Just like Moab, only different.

Cycling again

I'd put a lot of mental energy into how to get my bicycle over here before I left. It was too big for the US Postal Service, and too expensive for FedEx. So I was surprised to find bikes all over the base when I arrived. After two weeks of chasing used bikes for sale from GIs going home, I gave up and bought a new German bike at the Px. Of course they are out of bicycle helmets, and the base commander says everyone has to have a helmet. (I find this pretty ironic considering where we are.) So I wear my five pound kevlar helmet until I can get mine mailed from home. It's not Moab, but there is plenty of room to ride here on base, and I've been doing a few laps on a three-mile loop whenever I can break for physical training, "PT." We are allowed an hour for PT everyday, which really helps to make the 12-hour days more tolerable. Usually I work an extra half hour so I can sleep in once a week with the extra hours. There is a nice gym here, but I haven't used it yet. There are even dance classes, spinning, yoga and kick-boxing classes scheduled. There is a pretty level gravel running track, a baseball field and a soccer field too. I use my doorway chin-up bar and do situps in the morning to work off some of the damage the mess hall is doing to my diet. There is no shortage of candy here, everyone back home sends candy and it's piled high on every desk. It is very hard to eat healthy here. It can be done, but it is not encouraged. We had lettuce again in the mess hall this week, yipee! They were getting really creative with cabbage, but it wasn't the same.