75 Mile Redux

To no one's surprise, cycling 75 miles was a little ambitious. I was getting quite tired by the third rest stop (50M) and was really hurting by the fourth rest stop (70M).

My friend Scott, a hardcore biker who doesn't start hurting until mile 125 (and who had already done 200 miles this week) was kind enough to slow down and stick with me - so I made it to the finish in about 5 hours 10 minutes, including time spent at rest stops.

I expect to do better (as in less pain) next year, since I didn't know I was going to do the NYC tour until a week ago and obviously didn't train for distance. It was great fun, though - I'm glad I did the ride and very happy to have supportive friends.

The rest of my day will probably (well, hopefully) be spent resting, reading and watching some TV.

Re-reading old favorites

Jo Walton has been writing a series of posts on tor.com about books she's enjoyed and read repeatedly. I'm really enjoying these posts and they've set me on the path to re-reading old favorites again.

Take CJ Cherryh - I've generally enjoyed reading her books, frequently greatly enjoyed reading them; but in the Big Move of 2000 (two international moves in six months) I got rid of her books. But after reading Jo Walton's post on the Atevi books I picked up a bunch of Chanur and Cyteen paperback at the library bookstore and, of course, greatly enjoyed them.

I'm re-reading my Steven Brust (Taltos) and Eric Frank Russell books. They are treasures and deserve better than just sitting on my bookshelves.

I've also picked up a bunch of her recommended books and am slowly working through them. Her taste in books is pretty good, though her recommendations are not 100% hits for me. The amount of analysis she does is amazing to me - she picks up a lot about the books that I, just reading for entertainment, never would.

Anyway - thanks Jo! Please keep posting to tor (and I hope they pay you well - you certainly deserve it). Just don't neglect your LJ blog...