Gnat!

cannella asked for it, and I figured it deserved its own post since I'm pretty proud of it. It's *worked* for its intended purpose: to get me out and motivated to get on my bike.

2008 CYCLING POINTS GAME
Level 1, Score one point for reaching any one of the following:
- 50 miles distance
- 5000 ft elevation
- 3500 calories burned

Level 2, one point each:
- 60 miles distance
- 6000 ft elevation
- 3500 calories burned

Level 3, one point each:
- 70 miles distance
- 7000 ft elevation
- 3750 calories burned

.... and so on. Ten points to level, with a prize if desired (usually new cycling socks).

I'm currently at Level 8 since restarting Jan 1 (2400mi, 100,000ft, 108,000 cals). Doing a long hilly ride really helps gain points quickly, otherwise it takes a few weeks to make any progress. When I was doing nothing but (flat) commutes, it felt like I was stuck at level 5 through spring.

Now that I have my mountain bike, I'm trying to figure out if that should fit into the same scale/pattern or if it should get its own. Mileage is *way* more difficult on that thing!

- Went on a mountain bike ride within 5 minutes of getting it.
- Passion Trails is the coolest bike store EVER.
- (road)Biked 52 miles in the East Bay through fog and over Grizzly Peak (not as bad as I thought it'd be). Ace rocked the century!
- BevMo has this "Mystery Box o' Beer" for $16 and contains an assortment of pretty good stuff. Perfect for my BeerWars challenge!
- Satisfied cravings for crème brûlée and grilled cheese.
- Played in a park with lush squishy green grass between my toes.
- My Garmin bike GPS is starting to turn off randomly during rides, which is highly frustrating - it's going back to the mothership for repairs.
- I need a Save the Ta-Tas t-shirt for all these Breast Cancer events that go on.
- Time to pack for a retardedly early flight to Wisconsin! Cheese curds, here I come!

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=wind-turbines-kill-bats

...And not in the way you think...