22 September 2021

 

In the last 8 days I've ridden 157.6 miles and I have 117 to go. 

I'd planned to knock that to under 100 today, thinking I'd do 15 on the road bike outside and later in the day another 5-10 inside.

Then I go up this morning coated in ouchiness and fatigue.

Nope, not getting sick again. I'm fine.

I hoped that all I needed was to wake up a bit more, get some food and water in me, and I'd be good to go. After an hour or so, I got off my asterisk and headed for my bike shorts...and it was a giant NOPE.

I had those suckers in hand for a good 2-3 minutes, and realized what I need more than anything is a rest day.

So I'm taking one.

It skews my daily average needed from 14.65 to 16.71, but in the grand scheme of things, that's negligible. If I split my rides and do two a day over the next 7 days, I can do it.

But for today...I'm just watching TV and playing video games, pretending that the dishwasher doesn't need to be unloaded and that there aren't dirty ones in the sink, and if I do anything that requires real movement at all, it'll be some time spent playing Beat Saber tonight, once it's cooled down.

Yep, because of space constraints inside, we have to play outside. (At least Diesel doesn't have chit fits when we're in out own yard anymore. Nor is he jumping over the fence, so we're not listening to nonstop barking and don't have to worry about canine help. Diesel is a good boy, after all. He was just loaded with anxiety, and his people got him the help he needed.) We're trying to figure out what can be moved and where to create a play space inside, because I am delicate and colder weather is coming.

But, yeah...rest day today. I'll get it done...just not today.

18 September 2021

Oddz-n-Endz #2893-4-39288/457+88*0

Right now, I can literally feel the outline of my bike seat, despite having been off it for about 8 hours. I've knocked out 80 miles in the last 4 days, and while that's peanuts for a lot of cyclists, it's a major chunk of miles for me. I did the math and realized I needed 20 miles a day, every day, for the rest of the month to hit 300...and I feel pretty determined.

More than that, I'm starting to feel like I can do it.

The hardest part of this is the hunger. I want to eat, like, EVERY FREAKING THING IN EXISTENCE EXCEPT FOR FISH BECAUSE FISH IS GROSS, but I'm also trying to not shove half the world down my throat. Normally I'm at 1200 calories a day but I am allowing for a couple hundred more because starving is just not my thing. You'd think I'd drop a pound or two, but no...not a freaking thing.

Remember this, boys and girls. When you get old, the weight does not want to budge. And it moves from your ass to your gut, like migrating little adipose lumps that are not nearly as cute as the adipose on Doctor Who.

Not worrying about it. It is what it is, and at this point in life I think being active is more important. But I sure as hell won't be upset if the riding catches up to the diet and I drop a few.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

I may need the distraction of riding over the next few weeks, charity ride or not. we are thundering down on the one year mark of Buddah getting sick, something I am still not okay with. I suspect I will be preoccupied with the what-ifs, and the anger over the idea that he should still be here. 

And after that...the slowing of Max's roller coaster ride.

It's not going to break me, but I am going to feel those six weeks, and immersing myself in the miles will probably help.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

After playing with the Spouse Thingy's VR headset, I took the plunge and bought my own, for no reason other than there's a decent VR cycling program. It's also a non-cycling program, one where you can exercise in different locations around the world.

VZ Fit.  

After I tried it, he convinced me to try Beat Sabers...holy hell, that one is fun. I bought it for my own set, and am almost afraid to poke around and find other things to try because that could get a bit spendy.

The goal now will be to not fall off the bike with the headset on, and not break things around the house by swinging at the things I'm seeing that aren't really there.

We won't discuss the shrieking and swearing the first time I tried riding with it on and the in-game bike went off the road and had a sudden drop. Nope.

I need more fans on me, though.

That chit gets hot.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

And finally, to answer a question I've gotten a few times lately: yes, I am still working on the next Wick book. It's going quite slowly without my writing partner, but I'm still writing. 

I'm also debating with myself how to publish.  Eventually it will make it into print, but I'm also seriously considering releasing in-progress bits online, chapter by chapter or section by section, but I'm still at a loss as to where to do that. The most obvious platforms--Patreon, Medium, and Substack--aren't necessarily the best venues. But they would be the easiest to use.

I'm not beholden to a specific publisher for this part of the Wick universe now, so it could be anywhere that works for y'all.

I am beholden to a publisher for a book, though. Right now we have a verbal agreement but I will soon sign on the dotted line for Riding My Asterisk Off, which is proposed for a mid-2022 release. The finer details, like what happens if my asterisk doesn't get ridden off, still need to be ironed out, but we'll get there.

I get new toys out of it. That's the important part.

14 September 2021

I started out September strong: 25 miles cycled toward my goal of 300 for the GCC, and I was feeling pretty good about doing another 25 the next day, and even better about surpassing my goal.

Then I got sick.

No, not COVID. I did get tested. That was the initial concern, because we did go out in public for my birthday. A trip to the museum, a couple of side trips to bike shops in search of a bike for the Spouse Thingy, and a belated dinner out the next day. Somewhere in that, we both picked up some cooties. He started feeling it first, before September, but was over it quickly.

By the time he felt better, I felt like I'd swallowed a blow torch. And it just got worse. I think because I've stayed fairly isolated over the last year and a half, with very low exposure to germs, when I finally encountered some, everything went into overdrive. It went into my ears just a little bit, just enough to make me lightheaded, and then dipped into my chest.

I coughed so hard and so loud that it startled the dog next door. Not even kidding. I sat in the game room, mindlessly playing Animal Crossing, and he must have been right by the fence. I coughed explosively, painfully, and poor Diesel lost his damned mind.

But...the thing bugging me the most was all the time I was losing. All the miles. And here I am on the 14th and today finally ventured outside for a short grocery shopping trip, and it kinda wiped me out for a bit.

I'm still coughing a little but I feel a whole lot better, getting stronger every day, so I will give a short ride a try tomorrow. If that goes well, I'll try to tackle longer distances.

There's still time to hit 300 if I plan well.

But.

If I absolutely cannot, if I wind up cutting rides short because of coughing or fatigue...I'll finish the miles after September. Since I barely got started, if I have to, I'll chuck the 25 I've already done and consider tomorrow day 1, and get it all done before the 15th of October.

Y'all donated; I do the miles. That's the deal. I've had the same issue with breast cancer events, but I make up the miles not done in the time frame expected. This is no different.

I'm excited to get back to it. 

The only real bummer is one of my bikes is in the shop and probably will be for a couple days, so I'll have to start off with a lesser ride. Or take the other road bike off the trainer but that sounds like work and I am lazy.

Or...stay inside and hop on the little desk bike and pedal while playing Animal Crossing, because that's totally riding. 

Is too.