My Last Week of Training...

In preparation for the big ride I am inside this tank near Hannibal MO. It is something called the Mother Liquor Tank. It is the reactor vessel for several of this chemical company's pesticide precursors. We are replacing a fluoropolymer lining installed by a competitor. The training goes on 12 hours a day. We have a break in the AM and and PM with an hour lunch in our cargo trailer. One of the boys bought a microwave at Wal Mart so we eat Ramen noodles or something akin to that each day. Last night for supper I went to Fazola's and had their lasagna and a Caesar salad. It was really good after too many days of burgers and other things. The boys do a great job and I am glad I can be here to help with the welding. I am getting arm and shoulder exercise climbing on scaffolding and getting in an out of the manway of this 11'Ø by 22' long tank.

We wear respirators because of particulates of grinding plastic and epoxy adhesive. The gasses given off during welding are largely hydrogen fluoride. This attacks the tissues of the throat and lungs as it turns into hydrofluoric acid on contact with an aqueous environment. It also attacks the central nervous system in a condition called polymer fume fever.

Sweet huh?

What was the best TV series in a decade...

and canceled after one season?

"Life on Mars" Why was it so good? Several reasons maybe -- among them it was copied from a good British TV series and second, David Kelly was the executive producer and writer early on.

The only good thing about trying to recover from this congestion has been watching the DVD's of season one and only.

Harvey Keitel as the Lieutenant of D's should have won an Emmy.

What is a rhinovirus and did someone sneeze on my desk?

A rhinovirus is what I have and it has been keeping me off my trike this week and who knows how much longer... In my "Biking over 50" book runners and cyclists are at risk for these suckers due to lowered immune systems.

According to Wiki:

"There are two modes of transmission: via aerosols of respiratory droplets and from contaminated surfaces, including direct person-to-person contact. A high majority of colds are transmitted by autoinoculation by contact with contaminated surfaces.

Rhinoviruses occur worldwide and are the primary cause of common colds. Symptoms include sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion, sneezing and cough; sometimes accompanied by muscle aches, fatigue, malaise, headache, muscle weakness, or loss of appetite. Fever and extreme exhaustion are more usual in influenza. Children may have six to twelve colds a year. In the United States, the incidence of colds is higher in the fall and winter, with most infections occurring between September to April. The seasonality may be due to the start of the school year, or due to people spending more time indoors (thus in closer proximity with each other), increasing the chance of transmission of the virus.

What is a Geezer?

From Merriam Webster it is the following:

gee·zer
Pronunciation: \ˈgē-zər\
Function: noun
Etymology: probably alteration of Scots guiser one in disguise
Date: 1885: a queer, odd, or eccentric person —used especially of elderly men

— gee·zer·hood \-ˌhu̇d\ noun

I think all of those characteristics describe me, especially the elderly and eccentric aspects. The photo confirms the elderly part. When I look in the mirror, (and it must be a magic mirror), I do not see such elderly-ness, just when others take my picture. Thanks Heather for capturing my geezerhood! I get points though because I have some cool Oakley riding glasses on.

Walking the Dog and Gneiss...

Too cold today for a ride, just upper 40's, but a good day to take Keiko into the hills above Centerville. She knows the trails from Bruce taking her up there last year. The hour plus hike was good exercise for both of us.

I brought back a nice sample of gneiss from the Farmington formation that extends along the entire Wasatch front, though it is most prominent up, of all places, Farmington Canyon. For all my years as a kid I had no idea what this striated black and white rock was, so prevalent in the mountains above our house, until I went through the visitor's center recently on Isla de Venado, (Antelope Island).

It is generally alternating layers of mica, (dark) and quartz, (light), and is between 2 and 3 billion years old. This is way older than dinosaurs and as far as paleontologists know only single cell stromatolites lived on the earth then. We have fossils from these simple cyanobacteria around the Great Salt Lake. We really live in an old portion of the world. Who can say they have gneiss in their backyard or proximity to stromatolite fossils? Keiko doesn't care. She was interested in the things of a dog's world but also hiking with me in the mountains. A good time was had by both of us. It was good exercise too. Tomorrow it is a metric century to that aforementioned island, work or other matters pending.

Some firsts for me...

I rode the tadpole on Sunday and notched a new distance in my one hour ride along the Legacy Trail. I think I could do better than the 16.32 miles in 60 minutes because my tires were all low. The ride was less jarring and almost comfortable on those high pressure Schwalbe tires. Yesterday, when I pumped up the big wheel to 130 and the smaller ones in the front to 110 it rode noticeably easier, but more brain rattling. I rode to la Isla de Antelope and back. It was 64 miles. I used Cytomax, GU and Laura Bars along with a secret new energy source -- peanut butter and honey on whole wheat. I wish I had take along two of them instead of one. At the end of the ride, as usual, I felt a bit nauseous. I need to keep working on nutrition. I have read several reviews about Cytomax that it promotes bloating and GI distress. It does appear to lessen stiffness and soreness in the muscles. Maybe there is at least a placebo effect too since I felt otherwise pretty good riding the distance. Altering the diet a little next time might make a difference. Hydration was not a problem and maybe I drank too much since I had to stop a number of times along the way. There are no restrooms along the Legacy Trail or anywhere else along my path for the most part. An In and Out Burger would be an advantage at the half way point I am thinking.

Foul weather returns tomorrow so it may be back to Gold's Gym for the next ride, yuck.

Biking in Peru

Looks like there could still be some biking for us in Peru, even in Lima. Bikes can be rented for $3.00 per hour. Tours of Lima with guides are also easily arranged. No recumbents though, just mountain or hybrids or these pictured. I am not sure what you call them.

One site I looked at had this ad for a half day's activity:

"Bike Tours of Lima – Best Way to See the Peruvian City
A bike tour of Lima is a great way to see the city. There are several companies in the city, however, Bike Tours of Lima, based in Miraflores at 150 Bolivar St., is accessible by foot from many hotels. The most popular tour is the Coastal Tour. The 3.5 to 4 hours trip stops in Barraco, Chorrillos and Miraflores. There are plenty of stops for photos, where the guide offers information about the city. The $25US price includes a light lunch at a local cafe."

Maybe on one of our Monday's we'll go biking.