Back Behind Bars.. The List of Possibilities for fall.

Finally.  Back behind bars. 

Four weeks have gone by since the surgery, and release is official.  The exercise ban is lifted.  Hooray!  Even though it's been a month of no-to-low-mileage recovery, it's hard to think in terms of easing back into riding.  There are just so many events available in the fall.  All I want to do is to jump in on both pedals. 

Boy, I hate to see summer end.  Getting up in the dark. Sunsets earlier and earlier.  And eventually, shoes.  With socks.   

Took the lights along for the ride last night - and used them.

Oh, fall has advantages.  Crispy clear days.  Open windows. Turning off the Sunday alarm.  Ride any time of day.  Or at least you could if there weren't such a full schedule of events.  Like century rides.  And mountain bike racing.  And trail runs.  

Keep that alarm clock within reach after all. 

There's not much that's new on The List of Possibilities from last year.  It's always longer than would be possible, even if you could be in two places at once.  Or some days, three.  Some weekends could be as much about juggling as riding.  

Any choice is possible.  Except for sleeping in.



The List of Possibilities - Fall 2011

Sept. 4     8 Hours of Labor  (Stupid surgery!)

Sept 24    6 Gap Century - Dahlonega, Ga.  (Not me.  It's possible for Popeye, though, and Ft. Clinch is on the way home...)

Sept 25    3 Gap - fifty miles

Sept 25    Ft Clinch - mtn bike race.  Goneriding FSC#2


Oct 1     Set the alarm!  6 AM  Register Tour de Felasco 

And since you're up early, throw the mtn bike in the car and get to Gainesville.

Oct 1     Hailes Trails open to public for 1 day

Oct 2     Hailes Trails - mtn bike race.  Goneriding FSC#3

Or ride Hailes one day and Withlacoochee Trail the next.

Oct 2     Rails to Trails Ride - Withlacoochee

Oct 8     John Holmes 50k and 16m run - Croom

Oct 8     Rocky Raccoon Revenge  - 8 hours of Raccoon Mt - Chattanooga.  Goneriding.  (Wouldn't this be an even nicer finish to the 6 gap than Ft. Clinch?  The 6 gap, a few days camping at Tsali or Occoee, and then the Rocky Raccoon?)  

Because it's not likely any of that will happen... more choices closer to home.

Oct 9     Ride 4 ABreast - Melbourne

Oct 9     Tour de Vero

Oct 15  Tour of KSC - Be nice to your space center friends.  This one is invitation only.

Riding the runway at KSC, 2010.

Oct 15    Mt Dora Century and Metric Century

Oct 16    Stay over for the Mt Dora Assault on Sugarloaf, or pack both bikes again, and head to the west coast instead.

Oct 16    Alafia - mtn bike race - Goneriding FSC#4

Oct 22    Santa Fe Century - Gainesville

Uh oh.  Way too many choices for a Santa Fe follow-up.  Felasco, du, or Horsefarm, I'm taking the Superfly.  (A second century should be cushy.)

Oct 23    Horsefarm Hundred  

Horsefarm Hundred 2010

More than just horses.

Oct 23    Felasco - mtn bike race - Goneriding FSC#5  

Oct 23    Dirthead (off road) Tri and Du - Croom.  Much as I love the water, if the gators are anywhere near the size they are at the Econ...  Just sayin'.   Tri or du, it's up to you.  I know what I'd du.

Oct 30    Intracoastal Waterway Century - Cocoa


Nov 6     XTerra Wildhorse Trail Run - 1/2 marathon, 10m, 10k, 4m

Nov 20   Horrible Hundred - Clermont  (West Orange Trail is a 60 mile alternative if you don't feel like riding with the roadies.)

Nov 20   XC marathon, 30k, half marathon, 5k - Alafia


Dec 1     Santos - mtn bike race - Goneriding FSC#5 

Dec 9-11  Highland Bike Fest

Jan 14  Tour de Felasco

Feb (date tbd)  Croom Fifty


It's good to be back behind bars.  My body's got some work to do to catch up with my head, though.   So many choices!

Right this minute the possibilities are nearly as endless.  

Dishes.  Laundry.  Bridge repeats. 

Nap?  



  

Confessions of a Mermaid's Mom

Seaside (The Shadow Over Earth) (Kindle Edition)

By Lindsay and Trevor If

5 STARS to Lindsay and Trevor If for creating a truly original alternate universe. A universe where a decision as mundane as what to wear to school can mean life or death. Where unearthly magic and a history of human sacrifice are as close as the church on the corner. Where the ultimate drug is as near as the beach.  But all is not darkness and strife. Making friends at a new school, figuring out your best color, and asking a boy to the homecoming dance, are all perfectly blended into a slow reveal of magic and a hidden underwater world.  Ashley Dunlop, high school sophomore, must find and reveal her own true colors, not just in her wardrobe choices, but in her quest to make an imperfect world into a better place.  The ending leaves one teetering on the shoreline of a secret alternate universe wondering, what's next?  I can't possibly imagine, but I bet the Ifs can, and I am ready to plunge into the next book of this series the instant it comes out.
 

Wow, what a review!  Five stars!  A review so glowing it's like something your mother might write.
 
But hey, you can read it too, and write a glowing review of your own.  Which can be really fun, especially if you know the author (or the author's mom).

To read the book, no need to own a Kindle.  The Kindle app for iPhone, Android, or your PC, is free. 

 http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311  

"Seaside" has gone up from .99 to $2.99 though, so get it now before it takes off for double digits.  As it is surely bound to, with such glowing (and absolutely right-on) reviews.  
 
I confess that I am un-savvy to the wily ways of computer linkage and ebooks.  Anytime I access Amazon, it knows it's me.  It looks from here, that if I put up a link for you from my computer, you will be "me".   I really do love this book, and hope you do too.  But I would prefer you to buy your own copy, you know?  Besides, hey, $2.99!  5 stars!  You really can not go wrong here.  

Besides, admit it, you are dying to voice your own opinion by writing your own review.

So.  Got to amazon.com and search for "Seaside Lindsay If" and it will take you to the gorgeously illustrated turquoise-with-mermaid cover and all the (glowing) reviews.  Download to your Kindle or your phone or PC.  

You will love this novel.  Trust me.  I'm someone's mother.