Getting Back to Life

I'm back to the morning rides on the parkway...three days in a row now. Time to get back into racing shape. Maybe my first race will be in May down in Alexandria. Of course, now I have to get the miles and saddle time in to even begin to pretend I could keep up with a Masters or Cat. 3 pack. Oh, yeah, I upgraded to a 3 for this season and I'll probably regret that. We had 8 riders at this morning's cruisefest and the pace was a little higher than I was expecting for this time of year. These guys aren't bike racers, mostly triathletes who do this ride for more mid-week workouts, so the pace isn't usually anything I can't handle. But at this stage of my fitness I have to work harder to stay with the group. My lone pull came about midway into a 10 mph headwind...after a 1/2 mile of pulling I was more than happy to go to the back of the paceline and take a break. It'll get better for me as the weeks go on and I'll be that happy racing machine again soon.

The Wife has been in-country for 29 days now. This is the longest time we've ever spent together and each day will be a new record! Unfortunately she's sick right now. It got full-blown yesterday and she was out on the couch feeling pretty much miserable. We think she picked up a virus here that she hasn't come across in Australia, so this one blindsided her pretty good. Her immune system wasn't ready for it. She feels better today but will stay home again. No use rushing any of this.

I'm doing a lot of work for new client Blackwell Research - www.blackwellresearch.com - getting ads together for them for some national magazines. The tough part has been doing all this while dealing with the new quirks of my Mac G4 now that it has finally been upgraded to System X. Generally it hasn't been a problem but I come across new things every day to adjust to. Plus I have to learn new stuff on PhotoShop and that has been interesting. I pick up the techniques pretty quick, however, I don't do some of these tricks enough yet to have the procedures totally memorized and made into habit. This is a big enough client that I need to have my act together and be on the ball. But I'm dealing with people I know well and that makes it easier.

I'm Back!

3,783 miles...that's how far I traveled from Louisiana to California and back again from January 26th to February 5th to pick up my wife and bring her home. Of course, she traveled much further....from Perth, Australia to Singapore and to Los Angeles. She even did some of the driving on the way back to Louisiana. But she's here and I'm glad.

I'll post more later but I just got my computer upgraded and I'm dealing with learning the new System X (ten) on my Mac G4, plus I've got some work to do. AND getting settled in, too, with the new missus. I'm looking forward to that.

Til then, keep the rubber side down!