The Tuesday morning alarm seems to be going off earlier lately. As our hemisphere begins its annual tilt away from the sun I can already sense the lagging sunrise on these early mornings. For just a moment, it even felt a touch cooler as the group headed upriver on the bike path for a routine long levee ride. A few clouds on the horizon offered sporadic shade on the way out to the turnaround at Ormond, and with the light tailwind our group made short work of the outgoing leg. The ride back seemed to be a bit more erratic with first a few and then a few more riders staying out of the rotation, but it never got really hard or anything. As you can see, Howard wasn't looking particularly stressed. The little headwind did indeed make our 24 mph pace more work than play, but I was still surprised toward the end when big gaps started to open. My own legs seem to be feeling some minor effects from Sunday's efforts, but nothing really significant.
I finally got my economic stimulus "check" last week, which the treasury department quietly deposited into my bank account and I didn't even notice for a week. It didn't feel all that stimulating, though, since it will go mainly toward catching up on bills and plugging a small bit of the rapidly growing gap between take-home pay and inflation. With the dollar languishing for the foreseeable future at the bottom of the international monetary dumpster, I expect Euro bike parts are about to go completely out of sight. The photo is what it looks like when you're completely bonked, fully dehydrated, getting dropped, and about to pass out. At least that's what they tell me.....I'm looking forward to Alpe d' Huez night tomorrow at Cooter Brown's. It should be fun, even though I am quite sure I won't wait that long to find out the results. To hell with the exchange rate, I'm going for the imported beer!
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