Sloth: The Man with the Hammer

[Sloth the Enduring]

Wow.  Never seen you this excited before.  She needs to do this more often.  Perhaps she made the change so you would be pre-occupied and wouldn't be embarrassing her with naked yoga in the woods.  

Yeah, I don't do excited very often.  

 

I think she likes the naked Yoga.

 

I was going to suggest a compromise - no pillaging, bring the KB and an axe for some wood chopping and then do some naked yoga in the woods.  But it looks like you'll have you hands full with the biking now.  

I'm going to try to bring it all anyway.  We're going to move around some, I think that during the second week we won't be near any decent trails.

 

Worse, going vegetarian xD That made me laugh out loud. 

Seriously though, if you're near a mountain bike heaven then there is no need for either sandbag or kettlebell? Otherwise I vote kb ofc.

 

thanks for the explanation on the HR graph. It's definitely interesting data. Wouldn't mind having something like that for my athletes, now all I have is counts we do in between sets.

KB meshes nicely with biking, they're a natural fit.

 

Wahoo Fitness sells the blue tooth heart rate monitor strap I wear.  I think it was $60.  They also have a free app that tracks your heart rate vs. time.  I'll try to do real KB workout and post a screen shot.  The hard part is finding a place to keep your phone while you train.

 

6/11/15 Thursday - Nothing

The mountain bike race may or may not have been rained out, the promised deluge never came.  I'm not going to check, because I don't want to know if I missed out on my chance to win a water bottle and cage.  I went to a retirement party instead and got freaked out socially, way too much talking.

 

6/12/15 Friday - It has been a great day.

41 miles on the road at a moderate pace, no hills, but lots of false flats.  A beautiful ride, everything came together; I even felt glimmers of decent form.  

After I ate all the things a simple sandbag workout.

all @60#

3X10 Bear hug squat

3X10 Cleans

3X10 Overhead Press I decided that was enough and called it a day.

 

Next up, a wedding.  Tomorrow a grad party and a birthday party. Sunday another grad party.  I'm going to have to spend Monday alone in a box in order to repolarize my plasma inverters.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Random update:

I found a 3 year old suspension fork, NIB, for stupid cheap. One of the benefits of living in the same town as the world's largest bicycle parts distributor. Lots of employees with unused parts lying around their garage. I'm having trouble getting it installed, you need a small disposable part to bleed the brakes, which no shop in town seems to have. We'll see if I can get it taken care of by Monday afternoon.

If worse comes to worse I bring my beater bike and rent a good bike for the days we're at the trails. It'd be Throwing money away, but I wouldn't have to worry about my bike when we're hiking or swimming.

On the way to the birthday party I found an Iron Gym pull up bar someone set by the trash. Forgotten resolutions FTW.

The only thing I could eat at the party was potato chips. At the wedding the only thing I could eat was bread. My belly is a hassle.

Ingress might get deleted. Biking and looking at my phone is a dangerous combination.

I got a text from my wife, "hi I miss you I love you I can't wAit to see you again." I was like WTF she is stepping out on me. Turns out she was playing with the auto-select on her phone. Or so she says.

One more social engagement and two more days with my MIL.

I went to the local game store and found some 5$ games to play with the kids.

I had a big gin and tonic, ZMA, and Benadryl. If this doesn't work I'm going to give up and stay awake forever.

BearLee, are you still around, apparently the Daughters of Norway had a festival today. Lots of beer, folk costumes, music, and dancing. According to FB posts.

[Sloth the Enduring]

I had a big gin and tonic, ZMA, and Benadryl. If this doesn't work I'm going to give up and stay awake forever.[\quote]

It was a jagged, broken sleep filled with dreams of running and loved ones long dead.

[Sloth the Enduring]

I dropped off my bike at the local boutique bike shop. The skinny, bearded lumberjacks will lavish their love on my steed. They "think" they can get it done by tomorrow.

To make up for this affront to my manhood I'm spending the morning tearing down and tuning up all of the other bikes we're bringing with us.

I'm about to bike to another shop to buy some small parts, but SlothGirl wants to come with and is insisting on bringing cyclist Barbie with us. So I sit and wait while she searches.

[Shello]

Random indeed.  

 

I see a lot of wins - bike parts and pull up bar in particular.  Hopefully your bike will be ready to go in time for the trip.  

 

I have Ingress as well but I've never actually used it.  I meant to.  Now it's just taking up valuable space on my phone.  

[Elastigirl]

Have you ever tried melatonin to help you sleep? I find it works pretty good for me. Benadryl helps me sleep, but then I still feel groggy after I wake up.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Random indeed.

I see a lot of wins - bike parts and pull up bar in particular. Hopefully your bike will be ready to go in time for the trip.

I have Ingress as well but I've never actually used it. I meant to. Now it's just taking up valuable space on my phone.

Thanks. The bike was ready to go. The fork is awesome. I can hit a curb square on and the front wheel just rides up and over. Plans changed again. We're only staying at Copper Harbor so that we can camp on three different Great Lakes. So I'm just going to rent a bike.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Have you ever tried melatonin to help you sleep? I find it works pretty good for me. Benadryl helps me sleep, but then I still feel groggy after I wake up.

