Well, got back from Colorado and started taking care of business. First off was our well problem. Seems the prolonged drought has emptied our well. Asked Kathy to use the house (storage tank) water to water her plants and such. The external water system normally used to fill the pool and water, etc., seems to lack pressure and tends to trip the breaker on the pump switch, which causes everything to shutdown.
Of course, the recent rain is timely and will hopefully fill the well enough to keep us going until more rain comes. I have to confess that I made it rain by finally getting the new road bike that Kathy and Jackson gave me for my 50th B-day built up. Jackson swapped the original 56cm frameset for a 51cm frameset and purchased some very nice deep-dish wheels to replace the carbon tubulars that he original built it with. Consequently, I ended up rebuilding the bike and took it out for its maiden voyage Thursday. First time back on the bike since the previous Tuesday due to the Colorado trip.
Well, it spit rain most of the Day Thurs but I decided to head down to Silicon Valley Cycling Center to drop of some parts they needed. Jackson had a 25-tooth cassette on the rear so I thought climbing our hill would be tougher than my typical 27T gearing. The BMC is almost 3 lbs lighter than my next best road rig so climbing our 12% (avg) climb was not too bad, all things considered.
Anyway, the maiden voyage was going great all the way to SVCC. On the way back, however, was a different story. The wind was a 25-mph headwind and rain was on and off. When I got to Los Gatos and hit the Creek Trail (dirt) the rain and wind really started hammering me. Made it all the way over the Lexington spillway and about half way along the single-track that parallels Hwy 17. The rain was so heavy that I didn't see a large sharp rock in the trail and pinch-flatted the rear tire.
A flat is normally not a big issue but not only did I forget water bottles, I also forgot to stow a pump in my jersey. I had a tube, tire levers, patch kit, MP3 player/phone, and food. But no water or pump. Didn't realize the gravity of the situation until I got the new tube and tire mounted and ready for air...Oh well, at least I had a phone!
I called Kathy and she reluctantly left work to come and pick me up. Boy, it really started raining so I ended up having to carry the bike to the road due to the mud collecting on the tires and getting caught in the frame and fork. I wanted to get up the road where Kathy could find me and maybe find some trees to mitigate the heavy rainfall. Found a nice spot on Old Santa Cruz Hwy and waited for Kathy to arrive and bail me out. I hate when that happens. :(
Anyway, the new bike is sweet and rides like a dream. Sure is nice to have a competitive machine for the coming racing season and a real climbing weapon for those hilly fun rides like Mt Hamilton. Haven't had a competitive rig for quite sometime.
The shoulder is still not progressing well since my recent club ride crash. Just seems to stay the same and doesn't look good. It's beginning to look like another surgery to get it to finally start healing. Just makes a lot of noise and always hurts. :(
Okay, it's Halloween night and we had a few kids swing by for trick-or-treat stuff. Nice kids except for the couple who tried to empty the candy bowl into their bags--wankers!
On the political front, I still keep hearing the issue of Obama not being born in the USA. Well, the major media networks don't seem to want to talk about it while the conservative radio stations around the country seem to be all over it. Can't seem to find out if the story has merit or not. The fact that nearly every facet of Obama's life seems to be obscured or "sealed" by government or educational institutions is quite alarming. I'm very suspicious about this man at this point. He just doesn't seem to stick to any position and has been very stealthy about everything from his health records to his birth certificate...strange behaviour for an elected official and guy running for president in a democratic country. We'll see what happens with that, among other things.
Okay, time to call it a day on the blog slog...
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