Argh!!!!.... or more back problems....

... so as my avid readers and fans all know, I recently had an issue with my stellar Wingnut Gear Hyper 3.0. The harness tore away from the main body due to my lackluster riding skills. The spousal unit was good enough to repair the harness (after making me repair/replace her AC compressor on her Jeep). Well, repaired it is no more. On last Wed's R&I ride, I was on the Mariachi and going through some rough when the harness gave up again. I cut my ride short and decided to keep the cooler & beers company until the rest of the crew finished their ride.

The next day I headed into San Antonio for a farewell lunch my former co-workers put together for me. Post lunch, I headed down to Good Sports to check out the latest offering in hydro packs from Osprey. Lots of folks on www.bikepacking.net swear by these things, and at least three of the SA crew are sporting them and claim to never want to go back to another style of hydro pack. So what the hay, I'll dive into the shallow end. A dry run @ the store seemed pretty good, and I do have to admit that this is a very well thought out pack. Pockets where you need them, compression straps a-plenty. I was sold.

So funday Sunday rolls around and I'm off to Flat Rock Ranch for possibly the last time. A bunch of the Mojo's came to bid me farewell. The ride started great, but by the middle of the first climb things began to take a horrible turn for the worse. My back started to twinge, by the time we finished chasing down Dennis & Jimmy my back was toast! I was able to limp through the rest of the lower loop, but my back was finished.

So what? So when you find something good, and that works for you, don't deviate from the plan... which is now making me wonder if I've made a horrible decision career wise and wonder of the Colorado move is just a huge mistake?

I'm feeling the pain (in my back, still) and crunch time is upon me. Still don't have a rental lined up, and no one seems to want to point me in the right direction as far as housing is concerned. I think I'm going to throw caution to the wind and choose a place close to work (less than 15 miles) so I can commute to the office and won't have to spend quite so much time staring at brake lights.

So if any of my faithful readers out there have a nice studio or 1 BR for rent in the DTC or Littleton area's speak up yo! Gotta keep the budget modest so 1k or less per month please.

For sale or trade for Hyper 3.0 & cash

Raptor 14 $80 (no bladder included... eww why would you want my germs?)

Trade for:

Hyper 3.0 & some cashish!

The calm before the storm....

... so the 429 has been side lined due to my neglectful cut and bleeding job over a year ago! Sure, I could just swap out some BB7's, but that takes work and effort, and besides the El Mariachi is supposed to be there when things go wrong with the 429... I ramble about this to say I haven't ridden since Wed. night's R&I where I noticed the neglect in the form of a fading rear brake lever, turns out I goofed on the re-assembly of the master cylinder and warped the diaphragm which was made more evident with the heat we've been experiencing here in Tejas. So looks like I'll be on the Mariachi on Wed... take it easy on me fellas. The one on your left is the one that's sh!t the bed...

Productivity moves on slowly. It dawned on me the other day that the Garage was a project I never got off the ground while the girls were away this summer. I need to tackle that before I head north and need to sort out what's trash versus what's a keeper... should be lots of stuff for the for sale bin here soon. Also on the "to do" list is to kill the weeds sprouting in the patio and apply new sand to the joints. While I'm away, will hire the guy that mows the neighbor's lawn to keep K from having to deal with that. She's a brave one, staying behind, but is trying to shuttle the dogs to Colorado with me to "ease" her burden... uh, yeah... me and two 85 # boxers in a 650 sq ft efficiency.... not sure how that eases my burden, but we'll manage.

C O L O R A D O !

It's official, I will be starting the new gig next month... don't feel bad for me, someone has to do it, and I'll step up and take one for the team. Shorts & Flip Flops tomorrow... think they'll mind?

Loads going on... not many pixels

Been super busy as of late, no time to stop and snap pixels. Since the wife and kiddo got back from their extended stay @ the "rents", I've not had a single Wed. R&I ride... as an "older gentleman" schedules and routine are required, and missing more than 6 rides is throwing my riding mojo out the window. That along with stress @ work and I've gained a few #'s.... I can now see how a shot off the radar and pushed maximum capacity. I realize it's a struggle to balance life when you have a busy job, young kids, wife, dogs, bills... but without health none of the other things in life can be managed. For me getting out and riding is a critical component to my mental and physical well being. That said, tonight is the first Wed. R&I I'll have been on since June!

Oh, I also have some potentially exciting news, but you'll have to wait until I update next for all 3 of you that still read blogs ;)