Been a while

It has been too long since my last post and I truly feel that I let myself down when I do not continue writing, especially since I've kept a good bicycling percentage the past few weeks.
To start, the last week in October I didn't ride at all b/c I was on a forced furlough week. I did keep up my time at the gym.

November went like this - 4 days in the first week (thurs was a bway show)
4 days last week (thurs was veteran's day and I was off from work). I rode today and yesterday so at last count that makes me 10-for-11, which is quite good. There were a few days last week that were very very cold in the morning to the point where I had to drive to the station to avoid the frigidity. But this week is humid and warmer and today nor yesterday did I wear my fleece.

The cold mornings took some adjustments but otherwise they are okay, it's the matter of wearing pants (as opposed to shorts) that's a little tougher b/c I'm less flexible that way. One day last week it hailed on my way here. IT HAILED! Not hard, mind you, but it was still unexpected.

I am still reading Zarathustra and am nearly finished. This was a tough read -- partially because you almost need to translate for yourself (in the way you do with Shakespeare, getting this old rhetoric into modern-day speak) and partially because some of it is so redundant and boring. There are a few pages that really speak to me and I will be curious to read the "notes" at the end. It will be nice to read something less dense.

Now that the day ends an hour earlier, it's pretty much pitch black when I leave for Penn, which makes me more cautious. But it's not rocket science -- I'm not looking for trouble it's just a matter of moving quickly. The ride itself is much easier than it had been in previous autumns and that is because I have no doubt kept myself leaner. There is no better route for me to take so it's still just about beating the clock.

This morning I listened to a handful of tracks (and two B-Sides) off One Hot Minute, an album I've had since my freshman year of high school. I actually think the b-sides -- "Let's Make Evil" and "Stretch" -- are better than most of tunes that made the final cut. It was nice to hear "One Big Mob" again after a nice long hiatus. When I saw RHCP in Feb of 1996, they played the first 8 tracks off this album, I feel somewhat special about that since you will not hear them play them ever again, sans "Pea."

I'm at a good pace today and though my calves are still a little sore, they do not feel as burstful as they did yesterday.

Thank you for reading.