So lets see... where were we. I was driving (wow, something new and different). I've officially made it from sea to shining sea. Freddo and I stopped for a night at a hotel in State College, PA, the home of Penn State, and then hit the road bound for New York. We stopped in Solana, PA near Lock Haven to take a little ride and were blessed with some decent weather, gorgeous roads and incredible sightseeing. Inside the first 5 minutes of the ride we saw an Amish man with an incredible beard in his horse-drawn buggy, then a very cute, barefoot Amish girl riding what looked to be a homemade scooter, and finally a second Amish girl with rollerblades. She was on a gradual incline standing straight up and just rolling slowly downhill. Fred has some photos (no shame, but photos!) and I'll see if I can snag 'em. We made it to New York after some horrendous weather and even worse traffic, but Fred only stayed one night and now he's off racing Fitchburg. Sounds like the weather up there is pretty sweet too. Flights got so delayed that some pros missed the start. Rad.
I've been living it up in grand fashion with my aunt. I can't say this is the best city for riding, but I never live so well as I do when I come here, and the food? Fugghedaboudit! Hands down the most beautiful and delicious food I will ever eat in my life. The city itself is alive with an energy that you just don't see many other places in the world. It can all be a little overwhelming to a country bumpkin such as myself, but I can finally appreciate what it is that draws so many people here. Its all happening right here. At any time of day or night, always within a subway ride or a few blocks walk, its happening.
Not all of my family is in town and I'm a pretty bummed I'm going to be all the way over here and not see some of them, but I guess thats what happens when I make my plans about 24 hours in advance. I haven't been all that great about riding recently either, and I'm going to have to figure out a way to fix that. Step one: get on my bike right now and ride out to my cousin's place in Brooklyn. Flaherty, if you're reading this, please get me your parents info so I can drop in and say howdy.
Before I sign off I have to give a shoutout to Katy Keenan. Shes another friend and former teammate from Stanford, and she's been killing it back in California. Shes a mad scientist, and I'm pretty sure she's been taking bits and pieces from cadavers and grafting them onto her own body to create some sort of unstopable super-cyclist. How else can you explain the hurt she's been throwing down? After being crashed out in the early laps of Burlingame, Katy got back in the race, rode to the front and then jumped off it, putting herself in a break of professionals, and then attacked the hell out of them. She ended up finishing 5th, and standing on the podium with the fastest women in the nation. Check out the photo if you don't believe me:
Thats Katy on the far right (Webcor) with Brooke Miller in the stars and stripes and Shelly Olds next to Katy.
Truly an awesome ride, and I suspect there'll be more in the near future...
Now its time for me to get on the bike or I'll end up having to write this whole blog about other peoples successes.
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