Taking it Slower

It's been pretty slow the last few weeks. At least when it comes to my cycling.

Spring and early summer were busy with training rides - getting in shape for the Death Ride, Santa Cruz Mts. Challenge, and just generally trying to get into the best shape I could. Since the end of the SCMC, I've laid off a little and focused on some other more domestic challenges.

Build shelves for Ella's school notebooks...

Clean up the flower beds, garden, and yard...

Remove everything from the laundry room in order to extricate the stacked washer and dryer. Washer had gone kaput and needed new struts and springs. Remove everything again when the washing machine leaked... Call me if you want to know an appliance repair company NOT to use...

I'm also well into a new gate for the back yard. So far it has been completely free (If you don't count the blisters on my hands from the digging bar as being a cost) - using scraps and salvage from other fences and construction sites around the Bay Area. My employees typically don't see me sorting through the stuff that they haul back to the yard from their job sites

I had to draw the gates first so that Bec and I could decide how it would be designed. Nothing is as simple as it would seem around here.

Here is the concept... Bec wanted the solar lights on the outside posts. Bought them at Home Depot - $40 for the pair. At least we are able to be content with the lower lighting of solar - I really don't want to do the whole underground wiring, new breaker, conduit, realize you short circuited the laundry room thing.

The gates will come along soon - when I either collect enough material or break down and purchase a few 2x4's and fence boards. Then I'll stain it to match the rest of the fences.

But I have been riding some...

Chris and a new guy Nick were riding in Briones on Friday, so Vince and I joined for a few hours.
Vince has gotten stronger in the last few weeks. Seems he has met a girl that is stronger than he is... She beats him to the top of Briones regularly... Well, now he's pushing me. Somehow I think the off season isn't going to be so off.

Chris had just ridden up Mt. Tamalpai from San Francisco and had sent some pictures. I've posted a sampling of them below because I thought they were definitely worth sharing.