It worked for a while and then I needed a bigger and bigger dose. Then it quit working. Benadryl is for emergencies because it gives me ugly sleep.

Right now I take ZMA which contains the catalysts for melatonin production and it generally works well. However right now I'm in the middle of a schedule change so everything is rough. Last night I got an hour at the beginning of night and an hour at the end. It was a rough days drive.

Something spilled in the camper. My bed is soaked. I don't anticipate a solid nights sleep tonight either.

SlothGirl's doctor's visit was dramatic. He detected a heart murmur. It's probably an anomaly of fluid dynamics, but we're cutting our trip a little short to come back for a $2000 ECG (sigh).

We drove several hours and only made it as far as Northern Wisconsin. Tonight we're at an odd RV campground behind a tavern in the middle of the woods. It's actually kind of nice. It's quiet and secluded. I've camped at worse state & national parks.

I'll do S&S after I stop staring at my phone, I might throw in some presses too.

[Sloth the Enduring]

6/15/15 - Monday

Regular mobility stuff. I forgot goblet squats & halos of S&S.

10X10 one arm swings.

5X1/1 get ups.

5X5/5 presses. Did some leg drive to help get it up. Not quite a full push press.

All at 16kg KB, I brought my press bell and TRX straps.

Also a bunch of single NG pull ups with hold in morning & evening.

More random stuff:

I feel great, the workout rejuvenated me.

The tavern closed at 9:00.

There are 12 or 15 giant RVs here (and our tiny camper). At 10:35, when the news finished, every single RV turned off the lights. SlothBoy is still rattling around, he hates sleeping somewhere different.

The guy next to me watched me do get ups.

From 9:00 - 10:30 the road was crazy busy with farm trucks engine braking to turn down the road next to us. Now it is dead quiet again.

The sky is awesome; we're probably 35 miles from the nearest small town. I've been watching satellites scud between the stars.

The KB tore off my MtB calluses. It doesn't hurt, but it will when I ride again.

My beater bike was my only mountain bike for about 15 years. I put about a billion miles on it. I rarely ride it, but when I do I have a blast because it feels like an extension of my body.

I rode that bike in the very first Single Speed World Championships. I finished 305 out of 450(?) at least half of the people who "finished" ahead of me didn't complete all of the laps.

It's been 15 years and I'm still rankled about that.

Before we left I replaced the crank. With that, I have worn out or broken every single part on that bike.

BTW I am not one bit worried about SlothGirl, I know it's just a weird anomaly. I am worried about my soon to be nonexistent savings, but at least we have love.

[Muscle Professor]

Hey sloth its been a long time since I posted in your thread so I thought i would see how things are going. From what I have read it looks like things are still going well with lots of random comments lol. 

[Balthazar]

man, I love having an NHS

[Sloth the Enduring]

Hey sloth its been a long time since I posted in your thread so I thought i would see how things are going. From what I have read it looks like things are still going well with lots of random comments lol.

Welcome back Lanithroe.

[Sloth the Enduring]

man, I love having an NHS

I wish we had one.

[Sloth the Enduring]

6/16/15 Tuesday

Another driving day.

(SlothGirl just fell out of the top bunk. I put her back in bed and she was asleep again before I walked the three feet to the other side of the camper. I would kill someone to be able to sleep that deeply.)

Anyway, I didn't do much. I did 100 KB swings just to do something. I also biked into town (1.5 miles) to buy wool hats and socks for everyone - the UP is freezing. Supposedly it hit 54 F, but we're right by Lake Superior, I doubt it got out of the 40s.

I ate this. Pasty. Pastry shell filled with beef, potatoes, and rutabaga. Prolly my favorite food that I can still eat.

[Sloth the Enduring]

6/17/15 Wednesday

I rented a dual suspension bike. I'm glad I did these trails are RUGGED. The riding is totally different from what I 'm used to. I biked uphill for 30-45 minutes to earn a 10-15 minute downhill joy ride.

The dual suspension bike was like instantly upgrading 5 levels in mountain biking. Stuff I'd probably walk with my hardtail, I could just lean back and blast over, not even needing to brake. The flip side is the ride uphill was torturously slow. On the weekends the bike shop runs a shuttle so you only do the downhills, that'd be a lot of fun.

I did 3 hours today, ~24 miles. My shoulders, triceps, and upper back are beat up from controlling the bike downhill.

This picture doesn't convey the scale. This rock face is at least 30 feet high and as steep as a ladder. There are tire tracks going down! My butt puckered just looking at it.

Bonus picture. Here's our setup. The Subbie normally gets 32mpg highway. Like this it gets 16 and burns a quart of oil every 500 miles.

[Shello]

That's some pretty intense mountain biking.  I would definitely chicken out.  

[Sloth the Enduring]

That's some pretty intense mountain biking. I would definitely chicken out.

I chickened out on parts too. There was one feature that I couldn't even walk down. I had to drop the bike over the edge and butt scoot.

