Sunday Night Wrap-Up

Since my last post I've had 2 more weeks of 150-175 miles of cycling.  I was beginning to feel normal again, in that all the usual aches, pains, suffering and sweat were present more frequently.  Just the way I like it.

This week the real estate-related challenges upped their game, so I upped mine as well, but at the expense of my rides.  I rode only 3 days, totaling 115 miles, but I saved an escrow and it should close by month's end (should being the operative word).

A couple Sundays ago we rode our singles with some fast folks and I hung on for 19+ miles at 24 mph before I finally cracked.  Chris circled back to pick me up, as the rest of the group hammered on when he asked if anyone was going to regroup.  That dealt a blow to my confidence, as I can usually hang with those riders.  Reaching into my bag of excuses, I find that "really busy selling houses, not enough time to train" works well here.

So today I woke up with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach.  Chris made coffee and breakfast and as we were running late, we drove our bikes 6 mi. to the meeting place. (Oh, the shame!)  There were 5 of us total and while the pace was brisk, it wasn't stupidly fast, so I was able to pull as well as keep up with the paceline.  Towards the end, on the last hill, I found my climbing legs and went up like a mountain goat.  Finally!  I've been waiting for that all season!  32 miles, Steiger/Cantelow/Steiger included, avg. 19.3 mph.  I was so excited I worked 3 hrs. weeding, etc. in the back yard before my nap.

Tomorrow I'm submitting a short-sale package to a bank, with appendages crossed that it's accepted.  It'll be a day off the bike.  Colin's coming to town Tuesday so we'll have a family ride Tuesday evening.  I'm giving my 1st of 2 speeches in my quest to become elected as President-elect of my local Association of Realtors (R).  I'm looking forward to that smackdown, oh yes.

Return to Normal

Ha...and that's entirely dependent on your definition of normal.

For me, that means working hard and playing harder.  So my weekly mileage is up to 174.6.  Finally!  And the legs are holding up, so I'm doing something right.

Wrote 5 offers this last week, too, one of which was countered and accepted.  One was rejected outright.  The others are in limbo until Tuesday.

Yesterday Chris and some hang gliding friends painted the house of a fellow pilot who was devastatingly injured in a crash last year.  He's out of rehab but his house needed work.  One of his friends organized 2 work crews, one to do the prep work on Friday, the other to knock out the painting.  Mission accomplished.

I'm impressed with the HG community, even smaller and tigthter than  the cycling community.  That's some good karma they put out this weekend.

We had a few of them over to dinner last night; an impromptu potluck that included new people (to me), kids and a dog.  The visiting dog was overwhelmed by the excitement, but as she leads a quiet life, I understood the stress.  Our dogs and the kids had great fun together.  And the adults enjoyed the occasion as well.  The day was a win all the way around.

Today, for the first time in years, my phone didn't ring.  No clients called to see property or write an offer or want to list.  We had a recovery (for me) tandem ride and pulled some new cyclists into the headwind and shared successes via cycling.  Rewarding.

We were flying home with the tailwind, really ramping up the speed, hardly sweating despite the temps, when we had a flat.  And so it goes.

Tour de France, patio time, low-key hanging out completed the day.  What a great weekend!