it's an amateur ride...

...which i guess means I'm an amateur? let me explain.

I have started going on as many group bike rides as i feel motivated to go. lately it has been pretty much daily except for Tuesday (its girls night out in s.a.). Anywho, last week we had this awesome week down here in San Antonio. why? well, it had been pretty darn cool most of the week. this cold front out of nowhere started on the first day of fall, and it was really great to have it feel like autumn. so aside from the cold, we also got quite a bit of rain. i was lovin' it.

Thursday night comes along, and i'm all excited to go riding in wet (but not raining) weather. Thursday's ride has some neato winding downhills and goes up and around through downtown. i believe it is the longest running ride in san antonio, which i am not sure if that refers to the amount of time it has been going on or the distance traveled. either way, it is a nice ride and i look forward to it all the time. so, 7:30 comes along and i'm running about 4 minutes late. i figure it will be no problem, because lately they stick around for up to 15 minutes after the supposed 7:30 start time. however, on this particular lovely evening, the parking lot was empty save for about 3 cars. it was a pretty sad way to find out that the ride is NOT rain or shine.

the next evening i bumped into one of the ride leaders; he tells me "it's an amateur ride" when asked why nobody showed up. i guess that means i am an amateur for riding the route solo. i rode up and down and all around downtown, rockin' my orange windbreaker and also happy to have adjusted my derailleur's limits. at some point i passed a bank that said it was 60 degrees out. i don't know how accurate that was...banks can't be trusted with the temperature, y'know. i do know that it was a very nice ride through the dead streets of San Antonio. the weather had everyone inside, probably scared they're gonna pick up the flu or something. for me, it just had the effect of not getting so sweaty or being so thirsty. nice.

so now the coolness is gone and we're back to the heat it seems. boo! i can't wait to go riding in the fall...when is that? january?

weekday update

it is 1:23 in the morning and i should be exhausted. instead i find myself staring at a blinking cursor, erasing a paragraph or two every so often. i've been riding around town almost every day for the past two weeks. i'm sure my legs hate me. i can't help it, though. it is nice to be out once the sun goes down and it sure beats pedaling in 100 degree weather. why do i go? i don't know. i guess i have to fill the time somehow. i've given up blogging - at least i'm pretty sure i have judging from the gazillion posts this year. i've thought about going old school...just keeping a journal or a diary or whatever you want to call it. it can be nice to get thoughts out of your head, but it's too much of a hassle to explain that thoughts are thoughts most of the time.

so i've been pedaling. wednesday nights are speedy and hilly. i tend to stay at the back, but little by little i think i am starting to move up. i'm not sure if they're slowing down or i'm speeding up, but somehow wednesdays don't feel as hard as they used to. my tail still hurts now and then from my spill, but luckily it has gotten better. i wish i could say the same for my back.

i wish fall were here.

round and round we go

le sigh. my back hurts. as much as i try to massage it and caress it and do this or that...it continues to hurt. i hate it. it makes me feel old and broken...no offense to those with more years on this earth. but well, i'm trying to push on.

something to be happy about: i have a working camera again. i purchased the same one that i had previously, an olympus stylus 1010. it may seem like a mistake to purchase it for only $50 less than what i'd paid for my previous one. after all, it is a discontinued model now, and the new ones are better...faster...stronger. or are they? despite boasting more zoom and more megapixels, i simply wasn't happy with the new models. i liked my old one just fine, and i'm happy with it now. is that strange? is that one of those man/woman differences? or is it an adken/most people thing? not to talk bad about my mother, but an example comes to mind. i noticed she bought a red raspberry preserves from the walmart brand. no doubt there was a 50 cent or dollar difference in the price with the Smucker's jar, but from previous experience it does not taste as good...and actually tastes too sweet for our tastes. why not just get the one you like? or nothing?

some things to not be so happy about: i took a nasty spill on my bike the other night. i was headed home, and due to the nature of san antonio streets, was forced to take a detour. well, who knows what happened, but my tire blew out, my rear rim caved, and i went and landed on my behind. it doesn't hurt bad, but it does hurt. great...something else to hurt.

my heart also continues to hurt. (no, not physically). any time i'm sober i think i need a little buzz to spit it out. any time i have a little buzz, i know i should be sober to say it. i see yes's. i see no's. in the end, i figure i see what i want to see, so i guess it's all just me. :o\ then again, people are surprising. it's always nice to get a sign of life just when you've given it up for dead.

so tomorrow is my 1 day completely off from work. i wish there were some sort of organized ride here in town. it's pretty much everyone's day of rest. bleh. well, i guess i will go to sleep now so i can wake up somewhat early and make the best of it.

the end of a bike ride

I scribbled this on a receipt in an attempt to shake off the rust...
---
I turn left.
They turn right.
"Goodbye!", I yell. "Goodbye!" (again, since there's no reaction)
we've split off. A block down they realize i'm no longer there and i flash a peace sign just as a building blocks the view for good.
i must get back to the alamo. which way now? left? sure. no. left is my default but it is apparently not the right way. turn around; there's still time. hmm, i didn't have to go to the alamo after all. there's my car over there...

take me home, [city] roads...take me home...

last published on Feb 20, 2009

it's been a long time since we rock-n-rolled
it's been a long time since i wrote from my soul
i've been broken and super glued and cracked again...for the most part things have not gone well. there are blips of happy here and there, but i'm guessing that will fall apart soon. it always does, and besides, my thoughts tend to just cause a bit of a traffic jam and in the end i stay silent. do you know? by now i have no doubt on this end. and yet still there's that staying silent part. i should be yelling it, or saying it. its just too easy to stay quiet though.

anyway, squeak squeak. my blog skillz are rusty. if it really matters to you, you can check the feed on the side to see what's going on. you'll have to piece some things together though.

g'nite.