Backslidin'

After a fun-filled two days of working the Velocity booth at the Fixed Gear Symposium, I spent a relaxing evening with my family at a campground in Ludington - only to come down with the flu two days later. Everyone in my family got it except for my sister-in-law (who is on massive pre-natal vitamins) and my dad (who is on massive amounts of Miller Chill). Luckily, it was a quick flu and I'm feeling about 90% today - definitely well enough to head out and try to make up some ground in my training. I can't believe I only have 14 days until I fly to Seattle. Not that I'm freaking out or anything.....

The symposium was fun - great weather, cool people, even cooler bikes. I was happy for the chance to debut the Peugeot and really happy with all of the admiration it received :) Unfortunately I wasn't able to take part in any of the rides or races because of my booth duties but it was fun nonetheless. I can't say the same for my co-worker Matt, though. He was hit by a car on Thursday during the Alleycat race and broke his leg in two places. Judging by the looks of his bike and the fact that the van that hit him was traveling around 40mph, I'd say he's pretty lucky to have only a broken leg. Dang.
A cluster of beautiful steel fixies outside the bar.....

Matt's destroyed seat stay

On the training front, I plan to take it somewhat easy today. Probably just a few laps on my mountain bike somewhere with no hill climbing. The hills can wait until Saturday. I'm transferring my rice bags - all 35lbs of them - to the pack that I'll actually be using on the climb. Since it's a better pack than the one I've been using, I'm hoping it will make my back feel a little better when I get done. Lately I've had a constant dull tweak in my lower back that I can't get rid of. I think it's because of the pack - the one I've been training with (a Lowe Alpine) doesn't have any rigid stays along the back to support heavy loads. I'm switching to my Gregory which has much better suspension and two aluminum shanks along the back to help distribute the weight more evenly. Other than that, it's time to start piling up my gear for the climb! I'll be sure to post pictures.....

Our house is starting to take shape one little piece at a time. Luckily, we haven't had any more bats in the basement. Now we're just dealing with a leaky water meter and washing machine.... The kitchen has been thoroughly scrubbed and the bedroom ceiling is in the process of being painted. I'm not sure if the previous owner burned a ton of candles or regularly lit other things on fire, but there is so much soot EVERYWHERE in this house! I even found black sooty crap in the freezer! Our official move-in date is next weekend, Aug. 25th. I'm definitely looking forward to having some time to settle in when I get back from my trip. Let the nesting begin :)

So that's all for now. Oh, and wish me luck - I'm going to my 10-year high school reunion on Saturday night....