2 Days Worth!!
2006-09-01, 4:34 p.m.

Day 740 Cruising the Canal and more

Had a very nice little bike ride Wednesday night. I�d run down the exact route, but it would mean nothing. Lets just say it went like this:

Boogied along the canal for about 8 miles total. Finally hopped back up to surface streets one road sooner than I had planned, but this turned out to be a good thing. Also good because last two miles of canal path wasn�t paved and my legs were feeling the difference . Had to dodge several large puddles. No other bikers on the unpaved stretch either. Rest of the ride back was south & east on roads I�d already traveled, so no surprises. It was getting rather dark by the time I got home, so it was a good thing I got off the canal trail when I did. I had intended to go about another 1.5 � 2 miles out, but got off the trail assuming I knew where I was. Oops. Still, had I gone farther out, much of the return ride would have been in very poor light. As it was, I rolled in about 8pm and most cars already had their headlights on.

Managed to cover 16.1 miles in 63 minutes. Comes out to about a 15.4mph average. The unpaved portion of the canal path really hurt the average. Maybe next time, I�ll go off to the south & east. Think it�s paved a little further out headed that way. Have to take the canal back too, roads out that way are not bike friendly. Too many lights and intersections of 4 & 6 lane roads.

The paved portions of the path are really nice. In places, you�re 40 or 50 feet above the canal. In other areas, you�re right at the surface. That give a little indication of the terrain, as there were no locks, hence no water level changes, along the portion of the canal I covered. Heading east, there are at least 2 sets of locks that will need to be navigated. For some reason, the path has stairs on it in these areas � kinda rough on a bike. May have to swing out to the nearest road or something. Guys here at work have also biked the canal, they�ll know what�s up for sure.

Here�s a quick peek at the Erie Canal. I�ve been riding the Rochester portion of the Erie Canal Heritage Trail. Maybe some day when I grow up I�ll ride more of it, but for now, I�ll be sticking to the paved portions between the west side of Rochester & Pittsford. Those �stone dust� parts suck if you�re on a road bike.

Cindy picked up the rings Wednesday night too. They looked nice all polished up. The sizing went well, both the new & old rings fit properly now. Did manage to get a picture of them, just got to get it pulled off the camera and uploaded. Then you can get a look at what a size 4.5 finger looks like.

Jill headed for home right after work Wednesday, which left Cindy & I alone for the entire evening. No kids. For the next 4 days. First time in 3 months. Weird. Jill left us a note when she left, actually addressing us by our proper first names, not Mr. and Mrs. Cool. Being called Mr. Xxxx just reminds me of how old I am. Hate that.

She also left a little ps about how she wrote the note using a really cool pen I got at a vendor conference. When you click the button on the top of the pen, instead of extending the point, it turns on an LED display that makes the end of the pen glow. There�s 3 LED�s in there and they are on in different combinations, fading from one to the next. It�s a neat pen really, and Jill is just fascinated with it. She�s mentioned stealing it from me several times recently. Well, I think it�s time it disappeared for a while.

Her birthday is coming up in 3 weeks. I think she needs to get a little gag gift along with what ever else we get her. Besides, I think it�s the little things like that that help build good relationships. We all already get along really well, but if she�s truly going to be a daughter-in-law someday soon (lead pipe cinch really), I want to lay the ground work for a really good friendship.

Haven�t been tracking my food intake for the last couple of weeks. Been trying to pay attention to portion sizes, snack content, make up of meals, etc. I�ll get a weigh in done this coming Tuesday. We�ll see if I�ve been paying attention well enough. If my weight is unchanged, meh � I can live with it. If it�s gone up, even only a couple of pounds � it�s back to the strict regimen and working hard till I�m down to 180. Might have to recalculate calorie needs too. Probably don�t need as much intake, even with all the workouts. I tend to run the intake kinda high anyhow, knowing I have the workouts to counter it. Might be time to lay off the Oreo�s a bit.

