Grateful for the Miles: Steal Your Face Kit & the Hancock Prep



Grateful for the Miles: Steal Your Face Kit & the Hancock Prep

I listen to more Grateful Dead than I have since I went to school at IU. The last two weeks I have been listening to Reckoning on repeat. The only acceptable version of China Doll is the Reckoning version. The music makes me happy and calms me. Happiness has been my driving focus since I left my work behind. 

That leads me to this week's cycling kit! Finally, the Steal Your Face jersey has come out of the closet. It wasn't the matching socks, which arrived on Tuesday, that I swear had nothing to do with it. The Grateful Dead cycling gloves have been on tour with me previously; but they really do complete the kit. 


Happy to announce that I reset my nutrition this week. To subtract, I added, and counting occupied my daily attention. Made sure my meal's core component was protein, then fiber. Two pounds melted away. I went back over 100 down in the last year. Well, technically, 360 days, but who is counting? 







Continuing to work on improving this week, I am currently making some lean BBQ pulled pork. Wasn’t happy with how much salt was in my lunch meat last week, so we are mixing it up. Also, looking to add in some veggies on the side. My body wants more vegetables. We must feed the machine!

I had an incredible cycling experience yesterday, spending four and a half hours on my bike. I had planned to ride a brand new alternative route, but when I drove it, there were not adequate water sources for a guy who needs to take a minimum of a liter per hour. So, I improvised when I was on the bike. I wanted to ride something new. I am not bored with the same routes, but it is fun to try new things. 

I have been thinking about riding Leonard Springs since I started going to therapy over there. So, when I got back from Ellettsville, instead of taking 17th back to the B-line, I improvised on the fly and went to 3rd Street. This allowed me to find Kirby, which runs by the airport and the fairgrounds. You'll end up on SR45, which is hectic for my taste, but it's a quick ride with a generous shoulder. Then I got onto Leonard Springs and headed back to the trails. From there it was Tapp Road home. My ride covered 48 miles and 2300 feet of elevation gain, taking four hours and thirty-four minutes.  

This was a great prelude to next week's Hancock Flat 50. Next Saturday, I'll be heading to Hancock County for a ride. This makes me nervous because it's my first organized ride by myself. Though I have to depart Bloomington and Kona at the crack of dawn, I truly felt a powerful urge to get out there and participate in more experiences of this kind. You never know, I could make some friends. Also, I'm almost certain I'll say one of my favorite Family Guy jokes at least once. John Footpenis... It’s Hancock now... why... Mind your business, that’s why. Ha ha! Maybe I won’t make friends if I tell that one. I am excited to go ride the Flat 50 and just have fun and get across the finish line! Here is to a great week! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Resignation

Image
  Lot more of this in my future! Resignation You don’t just leave behind a job when you resign. It’s so much more than that. It’s the smile you would kill to get every day. It’s that friend you can talk to for hours at a time and never get sick of. It’s the dude who pumps you up and makes you feel like you are incredible. It’s not just the bad but the good you walk away from. If you listened to me, you’ve heard in my voice for a long time that I’ve been unhappy at work. I tried to stick it out. I tried to “make” it work. I tried to make it better. At the end of the day, the joy was gone. It was harder and harder to get up on time and prep for meetings. It was harder and harder to listen to people and take them seriously. Until one Friday when you’re so close to the end of your rope it all blows up and you are the asshole. It’s at this point I take my leave. I’m tired of looking for the silver lining. I’m tired of trying to like my job. I’m tired of staying for those people th...
Read more

Under 300—More Than Just a Number

Image
  Saturday May 2, 2026: It was probably the most nerve-racking drive to a WW meeting I’ve ever had. I’ve made that trip in the late ’80s, again in the ’90s, the 2000s, the 2010s—and now the 2020s—but I don’t think I’ve ever felt nervous.  I was not nervous when I went in August of last year for the first time in a long time, I said I was going and I went.   I kept telling myself that it didn't matter, it was just a number.  I kept telling myself that my self worth wouldn't change regardless of the out come.  It didn't and it hasn't.  However, even as I told myself it was just a number on a scale and weight was a fickle thing that can hinge of so many things besides just what you eat.  We are talking sleep, mood, what you drink, when you drank it, restroom breaks and regularity, it all goes into the end result.  There was a nervous tension in my car and no matter how much I tried to lose myself in the podcast I was playing, my mind was thinkin...
Read more