Curious Observations on a Random Monday

At a time when conventional wisdom says that we should not congregate in large numbers, it was curious to see the Arnold Wal-Mart parking lot chock full of cars.  All the way across.  And it's a BIG lot.  This was at 10am.  I did not go in to investigate.

Perhaps as curious as a packed parking lot during a pandemic is my inability to beat my hip problems.  I'm still able to run stairs without much discomfort, but normal running causes me a lot of pain after the fact, like when I'm sitting or lying down.  It's disappointing, as I was starting to really get my speed up this past summer and fall.  I was doing track workouts and was disproportionately and irrationally proud of my 5:45 mile.  I was like a kid who just won a participation trophy.  Since then, I've really battled with this old-man hip thing.  I HATE being unable to do something.

Curious, too, is how this dog is able to mimic my sleeping positions.  I could learn a thing or two from him, though.  Like...how does he sleep so long?  How does he sleep so hard?  How does he snore so loud and not wake himself up?  Curious, indeed.

Birthday Week - Can't Make This Up Edition

There are probably a billion posts circulating today concerning the pandemic and all of it's ramifications.  This won't be one of them.  This one is about more enjoyable things.  Such as the Hershey's bar I found in my sock drawer.  I know of only one person who would do this for me. (With my Jerry Seinfeld impersonation) Hanna!  That was awful sweet.  Literally.

My birthday was rather low key this time around, with good reason.  Not much sense in trying to go out anywhere, big parties certainly weren't in the cards.  The beautiful Mrs K has been having some pretty serious health issues completely unrelated to what's in the news.  Quite a bit of stress at work trying to juggle personal safety and customer service.  So...dinner at home with the kids.  Aya Sophia was our delivered food of choice and it was exquisite as always.  Then we just goofed around at home.

What is a better stress reliever than exercise? And my preferred activity has always been bike riding.  After work Saturday, I hurried and got in a solid ride at Cliff Cave.  The riding was great and the sunset was even better.  I'm 53 years old now, and not nearly ready to fully grow up.

St. Patrick's Day Muddy Massacre at Berryman

I've had pretty good luck with the Berryman trail over the past couple months.  I decided to try again today since I was off work and the trails here were muddy.  It takes 90 minutes from my door until I pull into the Brazil Creek parking lot.  I was met with...nobody.  Notta.  Not a single car or person in the lot.  Ah, the trails all to myself!

What else did I have to myself?  Water.  And mud.  Lots of it.  Seems that it rained a LOT there this morning.  Ug.  Anyone that knows me knows that I hate mud and riding in it.  But I brushed off my concerns because DAMMIT I needed a good day on the bike.

Another thing people might know about me is that I usually forget something when I go riding.  Sometimes it's not important.  Other times?  Kinda important.  Today, it was Gu.  Energy gels.  Berryman takes more than a couple hours of pretty intense effort and this old body needs some kind of get-up-and-go along the way.  I had an epiphany at the Sullivan gas station on the way...Skittles.  I just thought they would be easy to reach in my jersey pocket and gobble up as-needed.  Oh, they were easy to grab.  But harder to eat.  Jesus in a rowboat, those things were chewy and took forever to swallow.  Not to mention that they just flat out don't cut it as a substitute for energy gels.  And now there are a bunch of them stuck in my jersey pocket.

Remember how I said I brushed off my concerns about the wet trails?  About 100 feet into the trail, my concerns were front and center.  Many sections of the trail were flowing like the Meramec river.  And about the counter-clockwise direction...I don't like it much.  Maybe I would have liked it more if I wasn't simultaneously choking on chewy Skittles and getting sprayed in my eyes with water from the trail.  I don't know, it just wasn't a great ride.

I was happy to see that Strava thought this was a "Historic" effort.  It felt historic to me.  I was suffering and may have blurted out some swear words to the squirrels and birds as I closed in on the final miles.  I may go back to riding the other direction, at least I have grown a bit more familiar with that way.  I will definitely go back to Vanilla Bean Gu.

Lemons out of Lemonade - Epidemic Edition

School closings, businesses shutting their doors, event cancellations, and general pandemonium from incredible misinformation...it's been a rough couple weeks.  When you factor in the wet and cold weather, it's enough to make an active person go nuts.  But I had to formulate a plot so I didn't end up in jail or shot.  I figured I could take the one shit bike that is still set up for mountain biking out to Greensfelder and just to laps on a rocky loop to avoid the mud.  And in the car, what greeted me?

That's right, baby.  I knew it was going to be a good ride as soon as I heard Falco on the radio.  It's not my usual rap diet but I came of age in the 80's and what self respecting 80's kid was blown away by this weird ass song?

I had to get a photo of where it all began for me.  Greensfelder is a magical place in my world, so it was worth a bike-selfie (or "photos of my bike leaning against stuff").

Knockin' out teeth, clockin' much dollars on the 1st and 15th!  March 15th!  Beware The Ides of March, or so the saying goes.  It's supposed to be the date for settling of debts, monetary and otherwise.  I settled some debts with Greensfelder today, climbing over 2500ft in just 10 miles of riding.