Prophetic Iced Tea

Blue.

At about 10:00 P.M. on Saturday night I asked Mike if we were going to Blue. He still hadn't made up his mind. The off season is always filled with last minute decisions. Not a big deal for me. I'm not racing. I just brush my teeth and throw on some deodorant and I'm out. 8:00 A.M. "I think I would like to go." Okay then. Here we go...

Yes, I'm back on the evil bean and it is fantastic! Sweet, sweet, Starbucks.

After a week of nerves and contacting me about the course, will she be okay, this is a real mountain course conversation AAHHH, etc. Bossa wins the whole sport class.

"Jackass, that was a great course. I think it was the chocolate Pop-tarts. Seriously. I felt great."

You're so lucky I didn't snap this shot 4 seconds earlier, Jim.

Reminiscing about the nuisances of Blue on a S/S...

"Seriously, when are we going home so I can eat?"

I believe this is a post-back injury, pre-head injury Jane...

Next stop... Who knows?

Boys, Bridges, Kickball and 9W

While Mike was down at the Shen 100 I had a weekend of fun-filled shenanigans. Lets not get crazy and say I'm feeling "great" but I definitely got out and had some fun over the weekend...

The View from 9W

My bike time this summer has been limited to say the least. So this weekend it was so nice out I had to get on the bike. On Saturday I headed over to Cedar Grove. I ran into a gang of 7-9 year old boys. They were quite taken with my rigid S/S. The boys and I hit the bridges and other shaky looking bike stunts. Seriously, it was probably the best time I've had on a bike in a long time! They were hysterical. I tried to show them the Hilltop Loop. I do forget that 7-9 year olds really have no endurance or fitness base. That was rough, but still a good time.

One of our favorite bridges needs a little work...

After showing the boys where the heck they were I rode back to the truck. I knew riding back that I was running really late. I still had to go to Whole Foods to grab something for the BBQ. I could not show up empty handed. I was going to bake but I didn't know the crowd well enough to explain why there was yellow lab hair in their brownies. Beer and brownies. How could I possibly go wrong? Barbossa called me and asked me why the hell I wasn't at home getting ready for the BBQ. I told her I would be there when I got there. Not really what she wanted to hear. After a few expletives she explained that KICKBALL started ~4pm and I needed to get my ass into gear. I was on her team and "I'd better be good". Oh the pressure..

Wow. I don't think I've played kickball since the 6th grade. It actually was a blast. I "kicked" a home run. Put that in your pipe and smoke it ladies. Had I known I had so much skill at kickball I would have totally gone that direction in life. Farm team kickball to eventually pro. Now we'll never know. Another untapped talent. The pressure was intense. Bosa's made up on the fly rules caused some controversy. The place mat bases were a little dicey because they slid out from under you as you ran. You had to watch or you were going to shred an ACL. Because of my performance I may even be invited back.

I'm used to next day injuries and bruises from the bike. I was not prepared to see a bruise on my kicking leg. That's really sad. I wonder if the pros get a callous? Hmmm...

Well, after working up an appetite and thirst on the k-ball field there was one hell of a BBQ. It was a good time.

Sunday Lisa, Stacey and I decided to go for a road ride. Now, I haven't really spent any time with my road bike since Battenkill. I only agreed to go because Lisa wouldn't be the maniac that I knew Bosa would be. Bosa and I get a little competitive with each other and an easy ride to enjoy the day will usually turn into pushing each other into things we wouldn't normally do. Bosa decided to go early because she wanted to get 20 more miles in. In days of old I would have been with her. However, this isn't 5 months ago. I needed to be realistic here or I wouldn't be walking for a week. I'm now officially fat and out of shape.

Lisa and I showed up at the Ft. Lee park and were supposed to start riding until we saw Stacey (yes, we had orders). Well, as Lisa was putting air in her rear tire the valve stem broke. This was her very first flat on her brand new Madone. She said she had no clue what to do. After a little parking lot seminar (the host was sketchy) we were on our way and ran into Stacey. I looked at her computer and commented that she didn't get too far. The night of imbibing had caught up with her. We rode to Nyack, had a bite to eat, I wiped out in the bathroom (squatting on road cleats over a toilet on a wet floor just leads to disaster) and rode back.

I had these delusions of grandeur that I was going to wake up on Monday and be able to hop on the S/S and ride to the woods. I could hardly get out of bed. It took an ice bath and some serious NSAIDS but I finally ended up taking Ike for a little hike and a swim. It was a beautiful weekend. At least I got to get off the couch and enjoy it!

The Death of Higgy

It's a very sad day in NJ. Not sure what Ike is going to do without a huge stuffed animal to beat the crap out of! I'll keep searching for the next victim...