Margo - thinking about you lots... I wondered if you knew any of those reserve soldiers

I went to see my first criterium yesterday - very exciting! I saw the tail end of the Cat 1/2 women's division and then the Pro men's race. They had a 1 km circuit set up downtown and they raced for 55 minutes plus 2 laps. Three guys lapped the entire peleton (peloton?) 1-1/2 times so the verdict was pretty clear early on. There was one crash around a corner and I saw it just before it happened. Some road rash and cracked up bikes for two guys but no one too badly injured. One of the top women was a girl named Leah Goldstein who battled back from a terrible crash last year that left her bedridden and then in a wheelchair for 3 months. Pretty amazing story. Being a newbie cyclist, I've never heard of her but I imagine many of you have. She credits her determination to her seven years in the Israel army. Reminded me again of Margo...

Swimmer's Tail - anyone ever heard of that? We took our chocolate lab Gabriel out to the lake to swim and he had a great time. Next day he couldn't sit or move his tail at all. Took him into the vet and learned about swimmer's tail. Apparently Labs use their tail as a rudder and he was experiencing the same pain I get when I do a long ride. Poor guy...

Nanci - well done on your 200 km! I so want to try that someday. I did my first metric on the road bike a couple of days ago and can't imagine doubling that in one day. Is it fairly flat where you ride? Maybe I could do it if it was flatter. This trip was all hills and my legs still hurt two days later. Ah, but it's a good hurt..

I am learning to enjoy white wine. Only trying the sweeter stuff - Erhenfelser, Gwurtztraminer (totally guessed on the spelling), and a sweet Reisling. Yummy to have something cooler to drink on those hot afternoons.