the last leg to the top. Partway up, Sree made the comment that he was only going to the top parking lot and wouldn’t be doing the last 1000yd section…and I jumped on that bandwagon like a supermodel on diet pills...

Well, just before we got there Lynn started making not so subtle suggestions that since we had done the majority of the climb we might as well do the last leg as well….and, after all, she said, Jack would ask and we couldn’t really lie to him….Of course we could… he’s sitting on his butt on a Mexican beach somewhere right now drinking a fruity drink with an umbrella in it.…I could totally lie to him and not even feel bad about it…..

Eventually, I realized she was right and it really was silly to pedal all this way and not finish, so up we went…..that last 1000yds is a booger….(not at all the word I wanted to use, but hey, this is a family oriented blog)

The best part of doing Mt Diablo is the 10 miles of downhill….and it didn’t disappoint. The weather which was miserable on the way up was perfect for a fast descent….the hot smooth asphalt that cooked us as we climbed made flying down the hill pure joy….the corners were clean and fast, the straight-aways allowed us to crank in the big ring and the home-made ice cream that dominated my thoughts on the way up didn’t have a chance to compete with the little kid screaming in my head on the way down….

What a great ride…..now that it’s over anyway….

Berries, sand, kites and a nap…..

This past Saturday Deb came up with the idea to go berry picking with the kids and the grandkid. We did this once before when our kids were still pretty young and had a really fun time.

There’s a place in Pescadero called Phipps Farm and I can still remember them working their way up and down the aisles of Olallieberries, raspberries and blackberries with their little buckets…..one in the bucket, one in their mouth, one in the bucket and so on….At the end of the day they had purple fingers and purple stains around their mouths…

This year, I think we were still a little early in the season as Olallieberries were the only berries ripe enough to pick. It actually worked out better though since the hunt for the perfect berry is really the best part. If it had been any easier, we would have filled our buckets too quickly and been done in less time than it even took to drive there.

Besides, with Christina and Michelle treating it like the ultimate berry picking championship – not sure where they get their competitiveness - we soon had all 4 of our buckets full to over flowing.

So, with 10lbs of berries paid for and packed away in the back of the truck, it was off to the beach to fly Caleb’s kite and have a picnic.

The weather so far had been cool and cloudy. Usually June is a pretty nice month on the beach, but so far it was still sweatshirt weather. It obviously didn’t keep anyone home though as the beach at San Gregorio was busy with families picnicking, barbecuing and playing in the water….

After a nice little picnic, Chris and Caleb flew the kite….Caleb thought it was really cool for about 2 minutes….afterwards Chris was left to deal with it while the little guy went to make sand castles…

The sun finally came out a bit, so as I normally do when at the beach, in the sun, after eating…..I took a nap…

A little while later, the sun went behind some clouds and the wind picked up so we decided that was our cue to head for home…..

What do you do with 10 lbs of berries you ask? Deb made cobbler of course!!! Mmmmm I love cobbler….

Determination Defeats Diablo…..Darkness Dominates Descent

Last night of course was Tuesday, and Tuesday of course that means the Diablo training ride….

We had 5 riders, 4 of whom have made it to the top and 1 that is still working towards that goal…

Lynn, Jack and I took off and Jerry and Gary followed. Gary is a fairly new rider and on his first attempt at defeating the devil last week, made it to the 2000ft mark before calling it a day. This week, his goal was the second ranger station…

The weather was definitely warmer than last week which was a double edged sword. Yes, it’s nice not to be cold, but it didn’t take too long before I was sweating like fat lady in an aerobics class….

We seemed to be making pretty good time. Arrived at the first ranger station in an hour and were on top in two. Granted we’re not going to break any records (click here), but I felt like our pace was good and I was definitely working to keep up (Hopefully as time goes on I track these stats and see some improvement)

Just as we got to the upper parking lot and were getting ready to climb the last 1000ft section (which is 19% btw) a truck and trailer went up. We waited and started up after him. Now this section is really narrow and REALLY freakin steep. Most drivers realize this and will follow behind if a bicyclist is climbing it. Not so last night though….I was about 1/3^rd of the way up when some goofball in an SUV decided he just HAD to get past me….whatever….

