Detroit Rock City

Date: Aug 22
Mileage: 15 (7a.m./8p.m.)
Ride type: Commute
Bike: Rans Rocket
Temp: 90
August mileage: 141
Year to date: 1169

(that image to the right is pretty damn ghetto, but i'm too lazy to find another).

haven't ridden since last Thursday. this past weekend dominated plans, with a RoadTrip to Detroit Rock City, where my dad lives and works. i have a cousin who is a big big sports fan. we hatched the plot a month or so ago to roadtrip to detroit to catch a couple Tigers games. we, cousin A, younger son L and i took off saturday a.m. bright and early so as to have enough time to get ready for the 7.05 game. now, a saturday departure doesn't really affect my friday ride, but the good missus and Z were leaving for another adventure of their own, so i decided to be the team player and get home asap so as to not hold up the process. better safe than sorry. we went down to take in Tiger Stadium. i've been several times, but primo A never has, and he was in sports heaven . my dad, being the successful capitalista that he is, has very nice seats, so the 4 Smith men settled down for the saturday game. well, two things come to mind. number one, the Tigers lost again, wasting a very good game by the pitcher Robertson. mind you, the tigers losing is nothing new except for this year, when they still- somehow- have the best record in baseball. the other observation of saturday's game is that it's really easy to drink alot of beer, Labatt's beer, at the ballgame, especially with my dad as DD. primo A and i certainly did it well. after the game, we went by the house to let L off for bed, and we went off to some funky, expensiveashell american restaurant. there, the trouble compounded. my dad likes wine. i like wine. primo A hasn't had much, so we drank alot of wine. i can't deny that i was pretty soused by the end of the night, but not so terribly so. i could walk and talk.

sunday began badly...and got worse. i just didn't feel well, not hungover per se, but sick, and still sick, and still sick. and finally, at freakin' noon i paid the price, hurling from booze for the first time in years and years. i still contend something else was amiss, b/c most of my expensive supper was still in my stomache, but nonetheless i went out like a bitch, in the modern parlance.

i, primo A, L, dad, stepsissy H, and 33yrsyounger mitadhermano A went to the game, another demoralizign loss by the Tigers. saturday offered only 1 run scored by the tigers, sunday 6, but they couldn't hold. i was feeling so damn bad that at the point of the end of the game, 3.30 when we left, i had eaten 1 donut- which i chucked- and 1 icecreamsandwich- which i held down. we hit the road, and i managed to not eat until having a sandwich from Panera in Dayton.

suck to have done so much damaged to yourself. i should certainly know better at this advanced age of 36, with a good 19 yrs drinkin' experience.

was on the Rans today. the LHT has developed a click in the bottombracket/crank area. i'm sure it just needs a tweak, but funnily enough i don't have the big, honking sized allen wrench necessary. actually, i have no mechanic skills anyway. i hadn't been on the Rans in a while, so it's a good change i guess. i never fell in love with the Rocket like some others. as much as i wanted to, i've never been superstrong with the handling; it seems a little twitchy. mine in color is actually closer to Alex's. instead of the undertheframe rack i have one that mounts behind the seat, giving it a slightly more traditional placement. shows you how clued in i am. i don't really know all those model numbers that the Rans rack site throws out. and BTW, check out all those bikes from Alex. he da' man! i also found that good ol' Kent Peterson has (had) a Rocket. looks like Kent moved on to ranonneuring though. fact is, lots of people like to have lots of bikes. it's just that they probably ride them more than i. there's always tomorrow.