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HowzitGoin’ David?
First, I have a couple of anniversaries to note:
September 12, 2011 – Two Month Anniversary of my first bicycle ride (7/12) after a nine month medical leave
September 20, 2011 – Four Month Anniversary of the day my prostate was removed
And then, this is how things are going on the bike:
My comfort in the saddle is finally getting manageable and the amount of energy I have post-ride is a lot better than before. I can do longer rides without too much struggle and the 9 mile morning/evening commute is getting a little faster all the time. I can take the pain of a hard effort better this week than last, and the recovery time seems to be a little shorter too. All of that is really good news!
On the flip side; Man is it depressing how much fitness I still don’t have! If a glass of water is my level of fitness, and FULL is where I was nine months previous to July 12th; I was EMPTY. Up 16 pounds, soft jello-like muscles, and no cardio to speak of, I was just empty. Nothing to offer but a new reality to endure.
Currently, the fitness glass is either half-full or half-empty, depending how you see things, and filling slowly. I have lost 6 pounds and the cardio is on its way back. The soft jello-muscles are slowly transitioning their way into the hard-working pistons they were – way back in October, 2010. And, as an added plus, my resting heart rate is down around 58 bpm. Good news!
“Think of what you want most, then become it”. June is when I began thinking.
When Doc said I could begin walking, I walked. If you read this bLog while I was recovering you know I walked several times and each time was better than the time before. I remember the first time I couldn’t get down to the end of the street without having to turn around and practically RUNNING back home to get in to the bathroom! A week or two later, I was down the street and around the corner for a 3 mile walk. After that a 7 mile jaunt. When you dedicate your life to a thing, nothing is terribly difficult!
After the first post-surgery PSA blood test I was told I could ride, so I rode. And it hurted me….but I hung in there anyway. And I rode every day for as long as I could handle the pain. I think the first ride was about 12 miles. After my neck muscles allowed it, I was back on the bike for a little longer ride of 18 miles. After my butt stopped feeling like I had left the saddle inside it, I was out again for more. I don’t recall the progression now, but suffice it to say I rode EVERY chance I got. And while I was not working, it was so easy!
After one month of riding as often as I could, on August 15th, I was back to work. After three months off (two of which were all about healing, the final about getting strong), I was back on the job. Which is when the bike commute began anew.
To refresh your memory, the bicycle commute takes me along the top of a really flat and paved levee for 3 miles before dropping on to our local river-hugging bike trail. Fully paved, lined, and marked for runners/walkers/bicycles there are no cars or motorized vehicles of any kind on any part of this ride, and that goes for another 4 miles. Then, I pick up another levee on the other side of the river that winds over to the downtown area where I integrate on to an actual road for a half mile and find myself at work with 9 miles logged. It is a nice ride of 30 minutes and it doesn’t hurt all day like it did one month ago….which is really good news because I turn around and go back the same way after work, and do this every workday! I make the commute as difficult as I can handle by keeping constant pressure on the pedals, and about half-way thru going into Time Trial mode for a dose of true effort. The commute is anything but mundane and it helps make me strong again.
Work is the thing I do between rides.
Health Stuff
Just yesterday I went to Vampire House where they drew blood from my arm again. PSA test and hoping for zeroes. Results next week….wish me luck!
And OK boys and girls, this is the serious part. If you don’t want to know the details about what happens when a doctor removes a man’s prostate, read no further.
Seriously….if you don’t want to know, stop reading.
I’ll wait.
{insert music here. Use the theme from “Jeapordy”}
OK, if everyone is gone who should be/wants to be gone, and the rest of you are interested in the embarrassing details, here you go:
Peeing. This WAS a problem. And I did not think it would ever get back to normal. They did the surgery and left a catheter in to allow the urethra to heal. They cut and reattach this pipe during surgery. After ten days they removed the catheter and I was certain I would never control my pee again. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to…wow, there’s a thought. Or maybe I would be in that awkward 10% of folks who never get that control back. Wear diapers? Ugh, THERE’S a lifetime of embarrassment! What a bummer it is to even THINK like that! Fortunately I did not need to harbor those thoughts as it became less and less of a problem to control starting/stopping and when/where for the next session in front of the porcelin. Today I have about 99% of that control back and have little concern knowing it will completely heal the way it should. I’ll put a check in the box marked “Success” for that problem.