I forgot to mention. Yesterday I saw a bear in the trail. I stopped and the bear was right there, a few feet from me. So I get off the bike, with the bike in between us. I'm thinking WTH do I do now. So I went for my phone to take a selfie. Reaching in to my pack caused the bear to run off[emoji29]

[Shello]

I chickened out on parts too. There was one feature that I couldn't even walk down. I had to drop the bike over the edge and butt scoot.

I forgot to mention. Yesterday I saw a bear in the trail. I stopped and the bear was right there, a few feet from me. So I get off the bike, with the bike in between us. I'm thinking WTH do I do now. So I went for my phone to take a selfie. Reaching in to my pack caused the bear to run off[emoji29]

 

Umm yeah, my first reaction to encountering a bear in the wilderness would be to take a selfie too.  

[Sloth the Enduring]

Umm yeah, my first reaction to encountering a bear in the wilderness would be to take a selfie too.

It was just a mama-sized black bear, they don't cause much trouble. But I was kind of stuck there until she ambled off. So why not take a selfie? It's not like I'm going to ride around today purposely looking for a bear selfie. Okay, I am. [emoji199][emoji199][emoji199]

Edit: the scariest part of the ride was when the rear wheel fell off. [emoji43] this is why I don't like letting other folks wrench my bikes.

[Elastigirl]

Impressive bike ride. I have no desire to take a picture of a bear.  When we are hiking, I'm always a bit freaked out that we might see a bear.  I read a website about what to do if you see a bear. Normal advice; be loud,big, try to scare it off, don't corner it, give it room etc. My favorite advice was that if it starts to attack you, protect yourself and lay down and pretend to be dead. BUT if it starts eating you, it is time to fight back.  yea thanks for the advice.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Impressive bike ride. I have no desire to take a picture of a bear. When we are hiking, I'm always a bit freaked out that we might see a bear. I read a website about what to do if you see a bear. Normal advice; be loud,big, try to scare it off, don't corner it, give it room etc. My favorite advice was that if it starts to attack you, protect yourself and lay down and pretend to be dead. BUT if it starts eating you, it is time to fight back. yea thanks for the advice.

Not to trivialize your fear, but I see a bear just about every summer. Once, several years ago, I was trail running after dark and literally bumped into one. Okay, I lied, I merely brushed against it, but normally when I tell the story I bumped into it. All but one of the bears ran off of it's own accord. The one that didn't was a nuisance bear at Glacier that a couple of bad-ass lady Rangers had to chase off with shotguns loaded with rock salt.

But yes, if the bear attacks you, fight back. I'd be bored here without you.

[Sloth the Enduring]

6/18/15 Thursday

A freezing day. I waited as long as I could to leave on a ride hoping it would warm up. It didn't. It was 40 deg and drizzly when I left, but cleared up shortly thereafter.

I was wearing 3 jerseys and gloves, wishing I had more clothes. I saw a UP jr high mtbiking team. They were wearing Lycra shorts and a short sleeve jersey. The locals, being descended from miners and loggers, are far tougher than me.

I found a great route. I climbed for an hour, with fabulous scenery, and then a fast, flowy downhill that took 12 minutes to get back to the bottom. I did the route once, rode the road to the top and went down again. 16 miles total.

I did not see a bear or any other critter out there. [emoji20]

Our tourist activity was a self-guided mine tour. It was really cool. It had 10 levels, most of which are underwater. Hey BearLee, They had video of people diving it; it looked treacherous.

[Sloth the Enduring]

6/19/15 Friday

I was going to ride an easy trail for an hour. I got a half mile out and pain was radiating out of my joints. It was enough to make me nauseous. Unplanned recovery day.

I've been starving the whole trip. We went out for breakfast and I ordered two breakfasts and extra bacon and still finished the kid's leftovers.

Mostly driving day. We're at a state park away from the lake and are finally warming up.

[Elastigirl]

Not to trivialize your fear, but I see a bear just about every summer. Once, several years ago, I was trail running after dark and literally bumped into one. Okay, I lied, I merely brushed against it, but normally when I tell the story I bumped into it. All but one of the bears ran off of it's own accord. The one that didn't was a nuisance bear at Glacier that a couple of bad-ass lady Rangers had to chase off with shotguns loaded with rock salt.

But yes, if the bear attacks you, fight back. I'd be bored here without you.

My fears need to be trivialized. I am too much of a worrier.  Most stories with bears turn out that way yours did. 

Your vacations sounds like fun, glad you have time for some bike riding too.

[Sloth the Enduring]

My fears need to be trivialized. I am too much of a worrier. Most stories with bears turn out that way yours did.

Your vacations sounds like fun, glad you have time for some bike riding too.

After I posted this it occurred to me that I am only familiar with Northwoods black bears - the peace-loving, granola-eating, hippy member of the bear family. I don't know which bears reside in the PNW, but they're bound to be more dangerous. So if you see a grizzly, kodiak, brown, polar, panda, or koala bear on your hikes, don't try to take a selfie.

VanRiper State Park is underneath a swarm of mosquitoes and SlothBoy looks like a puffer fish when he's bit, so we're moving on. I'll do seven minutes of Burpees for the mini. I don't know about anything else.