Biked out around 6:30 Saturday morning to do the Hawthorne trail thinking about my temporarily sidelined comrade the Cyclist on Fire. The recent rain has resulted in a welcome increase in the water levels of the creek under the bridge. Wildlife spottings were limited to a lone disinterested deer. I made it out to the halfway point in good time. Probably a little faster than I intended. I looped around and headed back quickly realizing that I overdid it a little and I was going to be tired going back into town. The early start meant it wasn't warm yet and there were few people out. Exiting out onto Waldo road I saw these three people briskly walking in matching silver sweat jackets. The kind people get to lose weight because they don't realize that sweating and losing water weight is not the same as losing fat. I had seen the people before and I was annoyed with the stupidity and futility of their efforts. Oh well, at least they were out doing something and maybe they know something I don't. And silver is a pretty cool color regardless of the circumstances. Going down the big hill on Glenn Springs Rd by my house I managed to get over 36 mph which is the fastest I've ever ridden. Wrecking at that speed would be really bad. Made it back home by 9:15 AM which I won't lie was nice.

The day before was Friday which means I did the Racetrack loop. There was very little wind and I knew I had the opportunity for a special ride. I made an impromptu decision to ride in the next hardest gear than my usual. Of course I used other gears but that one was my "home base" for the ride. It seemed to be paying dividends even though my cadence was mostly in the 80's rather than 90's rpm range. I interspersed four 5 minute intervals of harder riding. As the ride went on I realized I had a shot at a personal course record. When I was able to sail through the intersection of 441 and 53rd ave on a green light I knew it was on. I was out of the saddle for much of the last mile and brought it home in 1:28:50. That shaves about 30 seconds off my previous mark. The average speed for the just under 30 mile ride was 19.8 mph. Afterwards I ate breakfast and fell asleep before having to go to work.

The previous Wednesday (6/29) I rode with the Gliders. Two people had flat tires during the ride which held things up. I haven't flatted recently but it is inevitable. I don't understand people that just do group rides. I can't overstate the difference between being in front doing all the work and being behind someone drafting. In the home stretch going east on a Millhopper road I was stuck in front pulling up the steep (for Gainesville) I-75 overpass hill. After my time in front was over I didn't have enough gas to stay reattached to the remaining group.

Except for Tuesday I drove to work every other day last week due to various circumstances. I have been subpoenaed to appear in court as part of a Walgreens lawsuit next Tuesday so I have to drive that day. Also I have to drive Monday because we have 9-5 holiday hours and I want to get in my morning Millhopper ride. Hopefully things will get back to normal after that.

Oh and I am growing a beard. It's been a week since I last shaved. It's coming in ok. Although one of my customers said I looked exactly like Howard Stern. Impossibly he actually thought this was a compliment. Another customer who is basically a homeless guy said my longer hair and nascent beard growth looked good. I'm not really looking for compliments but these are the types of endorsements I can do without. I'm sure a patient will come in today and say I look like a young Charles Manson. At this point if my head was a movie it would be Teen Wolf Too. I don't know what my endgame is. Just keep growing everything like a giant bush and then have it trimmed back into something mildly manageable I guess. At least the skin under the beard hair isn't irritated by my bike helmet strap.