Erection. Nope. None to report. It is easy (and disappointing) to report this as the one malady I currently endure. This was/is a concern they prepare you for and they also seem to think it will work itself out over the first year or so. I guess the nerves – even though they were spared during surgery – take time to heal. I guess. Fantastically, my wife is very supportive and has no concern either way. And really truly, me too. I mean, I don’t NEED an erection, but it is still weird I don’t get them anymore. After a lifetime of success, failure is the new reality. So I’ll put a check in the box for “Hopeful”. Not a complete failure yet. They say it needs more time. And apparently, thanks to the surgery, I’ve got that. Thanks doc!
Update: New Wheels
This is the revision I promised to the 08/08/2011 post titled: NEW WHEELS
I bought some new wheels for my bicycle, CashFlow. The wheels came from a company named “Neuvation” located in San Luis Obisbo. The guy who runs it, John, has been doing so for quite some time and he is really good at what he does! And what he does is this, buy the parts and pieces overseas, assemble those parts/pieces into bicycle wheels, and make them available to any interested parties.
Recently, I was one of those “interested parties” because my previous, expensive, Bontrager XL rear wheel had been producing flats as frequently as I could finance the purchase of the next one. Some rides would see a single flat while other rides would see two or three. It got to be a real drag to pull over to the side of the trail and show off my repair skills while dripping sweat all over the pavement. So, with great trepidation, I dipped my toes into the pond where new wheels glisten in the horizon like so many oasis glimmering in the desert. The purchase of new wheels seemed so far away! Everywhere I looked the cost was right around $800 a set. For CHEAP wheels. Bottom-fishing stuff. The stuff you buy and wonder why. Discouraged, I wanted to give up, but wanted to stop fixing flats even more.
And right about then, I remembered my friend over in Utah who last summer was sporting some new wheels from Neuvation. I emailed him asking about ride quality, wheel stiffness/response, and his overall impression. His reply? “Love them!”
So, to save you from the headache(s) I suffered while shopping for a new set of wheels, do this: visit the Neuvation site and buy yourself a set. Mine? I love them!
You will too.
Visit the website: http://www.neuvationcycling.com
This is an excerpt from a review about John’s R28 Aero’s:
“The economics behind Neuvation’s business model are simple enough: Product is sourced overseas and then sold directly to consumers. Neuvation’s brain trust has a single Social Security number: John Neugent’s. Neugent was the head of Sachs here in the U.S. and his skill set is unusually broad; the guy has done everything from CAD drawings to sales and marketing, but relationships being what they are, Neugent’s most important asset is his 25 years of experience sourcing product in Taiwan. And if you’ve ever heard anyone haggle with a Taiwanese businessman then you know that garage sales are for the faint of heart.
It’s true that his web design isn’t too exciting and the graphics on the wheels aren’t exactly sexy, but that’s really the point: You purchase Neuvation wheels not because they have the allure of a Victoria’s Secret model, but because anyone gainfully employed has the coin for a set.”
Read the full article at: http://www.belgiumkneewarmers.com/2008/05/neuvation-r28-aero4-wheels.html
My Ride with Zach
Bicycle Race!
Zach is the 18 year old son of a friend of mine. And he challenged me to a race. On bicycles. This entry is about that ride.
First of all, Zach is 18 years old. And he does NOT ride a bike very often. To say he HAS a bike would be stretching the truth a bit, as the bike he has is quite old, is best suited for trail riding, and does not fit him very well. For Zach to use this bike in a race would also be an adventure in curiosity, as perhaps his ability to survive an outing of more than 20 miles would be like watching a slow motion de-evolution of an otherwise capable boy. And I was correct. More about that in a minute.
How it began
This story began as many do, with a group of people talking about a thing, that leads to another thing, and someone challenges someone and BAM! just like that a race is born. It happened in Hawaii for the IronMan Triathlon some 33 years ago and it happened in Walnut Grove just last weekend while camping. And, like in Hawaii, I had nothing to do with the conversation.
Really, I was just sitting there.
So Zach was talking about youthful things and alluded to his sheer ability to survive about anything. Well, when a mouth gets to motoring, there seems to be no stopping it, and Zach was certainly getting chatty. And it seems the conversation got revved up like a big ol’ V8 engine when Zach dropped the pedal to the floor, let gasoline fill the chamber and NO2 got mixed in from the highly pressurized tank, and something came out of his mouth that sounded like “I could beat you in a bicyle race.”
