4th Of July

Rockin' and a-rollin', splishin' and a-splashin',

Over the horizon, what can it be? Looks like it's going to be a free country,
-"No More Kings", School House Rock

Happy 4th. Hope you're having fun, not blowing any digits off your hands and downing a burger or dog. Not much going on here today. The weather is so dark, rainy and dreary that I would be surprised if more than a few folks don't voluntarily suck on an M80 to "celebrate". It's currently 4 PM and so dark that B-Man's night light is on. WTF? Oh well, beats my past few 4th of July's where I've been sick.

Chose not to ride again today. Just chillin and taking some time off the bike. Hope to get out tomorrow for some hours. No real "festive" plans. Wifey, B-Man and I are doing some low key grillin' here today and tomorrow we're heading over to Y&M's house for some grilln' and beers via Yancy's Kegerator. Should be fun. I went to Home Depot today and FINALLY invested in a gas grill. I call it "The Incinerator".

Looking forward to cooking up some Turkey Burgers (Ground Turkey, Worcestershire Sauce, Egg, Bread Crumbs, Salt Pepper) and Veggie Dogs (Veggies & Dog). I also mixed up some Macaroni Salad (Mac, Hard Boiled Egg, Onion, Fat Free Mayo, Salt and Pepper). We're gonna cook up some corn too and of course enjoy a few Bell's Two Hearted Ales.

I'm going to enjoy today and tomorrow, because I'm going hard core on Sunday. I forced myself to get on the scale today. Something I hadn't done in a few months. I wasn't that shocked to see I'm up about 7 to 8 pounds from where I want to be. So I want to get on this before it gets out of hand. I'm sure of it is water retention and what not from not exercising and beer, but regardless of that, come Sunday miles will be increased, calories will be watched and I WILL be were I want come mid August.

Luckily I know where the biggest problem is. It's Beer. I love beer. It tastes great and there are so many quality craft brews to enjoy. I used to just have a few beers on Friday or Saturday. Now I find myself "rewarding" myself for a nice ride on Tuesday or Wednesday. Yikes! That needs to stop. The house is going "dry" starting Sunday. In order to ensure that I have NO desire for it, I plan to drink as much as I can this weekend without getting alcohol poisoning. I'm kidding of course.

The Tour starts tomorrow. I watched a small preview OnDemand today. Phil Liggett described the Alpe d'Huez climb as looking like a "half unraveled intestine over the Alpes." Jesus Christ Phil are your writing this shit yourself?? What's next, "the road to Paris resembles drizzled diarrhea over the hills of France"?

I'm anxious to see which rider is booted from the Tour first. Who will make the sport look like shit THIS year? I pray no one. Many cyclists won't watch the Tour. I can't help it. There are not many times (if ever) that I can come home from work or from a ride, turn on the TV and see cycling. Yeah I'll have to endure a million "born from jets" SAAB commercials (I had a SAAB once. It sucked. HARD!! If they make jets too, don't get on one!). I'll have to hear Al Trautwig being Al Trautwig) and continued Lance-turbation from Bob Roll, but you take what you can get when it comes to seeing cycling on TV in the U.S.. We are a nation that will televise a hot dog eating contest, ball room dancing and low life talk shows before we will televise the greatest sport on the face of the planet. So watch it now, before it's gone.

OK, I've killed enough time. Time to drink a few more beers and play with my new gas grill.

Later.