Summer has officially arrived in the DC metro area; hot and humid weather has been unleashed upon us…..and all of the news and weather channels can’t stop talking about it. In all honesty, it’s not that bad. Although, I am lucky, I no longer have a job where I have to work outside all the time. I do feel bad for those who do have those kinds of jobs, there is no really good way to avoid the heat; not even being naked would make you feel better. When I did have a job where I would be in the field, working on hazardous waste sites (yes, I used to have to deal with that crap) or at a gas station pulling their underground storage tanks (yes, did that too), people would say to me how lucky I was to get to work outside. I eventually came to the realization that there are actually very few days you want to be outside working: cold, snow, rain, bugs, heat, sunburns, terrible farmer tans, crazy people who think you are planting bombs in the ground…the list goes on and on.
Enough of my whining. This past weekend was absolutely beautiful. I decided it would be a perfect time to take the mountain bike out for a ride down the C&O Canal path. A few weeks ago I attempted the same thing, but before I could get a block away from my house, my tire blew. For some time now my mountain bike hasn’t been shifting right, it was filthy, and it made a squeaky sound in the pedal. Changing a tire is a pain, so I decided I was going to pay someone to do it, and have it tuned up at the same time…..WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG TO DO THIS?!!!? I picked up the bike, it was sparkly clean, shifts beautifully, no longer had a squeaky pedal, and my water bottle cage was attached properly to the bike (for two years now it would flop around due to a broken mount screw). This freshly tuned and cleaned bike was a joy to ride down the path. I probably did a 20 mile ride, and could have gone further, but I got hungry, and forgot a snack. If you know me, I get hangry (angry when I’m hungry) so I thought it best to turn around before things got out of hand in an Incredible Hulkish situation….you don’t want to make me HANGRY…you won’t like me when I’m HANGRY!!!
C&O Canal Path, about 5 miles west of Georgetown
It has been a good biking week. On another note, I got my bike computer working again on my hybrid. Nothing is more aggravating than looking down at that little screen and see it mocking you with no readings. My bike computer issue started on the ride up to Bike New York this past May, the screen on the display scrambled for some reason and drained the battery. I replaced the battery in both the computer and sensor, and reset everything. All is good with the computer, but the sensor wasn’t sending the speed and distance. Kudos to Cateye for helping me fix this; they sent a new sensor free of charge. Everything is back as it should be.
No bike commuting this week…no good excuse, just a little lazy. I’ll get back to it next week. However, I did run a few errands by bike, always enjoyable.
I also made a pie for the first time in a long while. Key lime pie was my choice. I have perfected the graham cracker crust, no longer shall I use the pre-formed crusts you get in the aluminum tins. I have to say it was delightful for a Sunday evening barbecue with friends. I see a number of key lime pies being consumed this summer.
I love cats in clothing and who appear to be speaking! I would like to give proper credit for this photo (it is not mine), so if you happen to recognize it, let me know.
bikes and pie 