I was like, “what? You talkin’ to me??”
A smile formed; first in my eyes, then on my lips. The gears began turning. We all knew how this would play out, but Zach had a learning moment coming to him….courtesy of me.
The Ride
Our “race” would begin at Bannister Park on Sunday, at 9:00 a.m. This was changed, and we began at Zach’s Place. And the race became a ride. And the challenge of the race went away. Now it would just be a brash 18 year old kid riding the bike trail with some old guy trying to get another fitness ride under his belt. So the ride took us down a couple of residential streets for a mile and a half, a mile on Fair Oaks Blvd, and we would attain Bannister Park then continue on to the American River Bike Trail (ARBT) proper. Following the ARBT for about 13 miles would take us up to Beals Point where we would have a breather and turn around for the ride home.
The entire ride logged in at 32.02 miles and it took 2:55. Our speed was a sizzling average of 10.9 mph and total climb was 1492′.
Learning Moment
The big learning moment for Zach may have come early in the ride, perhaps as early as 15 minutes into the ride. Now, these are his words……and when he was reporting them to his Dad, sister, and I…we were laughing so hard I may not have heard them correctly. So here you go, my version of what Zach said about the ride.
“The first ten minutes go by and I’m hanging with Dave, thinking this is going to be easy. The next ten minutes I’m thinking this is getting hard! The first hour goes by and I can’t believe what I’ve gotten myself into. The next hour was like an out-of-body experience and I’m up there floating along watching this guy down there, struggling to keep up and wondering how he is going to make it. The next hour I was begging God to just take me!”
I may not have gotten this right….Zach, any help?
Anyway, Zach bit off more than he could chew and by throwing the gauntlet at my feet in front of all those people….well, there was just some part of me that wanted to really show him how difficult it can be to ride competitively and dare him to keep up! And another part of me that wanted him to enjoy the ride so he could challenge me another day. I think we attained both.
The lesson? That is easy….don’t open your mouth and have it write checks your body can’t cash.
Thanks for visiting!
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- checking out the dam
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- Stopping for some water and a little relaxation
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- just leaving the bike trail to go over the lake and check out the goo at Bicycles Plus in Folsom
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- Rainbow Bridge was the only way in and out of this side of Folsom for years.
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- Folsom bike shop. This is a mandatory stop if you want to drool over new bikes and gear
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- overlooking kayaks
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- The Bike Trail is a beautiful place for man and machine!
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- On our way up to Beals Point
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- Nimbus Dam Aquatic Center on a busy Sunday
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- We stopped to see if there were any fish available
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- Rafters putting in for a day on the river
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- This photo was captured near the end of the ride
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- Bannister Park was the entry and exit point we used to get on to the bike trail
Auburn, CA at Garmin Connect – Details
This is a map of today's ride to Auburn
And it was a great test of my new Neuvation wheels. NICE! They are stiff and quick to respond. Compared to the 5 year old Bontragers I have been riding these things are built to race!
The ride-specs are available for your review too. Check it at this link: Ride to Auburn – Ride Details.
I’ll probable have something to say about the ride but for now, I must rest.
New Wheels
How can I not tell you about this? I have some new wheels rolling their way down the street to me. And man oh man, I cannot w8 for them to get here!
This is what happened: I have been flatting lately. Not just a flat every once in a while either. It was one flat on the way out, and one flat on the way back. One ride saw three flats, one right after the other. Ugh.
Imagine yourself pedaling down the road, happy as a clam (are clams actually happy? I’m going to need to do some research. Click here to view its origin. Interesting.), heart rate booming along around 140 bpm, and you realize your tire is going soft. Bother! It needs to be fixed. So you dismount, break out the tools and a new tube, and go about the business of changing the tube out. Inflate the tire, clean your mess, and you are back to business. As you hop on you are secretly congratulating yourself on having mechanical skills sharp enough to get this done. And you quickly forget about the sweat that burned your eyes as it streamed down your forehead, and you don’t remember how quickly your jersey fills with sweat as you do your repairs this Summer day….and off you fly, only to do it again about ten minutes up the road. BUMMER!
