Unfortunately, I bumped my bike computer today and it reset itself so I’ve lost the season’s odometer. Upon the completion of today’s ride I believe it should be right around 660, so I’ll go with that and just try to track the accumulation. Since I need an excuse to put stuff here… well, I’ll try and write some articles to help track miles.

Today’s ride was a great one. After multiple misadventures, I finally managed to find a route from home up to Cherry Creek state park. I cheated… bought a map.

Cherry Creek is a bit of a big deal around here as it seems to be where a lot of the “big kids” go to train. I’ve driven up there a few times, but I’d rather ride than drive anytime.

I think the ride was right around 40 miles (+/- 2?) and I was averaging right around 18 mph for the first two thirds until the computer reset.

The red dot towards the bottom is (more or less) where I started and finished. Started by dropping a bit south to get on the trails and going north on them– that would be the more “windy” routes to the right. I did a clock-wise loop around the park and then came back more directly on roads with a small side-loop at the bottom. (that red dot is at a major intersection nearby. It is not my home).

There’s a very clever kid just south of the south park entrance (on Jordan, north of Arapahoe). How clever? He runs a little Gatorade and energy bar stand at the end of his driveway. Very smart, yes? I bet hundreds of bikes a day go by there on the weekend. I stopped there on my way back south for a Gatorade. Only a buck and it definitely hit the spot. Alas, this is also where I reset my bike computer.

I’ll work up a GPS mapping solution for the next run – I’ll definitely be doing this ride again. I used Gmaps  Pedometer for the map. Works well but pretty tedious for a long route. Maybe I’ll revisit TrackMe again.

Today’s ride: 40 miles (est)
Summer total: 660 (est)

How’s that for a novel use of social media (hey, how’s that for a great pun?)

Here are the characters I’ve located so far:

• Mother Abigail – http://twitter.com/motherabigail
• Randall Flag – http://twitter.com/VegasWalkinDude
• Nick Andros – http://twitter.com/Nick_Andros
• Tom Cullen – http://twitter.com/m_o_o_n
• Glen Bateman – http://twitter.com/glenbateman
• Nadine Cross – http://twitter.com/Nadine_Cross
• Larry Underwood – http://twitter.com/larry_underwood
• Fran Goldsmith – http://twitter.com/frangoldsmith and/or http://twitter.com/fran_goldsmith
• Stu Redman – http://twitter.com/Stu_Redman
• Harold Lauder – http://twitter.com/haroldlauder
• Ralph Brentner – http://twitter.com/RalphBrentner
• Sue Stern – http://twitter.com/Sue_Stern
• Dayna Jurgens – http://twitter.com/DaynaJurgens
• Lloyd Henreid – http://twitter.com/RatSnacker
• Donald “Trashcan Man” Elbert – http://twitter.com/mylifeforyou
• Judge Farris – http://twitter.com/JudgeFarris

Got more? Add a comment with them please.

I may have to create a separate Twitter account just to follow this. Adding them all to my regular account is a bit noisy… but I’m sure curious to see it all play out.

The Stand has always been one of my all time favorite books and this is definitely a new way to experience it!

Straight No Chaser – 12 Days

Oh sure, there are frequent tornados around the Denver airport. But heck, that’s way outside of town out on the prairie. Nothing ever seems to be affected by them.

Tonight, however, we had a very rare opportunity to see a funnel work it’s way down to the ground. It stayed down for quite a while too – at least a good 10 minutes.

Not a huge one, but I managed to get a few pictures and they’re uploaded at my flickr account. Here are a couple samples.

Just getting started:

Getting Larger:

Cool, huh? See the rest.

This particular funnel didn’t really get all that large or cause any apparent damage. Lots of dust, but it was out in a new construction / unpopulated area. Heck, we didn’t even see livestock in the air (“cow”).

Sounds like a larger one touched down just a few miles south of us (and a few miles east of the one we saw) and did some damage. That’s a bummer and just not something you expect to hear about near Denver!

The birthday day itself was quite nice. Most folks at work weren’t aware and I didn’t spend much time telling anyone. I prefer calm days at work without age insults. Just sayin’.

Months back I had assured my wife that a big bash was not something I desired — especially not a surprise party. My brother and his family drove up from Colo. Springs and we had a nice supper and some awesome homemade carrot cake (with cream cheese frosting) that my wife concocted. It was all quite mellow.

After supper I had to run the middle kid up to TKD. When I got home our neighbors to the north wandered over to say howdy and wish me a happy BD. I went in to get them a beverage and when I came back out the neighbors to the south were walking over. Back in for more beverages. When I came back out again several more sets of neighbors were crossing over.

About then I realized that I was hosting a small surprise party

Just some of the neighborhood and it was quite pleasant and fun. We have great neighbors and getting some wool pulled over my eyes was just fine by me. I never even saw it coming.

I’ll spare you the retro/introspection bullshit. Heck, I’ll be the first to admit I have a great wife and three awesome kids. We have a good life, lots of love and live comfortably. The wife and I just celebrated our 19th anniversary last week and there have never been regrets or major issues.

Is the career where I thought it would be 20 years ago? Oh hell no. In fact, you could say I peaked in my early 30’s and I’ve been sliding down ever since. But even there I have to say I’m a helluva lot happier now than I was then. I love what I do and I sleep at night with a clear conscience. What more can you ask?

As far as health goes, I’m definitely healthier now than I was back at the “peak” of my career. However, since we took a little family vacation back in March (an awesome vaca that I regret not mentioning…) I’ve been slacking with the gym and diet plans. I was about 15 lbs from goal when that vaca started. Since then I’ve been more like 25 lbs from goal. I’ve been exercising just enough to compensate for my lousy dietary habits.

However, since the beginning of June and my awareness of the upcoming birthday, I’ve been back into the exercise. Specifically, bike riding. I’ve had some great rides and really enjoying a nice change of pace from the gym and indoor track scene. My town and surrounding areas is blessed with some great sets of paved bike trails.

Been tuning my 20 year old bike while I save pennies for a “real” bike. My current bike is a Huffy 17 speed (should be 18 but damned if I can get it into 18th gear) that I bought at a Walmart about 20 years ago. She ain’t much, but she’s held together for (literally) thousands of miles over the years. Built like a tank — weighs about the same too, LOL. No frills, but it just keeps on chugging along.

Fun fact: Remember those sweet checkered Vans I got for my birthday last year? Those are my favorite bike riding shoes. They fit so well in my “basket” style pedals — and damned stylish to boot, I must say.

But yeah. I’m turning 40 soon. *sigh*

Watchmen

Wow! Pow! Fwoooosh! zoinks.

I don’t have the words to truly explain how much I enjoyed it. Dang, that was a great read.

I hear it is going to be a movie next year? Wonder if I can buy a ticket now….

Right now I’m enjoying Grisham’s latest, then I’m going to give V for Vendetta a look. How’s it compare to Watchmen?