30 Days of Biking Day 14: Beerrands

So, as it turns out, I did get into a bit of a rhythm after my previous post, but I've actually been too busy to update here. I'll try my best to catch up...

Thursday (Day 14) was a once again rainy day, but only in the morning. Once skies broke in the afternoon, I took a quick ride around the neighborhood and stopped in at Hop Yard to pick up a quick growler for the evening/weekend:

I wish I had time for more riding, but I actually had to get back to prepare for a gig AT Hop Yard on Friday night so...

30 Days of Biking Day 13: Returning?

After what I can only call a challenging first twelve days of 30 Days of Biking 2022, I almost hesitate to say that...I feel things are returning to normal? The forecast for today proved to be correct, but that also enabled me to make a plan to fit a REAL ride into my evening:

The bonus for waiting out some thunderstorms and heavy winds was a near perfect sunset:

And, I don't have photographic evidence of this (because it would be quite creepy), but an old man that I usually see on my ride through the neighborhood was sitting in his driveway smoking a cigar once again. That's the first time I've seen him since last Autumn, and it was a nice "welcome back" to end the evening.

So, will I finally be able to get into a good rhythm to finish out the last 17 days of April? Here's hoping. By the way, have you gotten your bike out of its Winter slumber yet?

30 Days of Biking Day 12: Improvement

I'm feeling better every hour today. Work was a struggle, but by the end of the day I was feeling OK enough to get on the bike for 7ish miles under some PARTLY SUNNY skies:

And that's pretty much it for day 12. I'm calling it a victory lap. I'm gonna rest up this evening and hope that I feel 100% tomorrow. Once again, the weather is supposed to be quite shitty, but as I mentioned a few days ago, I expect nothing.

30 Days of Biking Day 11: Flu the Coop

After dealing with what I initially thought was a migraine on Sunday, I awoke at my "normal" time on Monday morning and considered going to work. I ended up calling off, which was absolutely the correct decision.

The convincing argument came from my girlfriend who mentioned that I tossed and turned throughout the night, saying "ow" to varying degrees every time. I decided to move down to the couch just in case my restlessness continued, which is when I realized that "Oh man, everything hurts" and that it might not be a migraine. I took a COVID test later in the day and it turned up negative, so that meant that I most likely had the flu. Joy.

Of course, you have probably assumed by now that I kept the 30 Days of Biking challenge alive. At least the 2nd day of this little adventure wasn't very pleasant from a weather perspective, so I didn't feel like I was missing much by being stuck inside all day:

Well anywho, on to day 12 and the rest of the second full week of 30DoB. Here's hoping things get brighter from here.

30 Days of Biking Day 10: Can't Catch a Break

But I'll tell you what I can catch: THE FLU! Sorry for the spoiler at the beginning of the post, but it's honestly comical how arduous it's been for me to get a nice, enjoyable ride in this month.

The latest installment started, as usual, with much optimism. The weather on Sunday morning was a little chilly but otherwise BEAUTIFUL:

 

I was actually feeling a little groggy in the morning, which was a little surprising because I didn't drink that much beer the night before, and I went to bed at a decent hour, but I initially shrugged this off. I ate breakfast, did a couple things around the house, and then headed out for a ride to watch the Man City/Liverpool match and have lunch with a friend:

My plan was to continue to ride for a little while that afternoon, maybe 20-30 casual miles because the weather was so damn pleasant (by comparison, anyway). But during lunch, I started to feel very full after not eating that much, and I also started experiencing a minor headache. I made it through the match but decided I needed to go home and take a nap before trying to do anything else.

That nap turned out to be spending most of the rest of the day on the couch, with a small amount of sleeping because I just couldn't get comfortable. Needless to say, I didn't get back on the bike that day, which may have been the most pleasant weather we've seen all month. It's pointless to be mad about things you can't control, but it is still frustrating. I didn't even realize I had the flu when I did finally fall asleep at night.

30 Days of Biking Day 9: Waiting is the Hardest Part

Ah yes, the weekend. I always look forward to it so much, for the obvious reasons. During 30 Days of Biking, I usually use it to provide me with more opportunities to ride.

Due to attending the kiddo's track meet on Friday evening, we were out kinda late (for us) and I decided I needed to sleep in on Saturday. I wasn't at all feeling like I'd miss out on any good riding conditions, because the forecast was calling for rainy and relatively cold conditions early in the day before some moderate clearing in the afternoon. I figured I could get a few chores done around the house while the outdoor atmosphere was not so pleasant for outdoorsing.

I got my chores done, and I kept checking the forecast. And I kept waiting. The window for showers continued to get pushed further and further into the day. It would get sunny very briefly, then it would start raining again. And once or twice, it actually snowed:

By this point, the original estimate was off by several hours and I was starting to get stir crazy. Despite near-freezing temps, I went for a damn ride, and despite some more peeks of blue skies, oh man was it windy:

I stopped in at Hop Yard for a quick beer, some take out, and of course, to catch up with some friends I hadn't seen in a few weeks. Of course, it rained again while I was inside. I waited that one out and headed home for dinner. It was yet another frustrating day in the early going of this month, but at the very least, I'm still 9/9!

I was told that the weather for Sunday was to be much more pleasant, but by now, I know to expect absolutely nothing...

30 Days of Biking Day 8: No, Deer

I didn't have much time for riding on day 8, once again. I had contemplated commuting via bike, but with snow (yes, you read that right) potentially in the forecast, I opted to drive once again. The kiddo had another track meet in the evening, and my work day lasted longer than I had anticipated, so I was only able to sneak in a quick lap around the block. That is the nice thing about this challenge though, because it still counts as a ride. Anyway, enjoy another photo from a beautiful Thursday afternoon ride, and pray for better conditions as we enter the 2nd week of 30 Days of Biking: