TGiF?

The first week back to work after a vacation always seems to be the longest. In reality, I'm all about routines so in some ways, it was nice to get back to the normal weekly routing. Sure, vacation is great but unless I have specific things planned I seem to flounder around and feel like I'm wasting the precious vacation. I'm told that not having a set agenda for just about every hour of the day is actually akin to relaxation but I'm not sure I buy into that theory.

This week saw some excitement on Tuesday evening when one of the junior team members crashed on his face during a team ride. That resulted in a really good concussion and a total inability to remember anything post crash. Everything is OK now though save some nice facial road rash. Other than that though, the week has been pretty nondescript. We had a steady rain break out late afternoon just before CBTT time so we decided not to head over. Of course the rain stopped just before start time and held off until just after the end. In reality I wasn't feeling all that great and figured that it may be a wise move to hold off.

Last night was what has come to be known as the Thursday night worlds MTB ride in the LLF. This is a ride sponsored by the Greater Boston NEMBA chapter and has been pretty well attended. Unfortunately, with all of this extra use we are starting to notice how hammered the trails are quickly becoming. I'm hoping that they start to organize some trail days there to fix some of the damage being done. I've been in a few times this summer doing some work but it's no longer that easy to keep up with it.


Anyhow, last night new dad Scotty (congratulations and welcome to Sadie) and JohnnyMo met up at my place and we made our way over to the ride. There were a bunch of guys like Nate and Greg there that I have raced with but never ridden with before. Colin and Kevin were there as well rounding out a solid group. Unfortunately, even though I was determined that this would be a steady pace non-drop ride, we started having mechanical issues within the first 15 minutes. We then lost Scotty shortly after in the melee and so Johnny and I opted to peel off and go search for him. We picked up Colin, who in an attempt to lighten his bike was running 3 of the 6 rotor bolts in each hub. Apparently they couldn't handle the pressure and loosened up on him. The three of us rode around and had a good steady train going for some time. Eventually we picked up Scott and continued to ride until we met the rest of the splintered group and headed a bit afar for some variety. At some point we lost Colin again and then lost Scott behind the cemetery somehow. One thing I have noticed with these guys is that the group ride mentality is gone in favor of the race mentality, so no mind is ever paid to those behind, only the wheel ahead. Different dynamic. We finished the ride out and headed back for home, getting in almost 26 miles on the evening in just under 2.5hrs moving time. Not a bad effort on the single speed and my legs certainly felt it.

Today it's all about figuring out what to do this weekend. I still don't have my membership finalized at the range so that isn't going to be of use this weekend. There are a few races on Sunday that I am trying to decide between. Typically we race the Yarmouth Clamfest, a P/1/2/3 race in Yarmouth, ME centered around their annual clam festival. It's a good race but realistically the best I could hope for would be a top 20, given the course and the field. The Root66 MTB race is way down in CT the other side of Hartford and doesn't start until 2PM. That makes for a really long day so it isn't going to happen. The other MTB race is in Sunapee, NH and given that they just lowered the entry fee, possibly because nobody registered for the race, it is a possibility, though still significantly more expensive than the Root66 option. We also need to decide today about an addition we are considering of a new deck and screen room on the house. I've been pestering the contractor with stupid questions to the point where he probably hates me, but should be used to it from all of the other times he has dealt with me. My buddy Wayne who has gone out on his own doing contracting is simply too swamped with work to be able to take this on as well. Oh yea, I need to mow the law as well. Stupid lawn.


So here we are. I'm pretending to do some work and stumble my way through the day in pursuit of the weekend, not that the weekend has anything all that great in store for me. The weekend may be the meat (of fish given that it is Friday afterall) and the weekdays may be the potato (or salad if you prefer) but I'm the type of guy that really appreciates the stability and regularity of potato (or salad if you prefer), especially if you spice it up a little with some horseradish, well, maybe not if you prefer salad.