It's March!

And March is going quite well!

I'm an official. Took the class and test on the First, passed. Got a patch. Look for me in khaki's and a blue shirt at some collegiate races/time trials/track nights! I hope to be out a bunch. Come say Hi!

Miles ridden in March so far. It's the 8th. I'm at 150. Could be higher. But, to be fair, it's been REALLY cold this week.
75 miles or so out to Afton and back last Sunday with Tim and Jake. Not an easy mileage. Jake is really fast. Tim? Well, Tim is good at pacelines. It's still early. Nothing too exciting. Saw a Grandstay (?) rider. Unsure of whom. Jake stopped to pee and Tim kept going to see if he knew where we were. He did, but we had to bridge back up to him. I tried to work with Jake to get up there as fast as possible, so I just jumped and pegged it. He grabbed the wheel, as planned. BUT, when I moved over for him to go around and lead the way, I just couldn't stay on him. I was spent. That was rough. I hurt myself. Very good.
On the way back (epic conditions. you know the type. 33 and raining a bit? yeah. freaking Belgium shit.) We were riding back through St. Paul, I was riding around, thinking I was CRAZY tired in my smallest gear, barely able to turn it over up the smaller hills in the area. Turns out I was in the big ring. That'd do it. I felt better when I realized that. Shifted down and decided I felt good enough to go up Ramsey while my comrades went up the street a few blocks over that snakes up the hill...not as hard. Well, I made it up Ramsey. Was very hard. 39-25 and standing. Barely made it. Did NOT feel good.

Today (saturday) went out to Afton again with Big Matt, Joe Johnson and Little Guy. It was cold. 15 degrees is not a stretch. Went out through St. Paul to get a few more hills in. Joe threw in a few good attacks that made me work up hills. I appreciated that. I did not appreciate that my bottles were frozen. I usually like to take drinks at the tops of hills...no dice. We got to... (some point in the ride...a few turns after Mcknight...) and Little Guy tried to attack me on the city line sprint...didn't work. We stopped at the end and waited for Big Matt and Joe while eating frozen clif bars. (did I mention it was cold?) We decided that would be a good point to turn around. Matt is getting a cold we reckon, and Joe was angry. LG was cold. I was too. So we turned around and went back the way we came. Joe split off on upper afton rd, I think. I don't really know the area. It was really a blast. Good times. Way back, time to decide if we want to go up Ramsey or Grand. I felt good all day, so I chose Ramsey again, while the Matts went up Grand. I made it again....This time with only moderate difficulty. Still had two gears to go, and I wasn't suffering like a dog! That was an amazing feeling! got to the top, still felt good, so I turned around and went up Grand. Tried to keep the pace high and try to get back in contact with the others, but they were pretty far ahead...Got to the top of that one and LG was right there. Time to go home, so I did. Was hoping to be home early enough to go out again with Fil after he got his bike straightened out, but no dice. It works out. Another 60 tomorrow, I hope. Let's hope I keep feeling better. I have managed to work myself/teammates have managed to work me into something resembling form pretty quickly this year. I am excited. This year is gonna be a blast.

What else?

Not sure. Fun times with Balderdash, homemade pretzels and 16 people at the Little guy and gals house last night. Out past my bedtime, and had a super belly ache. stupid Tofutti Cuties and chips...I think.

Oh, and I love my wife. For sure. Being married definitely has its rough moments. Totally worth it. I'd do it again. Having such an amazing and inspiring teammate is all sorts of rad. To all (8 or so) of the engaged couples I know right now, I wish you all the best of luck, but I don't think you need it. Marriage is tough. But it's also very cool. Margaret, I love you.

(awww....getting mushy. like a banana in a back pocket...)

PEACE! I gotta buy a megabus ticket to MKE for next weekend! looking forward to that (a little. Not a super lot.)