Getting Hitched

Last week while Jenn was out of town, I had ordered a hitch to be mounted on the back of the Highlander. It arrived but was too heavy and awkward for my little man arms to lift, hold and bolt into place all by my lonesome it had to wait.  Yesterday, the weather was extremely nice for a Saturday afternoon in August and it was decided today was the day to get hitched once again.

Now the reason I decided to have one delivered to the house and not "professionally" installed by a local dealer was the labor rates.  More than one company quoted me ~$150 to have it installed.  I stopped calling after that and watched a Youtube video.  How hard could it, I just watched it on youtube.  

The instructions provided with the hitch stated a professional install would take approximately 20 minutes while a novice install would take 40 minutes. After crawling up and under the rear of the car to make sure I knew which were the appropriate holes to be filling with my bolts, I decided 20 minutes was certainly achievable.  I laid out the toolbox to find I had misplaced one of my ratchets.  Of course it was the one I needed to install this hitch in 20 minutes or less.

A quick run to the local Home Depot store was now necessary.  I entered the store with a very short list of needs and a long list of "needs."  Some of you may call those "needs" "wants" and I could get go on to explain to you the differences between "needs" and "wants" but its a losing battle.  You just wouldn't understand if you don't already get it.  Somehow, I left the store with only those needs and nothing from the "needs" list.  This was a first for me.  One that must mark a new level of maturity or just an extreme amount of focus on the task at hand; install in less than 20 minutes.

Once back at home with all the appropriate tools in hand, Jenn was summoned to come out to help and the timer was started.  From there, the job went by in a flash.  We crawled under the car, lifted it into place, started the bolts in the holes and tightened those bad boys down.  12 minutes and we were done. 

  

We didn't even have to use a 2x4 like the "professional" in the youtube video.  Jenn's joking reply was that we obviously did something wrong if we didn't have to use one.  With the utmost confidence in my ability to do simple tasks, I offered to go out and hit the hitch with a 2x4 if it would make her feel better.  Having seen my mad pinata striking skills and not wanting her vehicle dented, Jenn asked that I not swing a 2x4 in the vicinity of the hitch or car.  I can't say that I blame her.

New SRAM drivetrain or lunch?

Shifty bits it is

Now its time to figure out what's for lunch

Ramping it up

With the ADK 540 quickly approaching, almost one month away, the miles and saddle time are really starting to add up.  Well they should be increasing if I were following anything that may resemble the slightest bit of a training plan.  But I'm not and neither are the miles.

With Jenn in Washington (the state not the district) until Tuesday with her mom, I have been on pup sitting duty.  Wednesday Sage, Petra and I were joined by our good friend Dusty aka Doodle aka Dustball aka ... I'll just stop there.  Just like all of our beloved pets he has a million nicknames and answers to only one of them.

Dusty and Raven staring at each other through the gate

Dusty has been having some issues with the strength in his hips and cannot walk up stairs very well.  This didn't bode well with me because I have been having some issues with the strength in my back.  I woke up Thursday morning with a very tight lower back from trying to pick up Dusty's massive 100+ pound Husky self and carrying him down the stairs so he could relieve himself in the lawn and not on the carpet.  Knowing my back would not hold up to 5 more days of that, I built a ramp leading off the front porch.

Yep, its our old front door.  Works like a charm

Thursday afternoon, I got in a short ride across town.  I had to ride over and provide a lift to the airport.  My lower back had tightened up to the point where everything in the back of my legs were also quite tight which is why I decided to not take a ride yesterday.  At this point in the game it's also probably best that I rest any injuries so they do not become long drawn out nagging ones.  They say with age comes wisdom, could this be the start of it?

Like a leaf in the wind

Two weeks ago, Jenn and I ordered a new bike TT bike for her.  It arrived last week which meant she would most likely be spending a lot of time on "him".  Yep you guessed it, it's a boy.  Nope, I'm not jealous.

If you remember, 23 months ago (you can tell there is a baby in the house because all ages are communicated in months) I drove off after a ride leaving my front wheel in the parking lot.  Despite my attempts of having an Amber alert dispatched, it was never seen again.  The arrival of Jenn's new bike (name still TBD) meant there would be a set of matching wheels going unused inside the house.  I decided to switch them over to Le Antique for a ride or two.

The first ride on them was pretty rough.  Wind blowing me all over the place had me feeling like a new rider all over again.  I was a bit impatient when I mounted them up and didn't switch the cassettes over from my wheels to the new ones which lead to some chain skippage not only at the misopportune times but all the time.  Her used cassette didn't mate well with my worn chain.  Sad really but that's the reality sometimes.  Once home, I made the ole switch-a-roo and prepared for a ride the next day.

I now have three or four decent rides on them and I have to say, the new gear has me excited to not only get on the bike but once I am on it, the ride hasn't been long enough.  I just don't want to stop riding.  Like a leaf in the wind, I just want to cruise thru the air.

My Wish

As you all know, Jenn and I have been working alongside with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for the past couple of years.  Over that time, we have both gotten to know many fortunate people who have benefited from the research and treatment opportunities provided to cancer patients and their families by the LLS.  With all things in life, with the good comes the bad.  Thankfully, today I have no bad news. 

I recently watched a series on ESPN called My Wish.  They featured a story of a young man named Brendan who just like all of us had a sports hero growing up.  That is one of the two things he and I have in common.  The second is how we both pretended to be Landon Donovan while playing soccer in the backyard.

After watching the video, please help Jenn and I in our quest to help find the cure for Leukemia.  We are hoping to raise another $1300 by Sept 11th. You can help save another young boys dream by clicking this link and following it to the "Donate Now" button on the right. 

Three Thousand

The number 3000 has always had a significant meaning in sports, particularly cycling and baseball.  About 2 weeks ago, Derek Jeter reached the very select and illustrious 3000 hit club.  Not as amazing of a feat, I just noticed about the same time as he reached that milestone, I crossed over the 3000 mile mark for this year.  I found this to be pretty exciting because I haven't been chasing the long rides or miles which means only one thing, I have been riding my bike and riding it often.  In case you missed Jeter's hit here is the highlight video.  Sorry for not having video coverage of me crossing over the 3000 mile mark where ever it was on the road.  Maybe next year I will hire a film crew to follow me around, but probably not.

This past week was full of work, stress and riding.  It was nice that the stress only came from work and not from any particular ride or lack thereof.  In the end, I finished the week with a couple more than 250 miles.  It has been awhile since I got over 200 and today my legs are feeling it.

On Saturday, I started the morning off with a 4am wake up call.  After a quick breakfast and shower, I jumped on the bike and heading over to Westcreek to meet Jenn and other Team in Training members for the Silent Mile proceedings.

After the Silent Mile, a few of us headed out to Goochland and parts of Hanover for a nice leisurely ride.  Once back to the cars in Westcreek, I grabbed a handful of donuts which were left over from the Silent Mile breakfast, filled up my bottles and headed for home.  For the second ride in a row (Friday's ride through P-town) my feet felt like they were broken.  The pain made it quite undesirable to put any sort of pressure onto the pedals.  With the feet feeling the opposite from great, I just cruised home.  All in all, it was a great day in the saddle which leaves me full of confidence as to where my fitness levels are for the ADK540.