Lovely Labor Day w'end, eh?

Made it over to OneGearDoug's for a little barbeeeeque this evening and to meet up with the MRC folk. Good times....most of the CX fanatics were in attendance....next week is pretty much NE 'cross gets going (no disrespect to the good people at Cyclonauts and the Tobacco Road Series, but 'cross in August and in 95 degree heat seems odd...), so it was great to see who's getting ready. For my bit, I'm feeling better after this past week of some intensity. Rode fairly hard 5 days this past week and will continue to build the LT intervals. Cross is crazy hard - the kind of hard when by the end of the race you should be spent and cross-eyed. So hard that in 20 degree weather you're hot as hell in nothing but a skinsuit and beanie under your helmet. So hard that puking is more likely than not. I, like most other fans, enjoy the perversion of pain and pleasure all wrapped into 45 minutes of sliding around in the mud on a knobby-tired road bike. Bring it.

Cheers to the wife for the outstanding idea of bringing the kiddos over to Marlboro HS for fireworks. Huge hit.

Additional reasons why I like bikes....

Yesterday while out on a 90 minute easy ride, I stumbled upon this. One of the coolest things about a bike is exploration....yep, I yammer on upon training, racing, crashing, getting muddy, whatevah...but finding a new road, trail, etc, is the original hook to a bicycle. It's mechanized transport - a new way to explore with some wind in your face. The only issue as I see it (with the above referenced place) is that some d-bags in Stow (and I live there, BTW...) apparently don't want this running thru their respective back yards. I get the NIMBY thing when one is talking about an interstate or an office building. But a bike trail?? Gimme a break! Here's hoping that things get worked out, as the plan is to have this thing go through Stow, into Maynard and over to Concord.
The other reason that I love bikes is that today I discovered how absolutely invaluable those threaded washers that come with inner tubes are. Mind you, they're useless when it comes to the intended purpose, but I was installing a new hallway light and the strapping that you mount the light to (you know, the one that bolts to the face of the electrical box) wasn't fitting. Chalk it up to insufficient manufacturing tolerances....insert one of said washers underneath the strapping and voila: perfect fit!

Summer updates

Summer has just flown by! Amazing how when I was a kid summer seemed to last forever. I generally looked forward to heading back to school come this time. Nowadays it seems like summer is over in a flash. I suppose having every weekend booked with some damn thing doesn't necessarily help. Friday shows up, I try to shut it down for a couple of days, then find out we have somewhere to be and before I know it, it's Monday again and the hamster wheel picks up speed.

Here's a quick update on things....

1. The master bathroom project has pretty much reached completion. We are waiting for the glass door to be installed, but my involvement for the most part is over. I am happy that it's done...while I have plenty of experience around the house on various projects, bathrooms are complicated and somewhat intimidating. My good buddy Brad is a wiz kid at most things with an especially good skill for laying tile. Brad is always willing and able to help out as well. We would hook up at 7ish on weeknights and work til midnight. I took him to the Sox game to say thanks. I'll post some photos when the glass is installed.

2. With the bathroom done, I can finally finish up the baseboard and closet work in our bedroom. I've decided to build a couple of closet units for wife and me to better utilize the storage available for us. That project is pretty much all finish carpentry - no big deal, just a matter of time. Hopefully my sister can help with closet "door" coverage, because I don't sew and due to the odd-sized opening, we're thinking of creating some kind of modern/cool looking drapery type door.

3. Once that's done, I will finish up the boy's room. I need to install french-style doors on his closet, build a storage unit, and then get the baseboard done there as well.

4. Ahhhhhhhhh, the garden. As a landscape architecture major in college I have pride in how my yard looks and functions. It shouldn't just be a pretty thing to look at, it should be a system of outdoor rooms that you actually use for different activities. I built a really cool deck two years ago that we use often, and I need to create some garden room extensions off of it (first step will be a sitting area with a firepit....the kids LOVE to have fires outside), and the next step will be to create a walking path that connects the side yard to the back yard. I also have this rocky area that has a ridiculous little stone wall that serves no purpose. That needs to come down. Buuuuut my issue with the garden in general is that it's been neglected this year due to the bathroom project. It looks like sh*t to be honest and I'm embarrassed by it. Fall cleanup will be intense and I'll get things prepped for next year. Next spring will be a hard-core gardening thing.

5. Bike stuff - well, road season was interesting to say the least...there is a very specific difference between riding a lot and racing a lot. Riding a lot has no real speed definition....one can ride as hard or as easy as s/he would like. Racing is full gas, all the time.

This is me deep inside the pain cave without a light...

To quote Armstrong, sometimes I was the hammer, other times the nail. What is interesting though is that cyclocross season is here and is generally when I'm really amped to ride....but to be honest, my motivation is pretty low right now. Hopefully that will change soon enough....oh and by the way, gluing tubulars is zero fun.

Well that's about it for now....