Rode the local trail this morning, only rode an hour. Had to quit because I needed to poop.

Went home and took care of business, decided to ride more, drove over to Johnson Branch. Rode the entire thing, first time to ride the advanced part with the Giant.

Good grief did I ever get my ass kicked by the death trail. Dayum.

At some point I said out loud, "Did I really used to climb this crap with my crappy little Trek bike?" Sad but true. I suppose aging is a big factor here. Dangit.

Didn't wreck and had fun.

Rode twice today. Went to the local trail and did the advanced section, did fairly well.

Got home and my old girlfriend was here for a surprise visit.

Went to the local trail on Sunday, only took the easy loop once. Was on the bike for an hour.

Decided that Hoob ISD's act had become tiresome, went home after lunch and got the bike. Went to the local trail and rode the advanced part. I did ok on the climbs.

I need to retire.

Local trail, easy loop. Once.

Haven't ridden in two weeks, the plan was to go twice this weekend. But that plan got shot all to be damned.

Friday night I was covering a 1A volleyball game for a small town newspaper. The gym had a slanted wall that was painted black. It was poorly lighted. I don't have the best eyesight.

I walked into the damn thing and hit my noggin hard on it. The result was, I was bleeding like a stuck pig. I held a paper towel over it until it stopped bleeding and finished shooting pictures. I have two ugly scabs up there. I noticed this morning I had bled on the pillow overnight. I know, it's gross.

I can't wear a damned helmet for a while. So no riding for a week or so.

Let me know if you need some mouth to mouth, hoob.

Five weeks later I finally go again. Was on the bike an hour and had fun.

Encountered a kid and his daddy riding on electric skateboards on the easy section, the dad called them one-wheelers. I could hear the electric motors running.

Later on I encountered the mom walking, carrying their helmets. Which they decided they didn't need.

Three weeks later I go again. Went a lap and a half on the easy trail, a distance of 14 miles. One hour, 25 minutes.

This is my favorite time of the year to ride.

Encountered a guy who said he rode there three times a week. I rode off thinking about how to accomplish this for myself.

Went this afternoon, wasn't in the mood. Went a half of a lap and quit. My knee is hurting but that usually doesn't stop me.

Encountered a man and a teenaged girl walking onto the trail, and he was carrying a graduation gown and a camera. I asked if it was photo op time and he laughed and said yes.

Hopefully they had a kickass time.

Since it was in the mid-sixties today I decided to try a short ride. Did a light workout at home and discovered I could ride my bike around the house. So off to Bridgeport I went. Once I got there, I had tightened up and couldn't pedal without a lot of pain.

Decided to do some of the therapy exercises in the parking lot and that worked.

Even though I felt really good, I decided to just do a short ride and head to the house. Was on the bike 32 minutes, went 5 miles. Stayed on the flat trail, the only climbing I did was on some slightly uphill parts. Avoided the sections with the fun climbs.

I can't believe the number of people who are poo-pooing me for doing this. Buncha dummies.

Rode again today, same trail. Went an hour this time. The easy one hour trail has three decent climbs on it, I rode two of them. I decided to not take a chance with the biggest one.

It was fun and I was super glad to get to go.

With the upcoming weather, it might be a while before I can go again.

It will be interesting to see what happens in therapy tomorrow. I'm going to try to get them to measure me and see if it's better or worse now.

It's been six 1/2 weeks since I last rode. Weather, work, and sickness has kept me off of the bike.

It's spring break at Hoob ISD and I went today, did the 9 mile easy trail and rode at a leisurely clip. Was able to do all of the small climbs.

I really think the 10 minutes I have to spend on the stationary bike at therapy has helped out.

Feeling my oats now, I'm about to go on Granny patrol.

Went to Johnson Branch today, rode all but the death trail. I guess I can climb normally? Kind of surprising but it happened.

Was on the bike 1:05, rode 7 miles. Iced my knee afterward.

This trail is 26.5 miles from my house, which is kind of far but I can make it work.

Brought the GoPro today, discovered that I lost the screw that fastens the thing down to the Stuntman strap. I bet I threw it away. So, no video today, darn it.

Same trail, 59:47.

It’s great to see you recovering!

Thanks, G.

Rode at Bridgeport today, thought I could ride the advanced part, I thought wrong. Ended up walking a few things because of soreness and/or fear.

I did make it through chickenshit pass, though.

Cut out early from work and went to Johnson Branch. Rode 4 miles, had a flat and pushed the bike for 3 miles.

There are guidelines for preventing this sort of thing and I didn't do 'em and paid.

Rode Johnson Branch today including the death trail. Hadn't been on that part since September.

Was on the bike 1:29. I had fun.

There are 10 big climbs on the advanced part and I made 3 of them. I took an 0-fer on them the last time I rode.

I am old.

Johnson Branch today including the death trail. Didn't do as well on anything today, but I did make it up a rocky, steep hill that I haven't made it up in about 10 years. No idea why I made it today.

Negated any sort of benefits from riding by getting a large barbecue sandwich from the local restaurant.

A kickass meal was had.

Please describe the bbq sandwich.

If you leave off the bread and just eat a big pile of meat, you can keep most of your bike gainz.

The sandwich was dang good. Unfortunately, I also got fries and they gave me enough to feed the entire block. I barely touched them. I wonder how many potatoes were used for that.

