johnlaeger.com

First Bike Ride!

3 miles to the gym.  65 minutes sweatin' at the gym.  4.5 mile ride home.

Felt awesome!  (Best part was that it was all with Sandy!)

Countdown to Shutdown

I try to take Friday's off.  At least I don't go into the office.  Today - I am going to be a total rebel and do absolutely nothing but FUN stuff!  (Not that I don't enjoy ministry - I LOVE IT!)....but.... It has been a tiring week.

• We are taking a major hit this summer in giving and that is wearing on me - especially the long term ramifications.
• Pager has been going off what seems to be constantly.  We have had 13 calls in five days including a 7 hour industrial fire, 3 hour house fire, 3 hour gas line break, and a 2 hour gas line break.  I haven't gotten much sleep.
• I am pumped about Moldova.  In some ways I feel like a little kid just waiting for the trip to the amusement park.  And I have never raised support before, so that is mentally and emotionally taking a toll.
• Seems like we are in a season of out of the ordinary expenses...dog had surgery, car needs tires, Jess needs her senior pictures, and my Dairy Queen bill is due!  (just kidding about the Dairy Queen bill).  All of that tends to wear on me.

So...as soon as I hit "post" on this, I am shutting down the computer and I am going to:

• Go for a long sweaty bike ride.  I don't know where I am going.  I will know when I get there.
• Hang out in my man cave and putz.  Maybe crank my iPod up so the whole neighborhood can hear it.
• Wash my truck.  It's a Ford but I still need to take care of it.
• Tonight - hangin' out with the world's most beautiful woman.  Not sure what we will do - but whatever we do will be a blast because I will be with her!

So...countdown to shutting down... 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1...

Nice Ride - hot, but nice and relaxing

Hot day, but we hit a section of the Sakatah Singing Hills trail - 28 miles roundtrip.  The trail is all asphalt and easy.  Pretty much level the whole way.

The cool thing about this trail is the small towns you come to.  We took off from Waterville, passed thru Elysian, stopped in Madison Lake for lunch at The Boat Landing then headed back.

We had no idea today was the 4th of July Parade in Elysian.  Very, very cool.  We stopped to watch the main part of the parade - the fire trucks.  Then we moved on.

We will probably do it again and head east this time toward Faribault and Sakatah State Park.

Shakopee to Highland Lake

20 miles round trip.  All paved.  Good ride.  Highland is pretty confusing (to me anyway).  Lots of trails that seem to just wander.  You have to be careful that you stay on the trails designated for bikes as there are trails just for hikers and runners.  Several deadends that left me wondering if I was headed east, west, south, north.

State Trail - Shakopee to Jordan

18 miles.  First 5.5 were paved.  After that, it was A LOT of sand and if you have ever done much mountain biking you know that going uphill against the wind is preferred over biking through sand.  It is draining and tough!  You need to keep your speed up to keep moving straight.  To do this, you are geared way down and pedaling fast.  Plus you are fighting to keep your front tire straight.

Anyway...it was a good ride.  I love the outdoors and I love to sweat.  The best thing about it is that I think I burned enough calories so I can get a large Snickers Blizzard and not feel guilty one bit!

Carver Park Reserve

Nice relaxing 14.5 mile ride - all paved trails.  Was good after yesterday's ride through the swamp where I pushed it pretty hard.

Tomorrow - I might tackle the state trail from Shakopee to Jordan.  We'll see.

Louisville Swamp

Took on the Louisville Swamp today.  11 miles of rocks, sand, dirt, single-track grass, up and down, trees across the trail - decent ride.  Ride was a bit shorter than I wanted due to a bridge that was out.

All in all - a good workout and a good sweat!

Tonight I am kickin' back, thinking through tomorrow - which is going to be AWESOME!

Feels good to sweat

Good ride this evening.  17.5 miles.  Bike trail to Canterbury, Canterbury to Memorial Park, Memorial Park to Highway 41 (new Chaska bridge), then back home.

Ahhhh...feels good to sweat.

Tomorrow I am taking on the Louisville Swamp.