Still Rollin'

Been a few days since the last post. Quite an adventurous week it has been. In a few hours heading out to Montauk to a customers home to diagnose a problem with an adjustable bed. Then it's back to the old neighborhood to meet my friends new baby girl. Then go to Mrs. Daltons funeral. My grandmothers best friend and a woman I knew my whole life. Then going to a Frat brothers wedding after that. So, that is a day!

This week has had plenty of ups and downs. Not only on the bike. Emotionally mostly. Started out the week with my friend from San Diego leaving town. We had a hell of a busy weekend. Then Monday evening I went and checked out a sensory deprivation tank for the first time.

http://www.bluelightfloatation.com/

Very new agey looking website when you open it up. $80 bux gets you an hour float. My birthday is Saturday, why not? So I read about and watched some stuff online and wanted to try it. My lower back was hurting and I could use and hour of solitude, peace and relaxation. It definitely did the trick. I felt like a $1000 bux when it was all over. Will I do it again, probably not. Unless it was free. Kind of expensive if you ask me. It's basically a large bath tub filled with epsom salt. So you get in and you float. Complete weightlessness. Then complete darkness and soundproof.

I was tired after the long weekend dosed off for about the first 45 minutes. Then after that I was ready to get out. But stayed the next 15 til the music came on. I tried to feel if my body had any pain anywhere. They say when your laying in the water you should be more aware of things like that. My body felt fine. Just a bit big for that tub and was ready for it to be over.

Then after that I was starved. This isn't going to be a play by play of my life, don't worry. But sometimes I'll share more than should. So I went to Rai Rai Ken. A noodle shop in the East Village. Woofed down a huge bowl of Miso Ramen. Felt like crap immediately after. I was starving cause the dude was like don't eat before the float or have any caffeine. So I waited all day to eat. Rai Rai Cleanse. Lately that soup just goes right through me. Not that night, it sat like a ton of bricks in my belly. Still don't think I've digested it. Then on top of that I had ice cream. Saw a buddy at an ice cream shop I walked by. Then I saw more people eating ice cream. So I went to Key Food and bought a pint of Ben & Jerry's chocolate ice cream. Ate the whole thing. I didn't get out of bed the next day. I was sick to my stomach and also got a headache.

That day I didn't train and had the worst thoughts going through my head. Not that my head is so clear lately. My whole world seems to have come undone. My apartment is up in the air right now. The landlord wants us out because our rent is too low. Below market value. They are taking us to court. I gave 30 days notice at work for the bike tour. My girlfriend just broke up with me because of the bike tour. My daughters mother is driving me nuts. My mother just got out of the hospital with pneumonia. And the list can still go on. But those are some pretty big things all at once.

The universe is saying "MOVE ON."

Hopefully I will hear the correct messages. Like this bike trip. This seems like the right thing to do. Get on the bike and go. Spent the day with a friend who kind of inspired this idea in my 20 years ago. His name is Jack Crabtree. He has riden across the country twice. Once at 20 and once at 40. Both times were different routes with different amounts of people. It was really good to listen to him share about his experiences. He also led bike trips every summer for 20 years with the youth group I was in called Campus Life. So he has a wealth of knowledge and miles behind him. Today he did say, "your going to have a lot of time out there all by yourself, get ready for that." Gonna be a lot of lonely days on the road out there. There's a lot of lonely days right here. Why not get out in the great wide open?

Did my three boro bike tour the other day. That was an easy one. That was on Monday before the float. Then Tuesday I was sick and depressed. Wednesday did a really nice ride up the West side hwy all the way up to the Bronx. Back down over the West Side Hwy at 181 st up to The Cloisters. Then back down over the bridge to Jersey. All in all most likely my longest day of riding yet. About 50 to 60 miles. Healthy and still feeling good. Have to gear up a little bit. New saddle and pretty much everything else. Just have the bike so far. Also looking at getting a GPS system for the trip. The Garmin 705. Turn for turn mapping for across the US.

After my ride tonight with Rich through Brooklyn I think we might need it. I said to him I'll follow you. We headed over the Williamsburg bridge for a quick ride. He intended on going to Carnarsie, Brooklyn. He wanted to dip our tires in the Atlantic. The idea was great, but it was almost 7:30 and we were in the middle of Bushwick. It was getting dark and I have no lights on my bike. That seems like a better ride to do in the sunshine. We ended up going in a complete circle. One of the reasons I think the Garmin will be a solid investment.

That's it! Sorry to drag this on, but it's been a few days since I've blogged.