A very full day...

Sunday, March 10, 2013
When I walked out the door to grab the paper to find the temperature in the fifties, I was shocked.  The forecast had said high thirties on Sunday…so that was off by a hair.  I started looking around the yard, garage and salt-covered cars and figured I could get a few things done…and ride, too.  But for starters, I drove to the park with Dakota for a hike.

We were off-trail and looking for antlers when my cell phone began to vibrate.  It was my cousin Donnie from New York and I had a good idea why he was calling.

“You can make kiniflies now?  Holy shit, John, we’re in,” he said.

Normally, he has to wait until either Holly comes with me to New York or on the occasions when he makes it to Ohio and she makes them for him.  My having a working knowledge of the kiniflie process was huge and had opened up a new world to him. 

“We’ll need bread crumbs, eggs, onions, flower and catsup and I’m good to go,” I said.

“Oh…we got that stuff.  Well…I can get bread crumbs at the grocery store I’m pretty sure,” he said.

I took a deep breath and tried to explain things to him in words he could understand.  “Donnie…have you lost your senses?  We CANNOT use store-bought bread crumbs.  Holly’s dad normally has a cubed supply for us that would last months.  Maybe I’ll throw some in my backpack on my next trip up 'cause I know sure as hell you and I aren’t going to cube the suckers,” I said.

About then I noticed that Dakota was out of sight.  When I started calling her and she didn’t return, I hung up and started looking in earnest.  She never wanders far and there was a shallow ravine just in front of me.  As I approached it, I could see her sulking in the creek that ran through it.  I called for her to come, but she crouched lower like she does when she’s done something bad.  I finally got her to come and she hadn’t done anything wrong, but her dog brain tells her that if I’m calling her in the woods, she must be guilty of something.  Dogs are weird.

My leg was still sore from yesterday’s ride and it didn’t get any better when I got home and began the chores.  I washed three cars, emptied the garage and disposed of plenty of junk to the tree lawn while moving other stuff I wasn’t ready to throw out to the shed out back.  One trip was with a 100-pound heavy bag, which after I hoisted onto my shoulder made for a demanding hike the 200 feet to the shed.  After sweeping the garage and reorganizing the entire thing, I went inside and washed the kitchen floor.  I figured I was done then.  I’d done enough to suggest to Holly that I should go for a bike ride and she agreed.

The ride did nothing to ease the pain in my calf.  The wind was blowing particularly hard, increasing my effort.  Climbing Old Mill Road forced me out of the saddle for long stretches and every revolution of the crank was painful.  I rode out Pekin a little more than an hour before turning for home.  The return ride was not as intense and just as painful.

Soreness is my friend…or at least my constant companion.  I hobbled around the house the rest of the evening, but felt really good about all I’d done.  It had been a major, calorie-burning day and something I needed.  Tomorrow…rain and maybe a day of rest.

Bike duration:  Two hours and 10 minutes.  Hike duration:  60 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm biking and 80 hiking.
Calories burned during workout:  1825 biking and 350 hiking.