Well, when we got to the top, the truck and trailer, as well as the guy that had passed me on the climb, were there unloading bikes and teenagers….the adults were in scout uniforms so I’m assuming they were there for some sort of merit badge. Now, I may be an old fart, but I don’t see how you earn a merit badge for riding down a hill….I think that you should have to ride up to earn the badge and the downhill is the reward. Kind of like my mom giving me dessert only after eating all my vegetables….(the other thing I noticed was that the only guy not wearing a helmet appeared to be the scout master)

Anyway, we took off before the group of teenagers so as not to get caught up in the fray and about 2 miles back down the hill we came across Gary and Jerry making a run for the summit….Wow, I thought he was just going for the second ranger station, but he decided he was making the summit and would not be deterred….

You could see he was tired but determined….I guess once you get to a certain point, you might as well finish….

So, Lynn, Jack and I turned around and decided to ride shotgun back up to the top…bonus miles for us and moral support for Gary….it’s a win-win…

If suffering really does build character, then Gary must have a LOT of character now….through sheer determination he actually made it to the top.

Of course, now it was getting dark so we raced daylight down the hill….unfortunately we lost and by the time we got to the last ranger station on the way down, darkness had taken over.

We finished the descent and started out through Diablo Country Club riding by braille. There was one near miss when some idiot spaced bricks out across the road….not sure why anyone would do that and luckily no-one hit one although I did scrape up my rim when I clipped one as I went by…oh yeah, we also saw this guy starting his rounds at the second ranger station….

All in all, a great ride. I ended up with 31 miles and about 4500ft of climbing. A great workout for all and a huge accomplishment for Gary

The amazing pile of stuff…

This past weekend I helped my daughter and son-in-law move out of their apartment. The plan is that now that they’ve been pre-approved for a mortgage, they will move in with us as they continue saving money and shop for a house.

The amazing thing was just how much stuff they have….now they’ve only been married about 3 years, but they were able to completely fill a large storage unit, one room in our house and a portion of my garage with their stuff. Granted a LOT of it probably belongs to that little person that lives with them… I’m pretty sure he has more stuff than them and us combined….

Anyway, by the end of the day yesterday, we had just about everything either in storage or in our house/garage…..and that’s kinda when my meltdown happened…..actually, it wasn’t really a meltdown, it was more of an anxiety attack….ok, not really even an anxiety attack….it was just a feeling of overwhelming despair and claustrophobia…..

It has absolutely nothing to do with them moving in with us, I'm sure that's going to be harder on them than it will for Deb and I. It has only to do with the amount of stuff in our house and in my garage....(yes, you'll notice I use the possesive "my" when speaking of the garage, but "our" when speaking of the house....that's on purpose)

We had been working all day Saturday and all day yesterday moving stuff and by the end we were pretty much just putting things wherever they would go. The result was, that last night when everyone was pretty well wiped out and tired, I wanted to sit somewhere quiet and read my book…..the only problem was there wasn’t an empty, quiet place in the entire house….every couch was filled with either tired bodies or stuff…..so I fled to my garage.

For a couple of hours, I puttered (and pouted) in the garage, moving stuff around, mumbling and muttering to myself about how much crap the kids have and generally being kinda grouchy….it was then that it dawned on me that there’s a very slim (but real) possibility that I too, have a lot of stuff….

The kids actually joked about it when, at their apartment, Christina mentioned to Michelle how much stuff they’ve accumulated. To which Michelle replied, at least it’s not like mom and dad’s house….could you imagine moving all their crap?

"All their crap"????

Granted, we do have a lot of stuff.....but we’ve lived in our house for 11 years... and I think there was actually a short period where we had Deb’s car parked in there... For the most part though, my garage has been used in the same way a storage unit would be used. I’ve built shelves all around the perimeter and even a shelf up above and I still couldn’t put a car in there if my life depended on it.

The funny thing is that, at this exact time last year, I wrote a blog about how my wife and daughter had given me the best Father’s Day gift ever. They cleaned and organized my garage. I can clearly remember the sense of accomplishment and joy at having everything in its place and having my garage, neat, clean and organized.
It was perfect....a sanctuary if you will….a place I could hide out surrounded by tools, bikes, a small refrigerator full of beer and classic rock music playing in the background....

Now, one year to the week later, things are not as they should be….I’m sure when I wrote that blog, I fully intended to keep my garage neat and clean. I knew, that as frustrated as I was when we started cleaning that there was no way I was going to let it get that way again……yet, somehow it did…

Somehow, my stuff has been reproducing….spreading….expanding until this past weekend it again reached the point where my stuff has filled my garage….guess I know what I'm doing this weekend....