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My Easter Weekend

I was suppose to be in Vegas playing poker-shark, taking down monster pots from the fishes, getting chummy with the semi-pros, and watching Katherine Legge zip through downtown along the California Hotel & Casino entrance (where i was suppose to stay) in the opening Race of the Champ Car World Series this past Easter Weekend. Instead i was home feeling hopelessly domesticated mopping up the Poker room (the Den) in preparation for my weekly Poker Tournament against donkeys and semi-semi-wannabe pros and reduced to watching the Race on TV. Best yet, i had taken Monday off to recuperate from what could have been a decadent weekend that i don't know what to do with...

You know you're getting really old when a Vegas trip is canceled because more than one couple in the proposed trip aren't able to find a baby sitter. Babysitter? WTF? I admit though, i wasn't aware that weekend was Easter when i agreed to go. Although i am not sure if that would have been a determining factor to my decision had i known it. Anyhow, it was Easter weekend and i was in town bummed-out about the busted up plans with a three-day weekend to boot. I suppose it's kind of a nice problem... It's pretty darn hard to dissipate the Psyche of a canceled Vegas trip though, even in theory. Everything you do or try to do is basically trampled by the insolent Psyche. I had to come up with something exciting to do. Naturally my newly acquired Mountain Biking hobby took precedence (although i went our riding for two nights in a row prior to Saturday). Since i had Monday off i'd also planned to ride Arroyo Seco, a trail in the San Gabriel Mountains i had been looking at online for quite some time. With that in mind i had to save some of my legs on the Saturday ride into the Cheesebro Mountain Trail (second trip to this trail). But like a child with an unlimited amount of Candy at his disposal, i pedaled and pedaled to my hearts content, or at least until i couldn't go anymore (stupid idea!). You see i realized, around the time i turned the Big 'Three O'-- vigorous physical exertion even on my best day is not without consequence. When i got home that evening i barely had enough energy left to put my gear away, shower up, and have dinner (So i fell asleep watching F1 at midnight lol)... On Sunday (after mopping the Poker room around 10 am) i felt like a vegetable. I flopped myself on the couch where i remained for the better part of the afternoon dozing off and on trying to watch the Dodgers, Lakers, The Masters, and the Champ Car Race, cussing the Mountain Trails every time my legs throbbed in pain.

This meant, among other things i'd planned to do on Sunday, that i was not going to Church (not that i go every Sunday but i'd planned to this particular weekend). And lord knows i have been absent for far too long. Luckily i still had Monday to redeem myself and that became my main objective instead of the Arroyo Seca trail... I felt somehow rested on Monday having slept-in for at least 8 hours (ended the previous night's cash game at 12:30 am). I spent most of Monday morning haplessly seeking new parts for my Bike (BIGGER breaks...) on the phone with the WheelWorld Bike Shop folks before getting ready for Church (at 12:05 PM). But it wasn't all for naught, they promised to have the parts ready ASAP so i'll just have to make do until then.

I felt guilty about myself though because before going to Church i'd plotted to visit two Bike Shops that happen to be conveniently located near the Church. I suppose it was okay because there was nothing immoral about it lol. It's just that i haven't gone to Church for so long and somehow i couldn't do it without an ulterior motive ... Surprisingly i didn't make any kind of purchase in the first shop i visited (i suspect because they didn't have a lot of stuff) and only bought one item in the second one (handle bar grips). Then, not surprisingly, soon after i got home, John from WheelWorld called bearing great news-- seek and ye shall find, he said in a Biblical tone (interesting!). My parts are in come Wednesday, wowzers... How divine!!!

After lunch i installed the new Handle Bar grips and fixed the front tires which WheelWorld installed incorrectly after my first flat. Basically it was installed with the grooves going against the grain (which i discovered by happenstance). I figured it would be good practice to deflate, remove, reinstall, and then re-inflate the tires. The only problem is that i was a bit too careless and ripped the tubes so i had to replace it for real haha (but it was good practice). This took a while so i decided against Arroyo Seco and instead elected to revisit Las Lljas, the place of my maiden voyage. This time though i was determined to climb Las Lljas to Oil Well road to Rocky Peak and then loop down into the Chummas Single Track instead of riding back down once reaching Oil Well Road like the first couple of times. Basically this would mean double the climbing and almost triple the distance (and i made it... whew!).

I did okay but i feel i must work on my climbing stamina. In the meantime i am going to rest until the weekend...

Anyway that was my weekend. Not lively and brilliant like Las Vegas but filled with dusty fire roads and rocky precipices that want nothing more than to claim my death... But above all, it was Divine!

Posted by: Marc Gabay
Tuesday, April 10, 2007