Last Thursday I did a 25 mile hill ride to see how I'd hold up. I hit only two major hills and I don't know either of their names, so you'll just have to take my word for it. However, evidence that it wasn't a *real* hill ride can be seen in my average speed: 18.09 miles per hour.

I didn't ride Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Feeling a strong combination of guilt and a need to push myself, I decided to really go for it today. I hit most of the biggest hills in the area including the two worst. Remember "insanity hill" from last season? That's definitely the worst in this area, but there are a few that come close because they're steeper.

All in all I rode just under 36 miles, hit five big hills, eight or nine mediums, and dozens of small hills. I probably climbed more today than in the previous fourteen rides put together.

I'm feeling it, too. Ouch.

Another week or two and I'll be back out there on Tuesday nights. I started the half centuries on June 19 last year, I'd like to get in a few more of these practice rides in before I start them this year.

Stats: 36.86 miles (59.34 km) in 135' 38" for an average speed of 16.30 mph (26.25 kph).

I'm working on documentation for Conversant, and I've finally settled one thing: they're being written according to the DocBook DTD for XML.

Conversant needs real documentation more than anything else, but the decision to really do this right wasn't an easy one. It's so much work! I enjoy writing, but I need to fight the urge to be too wordy.

The full release of Conversant isn't going to wait for the full documenation, but it is waiting for some kind of server and programmer documenation. I'm starting with basic introductory material, then I'll cover the basics of installing and managing a Conversant server, and then the basics of writing plugins.

I actually enjoy writing docs. It's like learning a new way to see the software, because I'm forced to explain it to people who don't really know anything about it. It can be frustrating, but it's also helping me to see areas that could be improved in the software, things that are obvious and make the most sense only if you were present at the creation.