Two week mark

As Sunday June 14 looms, we continue to arrange, pack, plan and believe. Karina begins her final exams on Tuesday this coming week. We rode yesterday to the area park and went for a swim in the lake (we were the only one's in the water! I can tell you that I was in for only moments, but Karina (who seems to be part polar bear) was in for considerably longer).

The ride was great and I try (without driving Karina nuts) to use the opportunities to do some coaching around bike protocol and safety issues. We took a short ride with Lilah and another friend, and that was interesting to see a lot of the coaching go right out the window! It reminded me of many years ago when I lead tours for teenage kids. I am happy for the moment that we are a small group, and that I don't have 12 other kids to wonder about all the time!

Karina has decided that hills are annoying and that it is rather unfair that there always seems to be an uphill before a downhill (rather than the other way around). We looked at the maps for CO, and in fact she is right, there are quite a few uphills in advance of some chilling downhills. And I can tell you, the uphills are somewhat chilling in their own right. At least uphill we are creeping forward, where once over the top the "creeping uphill" will become "screaming downhill"!

Speed starts to magnify the turning aspects of the recumbents, so relatively small turn adjustments at the controls can yield sharp action for the cycle. While there is great fun in this capacity in slower speeds, I am sure that I'll be all over Karina regarding the steeps.

But, for today, another really nice day here in Western MA; sun, cool, and breakfast on the table!