Riding
I have started bicycling again, but not a lot, during the past month. Replaced my really old Clement Xplor USH tires that failed me in fine gravel and grit last June. I’ve gone back to Continental Tour Ride tires for my Jamis, but this time 32 mm width versus the 37 mm Tour Rides I’d installed on the bike back in 2014. My original post about those tires is found here: https://christov10.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/first-ride-continental-tour-ride-tires/ The WordPress post formatting scheme in use now renders intuitive linking a thing of the distant past.
About those tires, though, they were easy to install and I am again able to ride with confidence the degraded tarmac here at Stepford. You will understand that I am cautious when making turns, especially that one at the bottom of my street where I came to grief last June. It’s been several years since really long rides were part of my fitness and fun regime, but I noticed no problematic rolling resistance or heaviness/sluggishness using the new Tour Rides.
Weights
Weightlifting’s been my primary fitness activity for two or three years, now. I have been lifting on the average five to six days a week. I’ve had interesting political and theological discussions with two or three of the people I’ve met while working out in the early a.m. This weekend, I’m taking a break from the gym. I slept in until 7:00 am yesterday morning. Today I got up, as usual, at 4:00 am, drank a cup of coffee, read the news, and decided I’d post something here instead of the chest, shoulders, and triceps workout I had planned.
My workout schedule is typically: Day 1 – Legs and core; Day 2 – Back and biceps; Day 3 – Chest, shoulders, and triceps; Repeat. Some days I will do nothing but cardio using a treadmill, elliptical walker, or lateral walker. If I go too many days without a tiring workout, I get irritable.
We sold our last Volvo, a 2006 XC70, last Fall. I’ve been driving a Honda Accord hybrid sedan since then and that car hasn’t got roof racks. I bought a set of Handi-Racks inflatable roof racks for use with our folding kayaks. Soon as I get the garage organized, I’ll assemble the RZ-96 so my son and I can get some paddling in before the hot weather.
Reading
I’ve still been reading Galaxy’s Edge novels and other military science fiction series. I enjoy reading, probably too much, and read the way most people binge-watch series on Hulu or some other streaming service. But writing about what I read, even though I think a lot about and critically interact with the content – writing about what I read is something that’s hard for me to do. Possibly that’s because I want to intelligently and seriously address insights provoked by and areas of philosophical agreement or disagreement with what I’m reading. And that’s a lot of work.
It’s easier to post clever, flippant responses to news items online or at a social media site than it is to compose a logical critique or review of even a few paragraphs regarding something I’ve just read. For instance, I’ve read Karen Traviss’ Nomad novels – The Best of Us and Mother Death – a couple of times but it took several months for me to finally post a review of the latter at Amazon although it was stuff I’d had in mind for quite a while. Those two novels, by the way, are well worth your time. Here’s an unwieldy link to an Amazon page where you can preview or purchase both titles: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NHNHJR5?searchxofy=true&binding=kindle_edition&ref_=dbs_s_aps_series_rwt_tkin&qid=1648983662&sr=8-1
Working
Because I have some kind of mathematics disability, I’m still working with people instead of information and/or machines. For the past year, I’ve been working at a facility much closer to the house than formerly. My previous drive was a sixty mile round trip each work day. Now it’s about 19 miles round trip. Huge savings in time and fuel. That’s what enables me to get to the gym in the early morning hours before work.
Christov_Tenn 