Last weekend I attempted a ride with my bike buddies on the Foothills Trail. Started the day with grandois plans to knock off thirty miles. Well, it seems I was getting the tag of "FlatTireDale" with all the tire trouble Ive been enduring lately. I ended up struggling the first 7 miles up to South Prairie with a pooping out rear tire. So, bike buddy Bill with his hi tech tire inflating device ( I RILLY need one of those!) Refilled the poopy tire in seconds, and off we go on the return trip. That lasted about six and a half miles. I limped back in to my truck for the last half mile knowing that there wasnt going to be any thirty mile ride for me that day! :(
But I must admit that the tire problems were only part of it. Physically I was WORN OUT!! I had been lacking some serious sleep over the previous days. Mostly due to my extended swing shift schedule and earlier rising daylight, now that Spring has arrived here in Washington State. On top of that I was seriously neglecting a proper diet! Living on coffee, junk food, and chili burgers while trying to rack up serious mileage on a bicycle just dont work. Not to mention it was probably downright dangerous! Dale needed a reminder that tires ain't all of it. I need to maintain the bicycles "motor" as well!
So on yesterdays ride, my bike buddy gently reminded me with a "Havent I been telling you to eat right?"
OK, so there ya have proof. Dale IS starting to get a proper diet going again!
Oh man was this good!! In that bowl, on top of some kind of trendy cereal from a small, overpriced box, is a handful of blueberries, and handful of grapes, and a handful of shredded almonds.
And that mug holds fresh dripped REALcoffee fresh from a resealable bag of "Peets House Blend" ( and they were NOT whole beans!!! HAA!) I still havent found a coffee grinder yet, but since my poor old drip coffeemaker has been running unusually slow the last few mornings and making some nasty gurgling "death rattle" noises, I think one of todays chores might be searching out a replacement. If I do that I may as well look again for a grinder!
Looking at that mug I am reminded of the tour I took through that old submarine (USS DRUM) that is on display in Mobile, Alabama. A couple years ago another guy from the long haul trucking company I worked for, and myself, spent an afternoon carousing around the USS ALABAMA museum while waiting for loads. This submarine was open to the public and I was amazed at just how TINY it was in that thing!! It made my little sailboat feel like the Queen Mary! I bet WWII submariners had to be 5 foot tall or less. My 6 foot plus headroom requirements just didnt cut it in there!
Just a side note. That afternoon tour took place PRE-Katrina. I read later that the storm did some very serious damage to the museum complex which sits right on the shore of Mobile Bay. I read where the battleship ALABAMA, which sits permanently moored in the mud of Mobile bay, ( in a special dredged out pit ) actually listed 8 degrees during that storm!! Gives one an entirely new perspective on the power of nature. I was surprised after reading that, that the submarine even existed after the storm. It sits mounted above ground on two concrete pedestals. The story I read indicated that it was the LEAST affected display in the entire complex!
OK, let me step back a smidge to last weekends bike ride. When I had to bail out on the ride due to tire trouble, and the fact that I could have fallen asleep while pedaling! The rest of my bike pals continued on. So on my way home, I passed them on the highway and decided to park up ahead and ambush them with my camera!
I know at least one of them wondered what that weird guy up there was doing hunkered down in the ditch!! This picture of my bike pals earned the title "Four Cyclists of the Apocalypse"! I think to properly take in this picture, it should have a soundtrack of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries"!! HAA!!
OK, continuing on. In the days since, Dale has caught up on sleep, recharged his system with decent nutritional intake, and yesterday met his bike pals and we set out to do our usual Wednesday after work twenty mile ride on the Green River Trail. At our usual turnaround spot, Mollie led us farther up the route that we didnt know existed. We ended up adding an additional seven and a half miles to our usual ride! I' m pretty sure we actually entered into the limits of the City of Seattle. Although the extra time involved, put us in the path of two rain showers that soaked Dale's street pants to the skin! One of these days I am just going to have to bite the bullet and start wearing those super studly, contour revealing, bike shorts! Of course Dale had a pair of semi-rain proof pull on pants in his bike bag, but was either too stubborn or lazy to stop to put them on! (And to admit to a well placed question I was asked..."No, that didn't work too well for me"!! Actually they DID go on later when the ride ended and it was mutually decided that we needed a vast, massive intake of Mexican food!!! (I just couldnt bring myself to embarrass myself OR my dinner partner wandering into a public place looking as though I had serious bladder problems!!)
Ah, but part two of yesterdays ride. I stopped off on the way up and had my local bike shop replace the tires on Glinda with some RILLY kewl aftermarket tires. They are a bit thinner and much less soft. The kid at the shop told me I would probably find the bike a little faster and easier to pedal. NO KIDDING!!! These dang things made 27+ miles feel like 15!!! If it werent for sitting in soaking wet pants and the fact that we were starving, I could have done a second loop without even thinking about it. Here is the proof of mileage, AND the kewl new hi tech tires, taken in the rain, with soaking wet pants, with a rain spattered cell phone camera!! 
More bicycle stories. Yesterday, on good advice, I joined our local bicycle club. Tons of local rides on a near daily basis that will fit my ridiculous schedule! I might join them for a ride tomorrow, and most likely will go out Monday morning. Ill post more on those adventures later.
Unless I can come up with more to update this blog, thats it for today!
Later Taters, Stay Safe
