It never ceases to amaze me how unfit I can be doing movements and being in positions I’m not normally in. You’d think with doing cyclo-x, it would be hard to get sore doing any sort of construction. That isn’t the case.

Yesterday I spent most of the day on a tar and gravel porch roof, preparing it to cover it with rigid insulation and then a rubber roof. It isn’t that big of a roof or project. It’s been leaking, mainly along the flashing. That is always the big problem with flat roofs, leaks along the edges. The sides of the house are covered with 100 year old cedar shingles that are about 3 feet long. It was a time consuming effort trying to remove the bottom course without destroying the shingle above. That is what I am paying for today. Laying on my back in an awkward position for hours, sometimes holding a worm-drive circular saw with my arms extended. Plus I have an enormous amount of saw dust lodged in my sinuses.

Whatever, the results are the same, I’m toast. I have to go back and secure the plastic to cover the opening better. It is supposed to rain/snow all night and be pretty cold. I didn’t ride yesterday and am not looking forward to it today. I’m not use to the cold yet this year. The wind is blowing like crazy, plus it is hardly going to be 40. Maybe MTB bikes before it gets too wet. The only problem with that is my left knee is kind of jacked from Jingle Cross, plus going up an down a ladder a million times yesterday didn’t help much.

Last night was the annual Sunflower Bike Shop holiday party in Lawrence. It seemed kind of early to me, but I think it is normally the first Thursday in December, which happened to be the 1st this year. Here’s a post on it I did a couple years ago. The party was great as usual. Lawrence is a much more progressive city than Topeka. I think all the liberal arts college towns in the Midwest are. Sunflower is the perfect gathering spot for a bunch of interesting and fun people. It is nice that Sunflower gets them together at one time during the year. Dan Hughes, czar, has a megaphone and keeps the reins on the party. There is a ton of swag given away. Tons. I never seems to get anything, but I’m never over in the fray when the throwing begins. Anyway, it was a good night.

I’m not racing this weekend. There are two local races in Kansas City, but I think they both use a BMX course for part of the course and it is going to be extremely muddy, plus cold. I haven’t really recovered from last weekend. My equipment sure hasn’t. I need to get on that today.

Old leaky roof.

The flashing and first course of shingles removed.

Sunflower bike shop last night.

Dan Hughes' belt buckle from the Leadville 100 this year.

It not just a bike shop, it's a full on camping/gear store. I loved this movie.

The pads for sleeping on the ground have really improved since I last shopped.

I liked this hard case for packing your banana on the go.