Taking argyle to the Nth degree…

Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.

Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.

Especially on a day when the mercury was bumping the 100 mark.  It’s hot here right now - very.  Hopefully there will be some advantage to that when we get back over to Spain and Portugal…glass half full, right?  Getting off topic here however as the first “point” of this post was that I really missed and completely forgot what a blast paddling is.  Ryan Guay and a buddy, both accomplished boaters, dragged me out to Boulder Creek for one of the last days with good water flow, tossed me in a boat about half the size of those I used to paddle, and after a quick “just like riding a bike, you never forget how…” slid me into the water.  The put-in fed pretty quickly into the first little set of drops and looking down at the white water below (in reality pretty tame, but having not been in a boat for nearly 8 years, seemed ginourmous) I had the adrenalin gushing.  Fortunately the body remembered what to do and I was good to go.  After one of the first drops I got launched skyward, landing upside down, and praying the roll was still solid.  AOK.  Ramble, ramble, ramble….  A great way to start the day before a little bit of bike practice/work for those in the real world:)
The real “point” of this post, not that it matters at all, is that I’ve been loving the break, taking advantage of it in a much needed way, and with the first real-ish ride back today it’s amazing what a little time off does for both the head and body.  Two more weeks here at home to get the body back to form and then back over to Spain.

Philly: We botched it, Really badly. Took a tactical gamble; it failed. I was hurting so badly with allergies that I was pretty happy to be able to simply help - not to say it wasn’t disappointing and far from how I’d hoped to end the spring. A couple of great meals over the weekend in Philly kept a smile on my face and finally having a few days with Cheynna was a long overdue treat (treat…to see your wife? huh. something is wrong with that). Our meal at Vetri was one of the top few dining experiences I’ve had and if you’re up for dropping a silly amount of coin for food and drink and have a few months notice to make a reservation I HIGHLY recommend a visit.

A quick stopover at the Parents’ place in Virginia and I’m now HOME! I love Girona and couldn’t be happier basing there for the season but there’s nothing quite like being back home in the bubble. I haven’t touched the bike since Philly - much needed time away. There is a lot of food along with a room of wine that needs attending to…that and way too much stonework and garden action that I never quite finished up last fall. My back says ouch. Over and out.

After wrapping up Belgium with another two very solid days in the saddle and hopping a flight back from Brussles I’m finally stateside.  It’s been since February and interestingly enough for the first time ever it actually seems weird to me here.  Especially in somewhat rural, sprawed, chubby America the generalizations we laugh about so often stand out as so true.  A bit different for sure, but regardless it’s damn nice to be “home”.  A few days to relax here and get over the travel (maybe that’s why I’m writing this at 6am…) before Reading on Thursday and then moving in to Philly on Friday for the big bike meet on Sunday.  The legs came out of Belgium in really good form and it’d be nice to wrap up the spring with a solid few rides before taking a little break and having some much-needed time with Cheynna to simply relax.
A little bikin to do first however…