Ploafmaster General

Thing two: I, uh, crossed 5000 miles (8000+ km) for 2024 today 😮

Thing one: I watched Evil Dead II for the first time this week. Terrifically silly, not really my thing, but inventive and enjoyable while viewing.

Also, I kinda feel like Jim Carrey owes Bruce Campbell royalty checks.

First time I’ve seen a USB-C port in a hotel room (Fairfield Inn near Harrisburg, PA).

Eyes dilated for the first time ever. Not a fan of the experience.

Peanut M&Ms are a fantastic bike snack.

Cheswick Park in Henrico was lovely to ride through on my bike this morning. A pretty small part of a long ride, but still pleasant.

Look, I’m not ignoring all the Supreme Shit from the Supreme Clown Court. I just gotta take the wins where I can, okay?

Coming home, even after a wonderful week at the beach, is always nice.

Richmond Ivy match warmup

Nice to see another Reader’s Ride feature in The Radavist about a Richmonder, this time Braden from Outpost: theradavist.com/gt-tachyo…

To my great delight, I just introduced my wife to the old “Zendaya is Meechee” viral video.

NBC spends so much time talking about the Olympic trial pool in a football stadium that you’d think it was their idea.

Every now and then I realize how happy I am that people still make music videos: youtu.be/KOOhPfMbu…

Oh, yeah, no. I love when a neighbor half a block away selfishly blasts music over a PA for a party in their backyard. Yeah, seriously - my favorite is when it continues and gets louder after 8 PM when my kids are trying to go to bed. It’s seriously the best.

Not quite halfway through June, and I just realized that I crossed 4000 miles for the year so far 😳

That’s uh…that’s a lot more riding than I expected (last year’s total was just over 6500).

I was pretty tired today but the weather is incredible: dry, breezy, and sunny. So of course I went riding, but I wanted to take it easy. No pressure to get any distance or elevation, and why not take my DSLR? I was near immediately rewarded by the above sight—a bike absolutely dripping with character (and bones and doll parts).

Otherwise, I just sort of meandered around neighborhoods and through alleyways, not working too hard, taking the occasional photo. A good time was had by me!

The Arches of Ploaf

I’m such a Jersey Shore mook that when I saw a license plate with “PZNAPLE” today I thought it meant “paisan apple”.

On my ride through Richmond’s Southside this morning, the stretch of Warwick between Hopkins and Bells smelled like a hot diaper.

Just saw somebody hit one of those “Stop for Pedestrians” signs with their minivan in a Target parking lot while I was unlocking my bike 😬

I was in my favorite cocktail bar celebrating the felony conviction of a former president while rain fell elsewhere in town: the sort of pop-up showers that soak this neighborhood or that for a few minutes while leaving the next block over completely dry. After settling up I kept riding around the city enjoying a mild spring evening while my wife had the kids at swimming, and I started to notice patches of wet asphalt and a few small puddles. Not enough to wish I had fenders, but enough to fill the air with the pleasant smell of petrichor.

These days at the end of the week, the end of May, the end of our children’s school year, are considerably drier than the last couple of weeks. Even the brief rain couldn’t change that. So I rode aimlessly through Richmond while I had the time, enjoying this vernal aroma and cool breeze that preceded the sunset, before heading home. They can’t all be this good, but I’m glad I get a handful of rides like this every now and then.

I don’t give a shit about what happens on appeal or with SCOTUS (okay, I really, really do), for today? I’m celebrating the conviction of one of America’s most odious politicians. Trump the felon. He wears it so well!

Going to the mattresses

Taking a rest day on purpose is not easy for me. My brain knows it’s good for me, and I should recognize that I deserve it, but emotionally I always feel like I’m one rest day away from falling back into a deeply unhealthy lifestyle.

Bathroom beaker plant at Star Hill’s Richmond location