Returning A Pair Of Sunglasses and How To Use The F Word

Old Grandpa Smokey Gets An Ear Scratched 

Yesterday was the first road ride on the Midnight Racer!! This little adventure started off as a simple drop off. A client of mine left her sun glasses in my office. She currently lives east of my old neighborhood in Orchard Mesa.

As you already know, road bikes are so different from commuters or mountain bikes. And damn are they energy efficient!!!

My mind raced around regarding other factors of road riding. Like how damn vulnerable I felt riding in bike lanes again. Not just wearing a very thin ( 67F ) jersey but noticing how quickly decisions are needed to be made. Events just come up much quicker at 25mph compared to 9 or 10 mph on the commuter bike. And those distinct sounds of little pebbles kicking out from under a 120psi slick tires. Its an atmosphere at this point, not a ride just yet.

The Park in my old HOOD

After safely maneuvering through the downtown streets of GJ, thankfully pretty uneventful, I was entering the River Trail next to the Botanical Gardens. The River Trail is flat and fast if nobody is near by. I didn't go for speed at this point but rather worked on my ROM and processed where my bones rotated in its socket. How my sit bones rested on the seat, how my elbows felt, its my first road ride for BLEEP sake.

Once I was up in Orchard Mesa my overall experience changed. OM has really changed a lot!! And I don't think for the better. Right away I realized that the bike lanes were dirty. No Biggie, but enough to notice or hear!! I began noticing all the cars parked in the yards ( or weeds ) and broke down vehicles on the street that obviously haven't been moved in YEARS.

One a good note: This land on the left here used to be an eye sore. Couldn't believe how beautiful it looks right now AND I NEVER WOULD HAVE PICTURED A HORSE ON THIS LOT!!! And the next photo is of a house that I always admired. The south side is all windows for passive solar set up and the north side is built as an earth-ship style.

Again, very pleased to see this house is still in great shape!!

The rest of the HOOD is a damn shame. Weeds, undesirable neighbors, undriveable autos, and owners consuming resources. I shouldn't judge but I am willing to bet that they have at least one 42 inch TV in their living rooms.

Stoked to see that this lot is still untouched!! On the other side of the tress, straight DOWN, is the Mighty Colorado River. The views from this lot are spectacular and I spent one or two 4th of Julys in this lot. The house on the left is new and looks to be well taken care of. That makes me happy. The house on the right has a for sale sign out which means the old folks have passed or moved into a "home", this makes me sad. They were the tinkering type of couple. Always outside and always waved to me as I rode by in the morning.

 And this place was always outstanding!!! Not a very good shot but this place screams Colorado!!!

 A photo of the Midnight Racer at the Spanish Trail Monument Marker high on Eagle Rim Park. Such a sweet bike, love the views, and this was just another Colorado Bluebird kind of day. At this point, I had dropped off the glasses, made my way through a disgusting neighborhood, rode through my old hood, almost had a collision with a teenage driver that didn't realize the school bus was stopping and they had to pull into the bike lane to avoid rear ending the BIG YELLOW school bus with FLASHING RED LIGHTS, and last but not least…… NO FLAT TIRES!!!

This is pretty cool, a marker map of the views from the park. I am so pleased that its not covered in graffiti.

Like the graffiti at this skate park. This skate park was being built back when I lived in OM. I rode my old GT mt bike on the dirt sections as it was graded perfectly before the concrete pouring. When I was working a night job at the Letterpress, I would ride in this skate park under a blanket of stars.

Loads of memories when I saw this park. Really good memories for sure. Now its nice to hear kids playing with their squealing voices of joy, moms putting their kids in the swings, and a little kid learning how to control a bike with training wheels. So Cool

So these teenagers in the photo, they all knew the F word. Just uneducated to how its to be used properly. Like…... Used as an adjective, Steve is doing all the phuc-n work. Noun, I don't give a phuc. Adverb, Jill talks to phuc-n much. As part of a word, ab-so-fucking-lutly. And as a complete sentence, Phuc The Phuc-n Phuc-RRRR's. Well, the teenagers classed this up by sprinkling in a SH*T or Mother in there.

How about fraud, He got phuc-d at poker night. Dismay, Ah phuc it. Aggression, Don't phuc with me A$$ face. Trouble, Guess we are really phuc-d now. Dissatisfaction, MY FAVORITE, I don't like what the phuc is going on here. Incompetence, he's a phuc off. Dismissal, Why don't you go outside and play hide and go phuc yourself. Difficulty, I don't understand this phuc-n question.  

I took this photo of a guy that was just standing next to the drainage railing. He was creepy!! I mean creepy. After this photo, putting away the GoPro, my legs went for a stretch. Didn't really BURN the quads but I hammered down the pedals for a good section of the trail. My mouth sucked down oxygen and my legs burn it up. It felt fast, it felt freeing, and Midnight Racer rides so smoothly over the concrete slabs. Most of this is in my mind but my legs felt stronger than this time last year. Its the bike but damn I felt like taking flight.
My morning routine is still coffee, calisthenics, walking the Boy Dog on our no excuse loop, yogurt and granola, commuter bike to the gym downtown, & working muscle groups. MON- shoulders/triceps TUES- back/bi Wed- chest Thursday- back/bi Fri- shoulders/tri. Some weeks I hit chest twice or take a breather on the shoulders. I have been adding more weight to each exercise at different times. Plus, keeping most of the routine at 12-15 manageable reps.

Shadow Boy Watching Over Me

So ride hard, ride smart, love your animals, stay hydrated, & keep looking up.

Cheers