Mid-Summer update and the hill that never ends.

Since the office move about 6 weeks ago, we have done a great job of bike commuting to work. Well, once we decided to that is. The last month, its been 2 rides to and from work per week. It is about 11 miles there and almost 14 home due to the way we have to take the 1 way streets around the highway.

When driving it, I get a little grumpy about having to be on freeways and that its so much further from home. But when on the bike it just feels like a fun hour or so each way. The reason for the title, the hill that never ends, is right around mile 6 on the way into work, there is a hill that starts decently steep then it appears to level out to a nice false flat that goes for about 2 more miles. So it feels like it never ends.. you know. Also we get to sign the song “this is the song that never ends” (replacing SONG with HILL) while riding it and it makes it easier.

Last week, I decided that we needed a new tradition. On the last bike home of the week, we get to stop at 1 of the 7 breweries that are on the way home and get a beer. This is making the ride home even more fun! So last week we stopped at 4th tap and split a sampler. This week we stopped as Oskar Blues and again split a sampler. There are 4 more on the way home and 1 more that will be a block out of the way. So that gets us 5 more weeks of samplers, then we can decide on what full pints we want to get.

I think this is a great way to keep the commute going. Good inspiration and all that. Also… beer!

In other news its been pretty much all bike all the time, minus that little Jacks generic triathlon. I was super excited the day of, I thought I had gotten a PR, but it turns out last year I was about 20 seconds faster over all.

This year I did have a great swim, minus the point where I stopped and had to catch my breath after getting so many face fulls of splashing water. On the bike I was flying like mad until the last 3 miles when we turned into the wind. On the run I did great, I got passed by 2 team mates, but neither were in my AG so that’s all good.  Total time for the day was 1:24:41. Swim: 11:47, Bike: 41:05, Run: 27:43. I am happy with all those seeing as how I haven’t been doing any sprint speed work at all. Heck, I have barely gotten back into swimming or running since the Ironman.

Last weekend we did an awesome ride from the house to Hutto to say hi to friends and fill bottles, then rode back towards town. We had a quick stop on the way back at Rudys to re-fuel, then made our way to the local Bike Austin social ride. It went from a local pool, to a deli, to a pool, to a splash pad, to a bar. We had comedy tickets for 7pm, so by the time we all get to the bar at 5ish, we only had time foa a slice of pizza, a beer and the ride back home. Then, we cleaned up and got to the Rob Schneider show just minutes before it started. For the day we got in over 80 miles and a good couple of laughs.

We have Hotter N Hell ride coming up soon, and I cannot wait! Not only will it be a “fun” 100 mile ride, but we get to take the popup with us and camp right on the red river. This will be our second outing with the camper, and much further away than last time. Here’s hoping all goes well and that we have a fantastic weekend.

Speaking of the popup, I have gotten lots of parts in the mail and at the store to fix some things that need repair, but I haven’t had a weekend where I can pull it out to the street and put it up to work on it. My goal is to get it out there tomorrow and get some of it fixed.

  • The outdoor shower.( 6 screws to take out and put in new one.)
  • The water tank drain spigots. ( Need to get under camper and use adjustable wrench to take old ones out and put new ones in. may need tape.)
  • The caster wheel for the jack. (This just clips on.)
  • Attach the secondary jack wheel for better mobility. (4 bolts, will need second person.)
  • Bolt second propane tank to frame. (2 bolts by hand.)
  • Replace out door light fixture with new LED light fixture. ( 4 screws, 3 wires.)
  • Replace spigot cover for city water in line. ( Find where to buy this and just screw it on.)

We also want to get the office finished this weekend. All I have left is:

  • organize and sort cable box ( 30 min)
  • Put away filing ( 1 hour)
  • pick up area around printer ( <1 hour)

I think that about covers our current adventures, even if they aren’t all that exciting. In the next few months we have 3-4 camping trips planned. 1 is at a wedding and I need to figure out what to wear for it. It is a Peter Pan themed wedding.  Pajamas might work, but it could be hot there.

Well have fun all!

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Its SUMMER!

So whats been going on?

We got some Mountain Bikes! ( this has been on the list since last summer.) These ended up being a great deal, this years model of the bike was about $599.99, and we rode them and really liked them, but didn’t want to spend quite that much. The bike shop said they had some of last years model still in boxes in the back and that they were supposed to build them and put them on sale that day. So for about $175 each, we got last years model of the bike we both really liked. SCORE!

We went out to Circuit of Americas and rode bikes on the F1 Track!

6 days of camping in the pop up over 4th of July! This was really an amazing trip. It is the longest Leah and I have camped together and it was wonderful. The new camper was amazing, so good that I was able to sleep until noon almost every day. We splashed around in the springs, I rode the mountain bike around the property a few times a day. We read, painted played games and I cooked about 15 meals. The place was Krause Springs and I would suggest going there to camp anytime. It was a very well taken care of camp ground.

Work moved from 3 miles away from the house to 14 miles by car. Somehow this ends up only being 11 by bike! I am near a window again at work, so that is nice. It looks across the street to a small park with a fountain.

We have been exploring the area around the new work office. I have a decent 15 mile ride that is easy to do after work now, but am looking to extend it to about 20 miles. We did get caught in a heavy downpour and took shelter under some trees. It has been a blast to explore a new area and to ride on Hairy Man Road.

A few longer bike rides. By longer bike rides I mean in the 20-40 mile range. The El Diablo Poker Dash was a solid 100k, and it took some effort. I got 2 flats that day and it was only a feels like 105 at the end. My hand wasn’t great with a jack high and pair of 7’s.

We cleaned out the side yard to make room to put the pop up there. Thank goodness for bulk trash day. We had 10+ years of our own junk back there and some stuff from the people who lived at the house before us. But its all cleaned out and we moved the camper from the front driveway to the side yard. (apparently we can get fined for having it in the front drive way, but only if someone complains.)

Last weekend I went fishing with my dad at Winkler Park in Temple, and I caught 2 fish. It was really nice to just get to sit and fish and talk to my dad for 4 hours. It has been since 2001 since we got to spend quality time fishing like that.

We are getting the home office picked up a little more. It is a big project. A few years ago it was almost completely done, but then it somehow get turned into a junk/box room again. Its getting there as you can see by the picture here.

The guest room is getting re organized as a result of moving a book shelf from the office. The work out room is also getting re organized due to moving the book shelf from the office to the front room, to make room for the sewing stuff to go in the office. No picture, but just saying, if you try to organize 1 thing in a house your SO is guaranteed to make it a whole house organization by the end of it.

The shed was built yesterday and will soon be painted. We will be moving all the camping stuff into the shed + some bikes this weekend. We purchased it about 7 weeks ago, and it has felt like an eternity to get it here and built.

Up next:

  • Jacks Generic sprint tri, in town.
  • Hotter than Hell 100, 2 nights pop up camping.
  • Pop up at the beach for family vacation, 2 nights pop up camping.
  • Kerrville sprint tri, 2 nights pop up camping.
  • Livestrong 100 mile ride, in town.

That might work to catch people up. No A races until Jan ’18, so everything in the list is just for fun.

What fun crazy things have you been up to?

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