A friend of mine at work sent me this link, which is a synopsis of a fantastic story. A man tipping the scales at over 500 pounds is told by his doctors that he’s on death’s door — even something as radical as stomach reduction surgery would be a huge risk, because his flabby, overworked heart might not be able to handle the anasthesia. So he radically reshapes his food habits, has a heavy-duty bike custom made, and starts pedaling for his life.

Despite being the sort of feel-good story that usually prompts a Lifetime original movie, this is definitely worth a read.

Between the two thunderstorms last night, I hit the road for one last ride around the city. Nothing too demanding — I did about fifteen miles, into downtown and then through the West Side, just to keep my legs in shape for Saturday. I’m not planning on riding at all today. Just my luck, I’d pull a muscle or get hit by a car or something the day before the Roswell ride.

Anyway, I did get to have one more city wildlife encounter:

Yes, that is one big-ass turtle that I found on the path through Squaw Island Park. It was way up on the path by the train trestle — a location that must have taken a while to reach for the poor little guy.

So, in the last year of city riding, I’ve seen skunks, deer, turkeys, countless woodchucks and squirrels, and now a turtle. I’m sort of glad I don’t ride out in the country much. I’d probably get eaten by a bear.

The other interesting point didn’t come until the end of the ride.

Yes, that’s about a two-and-a-half foot tree branch, wedged between the frame, brake, and fender of my rear wheel. I didn’t even notice it, and when I pulled it out, there was no scraping or rubbing marks on the bark. The only time I was riding off-road through brush was right at the beginning of the ride, going through Delaware Park and the unofficial dog park, so I must have had this hanging off the rear wheel for at least ten miles.

Well, I certainly couldn’t have done that if I’d tried.

Just took a look at our team page for the Ride for Roswell. With three days to go, Original Adam, Kevin, and Alex are still donation-free. Replacement Adam, who signed up for the ride this morning, has already beaten you three. That’s a sad state of affairs, right there.

On a SAPS related note, the t-shirts will be ready on Friday, so I’ll throw the lot in the car Saturday morning. I imagine we’ll just meet up in the lot by the sign-in again?