So I repaired something like 12 flats in 6 rides. And that got me to thinking about a flawed mechanical technique during the tire mount. Am I pinching the tube? Or not filling the tire enough resulting in a pinch flat. Or I got ahold of some bad rubber. I don’t know. But I can tell you it was getting frustrating, and kind of got in my head too. A fast, sweeping turn that ends up on the rim can be bad for the wheel, the bike, and the rider….and I kept looking down to see if the tire was inflated every time I went around a curve. Talk about distractions!
So I went to the Local Bike Shop (LBS) to talk with a mechanic. Dude and I went over my technique (and yes, I was checking the inside of the tire for something protruding each time) and looked at BOTH of the tubes I had changed on that ride, and there wasn’t really anything common about the rupture. It was in a different area of the tube and kind of gave a clue that the wheel side of the tube was at fault. And do you know what the mechanic asked me? “How many miles do you have on these wheels?”
Huh? That led to a discussion about wheel “flex” and how age can cause wheels to flat more often than before. And I left shaking my head, and thinking he was trying to make commission on a new set of $1200 wheels.
Until I checked with the all-knowing “internet”. You know what I found out? Dude wasn’t fibbing! Some manufactures say you should expect wheels to last 10,000 miles. WUT? I did some thinking about my wheels and realized they had more than 25,000 miles on them. 25,000 miles! Wow.
So this morning at 7:10 I ordered some new wheels. They are from a company named Neuvation Cycling and come highly recommended from a couple of riding buddies. At 2:29 this afternoon I received an email telling me the wheels had been shipped via UPS and would show up TOMORROW! Today is Monday and I’ll have my new R28 Aero wheels on Tuesday. Fantastic!
You want to know the best news about this transaction? The total cost is $369 for the set. Shipping, handling, and tax included. Not $1200. Three hundred and sixty nine bucks. Super nice!
Naturally, I’ll keep you up to date on their function. In this you-get-what-you-pay-for world we live in, I could be sorely disappointed or completely satisfied with the purchase. Stay tuned.
Wow!
New stuff
New ride:
I had the pleasure of taking another “ride of distance” today. This one measured 45 miles and took 3 hours from start to finish. I had a couple of 5 minute water/recovery stops and then cooled down with a nice spin for the final 4 miles. To top off this nice ride, the Garmin cycle computer tells me I burned 2703 calories. On Saturday my ride took 5 hours to cover 67 miles (had 2,600′ of climb) and the calorie burn is listed at 4041.
New Focus:
Build muscle. What I need to do now is convince my body that is the “new normal” and it better get cookin’ up the muscle recipe to build the necessary fibers to maintain my habit! Or ELSE! Just cuz I was off the bike for NINE MONTHS, does NOT mean I’m going to allow my body to get soft(er). But I am here to tell you, right now it hurts. I have been back on the bike for a little less than a month and it hurts. My whole body is in pain from head to toe. All the support systems are seriously stressed, and it hurts like crazy. All day. Of course you know that means I’ll be ignoring the pain, putting down more miles, more often. All to help the systems understand this is serious and you best come on-line with some expediency. That’s just the way it is in the Land of Dave. Comply or be crushed!
New mantra:
Ouch. (Say it slowly and repeat often for best effect.)
New favorite saying:
Rode hard, put away wet.
New goal:
Auburn, CA.
A Trip Down Memory Lane: My First Bicycle
The morning ritual around here is pretty easy. As I wake up and get moving, the second stop is the kitchen. Most of the time I clean up anything sitting on the counter from last nights dinner and get the coffee brewing so as to re-balance the caffeine/blood mixture coursing through my veins. Once the coffee is inside my belly, all is right with the world.
Our coffee machine was a very expensive item sitting on the shelf at StarBucks about ten years ago. It was a beautiful thing with a stainless steel carafe, an automatic timer, and a black shapely exterior. To say it has earned its keep in our kitchen would be a vast understatement as it has saved this household a LOT of money. As the maker of superior, rich, dark coffee every morning I would have paid more than the $100 asking price had I known how reliable it would be through the years. A very good buy!
