brrr - cold

e-mail from a friend... ride to Philly marathon in sub-freezing temps - cool.

meet at 7:30am - first 15mins, my face hurts because it is so cold, but then warms up... next 30 mins, toes and feet are frozen

ride is pancake flat, so no chance of getting warm on a hill climb

get to the 20 mile mark of the marathon - Matt buys me a hot chocolate - good chap

we watch the leaders head to the finish and we ride behind for a while, then find a spot in the sun to stay warm - it doesn't work - standing still is a bad idea

we ride to the marathon finish and watch the top woman and some friends cross the line - then we head home

good day

dark drizzle

Friday - riding home from work in the dark with my headlamp taped to my handlebars - I forgot the helmet strap at home.

Drizzle - a light mist really, speckling my classes with minscule driplets of water over time until I can barely see the road in front of me.

Slippery road - wet leaves, moist pavement, down hills and curves.

Blinding lights - high beams from cars heading in the opposite direction on small curvy country roads - I am totally helpless until the pass - and then I can see again.

Bam! - a pothole that I couldn't see because of the lights.

A better way? - what is the right way to ride a bicycle at night in the rain? No glasses? Maybe.

House Painting

Little known secret - I'm afraid of heights...

So this past weekend I rent a 32 foot ladder and paint the outside peak trim of my house. Of course there is the prep work - electric sander, painters tape... then painting - look mom, no hands!

Anyway, it was character building, at least mentally / emotionally. Getting to the top was the hard part, with all the movement. And of course when my wife Sena would sneak up on me and yell up the ladder to get my attention... yeah, well that was a bit on the nerve wracking side. Maybe I should lower my life insurance ; )

The physical part was exhausting. My 24 foot aluminum ladder was relatively easy to manage. Moving up to a 32 foot fiberglass ladder was brutal. Very heavy and hard to move. Had to call in the reinforcements (Sena) to get it up and down every time I moved to another part of the house.

Then there was the standing on my toes for many hours of the day - my calfs and feet were killing me.

And of course I banged my sore knee about 100 times - ouch.

My neck - what a pain.

So I guess it was a good workout? Maybe I'm just looking for the silver lining.