Artful Dodger - Still Haven't Raced

Two events of interest this weekend which I pulled the plug and avoided: 1) State mtb champs in STL and 2) KS state crit champs. The mtb was a no-brainer as my arm was not ready for it, but man, from the reports I read I am glad I didn't race. Apparently the heat (and I imagine humidity) was pretty tough and I know my strengths and weaknesses and humid heat is a major kryptonite (never performed 1/2 good in the stuff). So Sunday I wake up, step outside at 7am and know right then that I was not going to KS as it was already pretty warm and muggy. Pittsburgh, KS is about as close as a race I'll find (2hrs), but glad I passed. So here I sit in the middle of June without a single race under my belt; good thing this is a hobby. The races will come (especially in the fall) and right now if I make some GREAT, but if I don't NO BIG DEAL.

On a side note: I am loving the stlbiking.com forum thread about the alleged 'sandbagger' in the sport class that now turns might (and I stress MIGHT) have knowingly cheated in the process of snagging a state jersey (all hilarious to include the guy who called him out and in the process questioned his parental abilities - classic).

So Friday after work the Jones' crew scarfed down at a local Mexican joint, went home and all played some ball in the back yard, and then we (Deb, Jake, & I) watched Edge of Darkness (pretty decent, but not great). A full family night - awesome.

Saturday Deb and I hopped out on the tandem at 7:30am to get in a solid 2hr ride before the heat set in (and it ended up doing that). Dale and my bro joined us and it turned out a good ride. Deb is getting better (more fit) and better every ride and we are clipping along at a decent pace these days. After the ride Dale and I took in the Alp D H at the Daphine - AC is tough even not at top form, but Jani B was (is) a MONSTER covering the multiple attacks.

The rest of Saturday was pretty laid back with most of the time spent indoors. Somewhere in the course of the day Ian found some 'Mickey' hands and had quite the time entertaining us. I think everyone enjoyed the 'downtime' as this was our first weekend home in several. Saturday evening I played some cards with some fellas (ended much faster than expected due to my poor play) so I headed back home to find Deb whipped up a peach cobbler; hard to finish a day much better than that.

Sunday (like I posted above) was pretty warm early so I skipped KS crit racing and went to church with the crew. Ian sang with a VBS group and then had a short speaking part; he did great.

Most of Sunday was spent in the yard and garden. Deb and Ian took in Karate Kid and so naturally E came back showing me some moves of his own (every kid does it...).

Headed out on the bike at 7pm and cruised easy for an hour before I met Jim at SBU for a little motor-pacing. He bought a scooter that week and I was stoked when he agreed to doing some laps for me. An hour later I was cooked and limped home; great workout - thanks bro!

Monday I snuck out early and spun the legs for 1:20hrs in an early morning downpour (6am - 7:20). Cruised by Jake's AM cross country workout group (he is riding with the group of runners as he is still out for another week or so) and they had 42 kids (usually 50+) out there at 6:15am. That's pretty impressive for that many to run that early during summer vacation. Coach Bandy is really developing this program and will be interesting to see where it is in a couple more years.

Monday evening included some ball playing in the backyard, setting on the back porch with Deb watching the sun go down, and finishing up with some Catan.