The last thing I needed was another job.

What with work and trying to get a bike ride in on most evenings (I rode every day from Thur. July 20 to Sun. Jul 30), I don't have time to take care of the house, which is a mess, take care of the yard, which is neglected, or think or something to ramble about here.

I barely have time to set the box to Tivo what's on while I'm riding.  Shows I'm Tivo-ing include:

Kyle XY.  An interesting show.  Part family drama after school stuff, part X-Files, part Surface.  Has a arcing plot where each week has new "clues."  Add some character development, dramatic exploration of non-trivial musings on adolescent (and post-adolescent) sexuality, and it makes for an entertaining show.  I like Surface too, but it's not on now.

Hell's Kitchen.  I like to see how much verbal abuse Chef can dish and how much the mini-chefs will take.  I liked the one where he told the grumpy woman to get her "things" out of his face because he couldn't have a conversation with them there.  Then she threw the food over on him.  Classic TV there.

Project Runway.  Always fun to watch.  "Make it work."  "Carry on."  "You're in."

We've also made some weekend biking forays to Silver City.  Way fun, and a good prep for the upcoming racing trips to Los Alamos and (of course) Silver City.

Ryan was borrowing one of my beater bikes, a Specialized FSR-XC.  He is over 6 foot, so it was too small for him.  He recently got a Specialized Hardrock hardtail more his size.  He is enjoying it muchos and has joined the bike posse.  Here are John and Ryan on one of the Silver City trips.



See, he's having to fight to keep that eager bike under control.  Sort of like breaking a horse.

Ryan's new bike and my FSR were swiped off of his front porch in Mesilla on Friday, despite being protected with a combination lock.

The next day, Saturday, we went down to El Paso and Ryan got a new and even better Hardrock model.  We're waiting to see what the home insurance co. says about the swiped bikes.

It is  super monsoons right now down here.  It has been steady thunderstorms and rain showers for days now.  We are not used to that at all.  Today, El Paso has flooding, restricted traffic and closed roads.

Last Sunday, John, Ryan (with his new bike) and I went out to do the Sierra Vista trail along the foothills southeast of 'cruces.  When we get to the Mesquite park spot, it starts to rain.  We wait, and it stops.  We hit the trail and have to go through some gullies running a couple of inches of water. 

The weather is groovy.  Overcast light and the wetness of everthing makes for a primeval jungle feel with pointy yucca plants and other cacti and creosote everywhere.  Then the sun pops out and the heat/humidity index explodes, the air is clear and sharp, and things start to steam.  Then the clouds come back.

We look back over our shoulders and see rain storms moving to cut us off from our safe return to the car.  We turn around.  Gullies that had some water before now have lots of water.  We still roll through them though.  Until we get to one that's noticibly deeper, but still only about 5 feet across.  Different types of desert debris go speeding through on the surface of the flowing water.  We dismount to ford the current.  It is just a bit below knee deep.  Walking through isn't really a hazard.   As we each wheel our bikes through (we probably should have carried them over, DoH), the water takes the rear wheel and tries to carry the bike downstream.  Give it back!

We and the bikes are, of course, totally wet and muddy.  Luckily, it was a warm water.  Sort of what riding a bike in the bath tub with the shower on would feel like, but with brown, gritty, muddy bath water.  We get back to the car without further incident.  Just south of the park spot is a serious drainage arroyo, which we hear rushing along.  We check it out and the water is deep, broad and surging angrily.  Good thing we didn't take the southside ride.

Another day of fun on bikes.  We promptly went home to do some bike cleaning and beer tasting.

More pics next time, I promise.