Back Up and Running, er, Riding

For some reason my blog was not online earlier this week. I had my tech person work on it, and now we are back. She is so good I had to marry her.

The weekend has been filled with much socializing and riding. I managed to get in three good rides in three days. On Friday I went out in the howling winds with Sean, the only person I know who has an epic four part blog post on the 2009 American Birkebeiner. I encourage you to give it a read, but make sure you've got some time, or at least are at work.

After the ride we went to the Hudson River Gallery for an opening for Robert Caputo. It was a really fun and busy opening. We talked with many friends and then later in the night got corralled into going out for sushi. Sushi with Nick is always a good time.

Saturday started with a mostly mellow ride from the park. A small group of 7 or so rolled south into the crosswinds for an Eden's Loop. After that Steve, Joe and myself decided to stay out in the nice weather and add on a Sharon Center loop. The sun was shining and I even made the bold move of removing my knee warmers.

At the end of the ride Joe invited us over for a beer. Joe homebrews some mighty fine stuff, and last time he had us over we had a few too many pale ales. This time was not too different. We sat around in the sun reliving old bike riding memories and getting drunk on a super crisp IPA half a pint at a time. I spent the rest of the afternoon in tipsy bliss.

Sunday I woke up early and started reading the Paris-Roubaix coverage until I could get a video stream going. Robin and I watched it in French. Between Robin's knowledge of the language and my knowledge of bike racing we were able to mostly piece together the narrative of 2009's Hell of the North. As always, the race did not disappoint.

Following the race I went out to the park to meet up with Joe and Steve for another Sharon Center loop. It was windier and cooler than yesterday, but it was still great to be out. I have now ridden 8 out of the last 9 days, so hopefully some decent fitness awaits me just around the corner.