Long Time No Blog!

Yeah....sorry 'bout that! (At least.....I apologise to the 2 or 3 of you that actually read this!) It's been full-tilt-boogie crazyness here @ Cool Bike Shop #1 and I've had lots better luck thinkin' 'bout bloggin' that doing it! The little Blogger-Dashboard-Thingy sez that it's been since April since I checked in..............hard to believe but we all know that computers are smart and don't lie, right? (Heavy sarcasm mode - off)

So..........what's gone down since then, eh?

Well........we did a quick trip to the desert for a dose of that sweet Fruita singletrack w/ a red rocks/cowboy blue sky chaser in Moab. 3 days of great riding w/ son Samuel, Doez, Gid and CD. Well worth the drive and the effort. I gotta say..........the riding @ The Bookcliffs north of Fruita is basically the coolest stuff ever! And that's coming from a self-admitted Moabaphile that's been visiting that area for 20 years now. Not a helluva lot to gaze in wonder upon in Fruita mebbe, but the riding is 100% Prime! (If you go.......do not skip a visit to the Hot Tomatoe Cafe downtown...my new fav.)

Lots of changes @ the shop..............Rachel and Jacque G are gone (or almost), joining Lee in the unexpected and unprecedented Spring Exodus. On the other hand....Jeff's been awesome, Da've and Sandy are kickin' serious arse and the rest of us are takin' our pulls @ the front whenever we can. We hired New Guy Aaron to help Ted in the shop... he might look familiar to you if you've been hangin' out downstairs @ The Outpost in the last year or so and we think he's gonna be a great addition to our little family. Biz has been good and the response to our Weekly Rides, Fun-Raiser Series, Bike School offerings and other "projects" has been great. (Details? Check the website!)

The party we threw for the MS-150 riders last weekend was a total blast. We musta had 300-400 riders stop in for snacks, deals on clothing, bike repair emergencies and/or to avail themselves of our resident C.M.T Joy Wilkins and and the restorative power of her massage skills. ( I call her every time I'm hurtin' extra!). We're already makin' plans to go bigger and harder next year!

The JDRF Team is gettin' together, riding and fund-raising and it looks to be a banner season. In our 3rd year we have nearly 60 riders, making us a "Top-5" team in the U.S. of A. and the first ride in Whitefish MT is only about 8 weeks away. (Yikes!)

The Holland Hundred Tour is only 5 weeks away........I gotta get my butt in gear and get some work done on the route!

Jeff's busy gettin' the First-Ever Velo Ventures trips off the ground...........we're runnin' behind but that's cool. We're get 'em goin' and make sure that we lay the groundwork for the future this season.

The band is gettin' busy too. (Figures!) We're playin the Fenn Valley Winery OPen House for the umpteenth time this Saturday.......at least part of it. For the forst time we're sharin' the load w/ another band, Natchez Trace, and we play from 1-3pm. (The weatherman sez 40% chance of rain. The weather's been perfect for every year that we've played. Coincedence? I think not) Then later that day we're doin' a trio thing @ The Curragh next door, so it'll be a busy day!

Speakin' of busy days...........the Lumberjack 100 was last weekend and I finally have a Finisher's Medal after 3 tries! 'Twas a l-o-n-g day but I was able to avoid the cramps and dehydration-induced dementia of past efforts and was able to get this particular monkey offa my back. Feels good. Danielle won, despite her stated intentions to do it for training and the conditions were civil enough (86 degrees, some cloud cover off and on, lower humidity than in years past) that the completion rate was 65%, which was last years' drop-out rate!

Okay, that's gonna hafta do it for now! At least I'm semi-caught up and I'll do a better job of stayin that way, okay?

Okay!

Later...MC