Poop of the Day

I don't know what kind of poop you see on your daily commute, but here in northern Idaho, it can be quite varied. Of course, riding on a multi-use bike path, dog poop is not at all unusual, especially behind the I-90 rest area at Huetter Road. I have no idea why someone would watch their dog take a crap on the trail, and then not bother to dispose of it. I guess they just figure that no one else in the world is going to come along that trail.

Horse poop is also not unusual. Horses are not allowed on the trail, but that seems to be more of a guideline than a rule, and good lord, horses take a lot of craps. There is nothing I like more than riding through a nice fresh pile of horse shit, and then having it fly off my tires for the next hundred yards. Thank God for fenders.

Last spring, as the snow melted off of the trail, there appeared quite a bit of moose poop. But even that didn't surprise me that much. The moose population in these parts is growing, and like most places, there habitat is being encroached on more and more. I can only hope that I don't ride upon a moose cow and calf out on the trail. They are big, and like most mothers, don't take a perceived threat to their child lightly.

Then, last week, as I was slowly climbing the last short hill of the day (Dr King, if you are reading this; There are no hills on my commute. I swear!), I happened to look down, right as I passed a small pile of poop. I didn't think too much of it at the time, it was just poop. Then, it occurred to me, there was something unusual about that poop, so I went back for another look. Sure enough, it was full of cherry pits. A small (I hope) black bear must have been gorging himself on one of the wild cherry trees that grows along the trail, and then just couldn't contain himself till he got back to the woods. Yep, bear crap:

One for Fatty

So maybe I overdid it a little this week. Last week was the week from hell at work, so all I did was my gym workouts. This week I wanted to push it a little more. I rode to work on Sunday, and then again on Monday. That probably wouldn't have been too much, except that I accidently got out of the saddle on a short climb Monday morning, and discovered I couldn't spin through the top of the pedal stroke. Of course, being the OCD (obsessive-compulsive-dude) that I am, I worried about it all day at work. On the ride home, I kept getting out of the saddle to try to repair my spin. Now, I know that Doctor told me not to push any big gears, but I think what he really meant is to not push any big gears unless you become obsessed with the fact that your pedal stroke is not as good as it once was and you really need to fix it immediately or your entire world may crumble around you. Or something like that. Anyway, my leg has been pretty tired since then, and my knee aches more than it did, but I'm sure it will be just fine. And I can stand on the pedals and spin through the whole pedal stroke.

On a more serious note, if you follow Fat Cyclist blog, you know that things are not going real good. Cancer is a horrible disease. If you want to help, click here.

Rainy Days and Mondays

I love Idaho. Yesterday, when I rode to work, it was 91 degrees. Today, it rained all day and never got out of the 50's. July the friggin 13th, and it's 57 degrees! In the deep south, where I grew up, that just never happens. Back there, it gets hot about the end of May, and stays hot until the middle of September, with no breaks. The only relief is when the humidity drops from 80% to 60%. Out here, it's a humid day when the humidity gets above 25%, which rarely happens this time of year.

I plan on riding to work tomorrow. I know that I rode to work yesterday, but it was Sunday, and I only went in to catch up on some paperwork. I didn't have to take a change of clothes. and I didn't go in until 2. Tomorrow will be the real thing, panniers loaded, early start, and , the best part, that ride home. Work, as work tends to be, has been incredibly stressful lately. I have missed that afternoon ride home.

Commuting by Bike

For the first time since March 13, I commuted to work by bicycle. It felt pretty good. It was Jeremiah's and my 4th ride (Jeremiah is the name of my new ACL), and it was a pretty good one. Very little pain, just some pressure behind the knee cap, but that is to be expected. I'm being very careful not to push any big gears at all. It's a little hard to granny gear up all hills, but I'm doing it. I'm also having to make sure I drop it into the small ring at all stops. Starting in too big of gear really hurts.

I'm not to the point where I can ride 2 days in a row, but I'm going to try to ride to work a couple of times this week. We'll see how it goes.

Yep

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!