Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2423
Van odometer: 152328
Weight lost (in pounds): 4
Aches & pains: left achilles tendon, sciatic
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, CSS: The Definitive Guide (O’Reilly) by Eric A. Meyer
Recent listening: This American Life, Chrome Dreams II by Neil Young
Recent viewing: Medium, NBA Playoffs, The Colbert Report, Mary Poppins, The Simpsons, Doctor Who
Recent playing: Virus 2, Multitasking
Recently accomplished: Sent Xbox in for repairs, cleaned cat boxes, haircut, best Mother’s Day ever, mowed lawn
Imperative To Do: Sell G4, get rid of junk (couch, vacuum cleaner, mower), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, GPS rebate

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2395
Van odometer: 151992
Weight lost (in pounds): 8
Aches & pains: left achilles tendon, sciatic
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Recent listening: Rage Against The Machine, This American Life, Bob Wills
Recent viewing: Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Warren Miller’s Ride, Suns vs. Spurs, South Park, The Office, Numbers, Cavaliers vs. Wizards
Recent playing: TypeRacer (top speed about 75 wpm)
Recently accomplished: Cat boxes, recycling, clean and lube bikes, adjusted Thomas’ “old” bike for Graham, weed & feed, 401k loan, mowed lawn, changed voter registration, weed & feed
Imperative To Do: Sell G4, get rid of junk (couch, vacuum cleaner, mower), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, develop comprehensive reward/punishment plan for homework, oil change for van

Morning Bike Commute

Distance: 11.8 miles
Riding time: 82 minutes
Max speed: 21.5 mph
Average speed: 8.5 mph
Temperature: 46º
Soundtrack: Rage Against The Machine
Route:

  • Private drive to 156th
  • 156th to Fremont
  • Fremont to the subdivision
  • Subdivision streets to 158th
  • 158th to Airport Way
  • Airport Way to Interstate 205 bike path
  • Bike path to Old Evergreen Highway
  • Old Evergreen Highway to 164th Ave
  • 164th to 34th Street
  • 34th to 168th Ave
  • 168th/169th Ave to 26th Way
  • 26th Way to Fred Meyer parking lot
  • Fred Meyer parking lot to 167th Ave
  • 167th to work
This ride went smoother than last night because I knew the way and had plotted a course on Google Maps to avoid 164th which is heavy with traffic. Climbing the mile long hill on the bridge was exhausting and it took me about 20 minutes to cross the whole bridge. The rest of the way was a grind and I was shaking from exhaustion when I finally arrived. Hopefully, my stamina will be a bit better next week.

Evening Bike Commute

Distance: 13.5 miles
Riding time: 90 minutes
Max speed: 20.4 mph
Average speed: 8.9 mph
Temperature: 45º
Soundtrack: none
Route:

  • 164th to Old Evergreen Highway
  • Old Evergreen Highway to Interstate 205
  • Interstate 205 bike path to Airport Way
  • Airport Way to 158th Ave
  • 158th through subdivision to Fremont
  • Fremont to 156th Ave
  • 156th to home via “the private drive”
This was my first ride since mid-December and, more notably, the first ride from my new job. Although the route seems straightforward, I did not note all the sidetracking and goose chasing I did because of my unfamiliarity with the route. At one point the bike route sign pointed to a road that was marked “Dead End” with another sign. Since there was a bike path only yards away, I took that instead. 10 minutes later, I’m on a freeway ramp getting onto Interstate 205. I had to turn around and ride the shoulder in the wrong direction in order to get back to the aforementioned “dead end.” It did, however, lead me to the Glenn Jackson Bridge which has a bike path that runs down the middle of the bridge between the 8 lanes of auto traffic. The bridge spans about 2 miles and over a mile of that is downhill. Still, when I reached Airport Way I was pretty exhausted and limped home the rest of the way.

