22 September 2008

Almost Done

We have started our last week here in CT. We are packing up and doing the last things we wanted to do, and spending time with friends that we may not see for a while, but we are looking forward to living in our own place again and going on a little mini vacation on the trip across the country.

T's First Bike Race



One of our friends here, D, has really gotten into road biking and he convinced T (brown shirt) to sign up with him for a 20 mile bike race just north of here. So, J (Ds wife) and I went to go watch and take pictures. Just after we got there, there was a giant crash about 2 feet from us. It is one thing to see them on t.v. and another to be there with the sounds of screeching, scraping and debris right there in front of you. I helped pull one of the wheels of one of the bikes off the road, and picked up a badly scratched cell phone and some power bars off the road. Then, I looked to see if maybe there was a rock or something that had caused the accident and cleared the road of them as best as I could. (I didn't want T or D to hit one.) I think J and I were a little shaken from watching it all. One guy fell in the middle of the peloton, and the guy behind him ran over him and flipped. Then, about 5 minutes after, we found out about a 15-20 person crash in the oldest master's group. By then, the guys had joined us and were able to help some of the 60-70 year olds who had fallen out of the truck that came to pick them up.

Both guys did really well. T ended up finishing in the middle of his age group with a 55 minute 8 second finish, and D accomplished his goal of not coming in last. T was able to stay with the peloton (that is the big group that stays together and basically is this giant aerodynamic group) for a lap and a quarter. At one point, D was behind the peloton of the 40-50 year olds and saw one guy break off of the group and end up wrapped around a telephone pole in a ditch, and another guy out of the peloton saw it and ended up in the ditch with his bike on top of him. So, D got off, told the one guy to stay down, and waved down one of the help vehicles so the guys in the ditch would not get run over. It seems to be a little bit of a dangerous sport, but I think only one guy went to the hospital and most of the rest who fell just had a lot of road rash and holes in clothes. It was an interesting experience.

Mt. Washington


Two weekends ago, T, E and I went up to New Hampshire and trekked up Mt. WAshington. It is known to have the worst weather of anywhere in the world, but we chose a day that actually had sunshine. We took a little longer route to the top because we wanted to avoid the crowds. We went up the Boott Spur trail to the summit and then came down Tuckerman's Ravine. I think in the first two miles up the trail, we must have climbed 3,000-3,500 feet, It was steep, and really, there wasn't much of what one would call a trail. It was more like a path of rocks and you went from rock to rock all the way up to the top; same thing on the way down. It was fun, but I was wearing new boots and got blisters and my feet really started to hurt. I have never hiked in boots with a shank running down the middle, so really I coudlnt quite bend my ankles and I was doing the whole thing kind of flat footed. Part way down, I changed to my tennis shoes and had a much better time on the hike. Hopefully, the boots will break in and be easier to use...my balance was completely messed up and as you can see from the pictures I looked kind of goofy using my arms to help balance. I also walked kind of flat footed the day after, and I had to convince my legs to bend a bit more. New Hampshire is beautiful country, and we had a lot of fun.
We also lost E's peak penguin, who has summited quite a few mountains with E, and it was funny to see T & E reaching their hands into the rocks to find it. They were successful and found a lot of other items in the same hole as Peak Penguin.

12 September 2008

A Fun Day

Yesterday, T had most of the day off, so we drove out to Bristol, RI to eat lunch by the ocean and to bike a 14.5 bike trail. We thought that was round trip, but it ended up being both ways. As we were riding, I kept looking out to the channel, and finally said, "T, I think we are going to end up in Providence." And sure enough, that was where the trail led to. It was fun, and I don't think I've ever ridden that far in one day...31.2 miles or something. All I can say is that I got pretty tired at the end, and I am so glad that I had bike shorts. They make a big difference. It was a beautiful fall day too, crisp wind, but 75 degrees F. Not too sore today, but we will see what I am like tomorrow.

10 September 2008

The Base 5K

I'm not sure if I wrote about this. Last week I ran in a 5k on base, that went up the largest hill on base. I actually did pretty well, better than I thought. I ran it in 25.45 min, came in 63rd out of 350 and was 15 seconds from being the first female to finish. I just couldn't catch her. Oh well. It was really fun.

How you know you are an adult

Today, I went down to the legal office and signed my will. It was really easy, but a bit nerve wracking when you realize you have an official document that gives away your decision making etc should incapacitation etc occur. It is kind of a mortality check. Really good to have one, but it definitely makes you look at death. The lawyer who signed it had a bit of a hand tremor too. Hopefully he wasn't nervous too.

08 September 2008

Boston

Over Labor day weekend, we went up to Boston and had a great time. We had good Italian and Irish food, got to hang out with one of T's good friends from college, and walked the freedom trail with friends from T's job. It was beautiful, the weather was great, and we got to take a ferry to and from downtown from our hotel. We stayed in the old navy yard out by the USS Constitution, and they have done a great job revitalizing the area. I got to go to my first ever IMAX which was cool, and there were lots of penguins at the aquarium. You could watch them from anywhere there. I really liked the smallest species of penguins. We are again attempting to post a web album.