I�m excited about bowling starting soon too. Maybe next week, for sure by the week after. A life time 175ish bowler, last year something really weird happened and I settled in at 196. Eclipsed previous personal high�s for single game and series several times. I blame it mostly on finally trying a new line, or angle of approach. Gets a much better angle into the pocket, carries strikes more consistently. I�d always been pretty accurate, just never got really good pin action. With the new line, the accuracy is being rewarded with better pin carry. Also learned a few things about releasing the ball and how to get more productive and consistent revolutions on it. This year? We�re aiming for the holy grail of a 200+ average. Both of my younger brothers have done it (225+ and 206), so I need to get there too. Buggers.

Thursday � got nuthin serious. I did pry a bit into the whole situation between Cindy & her brother (Wayne). Found out just what her brother was looking for. An apology. For Cindy saying what she did. Except that I still believe that Cindy was not referring to Wayne�s wife at all. She wouldn�t do that. Besides both of us truly like Wayne�s wife. She is a little intense with the pets and all, but she has a good heart and is a really nice person, mom & wife.

Anyhow. I suggested to Cindy that she start out by saying that she was sorry Kay had to hear what ever it was she heard. Essentially apologize for this third party ass munch taking a flyer and erroneously filling in a few blanks. That way, at least Wayne would hear an apology and Cindy would not be admitting to actually uttering the offensive sentiments. Have no clue if it will actually work. Wayne is not a college educated guy, but he is still pretty perceptive, and is a very good people person. He might catch the omission in the apology. Still, you gotta start somewhere.

Also don�t feel bad about helping Cindy out of this jam. This is not a case of enabling or helping to cover up the mistakes of an alcohol fueled rant. We both believe the third party candidate is someone Cindy works with. I seriously doubt Cindy was ever under the influence at work. Bad as her drinking might get at home, that�s pretty much where it stays. I would stay detached somehow if I believed this were the result of bad judgment during a binge, but that ain�t the case here.

@($*^% cafeteria at work was closed today. So was the one in the next building over. Our lovely food contractors, after whining that they are to be the sole source of food for the entire local work force, left several thousand people high & dry today. I ought to do a whole separate entry on THAT fiasco. More ass munchers.

So, while I was out & about foraging for food today, I stopped by the local mall to hit up the summer close out sales. I even had a coupon. Finally broke down and bought a new belt. Had over 7� extending beyond the holder downer loop. With some pants (like the ones I�m wearing today), there�s no loop on the pants to hold the flap down, so I have to use a binder clip to keep the flap from waving all over the place. Wasn�t a problem last year.

Could someone tell me why men�s belt sizes don�t match men�s pant sizes? For instance, I just picked up some size 34 waist pants. Fit nice. But that belt I just got? A 38. (Gawd, I don�t want to know the size of my old belt. Probably measured in meters or something)

Didn�t get any super sweet deals. But I did pay less than 50% of the original prices on some nice duds. Izod & Savane pants, Dockers belt and a Van Heusen shirt. Hmmm. Just ran the totals. With my extra 20% off coupon, I ended up paying 40% of list price for my loot. Not bad.

Now I have to break the news to Cindy that I went shopping. Hoo boy. Could just slip things in nice and easy, let them show up in the laundry next week, see if she notices. If she�s been drinking, she won�t, but that�s being counter productive, isn�t it? Could claim I saved $100. Cuz I did. Now she�ll want to go get new duds herself, what with the new school year and all. Maybe that�s ok.

That�s it from here. Prolly post this just as I leave work. Hope y�all have a great Labor Day weekend. Stay dry and don�t work too hard.

Updated stats:

Weight start: 206.5 on 1/1/06 (265.0 on 1/15/05)
Current weight: 185.0 on 8/21/06 #$*&^ scale pointer has helium in it!!
Next weigh in: 9/5/06 (first day the Y re-opens)

New target � Time to reevaluate.

The Keep on Truckin goal: (idea stolen shamelessly from Marn�s Big Adventure)
Miles at speed 8/25/06: 688.36
Miles with cool down: 756.97
Target for 2006: 1000 miles
Plus 86+ miles biking so far.

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