What's the weather like in Doug's neighborhood?

Monday, April 19, 2010

blog blog blog blog blog

Yeah, I got nothing. Weather here in N. AL has been awesome for over a week straight. Temps in the 70's to the 80's. Sunny skies. Beer drinking, mower riding, Spring cleaning, riding the bikes, and just enjoying the nice weather. That about sums it up.

This weekend I got in a couple of 10mi adventures with the local B-Team. Saturday was the 7am dawn patrol out on Monte Sano. Sunday was a slacker Wade Mountain run. Both rides had 4-5 people riding and a pretty well matched crew with respect to speed and endurance.

New parts for the bike? Yeah, I got a few odds and ends but for some strange reason I don't feel like geeking out on it. Maybe another day.

Other goodies? Went out this afternoon and picked up my super Stihl eletric hedge trimmer. Ended up with the HSE71 IIRC. Costs as much as 3 basic Home Depot disposable jobbers, but it has a 24in bar on it instead of a 16 or 18 that the cheap ones have. It also has parts available should it break, so I won't have to throw it away. Not sure if it is worth it, but if my Stihl weed wacker is any indication the brand makes good tools. Time will tell.

All right, I am out of here. Catch up on other stuff later...

Friday, April 9, 2010

heading into the weekend...

Spring has definitely sprung in the SE



Just try and say that trail doesn't look inviting :-)
In a month things will be looking like a jungle and the Banana Spiders will be dropping huge webs across it, but for now it is good.

Wednesday SORBA ride has been getting a good turnout. We had 11 on our ride. Only caught 8 on camera. It is hard to keep a group that size together. By the end of the ride we were down to 5. It was a great day. Weather was a bit cooler, in the low 70's, so it was very comfortable.



I broke out the Heckler for the first time in a few weeks. Boy, that thing is the magic carpet ride. Super smooth. I really think the effort saved over the course of the ride more than makes up for any pedaling inefficiencies or bobbing. The X-Fusion Vector HLR is still behaving itself. I am amazed at what I can slam the bike into with this shock. Miles of smiles for sure.

Other signs of spring arriving...
- the lawn looks like crap if I haven't mowed it in over a week
- the trees in the yard have bloomed, pink flowers everywhere
- the parking lot at work is empty by 5pm