The machine, known in our house as “The Maker”, has a clock on it too. But that clock gets used mostly as a timer instead of a clock because it doesn’t stay plugged in. Do you know about phantom energy? Leaving something with a clock inside plugged in uses energy you must pay the Electric Company dearly for its use. Wasteful. Anyway, for those of us who are challenged by the count of time a clock provides a morning race occurs with every brewing of the grounds. Here is how it goes: when The Maker is plugged into the wall, the 60 count begins, and my frantic grab is for the Brita water pitcher. A stream of H2o magically funnels into the top of the water reservoir at a very high flow rate. That complete, it is over to the freezer to apprehend the container which keeps the coffee in a constant state of ready. Rip its’ top off, then a quick swipe into the silverware drawer where I will grab a tablespoon to measure out the scientifically perfect amount of coffee into the metal-screened filter. Then, I am back at The Maker scooping 8 kinda-sorta heaping spoonfuls in. A push of the ON button and the race is over. If the clock still reads 12:01, I am Winner, and still Champion of the kitchen! Otherwise, I hang my head and await further instructions.
This morning as I celebrated the first victory of the morning, I was watching the clock tick off the number 12:07, kinda spaced for a minute or five, and there it was, the memory of my first bike.
I think I was 8 years old. At that time I stood about four foot something, just like all the other kids in the neighborhood growing up. In my family I was right plum stuck in the middle of five children. YES, Mom and Dad were super busy! And NO, we are not Catholic. Anyway, with two older siblings and two younger, it was a great childhood for a kid named Dave. My family went like this: boy, girl, ME, girl, boy. My older brother is 3 years older, and my older sister 2. The younger sister is two years my junior, and the youngest is 10 years less than me, so he wasn’t there for My First Bike.
And getting back to the story, my first bike wasn’t even mine; it was my older sisters! She had just received it from Dad and Mom for her birthday (I’m guessing) and it was sitting in its usual parking space on the front porch. We lived in this great house (only when I got older did I realize the house wasn’t all that big until Dad put his carpenter’s apron on and learned how to construct a house after he came home from work each day) on almost an acre of lawn in a neighborhood zoned for residential/farm. The houses were (still are) spaced nicely apart and all had big trees. Some of our neighbors had horses, pigs, sheep, and chickens….lots of chickens…..so there was always something to do, some adventure to have, or just a fun place to get older! And the front porch was the place for anything important. As a kid growing up McClellan wanting to keep track of your stuff, you left it where you could see it. That place was the front porch. Until Dad came home, then everything went in back.
So my older sister left her new bike on the front porch. And her watchful eyes maintained a very liberal “safety zone” around it. She would magically appear, as if out of thin air, if you were too close. And so it went.
And I told you I was like, 4 foot sumthin’ right? That bike was super tall and I don’t recall if my head even made it to the handlebars! As I am standing there on the front porch – this is just before my eyes rolled back in my head and a demon possession occurred – just outside the “safety zone”, taking in all the colors the shiny blue paint was reflecting into my eyes, and I really don’t remember how I came to get on the bike and go for a ride. But I remember riding that bike down the street with my sister running after me. I was laughing maniacally with my head spinning around trying to see which side she would attack from next, and I was veering from side of the road to side of the road, and all the neighbors were probably wondering when I would fall.
I didn’t fall that day. That would be much later.
My first bike. And it wasn’t even mine!
Good times.
65 Miles
what a ride!
Yesterday, I finally got a ride of significant distance.
More inna minnit….
OK, I’m back. Posted that little bit via Windows Phone 7. Nice feature!
The ride of “significant distance” was a 65 mile slow ride to hell and back. By that I mean – it hurt. And I am dead serious. I think the ride lasted about 15 miles too long and I knew it because I was plodding along at about 16 mph instead of my “new” usual speed of 18 mph.
Oh, and my Garmin 305 is sporadically functioning, and this is most likely due to its lack of use over the last 9 months. So there’s that.
Anyway, back to the ride. It got started nicely with some really nice weather. A little cool at 62 degrees and a bit breezy as well. But hey, I was going for ride, was dressed, the chain was lubed, and off I went. Mark the time at 9:00 am.
At 9:10 I was logging mile #5 and off the street working in his garage is a friend of mine. Detour #1. I pulled over and we talked for about 20 minutes.
9:30, I excused myself and took off down the road. The American River Bike Trail was the next destination ……………….
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Goals are made to be broken
Yes, goals are made to be broken and I am here to report the successful squashing of another goal. And this is something to crow about from the top of a tall building! Here it is:
Riding goal this week: 100 miles
Actual riding mileage: 130 miles
This is how it happened. For each of three rides, I used the American River Bike Trail. It is familiar and there are zero cars to worry about. The first ride was a round trip to Beal’s Point, 40 miles covered. The second ride was an out-and-back to downtown Sacramento for a coffee at my favorite shop, Chocolate Fish Coffee. That was 40 miles, and I was beat like a rented mule from the effort. The third ride was a 50 mile trip up to Beal’s Point again (the little hills “make me strong like ox”. Say this with a russian accent and clench your fist to get the full 3D movie effect), this time with an add-on over to Douglas Blvd, and it felt great! It felt great to be on the bike, felt great to battle the wind, and felt awesome to turn the crank with some strength.
