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Farewell 2011 Pool Season
The weather is finally starting to turn fall-like. Yesterday evening, under the lights, Andrew and I took the ceremonial final swim of the 2011 season. We beat last year’s date, September 26, by 3 days. The kids’ first swim was on May 22, the same day we uncovered the pool. That made for a swim…
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Montgomery Road Jukeage
When I originally started bike commuting, I’m glad the weather was better than it has been for the past couple of weeks. I might not have kept riding. Not only has the weather been bad, but traffic also seems to be on the uptick on some of the back roads in Howard. I’m hoping it’s…
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Grout Removal Finally Finished
So yesterday, about a year after starting, I finally finished grinding the grout out around the master bathroom tub. This is not a job I’d recommend doing with older tile, unless it is really valuable and/or has historical significance. It’s boring, dusty, tedious, and time consuming. Did I mention that it’s dusty? That cannot be…
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Sloppiest ride ever.
First things first. Today I got out of the house around 7:45am, and took Montgomery Rd. west to Bonnie Branch Rd. I did the same thing Monday, except I left 10 minutes later, at 7:55. That 10 minutes makes a big difference. At 7:55, there are tons of school buses on Montgomery Rd, leaving the…
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This and that
A bunch of random bike-related stuff today. I rode through Catonsville again this morning, and tried out one of my route modifications I mentioned in my previous post, for avoiding the Mellor Ave. / Bloomsbury Ave. intersection. Coming down Mellor, I detoured right onto Montemar Ave., and followed that around to Bloomsbury. I then turned…
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Catonsville Route Tweak, Revisited
Unexpectedly summer-like weather for the ride in this morning. It wasn’t hot, but the humidity was out in full force, and I worked up a good sweat. A front is supposed to sweep through today and drop the temperatures. I brought a rain jacket because there’s a 50% chance of showers later, but now I’m…
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Improving Conditions
Conditions in Patapsco State Park continue to improve after last week’s monsoon. All of the mudslides have been cleared off the Grist Mill Trail, so I can now get through on my road bike without having to stop and walk through any mud. It’s still quite muddy, particularly on the River Rd. entrance on the…
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Sneezy
Wow, my hay fever is really kicking in. My allergies used to be worst during the first half of June. That seems to have changed over the past few years. They’re now OK in June and bad in September. I guess I’m getting less sensitive to grass and more sensitive to ragweed. Today I rode…
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Muddy Adventure
I’ll say one thing about the weather this year: There’s never been a dull day. An earthquake, followed by a hurricane, followed by what was likely a hundred-year storm this past Wednesday, courtesy of another tropical system. Massive flooding kept me off my bike Wednesday and Thursday (yesterday). The flooding didn’t start until around noon…
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Troptember
Once again we find ourselves in the month of September. September is one of those months that’s neither here nor there. It doesn’t really feel like summer any more, but it’s not autumn yet either. It’s still humid and muggy all the time, and I work up a good sweat every time I ride my…