Author Archives: leastbest

Everything…affects everything
Jay Asher

Life is funny.  You make plans in a vacuum and then everything gets in the way.

I’ve been playing poker and I’m butter, on a roll.  I’ve won or cashed in four of the last five tournaments I’ve played in.  Last night I was in a tournament and while playing got a message that my niece’s ex-boyfriend, now her best friend committed suicide.  Depression is a horrible disease.  I stayed and cashed in the tournament, nothing I could have done.  Today is another matter.  I will spend time with her and hope to console.

I went to Century Cycles yesterday and picked up a book called Pedaling to Lunch by Stan Purdum.  It is a collection of rides around the area along with history of the places and where to eat lunch.  I will be doing many of the rides and will preface them with PTL Ride #7 or such.  It will be fun.

To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.
Buddha

I had a friend ask me what this blog and especially what I’m doing at this point in my life.  At first I wanted to say that I wanted to lose weight and get in shape but after a few seconds I thought about where I’m at and revised that.

Year and a half back I retired from a job that I had done for thirty-seven years.  The stress of that and my brother dying at the time was incalculable.  Six months later he died.  I did what I could.  Shortly after my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer.  Over the past year I’ve watched the person that I’ve admired more than anything fade, ever so slowly.

Back in 1997 my older sister developed a brain tumor and a year later died.  The very next  year my older brother developed colon cancer, the same cancer that has killed numerous people in the family.  He died of a heart attack during treatment.  All three of my siblings died at the age of 48.

I see this weight loss, this cycling, this effort of mine as a coping mechanism.  I see it as a way of taking back some kind of control.  As I age I realize how little control we have over our lives.  I’ll do what I can.

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
Lao Tzu

The plan was to get up this morning and go for a ride.  Unfortunately my father-in-law needed his garden dug out and the dirt carted out.  I got a load into the wagon and the wagon had a flat so I needed to empty the cart, fix the flat and then reload.  Then dump the dirt, come back, reload the cart, dump the dirt and so on.  Then I mowed his and my lawn and then weed whacked.  Finally I was free to get on the bike.

It was a beautiful day.  I headed southeast from my house just trying to slowly up my miles.  I need to get miles on my legs.  Spring is finally popping out all around me and it was pure joy to ride.  My legs are starting to come back.

Practice puts brains in your muscles.
Sam Snead

Spent most of the day with my mom but the weather was so nice I had to get on the bike, even if it was for a short ride.  Half way in my legs kicked in.  They will come back.  Supposed to be nice tomorrow

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.
Walter Elliot

I mentioned the other day that I was cleaning out the garage and found some old jerseys and some bib shorts.  What I didn’t mention was that I found a patch from an organized ride that I did in 1990.  It was from the River Rendezvous Tour from Zanesville to Marietta.  I remember the ride well.  I think I did it on my old Schwinn Traveler and it was sixty-five miles each way.  We rode there, slept in dorms and rode back the next day.

The cycling itself was wonderful.  Lots of rolling hills and beautiful scenery.  I just went to their website and they are still doing it.  You can check it out here.

A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.
Alexander Pope

The rain and wind persisted most of the day yesterday.  In the evening I played in a poker in a small tournament and as I left it began to snow.  Give me a break!

I’m so disgusted I think I’ll go do some bike maintenance.

If we can clean up our world, I’ll bet you we can achieve warp drive.
William Shatner 

It’s raining again with high winds.

The plan is to take my mom to the doctor’s.  After that I’m going to try and get on the bike.  In the meantime I’m cleaning up the blog.  I have a blogroll on the side of the site and it’s time to prune.  For Example;. 100 Pounds hasn’t updated his site since January.  He’s gone.  I’ll be going through each of my links and see if they are still active.

Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.
Thomas Huxley 

I’ve been sick for the past three days.  I played in a poker tournament on Sunday and I could feel the cold coming on.  I found myself unable to think and my throat became sore.  I got it from a sick poker player on the Friday before.  Oh well.  At least it’s not as bad as when I felt like Death on a Stick.  I took the wife to The Olive Garden and tried to heal myself with the Chicken Gnocchi soup.  I should be better soon.

It rained most of the day today but has warmed up considerably.  This will be a bike blog.

I found a fantastic set of bib shorts that made me laugh out loud.  I may get some just for the hell of it.

A winning effort begins with preparation.
Joe Gibbs

This morning the temperature finally climbed to the sixties.  Unfortunately high winds made morning riding impossible.  I had a poker tournament in the early afternoon so wasn’t able to ride.  My riding life starts tomorrow.

Also, I was cleaning out some old boxes from my garage and found my old (at least 20 years) cycling clothing. In the box were a few jerseys, a pair of bib shorts and normal cycling shorts.  I tried them on and they fit!  The thirty pound weight loss has paid off.

Now all I have to do is keep on doing what I’m doing and get on the bike.