It's not the heat..

it's the humidity.

Or the lack of it in our case. Right now, according to Weather Bug, the local humidity is 20%. That is killing my sinuses, and drying out everything that I'm allergic to too boot. So, my nose is dry as a bone (I'm expecting the nose bleed any minute now,) the pain radiates down into my jaw and teeth, and it makes it pretty hard to concentrate on my writing!

On top of everything else, it's 90 degrees! Halloween is less than a week away, and it is 90 Farking Degrees!!!

Grrrr.....

Every time that wheel turn round, bound to cover just a little more ground

Got a much earlier start to the ride this morning.

Arrived at the park about an hour after it opened, and the trails were mostly empty. So, up I went. Shifting is becoming far more intuitive now, and I am able to anticipate changes based on the grade ahead. I wore my watch, but didn't think to start the stopwatch, nor check the time when I actually hit the bike trail.

Did pretty well, even handled the scary turn well (downhill into a tight left curve with an immediate uphill.) without too much trouble. Came to the point where I had turned back, stopped, drank some water, and kept going. I started picking goals like "the next par course station" or "the next bench in a shaded area." Eventually, I came to a wood bridge over the creek and decided this would be the point where I turned around. Came over the bridge, and saw the trail signs.

Almaden Lake 1.5 mi.

I was impressed, to say the least. So I walked the bike back over the bridge and started heading back to the lake. Made better time on this legs, since it is a slight downhill in that direction. Came off the trail with enough velocity to go over the first bridge over the creek with speed to spare. Made it out of the park (you have to walk your bike for a portion of the way, and headed not quite home. I needed the Sunday paper, of course. From the park gate to the Union 76 where I grab the paper is about a half mile. Had the paper bagged, and once I was back across Blossom Hill and the Expressway, I decided to do a sprint the last few blocks.

For most of the last half-mile or so, my legs were really beginning to burn. So I berated myself. "Pain? This isn't pain, Doug. Remember blood clots? chemotherapy? blood draws that struck nerves? Game 6 of the 2002 World Series? That is what pain feels like, chump! This is accomplishment. Pain is transitory. Accomplishment is forever! Suck it up, Berry, and pump those feet!" It works for me. My own personal Drill Sergeant in my head.

Add everything up, and I did about 4 miles. There were a few breaks where I pulled over to drink water and stretch, but I'm not really riding for time. There still more of the trail to be explored!

And I have a new goal for when I master endurance riding.. A trail along Mount Umunhum

I swear, getting out and riding has been one of the better things I've done for myself in the last few years.

The Last All-Important Baseball Report of 2003.

Florida Marlins: 2
New York Yankees: 0

Marlins win the World Series 4 games to 2.

Well, I'm off to Milliways. Last night, several impossible things happened.

1. The team with one of the smallest payrolls in the big leagues beat the team with the, by far, largest.

2. On three days rest (the modern standard is four) a 23-year old pitcher mowed down the dreaded Yankees in a complete game shut-out, needing only 107 pitches. That's not dominance, that's ownership! Josh Beckett simply owned the Yankees from the first pitch to the last, a weak hit which he picked up, and then tagged out Jorge Posada to end the 2003 season. (This of course makes me think of Dusty not starting Kirk Rueter on three day's rest last year...)

3. The Yankees lost the Series at home. That hasn't happened in 22 years.

4. Neither Don Zimmer nor George Steinbrenner burst into flame when the last out was recorded.

5. Yankees Stadium, according to all reports, was silent after the loss. No screamed curses, nothing thrown.. just fans in shock.

Well, that's it for the season. The only thing left are the various awards. If any Giants win any, I'll post them here.

Oh.. four months until spring training opens. :)

(I'm keeping the icon. We still are the 2002 N.L. Champs after all.)