Buh-bye May

WTF?  Really?  It's almost June?  Not even one - NOT ONE - day of birding spring migration this year.  I am a bad, bad nature guy.  In fact it's been a while since I have done this that brings me so much joy. So I take what I can get in the yard here, or on work days on conservation property, or on a run or bike ride.

Speaking of bikes.  Mrs finally got a great Yakima bike rack for her Rav that attaches to the spare tire mount on the back of the car.  It was easy to install and is very secure.  So, I pumped up the tires and we dusted off the bikes and have been out to the bike path once already.  I installed my rack on the 4Runner this morning.

It's a good rack and does the trick, but it is technically made to go on the back of an RV.  For this reason it does not have the added feature of swiveling away from or down towards the ground to allow for opening up of the back door since there is no reason for that on the back of an RV.  A slight disadvantage that we are able to work around by keeping the back seats down and going through the side door.  We had to buy this type as the hitch receiver on the 4Runner is terribly short to allow for the spare tire to be mounted underneath the car.  In fact our trailer hitch for the camper is also short (luckily we already had one that fit) but still touches the spare.  It's a dumb design, really.  I have no idea why Toyota didn't drop the receiver below the tire, but I guess it would not look streamlined and would probably make removing the spare difficult.

Anyway, it's installed and waiting anxiously for a bike or two to be put on.  I was going to try to hit the bike path for a little while today.  I had the 4Runner serviced this morning (thankfully no major issues at all!) and would feel rushed to get out onto the bike path.

I have been running again which is good.  Still have a long way to go and need to alter my nutritional choices a bit.  I expect, barring any injuries, I should be well on the way to running at 5k events again soon.  I am signed up for the Falmouth Road Race as well and have a loose goal of running a half-marathon here in town in October.  I don't think it is an unreasonable goal as long as I am not mentally hard on myself and remember that I will never win one of these things.  Be there to have fun and finish.

Something that I have been kicking around lately is investing in a street bike.  No, not a cafe-style racing motorcycle.  A pedal bike.  One that you can pick up with your little finger.  I still have some soul searching to do, and certainly some shopping.  Initially I was scared off by seeing price tags on some of the bikes at our local bike store.  $2k+ and up.  Really?  So, I talked with a woman I work with (who is about my age and new to and training for sprint triathlons) and she told me of her positive experience at a bike shop down Cape and all the wonderful help and advice she received. And more importantly how she didn't have to spend a fortune on a bike.  We're not hardcore competitors, so there is no need for a million dollar set of wheels.  Will I ever try for a tri?  I dunno.  That's a lot of training and I would need to get over swimming fear by having lessons and hiring a trainer to learn proper techniques.  This same woman also has contacts for a trainer and which local pools to use.  Certainly not this year, but if I can pull off this half, I may just have to start training over the winter....  Now my biggest fear is can I actually pull off wearing those outfits that cyclists wear?