(insert "rack" joke here)

I did it. I finally bought a rack. I avoided it all last year because for some weird reason I thought racks and fenders were "dorky". What can I say, I used to ride a Trek hybrid. Apologies abound.

Anyway I picked this one up as a heck of a deal from Performance, my father's day gift to myself, so to speak. Silver was chosen over black to go with all the chrome colored stuff (bars, stem, seatpost, crank) on the bike, but it just ended up standing out. Dang. If I do it over again I'll go black.

Next up, yesterday I was figuring up my mileage for the month and I thought "hey, this is a really dang good excuse to order some panniers!" So I ran it by the home finance committee (aka the person who keeps us from having to eat Ramen because of my spending habits, aka my wonderful wife Jess), then ordered a set from Nashbar last night. Sweet! They have their Waterproof Panniers on sale for $35! I mean, $35 for any panniers is a heck of a bargain, but for waterproof ones?

As always, the whole "I reserve the right to complain profusely about them if they suck" disclaimer is in place.

The commute this morning was great, nice and fast thanks to a tailwind nearly the entire way. For breakfast I caved and went back to the Oatmeal PLUS sugar free syrup instead of just plain Oatmeal. Then I caved AGAIN and put some creamer in one of my four cups of coffee. Now I have this staring at me on my desk:

Which is, you know, enough money to get a soda. And right now I REALLY REALLY REALLY want a Diet pop. Yesterday I caved and had one, but I'm going to avoid it today. I'll let those silver devils just sit there and stare at me, tempting me with their diety cokey goodness. I shall, however, have the last laugh!

Ahem

Yesterday on the way home I stopped for something, either to check my phone or lose a layer of shorts then I noticed just how unsightly "development" is. That area used to be trees, field, and all that good stuff. Now it will be McNebraskaNotMansions. Good in a way, I guess, but sad in that nature is again going away in favor of man.

My consolation, however, is that in the time it took me to take that pictures I got absolutely mauled my mosquitos. The area is literally insane when it comes to bloodsuckers, so I actually - ironically - feel bad for anyone moving there. This is one of the sections of trail lately where I at times have to cover my mouth and nose in the morning with my arm so I don't inhale any. There are CLOUDS of mosquitos in the area. Insane.

Also, as of this morning I'm at around 67 miles for the week - and it's Wednesday. Yes! One thing about the Long Haul Trucker is that I absolutely love to ride it, which translates into me always wanting to go further than I have to. It's good, and it's bad, but I really enjoy it regardless of the way you look at it. Tonight I'm really tempted to do a 20 miler on the way home, as it's going to be a hot and steamy day, and the wind is in my favor to get a nice workout in.

Remember, any day is made better with a bike ride.