Groundhog Day

I feel like I'm stuck in that Bill Murray movie, only I'm primarily reliving the same weekend over and over. I lift weights after work on Friday. BeanSS and I then spend Saturday running errands while I recover from the workout (and my job's brain drain). The dogs get walked on Saturday evening, and then I go riding on Sunday. We usually watch a DVD at some point. Throughout it all, I'm irrigating myself with coffee and, bless her heart, BeanSS is always making the last of a package of bacon. The only thing that seems to change is which bike I use; I've rotated through the full-suss 29er, the geared hardtail, the singlespeed, and the skinny bike.

It's a comfortable routine, but I know I need to break it up a bit. The coffee and bacon are not negotiable, but I think I might enjoy a change of scenery. It's getting warm enough in the desert to make mid- to high-elevation riding more appealing. I still have a burning desire to get back to Flagstaff, especially because Schultz Creek is actually a creek right now. Of course, Silver City is a few hours closer and I don't have to go through Phoenix to get there.

And haven't I discussed this all before? Yes, and as has been the situation for years, road-tripping remains barricaded behind our one-POS-vehicle situation. In between all of this riding, dog walking, and generally lazing around, I really need to set aside some time to find and - as much of a cheapskate as I am - buy another bike hauler.

Until then, it looks like I'll just keep on keepin' on right here in the Old Pueblo.

Not too shabby

A pretty good weekend is coming to an end here.

I spent most of Saturday birding in and around my yard, picking my up first-of-season black-throated gray warbler, hooded oriole, and zone-tailed hawk. It was also my first day in sandals and of course, I sunburned my feet.

This morning's Spring Bike Swap went off OK. I saw Veelz and his son, got a ganga deal on a lightly-used pair of SPDs, and picked up some new grips. In fact, I think I bought pedals and grips at last fall's bike swap, too.

I passed on the post-swap Cyclovia, the Bike Beautiful confab, and the Urban Assault ride in favor of a solo spin around the local regional park. I came home from what ended up being an excellent ride in time to see a brilliant orange adult male Bullock's oriole perched in a neighbor's ocotillo. After that, it was out for a late lunch with BeanSS and now here I am on the internet.

Again, not a bad weekend.

Bike to work weak

My quads are killing me. I bicycled to and from work each day this week to mark my 10th year of participation in Bike to Work Week. I prefaced the week of commuting with a fast Sunday ride at Sweetwater, so I started out a bit fatigued. The first afternoon headwinds of spring made a couple of the days harder than others. This year, with the City of Tucson being just about broke, the BTWW events were dispersed amongst local businesses. No big event at the library and no schwag for me.