since I’ve posted. My apologies- it’s been pretty busy here with the season just beginning. We’ve been under the clouds for the most part for about a week now. At least it seems that way.

The good thing though is that we are getting sane amounts of soaking rain from time to time during the day while still getting some sunshine and relative warmth.

On the riding side of life, I’ve been hitting the road as often as I can over the past week and I have to say my performance is moving up appreciably! I am amazed that I am able to push up hills in 19th gear now that used to half kill me in first just a few weeks ago. The ankle is doing ok although I took the 19 mile ride to Hwy 8 and back yesterday and put a hurting on the achilles tendon. It’s fine today, but halfway through my ride yesterday I thought I might be in trouble. In the end, I think it’s just a sign that I am starting to push it harder because it is getting better.

That brings me to another project- biking the BRP. I am formulating a plan now to bike it from Meadowood to the North end and back, then rest a few days and bike from Meadowood to the South end and back. That’s about a 348 mile round trip to the North and 400 plus to the South.

Any takers? I am looking at doing it sometime in the mid September to mid October timeframe. I may end up doing the Southern route in the spring, depending on how much the Northern takes out of me, but I should be prepared enough for the trip by summers end. I am conservatively planning on traveling 40-50 miles per day and taking pictures, video and notes for www.blueridgetraveler.net along the way.

If you are a bicyclist or just someone that is willing to make the trip in a car, let me know. I am currently planning it solo and without a support vehicle and will plan my safety around those parameters. I plan to stay at least two nights in a hotel or motel at the top of the parkway to recuperate before I come back. It would be nice to have company, so if you are interested….

In the meantime, stay well!

I think it edged up close to sixty to day, but it’s been chilly for the most part. I spent my day working on my novel and then cleaning up the garage and organizing my tools for the maintenance season. I’ve been wanting to put up a peg board forever now and finally did it and loaded my tools on it. With that done, I have some free space in the tool box and can finish cleaning out my work area.

Supposed to rain tomorrow, so I think I’ll try and get at least a 5-7 mile ride in tomorrow morning and then start working on the TV enclosure in the living room once its rainy. I also bought some seeds today and I think I’ll start them germinating tomorrow as warm weather is coming soon!

Stay well!

Been pretty busy here at Meadowood. From the wallpaper removal and painting in the living room to the drudgery of mowing the lawn now that the season is here, it’s been non-stop. Next project is to build the shelf for the big screen to rest on next to the fireplace and then get the new carpeting. Then there’s wall paper removal and painting the main hallway on the first floor, carpeting it, then wallpaper removal and painting of the entryway and putting down hardwood and you can’t forget the finishing of the patio out front, which will actually come before all of that!

It’s not all work though; we’ve been getting out and riding every chance we get. I personally am up to riding out past Hwy 8 on the parkway for a 21 mile round trip over the mountains. It takes me close to two hours to do it- some of those hills are looong and steep.

Today it looks like we’ll be hanging out inside though- it’s supposed to rain for the next two days. Not a problem though; we can always use the rain and now that the leaves are back on the trees the rain can’t dampen my spirits!