Hard bike ride

Thanks to my friend Jim for pointing out the error in my post yesterday. I simply forgot about the first verse in the Grateful Dead song I mentioned yesterday. That's how most Deadheads are - forgetful. You can probably guess why.

In 2004, I saw the post-Jerry Dead play in Saratoga, NY. Actually, my son and I did a mini-tour of our own, seeing the Dead on three consecutive nights in three different states. Their lead guitarist on that tour was Warren Haynes. Warren has played for the Allman Brothers, the post-Jerry versions of the Dead, and he has his own band. He plays a huge number of live shows every year. Anyway, at this particular Dead show, in the second set, I was amazed to hear what sounded like some Pink Floyd guitar licks as a new song was starting. I knew that Phil and Friends had occasionally played "Shine on You Crazy Diamond", but I didn't know the Dead ever played it. But, sure enough, that was the song. Warren was singing the song that night.

And, just like a Deadhead, he got confused and sang one of the verses of the song twice. So, hopefully, I can be excused for misplacing some lyrics yesterday.

Last night after work, I hopped on my road bike. The plan was to ride 20 miles, but rather than just spinning, I wanted to push the pace. I headed north from my office and I was going gradually uphill along a small tributary of the White River. The wind was out of the north yesterday. It took me forever to go the first 10 miles. And then I turned around. I was in the big chainring the entire way back - wind at my back and going downhill. It took me 51 minutes to go out and only 30 to come back. The expensive new bike shorts made the ride much more enjoyable than the second half of Saturday's ride. Every time out, I'm getting more and more comfortable on the bike and I'm remembering that speed on the bike can be very enjoyable,

After riding, I spent some time foam rolling, stretching, using the Stick, and then my wife nicely agreed to some massage work on the hamstring, applying some Biofreeze. Biofreeze is my new favorite massage ointment. Somehow, it's hot and cold all at the same time and it feels great on the injured area.

Tonight, I'm going to try running for a little bit. If the hamstring is still unhappy, I'll go to the gym and use the stair climber and do some lifting instead.