Okay, so I’ve been slacking off here.

It shows, doesn’t it?

Rest assured, I’ve been active. So what have I done since… August 13?!?! Okay, let’s start with August 1, why don’t we?

Riding:

  • On August 1, I rode the Mountain Mama Road Bike Challenge out of Monterey, VA. The drive down there the night before was eventful, as my trusty Subaru decided to blow almost every single oil gasket just outside of Staunton, VA. No fun, and possibly a show-stopper. But thanks to the help of friends, I was able to get a ride for me, my driving companion and our stuff to Monterey. The ride was spectacular, though I felt like ass for the first 80 miles of the ride, having expended a lot of energy the previous night getting the car to a mechanic, waiting for a ride, etc. From miles 80 to 100, though, I was strong, and did quite a bit of good, fast climbing over the final three summits. The car is fine now, after replacement of six gaskets.
  • I also organized a century on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. This was a great ride, loose and fun, and featured a sighting of a black bear sow and two of her roly-poly cubs.
  • My Tuesday night “Downtown Breakaway” club ride slowly ramped down throughout August, wrapping up on September 1 with an unfortunate ending: a crash in the paceline ended up with one rider breaking a hip, another his bike.
  • Rode the Civil War Century in early September. This is a must-do ride, given its location and organization, and a lot of people drive down to Thurmont, MD, for this annual tradition. The day was somewhat misty and damp, but it made for exceptional riding, and I got to hang out with many different friends along the route.
  • The PPTC Historic Back Road Century took place in late September, and while it is a ride that I’m not particularly fond of (the route is somewhat flat and boring), the company I rode with made up for that. I was in a great shape for this, though I left a lot in the tank when riding with my friends.

Travel:

  • My main travel was to Salt Lake City to visit my mom. It wasn’t the best of trips, to say the least, as there was a lot of work to do around her house – some of which was a surprise to sprite and me. And my mom is no fan of having her visiting family do housework while we’re in town, but we really had to do it. Needless to say, I’m now quite versed in cleaning, dismantling, moving, disposing of and installing refrigerators.
  • One bright spot on the Utah trip (perhaps the bright spot) was a lovely evening spent with our old friends, Bethy and Garrett. We drank beers, had some fun conversations and jammed out on guitar, mandolin and piano until late in the night. It brought back a lot of old memories and created lots of lovely new ones.

Anything else? Well, I’ve spent some quality time with our DC friends, though not as much as I’d like due to the craziness that is late summer and early fall in DC. But fall and winter look to be a lot of fun, once the transitional chaos inherent in the seasonal change settles down. I’ll be up in New England this weekend, which will be a bit more of a vacation than was the trip to Utah – can’t wait for that.