absense makes the heart grow fonder?

Dear Friends,

My apologies for being an absentee blogger lately.
I'll try to do better...

Monk and I ran off to the Islands for a quick get-away, and caught up with Craig/Beth and family for a few days. The Bahamas are truly a beautiful paradise. I was pretty cracked, and suffering some gastro-intestinal illness so some down time to recover was very well appreciated.

Beautiful Beaches... good to relax..

and yeah I'm the kook under the towel. I hate sunburn! 

The flight out of Philly was delayed. We made our connector with just minutes to spare. Diane and I ran across the airport and right into the gate. The young gate official smiled at us and said, "oh, our couple from Philadelphia! We were looking for you! Welcome!" Her warm smile and friendliness turned to disdain as I said, "We pulled an OJ - and barely made the gate" The young woman glared at me, as clearly we had a generational gap as I was referencing the Juice's Hertz commercial (we try harder) not killing people across the airport. Gruffly she said to us dismissing us, "enjoy your flight. you sick bastards"  Okay- I may have imagined her saying that last part, but based on the change in her disposition I'm sure she was thinking it.

the pools weren't too bad either...

Saturday, after two weeks off the bike, I ventured back into the water. The rain seemed to break for just a couple of hours, and Buddy the Leg Breaker and I headed out on our cross bikes. Yes, Buddy has a cross bike, but don't tell him- it's a swiss army bike or an adventure bike (it's a cross bike!). I was on my Single Speed Cyclocross. The fire roads were delicious. Perhaps absence does make the heart grow fonder, as we had a blast on these too familiar fire roads. Slowly our ride became a good old fashioned Fatmarc and Buddy the Leg Breaker Kung Fu fight. Nothing overt. No displays of aggression, just two old friends refusing to give the other one an inch. The pace crept up.  It was beautiful and as we crested the final rise into the fairgrounds, we were both destroyed. Well played Mr. Leg Breaker, well played.


Sunday a wonderful group came out to the house for a little ride around Cecil County. We did the Mr. Belvedere hates you loop, which is one of my favorites. I was lucky to have such and amazing group of folks to ride with...

photo by Monk (superselfie!) Jimmy  Vanderme, Gus, Kita, Jen, Anne, BK, Sanford,
 Sharon, Monk, Big Time, and Rebecca- not pictured:

Nick and Buddy who rode to the ride and put in monster miles today...

JHIII is not pictured because he was taking off his Super Suit!

Buddy and She-Buddy! 

thanks for reading.

and hey-  don't you forget about me...

respect
Vanderbacon