First, an odometer YTD update.  As of August 31st, I’ve logged 3193.35 miles in the saddle.  August was the month of the Mad Anthony River Rally and I rode the 100 mile route.  My goal was 20mph average and I nailed it.  I started with a group of 14 of my favorite tab people and finished with 3 people I don’t know.  The TAB group just didn’t want to work hard enough to meet my goal, so I took off with the 3 strong riders.

No special rides planned for September, yet.  I’m kind of tapering at this point because we’re approaching the windy season and I don’t want to miss any kiting sessions.  I do want to plan a Bike Brewery Tour though. I’ve reached out to the breweries that I’d like to visit and I’m awaiting replies.  I’m hoping they have some sort of mini-glass so that we can sample some of their signature beers without getting blitzed on the ride.

Readings:  I’m currently reading 2 books on the kindle with the objective of learning to be a better story teller.  I’m not using anything that I’ve learned in this update, obviously.  I’m really not in the mood to do this update, but I feel like I need to knock it out to get the YTD odometer update out there.  I’ll provide reviews of those books once I’ve finished them.  The first of those two, Presenting to Win: The art of Telling Your Story, is frustrating so far.  The other, The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human, is much more enjoyable.

I’m also reading a book on Microsoft PowerPivot for Excel for a project at work.  This powerful tool has some serious potential going forward.  I’ll post on that later, too.

As I mentioned above, we’re nearing the end of the cycling season (for regular folks) because it’s getting dark out earlier and earlier.  That means I’ll be riding less and reading more.  One of the skills I want to pick up this winter is the ability to create mobile applications.  I hope I have time do fit this in among my cycling, mountain biking, snowboarding, kiting, and snow-kiting.  There just aren’t enough hours in the day!