Category Archives: Uncategorized

In 2003 I got serious about cycling. I had a VO2 test, and received a training plan to follow based on my heart rate. I did the training and got stronger. I even got my weight down about 10 lbs. Training using your heart rate is good, but using both power and heart rate isContinue reading “Powering Down”

Yogi Berra said it, and Stoker and I are living it. Back in mid March 2020, many of the world’s nations went into a Covid lockdown. I distinctly recall our Governor imposing some of the strictest mandatory guidance in our 50 states, assuring us that such measures were necessary for ‘a few weeks’ to ‘flattenContinue reading “Déjà vu All Over Again”

Saturday’s club ride was an old favorite with a new twist: Jesus Maria Road from San Andreas. I’ve been up that road over 20 times, but always starting from Valley Springs. There are various ways to make the ride shorter or longer but none of them are easy. The JM Road climb sees to that.Continue reading “The Pain Gang”

That is the name of a moderately hilarious book about punctuation. Yes, punctuation. I bet you didn’t think punctuation could be funny. But consider this example of the power of the humble hyphen: Extra-marital sex breaks one of the Ten Commandments, but extra marital sex ”tis a consummation devoutly to be wish’d’. In the bookContinue reading “Eats, Shoots and Leaves”

My father is 89 years old and in remarkably good health. Although he no longer farms and a tenant manages the property, he still can be found with a hoe, or a rake, or pruning shears taking care of some little details the tenant’s employees might miss. His major job is to run the irrigationContinue reading “Cell Phone Follies”

There must be some kind of way outta hereSaid the joker to the thiefThere’s too much confusionI can’t get no relief I can hardly think of a quatrain more apt regarding the continuing Covid conundrum. I really would like some relief from the incessant reminders and/or demands to wear a mask, stay 6 feet apartContinue reading “Relief without Relief”

Let’s start with a vocabulary lesson… If you watch the Giro d’Italia bicycle race on TV, you will occasionally hear the spectators (back when there were spectators, before Covid) shouting “Die Die Die”. Or perhaps they are screaming “Dye Dye Dye”. But that is how the Italian word ‘dai‘ is pronounced, and ‘dai‘ is whatContinue reading “Dai, Dei, DEI!”

I received my second dose on Monday at 2:30 PM. The first dose three weeks earlier had no effect on me at all. This time was different. After the shot on Monday I felt fine. I woke up Tuesday morning still feeling pretty good, with just a kind of vague headache. So I decided toContinue reading “Felled by Pfizer”

From the University of Michigan Wellness web page: For many Americans, life in the time of COVID-19 means forming “pods” – small groups of people who agree to share child care and education responsibilities, or to study or socialize together. The Brumby Road Pod is a pretty exclusive one. It contains Stoker, Luke, 7 goldfishContinue reading “Like ‘Peeps’ in a Pod”

There is an expression for a cyclist who is obsessed about how much his/her bike weighs and tries to make it as light as possible. He/she is called a ‘weight weenie’. There is even a internet forum where weight weenies trade tips on how to make their bikes skinny. I must admit that I amContinue reading “White Shoes, Light Shoes”