On Tuesday I drop the motorcycle off for a tuneup and head out to catch the buses home. Just as I step out of the motorcycle shop I see my bus coming. I sprint a bit and hold my hand out and the bus driver sees me and slams on the brakes to stop one bus length past the bus stop. I thank him and take my seat. When I get home I have a final pull set of lifts. I'm worn out! And need a break from lifting weights. I watch the 250cc motorcycle race from Donington Park England and I'm on the edge of my seat even though I know the results. The riders are sliding sideways, pushing to the limit and beyond, and banging into each other as they try and win.
With the motorcycle getting a tuneup, Wednesday and Thursday become bicycle commute days. Though I bicycle commuted last Wednesday and didn't see many other cyclists riding in the afternoon, today I see quite a few. Are the high gasoline prices finally starting to push people to ride their bicycles to/from work?
On the Friday away from work I recover from the two days of bicycle commuting by...riding 30 miles on the road bicycle. After the ride I change plans and go see the acupuncturist early. This is a great visit and she puts the needles in exactly the perfect places and I have a deep rest. Afterwards Person M_Fl comes to visit as he has his lunch break from work. And in the middle of the afternoon I mow the lawn and feed/water the roses.
Late on Friday I'm heading up to West Hollywood to meet up with friends. As I park in the parking structure I see another World Rally Car (though in the wrong colors) parked so I park right next to it. At the first club I get a wristband and they are passing out CDs of music, so I grab one and stuff it in my pocket. From there I head over to another club and walk around. I find my favorite bartender working at a different station than usual, "Because this is my off Friday but I'm filling in for someone who couldn't work tonight. And I've been overspending lately". She remembers my drink and I tell her to "Have a fun evening and make lots of money". Near midnight I'm heading back to "the wristband club" to meet up with Person T_U. Person J_J is present and has drank too much so he keeps leaning on me to stay upright. It is a fun evening and at 2 am I am heading for the door. As I approach the exit I ask one of the bouncers to cut off my wristband (a standard practice) and I hear someone from behind say, "Don't trust this guy. He's a mad scientist." When I turn around I see Person A_P and we have a brief conversation and he gets my phone number again because he has just recently moved back from Florida. I wait around outside the club to let traffic die down until 2:25 am on Saturday morning. On the drive home there is a slight traffic jam. We are crawling along when I see a large dead something in the road - maybe a large dog. About 100 meters down the freeway I see a tow truck by the side of the road and a car that has been demolished. I wonder of the driver wrecked the car either trying to avoid the animal running on the freeway or by hitting the animal? I make it home safely and the lights go out for sleep at 3:15 am.
On Saturday morning I'm out the door at 7 am for the aquarium bicycle ride. It's a cool morning and I enjoy the ride. I do the laundry and wash/wax the mountain bicycle for future use. The rest of the day is a blur but there is a good long walk late in the afternoon and a couple of mvoies on television that are reasonably decent.
I wake up on Sunday near 6 am and head out the door on the road bicycle. I like the morning after the morning after clubbing because I've slept so deeply. But I am tired and by the end of the loop ride I don't even think about adding on extra miles and I just crawl on home. The MotoGP races from Assen (The Cathedral of Speed) are disastrous as my favorites do poorly. By the end of Sunday both bicycles are washed and waxed and the World Rally Car has been wiped down with the quick detail spray. (The motorcycle is still at the dealer.) I get out for a long walk on Sunday afternoon as the breeze kicks up a bit to cool the day down.
Monday is another bicycle commute day because the motorcycle isn't ready yet. I have a good ride to work and a good ride home even though the rapid-fire shifters decide to start missing shifts. After a shower at home I ride around the neighborhood and keep adjusting the rear derailleur until I hope that the rapid-fire shifters will be okay for Tuesday.
Tuesday is another bicycle commute day and I keep adjusting the rapid fire shifters all the way to work and all the way back home in the afternoon. They are still not right, so it's another thing to do this weekend. The final tally for the period covering last Wednesday through today is: bicycle - 200 miles; motorcycle - 0 miles; car - 80 miles. (Most of the car miles were from the Friday night clubbing.)
