Bike-nastics?

Not sure what this genre might be called, but here's some bike handling skills...

More Symposium pics

Because I know all of you can't get enough.

Manning an alleycat checkpoint. I was too chicken to participate in the event but it was fun to volunteer. I made participants perform gymnastic maneuvers to earn bonus points. They were all pretty willing--or they just really wanted those bonus points.



And, another hillclimb photo. Just about to crest that damn hill.



Photos from Bruce Bodjack.

The Surly relaxing in Michigan

Photo by Ben Miller

Word to the wise

"Supposebly" is not a word.

Such a brave guy

Calvin has been having a few issues in his back end of late. Part of it is aging, and he may have some slight compression in his spine. So, I've been trying to address it holistically and started treating with various herbal remedies and acupuncture. Calvin wasn't getting the relief I had hoped he would, so we are progressing down the path of increasing potency (we'll continue with acupuncture). Yesterday, we started him on an arthritis relief medication and have high hopes it will help. I have to give it to him via subcutaneous injection 2x/week. It will also be nice when the weather cools a bit--he really struggles in the heat.

Anyway, here are some pics from Calvin's acupuncture and e-stim treatment yesterday. Once the acupuncture needles are in place, the vet puts electrodes on them and runs light current. Calvin is very tolerant of the acupuncture treatments and has done well with e-stim, as well. I wasn't in the room for yesterday's treatment, and I think he actually does better when I'm not around. What a good guy.

A couple more pics

The hillclimb--I'm the red speck just to the right of the mailbox. This gives an indication of how steep it was.



And, here I am, struggling to stay upright. But I made it.



And the view from the top:



I heart the Symposium. Bike camp for adults. With lots of beer.

No mas vacacion

I've been back from vacation for almost a week now, yet I still can't bear it. I suspect that if a person were to check my blog entries from about a year ago, he or she would see one or more blog posts whining about the difficulties of post-vacation life. Thus, I will try not to re-hash it.

Instead, I will share some pictures of a happier time.

Grand Traverse Bay--I took this one from a treehouse. Note that I am terrified of heights:



Happily riding in Michigan--this was early in the hilly fixed gear metric century. I was not so cheery about 65 miles later. Plus I ran out of water.



And, here I am about to get my ass kicked in the sprints. In my defense, I had done the metric century the previous day, 30 miles that morning, plus the hillclimb. My thighs were burning! Plus, the two chicas next to me were ringers from the local cycling team. And about 10 years younger than me. Yes, these are all excuses. But, I can say that I did it and there's no need to do it again.



I'd have more pics and even VIDEO (are we the last people to get a video camera?) if SOMEONE would download the goods. So, that's for a later post. It will feature some hot kayak action, for sure.

And for now, back to the f-ing grind. Memories of vacation and hopes for a day-to-day life that's more like vacation will carry me through until our NEXT visit to Michigan in less than 2 months! The Surly will be waiting for me there.

Woot?

What does "woot" mean? I see many online references to it but don't believe I've ever heard it uttered in actual conversation. I think it's an expression of excitement. Let us all make a conscious effort to begin using this word at every opportunity, thus making it a part of our language lexicon. Then I get credit for it.

This is exciting. Woot!