In addition to the fun I have photographing suburban weirdness in the woods, the Hidden in Suburbia project has also always been about getting the most exercise I can get on a bicycle in the shortest amount of time, so I’m not away from family or home that much during the weekend.

This weekend, however, Marcia and Katelin are in Minnesota visiting family and doing college tours, so I decided to get outside of my little five-mile circle and do some road work today. I ended up doing a 67-mile loop: from Latham up to Mechanicville, then to Round Lake, Ballston Lake, Scotia, Rotterdam Junction, Schenectady, and back to Latham via the Mohawk-Hudson Bike Trail.

I’d forgotten both how nice it is to actually get somewhere on the bike, and how relatively easy it is to ride on pavement, instead of on this. I’m a little bit stiff and sore an hour after getting off the bike, but nothing that a spell in the hot tub won’t fix.

One of the other things I usually do when Marcia and Katelin are gone is watch movies that they wouldn’t enjoy. Last night, I stumbled upon one that was completely unexpectedly fun and entertaining: Doomsday. It was like some hyper-fueld combo of Road Warrior, 28 Days Later and The Highlander. Completely over-the-top big, stupid fun, with excellent stunts and visuals throughout. It’s the intellectual equivalent of Strawberry Yoo Hoo, sure, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy it, now does it?