Thursday, March 22, 2012

The final "45" installment


This one was not hard to predict. I got the bike back yesterday from Steve at Just the Right Gear with the new "Merry Birthday" wheels on, new chain, and new cassette. It's a gorgeous day in the 70's and I took the morning off of work. What to do, what to do? Hmmmm. yep, 45 miles. That was easy to guess.

I headed out on a route that I had only done a modified version of once before. On a loop of just three country roads, I got most of the 45 miles in.


I'd forgotten just how nice this bike is to ride. It's just smooooth, shifts easily, and it felt awesome especially after Steve and crew went over it. They sure know their craft.

My mother-in-law, Therese, had given me a copy of Iron War: Dave Scott, Mark Allen, & the Greatest Race Ever Run by Matt Fitzgerald as an early bday present and she said that she read it first! Even though Mark Allen and Dave Scott suffer orders of magnitude beyond what I could ever do and I'm not an "Ironman" nor aspire to that, she said it gave her more of an understanding of the sport and my attraction to it. Then yesterday she gave me this magnet to the left which meant a lot to me. She grew up in WWII Germany and has always been a very very hard worker in school (master's in Electrical Engineering) and in work. In her generation and facing wartime issues, sports were not exactly a high priority and she did not have those same opportunities. So I really appreciate her interest and support! 


Anyway, lest you should think I have gone overboard on the whole "birthday thing", rest assured the majority of the day was very VERY normal. It included: a few hours at work, dishes, three loads of laundry, a child home on the third (and hopefully final) day of a stomach flu, a quick trip to the grocery store (to buy my own little birthday cake of course, the oven is still broken), filling the gas tank, and a stop at the auto shop for a new turn signal bulb and a teensy little minor repair. Plus I still will hit the gym this evening. Regarding my ancient falling-apart minivan, my dad said of it today that I was "getting all the squeal out of that pig"!!!!  Haha!!

Dirty dishes

Sick kid (and happy dog)

Laundry to be folded...it's taunting me.
Back to "normal" tomorrow!!