The Waffle House Chronicles...

Monday, March 26, 2007

Crunk music.

The cycling slide begins. Currently I am only about 170 miles under where I was last year. But in this two week span last year I rode around 450 miles. Not gonna happen this year. I also don’t have that 600 mile running base this year which is funny since I weigh a good 10-15lbs less than last year.

Friday night was a good time. K-Fed and Jen took us out for supper which was entertaining. The good? Great Dane makes some quality curds. The bad? Great Dane makes a pretty crappy burger. If not for the cheeses and bacon the burger was below average. Fortunately the patty wasn’t bad enough so the burger as a whole was still pretty decent but I think I might have to branch out next time we go.

This past weekend I rode on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I got up early and played basketball and then got ready in time for the Chainslacker ride. We had a pretty good group. At the start I felt good but about a half hour in I started feeling crappy. So bad that I started throwing up. Nothing major just some small heaves. I was hanging off behind the group in case I really puked good but never did. Finally I decided to take a Clif Shot and pretend I was ok. The Clif Shot actually helped and the next 25 miles or so were a lot of fun! Then I got tired and the last 20 or so were hard again. Not deathly hard but I was ready to be done. All in all it was a really fun ride.

Saturday night was dodgeball. Not only did we suck, we were put in a tough division. We won 2 sets (out of 9) and lost all three matches and probably finished 3rd or 4th to last (only because we got some free points for a bye.) It kind of was surreal as the tournament went really fast and I hardly even remember being there.

Sunday I was determined to ride, not because I care about riding, but because I really just wanted to get some fresh air and burn some calories. Fortunately Mike W and Jerry wanted to ride and Jerry didn’t kill us. The whole ride was worth it ride-wise when we took the newly paved PB from Belleville to Paoli with a 20mph tailwind. That is the feeling I love on the bike. The rest of the ride was good conversation and moderate intensity. After that we went to REI and then out to a boxer birthday party. Unfortunately we forgot the camera as this was photo-op heaven. It was fun! That night we went to Tony Roma’s and I had a Sirloin sandwich. It looked good on paper and in actuality it was equally good. Although a little pricey at times I think TR’s is an attractive dining option.

Today I rocked the double ride. 77F in March will do that to you. Some lunch Paoli with Balsley hit the mid-work-day spot. Urban road riding after work is always a good time. Lots of people out and about on a warm spring day. Hit all the best Madison has to offer, the arb, the lake loop, Capital Square, State St, Dirt Lake shore bike path, Hoyt Park, southwest path. Good times. Stopped on State St. for some Gelato. Best Gelato I've ever had and a definite fixture in my routine. $2.99 bought me three flavors, for less than $5 I can go huge and get 5 flavors. Bark Park, some raking, some supper and now it's night time.

REI Guy

So yesterday I went to REI. It’s only the second time I’ve ever been and I don’t really remember the first time. That place is like crack! There is so much cool stuff I wish I knew how to use in there. Makes me want to move to Crested Butte and open up a burrito cart or fudge shoppe or something. I didn’t buy anything mostly because I was overwhelmed with all of the stuff. I do need to find me some fast hiking shoes soon for the accent up Mt. Elbert in July. Hopefully someday I’ll be an REI Guy.

Until then, I am still me. Check out the white trash burrito. It looks disgusting. It took me several years to overcome my fear of the McRib. I don’t know if this place will be around long enough for me to wait on the WTB. I am planning a gathering soon where you’ll be encouraged to ride bikes there and then after eating the WTB you ride home. That would be the ultimate. Of course you can always wash it down with a Tijuana Hot Dog or some Bleu Cheese Wontons. Maybe that will be the official debut of my fixie bike and we can rage.