Playlist: Something Stupid (see sunscreen below) – The Mavericks
Tomorrow is Independence Day but, as that is a Saturday, the official Federal holiday is today, Friday July 3rd. The last few days have been uncomfortable for me with my blood pressure causing concern and the frustrating inability to get out on my bike. The combination of Sahara dust and high heat index denying me the ability to cycle my BP down to an acceptable level.
All that changed today as the morning temperature was in the 80°F range and the dust haze seemed to have subsided so I was able to cycle a few miles and restore my BP to normal levels. Of course now my knees hurt and my arms are red because I forgot to use sunscreen but you can’t have everything!
Most of my cycling seems to involve being “Against the Wind” so that’s not a bad track to be listening to on a ride. I did no mileage on Monday and Tuesday evening was not much better with a paltry 5 miles being clocked up towards the 50 for the week. “Must do better”, as the headmaster remarked about my Latin test scores some 50 years ago!
A few times around the subdivision is always good for an easy 5 miles.
Since Tuesday held nothing of interest to post about cycling I offer this, from 2005, a flower whose name I do not know but which resided in Dawyck Botanic Garden in the Scottish Borders. Worth a visit if you’re ever in the neighborhood.
Playlist: (Movie) Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Remember the GCN video (“Friday Off” June 19th) which persuaded me that it is not necessary to train every day – today was that day. No cycling, no yard work, and not even a stroll to the mailbox. Activity today consisted of logging into the morning church service followed by laundry and towel folding whilst watching the Will Ferrell movie listed above, and then sifting through my collection of digital photographs in search of blogging inspiration.
I’m not a big fan of Will Ferrell but this movie was brought to my attention by my friend David , who lives in Scotland, as it features a few scenes shot in Edinburgh. Even better – it also features some scenes filmed in Glasgow that are passed off as being in Edinburgh. Long live the East / West rivalry of Scotland’s two largest cities. The movie was indeed quite enjoyable.
Family road trip! Well, as much as you can do in this “new age”, we had an essential purpose in going to the big City and only Patty actually got out of the vehicle! The weather was fine although I suspect that the Sahara dust was hanging in the mist over the bay. There was no rain showing on the radar but it looked like rain over the water. Back in Rockport and back on the bike – 15 miles this evening to round off my week with a total of 55 miles.
Historic cycling memorabilia. The amazing moving target that is the town of St. Andrews. I know that the starting point of this annual ride from Edinburgh to St. Andrews has changed year on year for various reasons but 5 miles! Really?
Home late from the office, and with wet weather and thunderstorms threatened, there was no chance of cycling this evening so I decided to publish the evidence that my insanity, with regard to cycling, has been continuous rather than sporadic throughout my life. I know I entered the Edinburgh to St. Andrews bicycle ride more than twice but two completion certificates is the sum total of my tangible proof.
In Corpus Christi at the office again today and Patty drove through in the evening to remind me that we have a life outside of work. I guess we got to see some Sahara dust in the atmosphere.
Dash with sun
Dash, palm, sun
Ocean Drive
Lawrence Street
N Chaparral at William
We arrived back in Rockport kind of late and Emily asked if I could check the mailbox as she was expecting a parcel. The mailbox is a quarter mile from the house so I cycled there, clocking three miles towards my weekly goal, and picked up the package for her. That rounded off my weeks mileage to 40 so I only need another 10 miles for this week.
Apparently I am able to set off at 6 PM this evening in what the radar shows as a break in adverse conditions. Indeed it looks like we will not get any thunderstorms here tonight. Good news for me as I set off in pretty ideal conditions, overcast, light South wind at 6 mph and a very pleasant 81F. So ideal that I got carried away and did 22 miles.
Stop – where did this come from?
Who closed the bridge with an almost invisible plank of wood?
Not looking like good cycling weather for the rest of the week.
Having taken two days off cycling over the weekend I was a little upset to discover that the weather forecast predicted adverse conditions for this week. Nevertheless when it came to the bit this evening the radar was clear and off I set to do battle against a 20 mph South wind. Turned out to be not too bad an evening and I managed 15 miles.
For whatever reason a few memories from the ancient history that is my cycling career have been in my mind today. No reason other than I can’t get motivated to ride today so I’m “Relive-ing” past journeys – without the benefit of the app
Ford Popular
BMW 7 Series
Photo credits to DuckDuckGo Search Engine.
Cycling to school one Fall morning I was struggling up the not inconsiderably steep Bruntsfield Place when I was hit side on by a veterinary student on her way to sit an exam. Presumably her mind was elsewhere. She was very embarrassed, I had slight abrasions on my knees. Way back then, last century, no one was into blame culture or of an instant mind to engage a lawyer, so she bundled me and my bike into her car and delivered me home. No more was said on the subject. I hope she passed her exam.
Fifteen or so years later I was cycling to work in Edinburgh City Center when a chauffeur driven BMW cut across Queensferry Road at speed and hit me side on; I did not get knocked off my bike because I hung onto the vehicle until he stopped. Unfortunately this resulted in a, no doubt, very expensive scratch along the side of the vehicle. Chauffeur and passenger were embarrassed but I had no injuries so once again no more was said. I hope the chauffeur kept his job.
On the A6088 heading up to Carter Bar
No vehicle impacts involved here but I did need to struggle up this very steep road which leads to the Scotland / England border with only one knee powering my bicycle. To this day I have no idea what injury I sustained, or how it happened, but this was day two of a 100 mile journey to reach the ferry to The Netherlands so I had no option but to carry on trucking. Downhill from the Border I was able to rest my knee as I hit 42mph by gravity alone – that was scary! The next day I had miraculously recovered and spent two weeks cycling the flat roads of The Netherlands without further incident.