Went again today after work and now I'm really worn out. Maybe I shouldn't have done that. The good news is, I'll probably just go to sleep and not think about my stupid adventures with women.

A few things have happened.

The day after my last ride I woke up thinking I had covid. Went and got tested and it was the flu. So I've been out a couple of days.

Friday: rode at Johnson Branch, was on the bike 1:40. Couldn't climb much of anything.

Saturday: rode at Bridgeport, was on the bike 1:29. Not strong enough to make the big climb.

At Bridgeport I talked to some other old goat who also had knee replacement in December. He was riding the extreme parts of the trail and it made me feel like a sissy.

Oh, and he was wearing knee pads. It was really funny looking.

I had fun.

I had a delicious bbq sandwich today from One90 Smoked Meats. It was called “the beast.” The beast was a pulled pork, brisket, and sausage sandwich with pickles and red onion on a brioche bun.

Woah. Three meats on one sandwich? Dayum.

Rode at Bridgeport today, the whole point was to see how I could climb on familiar hills.

I sucked balls throughout except for one hill. I cleared the biggest and baddest one of them all. The others? I was horrible.

I had fun. I also had a barbecue sandwich afterwards.

Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow. If it doesn't rain, I'll try again.

Went to Austin on Friday and covered the State Track Meet. I couldn't help but notice that a lot of the other photographers were heavy. As in, over 300 pounds.

Resolved to work out and ride today. Did.

Rode at Bridgeport, nearly sweated my balls off.

But I had fun.

Rode Johnson Branch today. It was 95 degrees and it affected me a little bit.

Had fun. Had the usual Sunday barbecue sandwich afterward.

My regular bike is in the shop for a much-needed tune up and repairs. So today I took the old Trek out of retirement and went to Johnson Branch.

The gears on this thing barely work now. The last time I took it to the shop, the repair guy said they really couldn't do much more with this bike. So I stopped riding it on trails.

Until today. I had my doubts about this 19 year old bike being able to live through the advanced part, so I skipped it. Was on the bike 1:05, rode 7.2 miles.

Had fun. I think I get my regular bike back sometime this week.

Got my bike out of the shop this week. The tires were worn out, I had cracked a pedal, and the chain was stretched out. Replaced them all. Chains are really rare these days, so I was lucky to get one.

Went to Bridgeport and went a lap and a half, was on the bike 90 minutes. The place really needs some maintenance, but I forgot to bring my hand trimmer.

It was 90 degrees and that's not bad at all for riding. Had fun.

Went to Bridgeport again and this time I brought my trimmer. There are a lot of thorny trees that have grown into the trail and I eliminated them all today. I had left yesterday with scratches on my arms and blood dripping in a couple of places.

Rode 13.25 miles today, was on the bike an hour and a half and had fun.

Gonna ride again tomorrow. No I'm not; I have to go to work.

Every trail under the sun is closed so I decided to drive down to the Lake Ray Roberts Greenbelt. It's a rock road that goes through the woods.

This thing is safer than a normal trail, but it's a lot more pedaling and is probably better exercise. I last rode this thing July 6, 2014.

About four miles in I rode up to a place where three young Hispanic girls were swimming in the nearby river. I'm guessing they were old enough to drive but were still jailbait. They waved and said hello. A few seconds later I passed by a pile of clothing that they had discarded and I wondered. Hmmm.

At some point I ran into some serious sandy mud and I got covered with the stuff. So was the bike. My shoes looked like they were covered in baby shit. And then the skies opened up and I rode about 5 miles in the rain.

Was on the bike 1:07 and rode 14 miles. This was a really fun ride.

Same trail, rode parts of it twice to get more exercise. Was on the bike 1:46, went 22 miles.

Saw two armadillos and a turtle. Avoided the mud this time.

I am rather tired.

It's getting too hot to do anything outside. Stay hydrated, hoob.

So much stink taint i bet

Taint.

Rode Johnson Branch this afternoon, first time there after getting the bike serviced. It's amazing how much better I can climb stuff when I have all of the lower gears.

Sweated like a mofo.

Dear HoobCycleManPerson,

What's the deal with the bikes with the big fat tires that I see all the 19-20 year old rich white dudes riding around the city? It would seem like they are made for serious off-roading but I only see see dudes in pink Polos with popped collars riding them around Highland Village. It's like Jeeps. Never touching the slightest bit of dirt. What's the deal with that?

I'll hang up and listen,
-P1 Diello

I've wondered the same thing. You'd think I would have seen at least one on a trail. But I have not.

It's like Jeeps, you know.

Went out to Bonham State Park for a Sunday afternoon ride. My observations:

The park honchos have bulldozed some large areas around the perimeter in the name of fire control. This took away a lot of trail and pisses me off greatly. It took some work to find the three trails and there is no way a new visitor could figure this out. They couldn't do prescribed burns like Lake Ray Roberts does every year? Fuck every single one one of those guys for doing this.

Poison ivy is rampant.

Nobody is maintaining this thing now. About 15 years ago, nobody was maintaining it so I did it along with a few other guys and we kept it in good shape. I stopped doing this when I moved away, eight years ago. Catching this thing up on maintenance would be a huge undertaking and I don't know if I will. Maybe.

I sweated greatly and cussed a massive amount but overall I enjoyed myself. Was on the bike 1:50, rode 10 miles.