And speaking of sweat, I produced buckets of it today. This morning/afternoon I rode my bike in the Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. In previous years, I have ridden the 40 mile loop, but as I prepare for RAGBRAI, I decided to try the 62.5 mile loop. It was hot and windy, but I did it, and I rode faster than I hoped. The wind was a bear, except when going east, then it was a delight! We got sprinkled on at one point this morning, but it wasn't enough rain to wet the roads, but enough to feel good on my skin. The ride started and ended at Mendon Ponds Park, so hills were part of the route. The biggest and nastiest hill was on the campus of SUNY Geneseo. I had never been on that campus and was excited to see it when I realized that the route went that way. However, I saw very little as I worked hard in my lowest gear to get to the top. Here is a photo taken by one of the many volunteers, shortly after crossing the finish line.
When I completed the ride, lunch was waiting for me at the park, courtesy of Outback Steak House. I had a nicely grilled chicken br#%st (I do that so this blog doesn't attract low-life degenerates that look for those words in blogs), and a caesar salad.
Since arriving home, I've taken a shower, but have had no luck taking a nap. I blame that on Jim watching Track and Field on TV and a starting gun keeps going off!
Tonight we are going out to dinner with Sally and Liz. We were going to their house for dinner, but I could certainly understand if Sally decided it was too hot to cook.
Tomorrow at school I am doing a spinning demonstration for one of my kindergarten classes. Last week they went to a farm and saw some sheep so their teacher thought they would enjoy learning what happens after a sheep is sheared. So yesterday I continued preparing the fleece that I started washing earlier this past week. Having never prepared freshly sheared fleece, I got a couple of books out of the library and have read a lot on the internet. The washing process seemed to go OK and the next step was to card the wool. So, we went to a local yarn store and bought a pair of hand carders. Yesterday I tried my hand at carding and it worked! I made small rolls of fiber that was ready to spin! To be ready for the demo, I spun some of this fiber and it looks good. I am very encouraged to wash the rest of the fleece. That will have to wait until the temperatures cool off though, because very hot water is a key ingredient in the cleaning process.
So I am excited about doing some spinning at school tomorrow. I will try to have the teacher take some photos so I can include them in a future blog.
Corey is enjoying his time at his kayaking course, although I think he is a bit disappointed that he and Mike are the best paddlers there. I think he would have liked to see some better kayakers so he could learn things from them.
Tomorrow Gram and GrandDad come home for a few days while Bob and Joanie are at camp. They will join us here for dinner tomorrow night and we will celebrate Gram's birthday a few days early.
Hope all is well.
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