Beer . . . or ride? Hm . . . well, I could sneak a ride in tomorrow even though I’m on call. I’ve done it several times before. I used to do it all the time when I worked full time and fifty percent of my free time really wasn’t free at all . . . because I was on call. That beer really sounds good.

I don’t know if I’ve told you this, but I’ve given up beer until Fat Tire weekend (that is Labor Day weekend for you non-cycling folk). My friend, Pat, is trying to lose five pounds before the race, and I’m trying to get down to 165 pounds. I was 175 a couple days ago, and it might very well be because I was doing the normal fluctuation thing, but I’m trying to get 175 out of the picture altogether. Today, I’m 171. Hopefully, by Fat Tire, I’ll be 165.

I got pretty close to the ten hour mark for the week, today. I won’t ride anymore, though, because I have some serious house cleaning to do while on call, tomorrow, and I have trail work all day, Sunday. That’s ok.

Next week will pose a bit of a challenge. I will be working three days and will try to commute by bike. That will give me about three hours. I’ll probably mountain bike on Thursday – a race pre-ride – and do a gentle road ride with a couple sprints on Saturday just to keep things fresh. I’ve found that my legs are generally heavy after a day off. Friday will be free from biking, so I think I’ll hit the harbor by kayak.

The decreased biking will not get me to ten hours. It just won’t happen, so I’ll have to watch my food intake. This is usually difficult when work is involved. When I had the weight loss conversation with Pat, I told him that I was going to give up beer until Fat Tire weekend. That was Monday. I opened a bottle of sparkling wine that night. I’ve been good ever since, though.

Tonight posed a challenge. I planned to ride, but I really couldn’t motivate myself. I saw a lovely picture of a beer on a forum and suddenly wanted beer very much. It’s a hot day. It’s Friday. I had just gotten home from work and from buying textbooks. It’s the perfect day for a beer. I was justifying skipping the ride and getting the beer. I decided to wait ten minutes to see if I still wanted the beer. I tried reading. I got up. Sat down. Got up. Realized I was too antsy to not do anything . . . and changed into my cycling clothes lightning fast! I went for a thoroughly enjoyable road ride. I’m glad I did. I never had that beer. I don’t even want that beer, now.