I rode almost 200 miles this week.

My knee is feeling about 90% better but is sore to touch. The more I pedal, the better it gets. It hurts the most after I've been sleeping, it gets stiff and sore from lack of movement. Dominic tells me that's normal for a contusion. He should know. He's had plenty.

Monday's ride was just some city miles with a few friends, after we learned of Bones' murder. The fresh air and sunshine did us all some good, even though we were still in shock from the news. I stayed in the little ring, and worked my right leg more than the left, to accommodate my still-sore knee. It was my first ride after a week, and it felt really good to pedal my bike.

Tuesday I had an interview for a corporate travel job downtown. It went pretty well, I was interviewed for two hours. I haven't heard back yet. Not sure if that's a good sign or not. It's really hard to be optimistic, honestly.















I spun my legs for 90 minutes on the rollers after my interview, waiting for the cable man. I rode my bike until he arrived and then later that night, had acupuncture. Carole needed help with some paperwork, so she worked on me for free, in exchange for some office work.

Wednesday I got back to my paper route and stayed busy until noon. Then I had a ton of stuff to do so I stayed off the bike. That night I looked into doing some volunteering at Mobo, the local bike co-op. They will be starting a kids program in June and I want to be a part of that, somehow. I might as well get in some volunteer time, being unemployed and all.













Thursday I got in two rides. Ride #1 consisted of me, solo, a lot of saddle time, a lot of alone time in my head and a lot of anger. Every song that came on my MP3 reminded me of Bones and the tragedy that ended in his murder. I rode and rode and rode, and then it was time to meet Dominic at the house to leave for ride #2.

Because my knee was killing me from 4+ hours in the saddle, we drove to Kelon's house and left from there for the Thursday night Slow and Steady ride. It's a 15 mile night ride through downtown, and NKy. The lights across the city are pretty and it was first time I smiled in days.












It was so refreshing to just ride, and not worry about how fast, how many miles, heart rate, shit like that. It was fun to just ride bikes with other people who like to ride bikes. For me, it's important to remember that it's not about crossing a fucking finish line, it's about the bicycle.












Friday I had an appointment that took up most of my day and that night I had date night with Dominic. We had burrito's and then went to a meeting. The meeting was a last second decision. He wanted to go play pool, but we were just a few blocks away from a 7pm, so that's where we went. We heard a very awesome woman speak, she moved me to tears. It was a good night.

Saturday, the rain stopped around 10am. I got a text from Amanda asking if I was going to ride, just as I was pulling on my jersey. She met me downtown at 11:15am and we headed north, away from the flooding Ohio River. We made it to Mariemont in 45 minutes and headed to Loveland via the bike trail. Both of our bikes were splattered with mud, as well as our jerseys, bibs, and shoes.













After a coffee stop, we hopped back on the trail, ran into Jeni and Darren, who were headed north to Xenia. I gave Jeni a quick hug, and we were back on our way. Within minutes, the rain started and the clouds got darker and darker. We rode through Mariemont and once we tuned onto Erie, a dude on a very expensive Pinarello pulled up at a red light. We made chit chat for a few, and then he was all "see ya later" and took off when the light turned green. Knowing Amanda well enough, I knew she wasn't going to let him pass us. She put the hammer down and it was on. We chased him down Erie and then up the hill, where she easily passed him, and I was hot on her wheel, which was splattering water into my face and eyes. The rain was coming down so fucking hard, I couldn't see a thing, my eyes stinging with a mixture of sweat and rain. Once at the top of Erie, at the light, dude on a fancy Pinarello caught up to us and we all turned left on Delta. We coasted down the hill slowly, the rain was coming down so hard, neither one of us could see shit.

Once down Eastern, Amanda talked me into going to her house in Covington instead of going the extra 3 miles and up Glenway hill. Dominic had been blowing up my phone and I knew he was worried, so I agreed to let her drive me home.

Buckets and buckets of rain, thunder booming loudly, lightening flashing, streets flooding, and we were out riding bikes. It was crazy. Epic. A ride I will never forget. It felt good to be alive and suffering physically, after the emotional heartache I've been feeling all week.

I got in 20 more miles on the rollers today before heading out to help Carole rip up carpet at her house.

Tomorrow I am doing a solo century ride. Dreading the alone time but also kind of looking forward to it.

There are now 3 investigations underway into the shooting of my friend Bones by Cincinnati Police officer Andrew Mitchell. Watch the video. Nothing adds up, except a dead body and a bunch of fucking lies.