Oct 1 - a quick ride

I left a little later for my ride than planned, at 6:50. At the last minute I was moving the car from the garage to the side yard so that the workmen would have plenty of space to work on the furnace. It was still a little dark, and I was without lights, so I dodged over to A1A which is wide open and brighter.

Several hours later, as I rode along past the halfway Control point, looking at the time and figuring when I'd be in, I figured that I'd finish in under 10 hours. That's ok for a 200k Permanent considering traffic lights, other slowdowns etc. Then I calculated the miles that I'd be doing in that timeframe and realized (I was tired or I'd have thought about this before) that my mileage would be around 143, not 124. The difference is due to the route that I was taking, which is not the shortest path from NSB to St. Augustine Beach. A small detour due to construction is included in there but it was only a mile long. 200k is roughly 124 miles. 10 hours is even better for 143 miles, in fact it's quite good in my books. Well, my final time for the Permanent was 8:55 ... and 9:30 on the day which adds in the extra 5-6 miles from home to the 7-11 and back, diddling around spent at the 7:11 start/stop point etc.

The stats only mean something to me. I realize that. While I don't go out trying to beat a prior time, nor do I follow any organized training regimen, one does get stronger over time -- obviously up to a point.

It was a good ride. I traveled light -- left the rain coat behind -- but wore my vest for the first 35 miles. Once on the way back, on A1A, it was hot. I stopped at one point in Flagler Beach and downed a large fountain diet coke with ice. The fountain drink is easier to get down because it's not as carbonated as the bottled/canned drink. A little caffeine, a lot of water ... just what I needed at that point.

That could be it for the next 4-5 weeks. Up north the highs are in the low 50's and high 40's. I hate riding in that weather. Add some rain and it's terrible riding. If I get out, great. If I don't, that's ok too -- I need the break. It was a good way to end, riding through the park, along the ocean, along the Intracoastal Waterway. The wind has consistently been from the north the entire time that we were here -- Northeast and North Northeast, early a.m. winds from the Northwest as the water is warmer than the land in the early a.m. I'll be riding again from mid November to mid December when we're here but part of that time will be "recovering" from the break, as it were, getting my butt toughened up again just before I take another 5-6 weeks off for Christmas.

Back home, Sandy had a car-full of plumbing to unload. The new furnace was installed and the big honking A/C unit that almost took the entire concrete pad -- are newer, more efficient units a lot bigger ? I got the garage organized again so that I could get the car in.

Sandy had been doing a lot of house cleaning and has more to do today. Every time that does, she leans on me to buy new toilets because the ones that we installed a couple of years ago seem to have been etched by the water before I put in the filter and softener. I was resisting that, even though I've got to pull the toilets for the bathroom re-fits. I want to get the upgrades over with before starting again !

Anyway, while picking up the plumbing parts less the new tub, she talked to the plumbing guy Anthony who said that they should be sent to Kohler to look at because they should not fail that quickly. He also suggested that perhaps it's not etching, but deposits. Sandy has tried and tried cleaning them with that CLR product with no results -- Anthony suggested that she try a pumice based cleaner.

Well, I thought about that and figured that if pumice might work, there's no way that another type of fine grit should score porcelain. So ... I got out a fine drywall sanding sponge and applied a little elbow grease after scooping the water out of the toilet and voila ! The ring at the water line was gone ... a little more scrubbing and voila again -- the water run marks were also gone. Now she doesn't have to explain to guests that the toilets aren't dirty, simply stained. They look like new again, and I didn't even have to buy anything to do the job !

So ... from biking to toilet cleaning ... that was my day, other than two SG1 episodes and dinner. We had amberjack -- a dry textured fish but decidedly stronger in flavor than many others. Sandy ate hers with seafood sauce, the stuff that you normally put on shrimp. Zucchini and potatoes also on the barbie completed the picture.

Speaking of shrimp, today I could see the boats still out on the ocean. When we were boating yesterday there must have been a large school in the ICW because a dozen or so boats were clustered together all tossing nets. What do they do if they catch a few dozen shrimp ? Do they use them for fishing ? Do they sell them ? How many shrimp can you eat before you get tired -- a dozen ? two dozen ? ten dozen ? I guess that they can be cleaned and frozen but they're not as good afterward.

Tomorrow's plan still stands -- heading out early to pick up the boat, going for a ride with Abby, bringing it back to the Marina for the first time, getting that all squared away. I now have the cover but will not put it on until we're going away. I don't need to add that confusion for the first couple of times in/out.

I may think of other things later ... I'll save this for now. It's already well past my bed-time.

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It's morning. It's a lot warmer today than yesterday but only supposed to get into the low 80's. The weekend temperatures are supposed to be back up to the high 80's each day with lows of 71/72. Soon I'll have to wear long pants. I can actually predict that day -- mid next week as we head from the banana belt to the almost-snow belt. That's going to be a shock to the system.

My packing list is getting longer. Sandy had said that she only needed one suitcase to go north but it's now two. The available space always gets filled. At least there is no bike traveling with us this time. The Lynskey will be with us when we come back in November.

Before we leave I have to do some raking in the yard - maybe even today - and do another ant treatment. Perhaps I should cut the weeds ... I'm calling the grass service today and canceling from this point forward. It's a waste of money even when we're not here.

That's it.