Countdown to Regatta

Less than a week to go now before the big regatta weekend. It's probably our second busiest weekend of the year, so it's a good one to get out of the way. Once I get past that weekend, there are only a couple of weeks before Ore to Shore. After that's it's mostly smooth sailing to Labor Day and the end of yet another summer in hell. This summer is my 15th, and I honestly don't know how many more I can handle. I'm not sure that it's possible to understand what it's like without experiencing it, so I won't bore you with all the gory details. Suffice it to say that summer is far and away my least favorite season. At least I've got three other ones that don't suck. On the brighter (cycling) side of life, things are going rather smoothly. I've been getting in a good ten hours a week of saddle time, and I'm looking to up the volume a little now that I'm getting ready to ramp up the racing again. After the Ore to Shore, I'll have about a month to get ready for the 3 day stage race in Canada. I'm really starting to get excited about that. I'm looking at it like three marathon races in a row where you get to camp/hang out with all your fellow racers at the end of each day. Also in bike related news: I put the old LeMond back into working order about a month ago to be my primary commuter vehicle. I've got a rack with panniers (thanks for the loan Hugh) on her, and it's been great using her to cruise around the county. In a little less than a month I've logged just shy of 500 miles that I normally would have driven. I'm super motivated to see what kind of total I can rack up before the snow starts flying this fall. Now if I could just find a good route, I could ski to work this winter..hmmmm..probably not going to happen. WNR this week on the NCT. Meet at the Pleasantview Twp. Hall for a 6:15 departure (Hugh and I will most likely be departing headquarters around 4:30 if anyone's interested in a longer ride). Take care and ride well.