Lazy Blogger

I can get back to blogging – for today anyway – because I have the house to myself.  That means hanging out on the couch in the position of honor and listening to records with the laptop on half my lap and the dog on the other half.  Jake and Jen are at a birthday party, and they left for the party before I got back from my long Sunday bike ride.  Normally I’m not couch-eligible, because Jake claims the main TV and the couch.  (My the last couple of classical albums that I attempted to listen to in the den had a Phineas and Ferb background track.)  I bought him a Mac Mini (he said he needed a Mac for his Multimedia class at school) and installed it in his room, so that may incrementally increase couch availability.

Everything is a-ok.  I still have some nagging pains, but I get to ride when I can.  Jen’s also got some nagging pains (arthritis, back pain) but things haven’t been too bad. Jake had a bit of a cold and swollen glands, but we’re watching that situation closely.  As long as we’re calamity free – I consider that a-ok.

I went to the velodrome yesterday, for the first time in two years.  It feels good on the track bike, but I have no power.  My calves are still very strong (I can lift the whole rack on the calf-lift machine at the gym) but my quads and glutes are fairly weak.   That means I can sustain enough pace for my long and enjoyable rides, but I don’t have the top-end speed of my friends/competitors/adversaries (i.e., the guys). In the old days, if I was a little slower at the top speed than a competitor, I would simply launch a half-mile early and see if I could drop them before the final sprint point.  Now, everybody does that to me, and I have no response.  I aspire to have enough stamina and power to make it to the final sprint before getting dropped.

Music of the Moment – I’ve been listening to some old Eric Dolphy albums (the “Out” series).  There’s a lot of variety.  I especially recommend “Out There”, which features Ron Carter on cello (instead of his normal bass).  I’ve also been listening to some Hillary Hahn violin works.  She’s exceptional.

Guilty pleasure music moment – Jen picked out a “Shadowfax” sealed lp when we went to the record store yesterday.  She thought it sounded familiar and that she saw them in Tallahassee 25 years ago.  It’s new age (they won’t list them in the jazz guidebooks), but it really does sound great on the main system.