Rainy Days...

...Are awesome on rest days. Wednesday and Thursday were my first serious training days since the race Sunday. Two good days on the road and in the mountains really did the trick. Thursdays MTB ride was especially nice. Since contracting Lyme disease just about three weeks ago, I hadn't been out on the trains in exactly that long. Coming back to normal health, I've spent so many hours just riding easy on the road bike, and every time I'd pass by those trail heads id get this horrible craving I can only imagine is like the need for a smoker to run off an 8 hour flight and light up a death stick. So, to finely be sitting atop those peaks, covered in mud and pollen, legs looking like I had just gone for a stroll through a razor blade field, was exactly what the doctor ordered. The highlight of the ride might have been hoping up onto this picnic table in the park, and watching this woman at the table a few yards away, turn, see me balancing my bike on the table, and give out a loud scream in shock. She chocked on whatever she was eating, and then proceeded to break into laughter. It kept me smiling for a while after. Today consisted of just a short spin in the morning, followed by a spa day for Nala. She got cleaned from saddle to tire. Everything looks to be in good and working condition for the trips ahead. Later this afternoon, the heavens not so much opened as they did Explode. Sitting up here in the office, I looked out as the largest rain drops I can ever remember seeing began to fall from the sky. It seemed to pick up with every crack of thunder. It quickly turned into puddle-jumping must. I tried my best to capture its intensity, but, of course, rain is clear......Clear or not, few things scream GO-RUN-BAREFOOT quite like deluge rains. It's just one of those, drop what your doing, and come play kind of things... I hope the acid levels weren't too high.

I've got a lot to pack before monday. I should really get on that.

--Chowder