• Baseball steroid hearings: lies
• NCAA tourney: marketing and cross-promotional overload
• Job situation: grim
• Financial situation: grim
• Race situation: decent

Poison oak from the last tumble	Pillar Point and reef	A choice of fording options

So my current hydration pack, a Monsoon Peak (Monsoon is the Performance house brand), has finally reached its end after six years of punishment. I looked at several others and made the fatal mistake, once again, of letting price be the ultimate decision-maker. I got a Monsoon Tsunami, which arrived today. It has to be the most idiotically designed hydration pack ever created. For starters, the tube comes out of the bottom of the pack, instead of the top of the pack like every other hydration system ever designed. This means that the tube has to be routed up the pack back towards my mouth, against the force of gravity. Also, the routing for the stupid tube went up one side of the pack, then crossed over to the other side and continued up to mouth level. This meant that whenever you wanted to take off the pack, you'd have to unroute the tube. I never did figure out exactly how to configure all the routing hoops and loops. Then there was the water reservoir, which did not even have a locking top. Instead, it used the roll-top method of sealing like waterproof river bags use. Gimme a fucking break. Every other reservoir out on the market has figured out a locking top and you're still fucking around with a velcro fastener? I know shit when I smell it. That piece of shit is going right back to Perf with a nasty note about their bullshit product. See Romulus' theory on sporting goods (See January 15, 2005: Epic ride number one for the year).

I had planned on doing Bonzai's Bane today as part of a get-back-on-the-horse exercise after Tuesday's painful fall (See March 15, 2005: Time to get serious). Update: yup, I did get poison oak on my left arm. It seems relatively contained to the arm, but pretty substantial coverage on that arm. Beats the hell out of a broken arm.

Anyway, when I got to the Bane, it was just too rutted for my skittish frame of mind, and I balked. I've been getting very conservative and defensive lately in my riding because of the health insurance/job issue. It's not a good way to ride. When you start thinking about stuff is when stuff happens. It's not just the health issues either. I'm also very conscious of wear and tear on the bikes. I feel like I have to be very judicious in my use of Blue because I'm not sure I'll be able to maintain her as well or frequently as I have the past two years. I think I'll limit her to racing and special rides for the near future.

From the Fitz, it was just a hard-pounding, no-nonsense, ride up to Moss Beach County, over San Pedro summit to Pacifica and back, out Gray Whale Trail, and back through the Fitz and Mavericks. I just put the brain on autopilot to help dampen the pain and kept the legs moving.

After the ride tonight, I formally registered for the Sea Otter and the Lemurian in the Mens Sport 35-39 class. I also got a NORBA season license for Cross Country. I'm in baby, I'm in!