Wednesday starts with an abdominal workout and two buses over to the motorcycle dealer to pick up the Yamaha YZF-R1. It's on the second bus, the Long Beach transit number 92, that I get a phone call from people in Indiana and they want to talk about their recent test results. Thus I have a nice 15 minute conversation in front of the bus riders who are probably wondering what language I'm speaking. I eventually get to work and sit in meetings most of the day. When I leave work I work the abdominals again. (Twice in one day? Sure, why not?) I've noticed over the last two days that everyone seems to be obeying the new ban on talking on their mobile phone while driving. Except for a car that is weaving about and makes a last minute swerve at the 405/710 interchange - causing me to take evasive action. That lady had the phone up to her ear and was obviously in another world.
Thursday starts with the loop ride. It takes me a while to get out of bed and a number of miles to get cranking, but then I don't want to stop when I get near home. I seriously consider extending the ride, but figure I better not with all of the mileage of the past week. After a shower I do a bit of work on the roses and carnations and then head off for a haircut. In the mid-day heat I mow and trim the lawn. And then I get down on my hands and knees and give the rosebeds a good tidying. For the remainder of the day I am sore and beat.
Independence Day starts late but with a reasonable ride down around the aquarium and back home. It is slightly foggy down by the ocean, but already at 7:30 am there are people staking out land from which to watch tonight's fireworks. For them it will be a 14 hour day at the beach. On Saturday afternoon I ride the train to the Los Angeles convention center for the annual anime exposition. Only a sampling of the photos is available
After recovering a bit I go lift weights with high repetition, low weight sets. This is the first workout after 8 days off and it feels good to start back in again. After a cool shower I'm headed up to West Hollywood to hang out at various clubs. Traffic on the 710 comes to a standstill and I'm stationary for 12 minutes. Thus I take action to aggresively cut over three lanes to get off the freeway on Imperial highway. This is crowded too, as expected, so I immediately get on the 710 SOUTHBOUND because the 105 is one mile south. I'm backtracking a bit but it works out as I manage to miss any other nasty traffic. (I never did hear what caused the 710 disaster.) Tonight I am bored by both clubs and see myself looking at my phone regularly to see what time it is. There are a couple of ChiChis that I want to apporach, but do not. And finally I head on home without incident to put my head down for sleep at 3:15 am on Saturday morning.
Saturday starts with the laundry, qualifying for the British Grand Prix, and then a mountain bicycle ride down and around the aquarium. I've been reading about heat shock proteins (HSPs) and so I arrange to have some strenuous activity during the heat of the day - bicycle riding, mowing the lawn, and on Saturday afternoon trimming the Juniper bushes in front of the house. Sandwiched between the bicycle ride and the Juniper trimming is a trip with Person T_U to look at flat screen televisions - we each want one for our houses. As soon as we walk into Best Buy, Person H_X greets us and points us to the televisions. After his description of the side by side comparison of non_HD and HD, I make him come and give us the demonstartion. Person H_X asks for permission from his supervisor to leave his station and help a customer and proceeds to give us a knowledgable and enthusiastic description of what to look for. Because of his enthusiasm Person H_X gets my phone number, "Call me and we'll hang out". I believe that I have converged on a television to purchase and need to sleep on it for a few nights.
Saturday night reminds me of why it's important to stay out until 3 am on certain nights: Because the next night of sleep is so deep and so restfull!
On Sunday morning I buy the newspaper and read some of it before heading out on the road bicycle. I do the loop ride and though I start out slow I keep picking up the pace. Here's another ride where I want to keep going but I force myself to stop. I also note that I have not had a break from cycling since my travels to Fort Wayne for the entire month of January. Thus I reluctantly start thinking about when to take a week or so off.
I watch the changing conditions Grand Prix from Silverstone England. It is just a fun race and at times I am laughing so hard. There are two separate incidents where a rabbit runs across or near the track, the weather keeps changing from sprinkles to dry to hard rain to sprinkles, there is lots of action, and there are many different strategies tried throughout the race. It is thoroughly entertaining to watch and to "participate" in. The rest of Sunday is low key with some relaxing, some maintenance around the house and roses, and a long walk.
Monday gets life back into the swing of things after the four day weekend. I try to be productive at work. When I get home I work the abdominals. It's a transition day. Later in the evening I'm poking around the Internet for places that I used to frequent. I run into the myspace page for the was declared "the most dangerous nightclub in America". I start to wonder how I can possibly still be alive after some of the palces that I've been.