As a disclaimer, I am a L O N G way from being strong enough to brag about my riding prowess. But the ability to actually generate some power while riding, if only for a short distance, is a thing of beauty indeed! And, to further keep you fully informed about my current riding strength and stamina (or lack thereof), I was passed on ride #2 by an old dude on a squeaky mountain bike, and today a gal blew by me on the way up a small rise like I was an old dude on a mountain bike. OUCH, I have to adjust my thinking!
In spite of getting trounced by these obviously fit and healthy individuals, I still loved being out on the trail and fully enjoyed the ride. It felt great to be back!
Now then, where is that building? I got me some crowing to do!
Hello World!
I’m back.
Yes, my existence is all about a lot of things, but riding and getting healthy and making my legs take me places instead of sitting around thinking about stuff is what I am now focused on. The medical emergency of my recent past, is in my recent past. It has been locked up until it can be of use at a later time. Maybe I’ll be able to use the memory as an incentive to do something new and/or impossible. Or maybe I’ll help someone get their PSA blood test done so they don’t have to go through what I did. Hmm, have you checked YOUR PSA? If you haven’t, do it. It could save your life! Anyway, my rides have always helped me deal with what’s going on. Stuff like projects, life changing news, family situations, work….all sorts of stuff gets ironed out on these rides. And I have got to say, I have missed the rides!
Since you are here for a visit, you most likely know I am a bicycling fanatic and charting a fresh hundred miles a week is fairly average for me. Commuting to work, riding with friends, and challenging myself can really add up. If you didn’t know this before, now you do.
And this week, different than the past 36 weeks, I logged a couple of rides. Tuesday, July 12th, the ride was an up-and-back to Beal’s Point at Folsom Lake. This is a ride of 40 miles and has little tiny hills to climb when you get close to the Lake. Today, July 14th, the journey was a round trip from my house to downtown Sacramento. The ride is pancake-flat and winds on for just about 40 miles as well. Saturday, the plan is to get another 20 miles making the total mileage for the week a nice round hunskie (100).
And just in case anyone is reading this and wondering how David feels after today’s ride, it is like this; OUCH. The legs complained the entire way home. I told them to SHUT UP (just like Jens Voigt does, but he’s a pro and his legs probably listen). The lower back was guilty of noises too, and the neck is just about able to look up at the ceiling again. But you know what was giving out the most nonsense? My butt. Man-o-man, from the time I got on the bike to the time I called it done….that thing was hurtin’ for certain! Which is really unusual. Back about 9 months ago, when I last rode, I could sit on a 2×4 for 100 miles without too much complaining. But that was then…..
It amazes me how the body gets used to doing something physically demanding. I used to build fences and decks, and a trellis every now and again. In the heat of Summer it was nothing to begin a job at 7:30 a.m. and pound away until dinner. Yes, I was seriously hot at the end of a day and yes, I was tired and a little sore too. But it was never too much for my body and I was ready for more the next day. Amazing.
And riding a bicycle is like that too. Your arms get used to holding you up for hours on end, your neck takes care of all the bobble-headed things your skull goes through – including holding up a helmet all day. Your legs go hard when they must, and your lungs burn and your heart beats so hard it feels as if it could come out of your chest! And so on and so on.
Well, today’s ride today was almost too much and I could have easily quit at mile 30. There are a couple of shortcuts a rider can take which will easily cut 10 miles off this ride. Anytime I am riding late and need to make up time I take it, so it’s not like it’s some confusing route or something. But quitting just ain’t my bag and I really need these miles. And some of these so-called base miles best be a challenge if I am going to ride the way I want to!
Which is what today’s ride was all about: the challenge. And I did it. And I liked it!
Seriously; I’m back. Hello out there!
PS I’m not bald anymore, I still have really short hair, but I’m not bald. It’s not that I didn’t like the look, it just takes too much time! To those of you who shave your head, I tip my hat to you…..you look mahvelous!
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