Vital Statistics

Van odometer: 151601
Weight lost (in pounds): 10
Aches & pains: sciatic, right ankle
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Recent listening: Clutch, This American Life
Recent viewing: The Quiet, The Office, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Democratic Presidential Debate, America’s Funniest Home Videos
Recent playing: n/a
Recently accomplished: Joined Bally’s gym, finished 401k rollover, replaced heating element in clothes dryer, tagged old blog posts, prescription refill, coordinated Xbox repair
Imperative To Do: Sell G4, get rid of junk (couch, vacuum cleaner, mower), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, weed & feed, change voter registration, develop comprehensive reward/punishment plan for homework, bike to work

Vital Statistics

Van odometer: 151601
Weight lost (in pounds): 6
Aches & pains: sciatic, right ankle
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Recent listening: News from Lake Wobegon, Go Tell It On The Mountain by The Blind Boys of Alabama, Fruitcakes by Jimmy Buffett
Recent viewing: The Colbert Report, Are We Done Yet, Mystery Men, 10 Things I Hate About You, Vacancy
Recent playing: Guitar Hero III
Recently accomplished: Rynosoft.com archives, mowed and trimmed lawn, paid bills, cleaned van, groceries, cat boxes
Imperative To Do: Join gym, finish 401k rollover, sell G4, get rid of junk (couch, vacuum cleaner, mower), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, renew prescription

Vital Statistics

Van odometer: 151601
Weight lost (in pounds): 6
Aches & pains: sciatic, right ankle
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman
Recent listening: News from Lake Wobegon, Go Tell It On The Mountain by The Blind Boys of Alabama, Fruitcakes by Jimmy Buffett
Recent viewing: Suns at Spurs, The Simpsons, Medium, Torchwood
Recent playing: Xbox 360, Guitar Hero III
Recently accomplished: Cleaning up missing rynosoft.com stuff, tagged existing blog entries, installed statistics plugin for WordPress, modified blog sidebar, entertained the Camps, cleaned cat box, reorganized entertainment center
Imperative To Do: Join gym, post office (Kent, Sue, Lala), phone calls, test bike commute, finish 401k rollover, sell G4, get rid of junk (couch, vacuum cleaner, mower), buy trailer for van, clean van, activate new Tivo, pay bills

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2361
Van odometer: 151399
Weight lost (in pounds): 12
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Aches & pains: sciatic, lower back, right shoulder
Picks left in March Madness office drawing: 0
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman
Recent listening: News from Lake Wobegon, Science Friday, Fresh Air, Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Recent viewing: Blades of Glory, Little Miss Sunshine, March Madness, Countdown
Recent playing: Puzzle Boy
Recently accomplished: cat box, installed new tuning pegs & strings on guitar, groceries, Time Machine for Tina, bought and assembled new vacuum, tracked Thomas’ reading homework, Song of the Day, recycling, began moving rynosoft.com, broke mower
Imperative To Do: Sift through inbox, taxes, post office (Kent, Sue, Lala), phone calls, test bike commute, join gym, 401k rollover, finish moving rynosoft.com, buy new mower, mow lawn

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2361
Van odometer: 151125
Weight lost (in pounds): 12
Hours of sleep last night: 7
Aches & pains: sciatic, lower back
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman
Recent listening: Randy Holden, The Shepherd’s Dog by Iron & Wine, In Rainbows by Radiohead, News from Lake Wobegon, Science Friday, Fresh Air
Recent viewing: Countdown, Warriors at Suns, The 4400, Doctor Who, The Daily Show
Recent playing: Spikeys Bounce Around, Virus 2, Peggle
Recently accomplished: Gym research, list G4 on Craigslist, redeploy UPS’s, redeploy computer monitors, migrate music data to new drive, groceries, redistribute Tina’s unused memory, set and check mouse traps
Imperative To Do: Sift through inbox, taxes, post office (Kent, Sue, Lala), phone calls, test bike commute, join gym, 401k rollover, find new internet host

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2360
Van odometer: 150830
Weight lost (in pounds): 16
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Aches & pains: left foot
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman
Recent listening: This American Life, News from Lake Wobegon, DrugMusic
Recent viewing: Countdown, Monk, Suns at Lakers, Austin City Limits (Etta James), Soundstage (John Fogerty)
Recent playing: Spikeys Bounce Around, Chicken and Egg, Virus 2
Recently accomplished: battery for Graham’s iPod, more Best of 2007, backups for everyone, new hard drive and iLife ’04 for Graham, new hard drive for Tina’s new MacBook, migrated data to my new MacBook Pro
Imperative To Do: Sift through inbox, post office (Kent, Sue, Lala), phone calls, finish Best of 2007, test bike commute, join gym, 401k rollover, find new internet host