Cheers to the Weekend!

Saturday started nice because I slept really well Friday night. Our "Margot countermeasures" worked like a champ, as she slept the entire night and made no fuss going into her crate.  I was a little worried that I was going to encounter either rain or wet pavement on my ride but the storms either died out over the mountains or missed us.  Started out a bit windy but there was a discernible increase in the wind speed as the ride progressed. NW winds, of course, which means in the direction of the upward slopes and worst of the hills. Conversely, the tailwinds were lovely and had me hauling azz. I rode my Eclipse and after spending most of the last week on my ti Seven, I really enjoyed the nice feel of riding a steel bike!  The noteworthy moment on this 43 mile ride was encountering a dude, dressed in a black "wife beater" shirt and black shorts, who saluted me by waving  his skateboard at me and saying "cheers."  As I said "hey" and as I passed by, he climbed on his board and went in the other direction. The board really was a piece of art---there were bright designs painted on it and it was a shiny black.  Moments like that make it worthwhile to drag myself out early before the usual crowd of non-interesting citizens hog up the trail!

We went swimming and quite to our surprise, it was just about deserted. Probably because a group of autistic kids was scheduled to show up.  In any event, I had the lap lane to myself for my entire 80 lap swim. It was partly sunny and not super warm.  When we got home, we had another big pizza, then I took a two-hour nap. 

Sunday began with a chilly 46 mile ride. It was in the low 60s and humidity was quite low. The sky was completely clear, so I was able to enjoy the lovely early morning stars and a bright crescent moon. Rode my Eclipse again. It was an uneventful ride, which was just what I needed. After I got home, I got each of the girls out for her walk.  "Alone time" with mommy!  LOL. Margot is getting better and better on her leash, taking it in her mouth, just like Fiona, and pulling me along.  "I'm in charge, this way, pick up the pace please."  Her harness is getting a bit tight, so next week, I'm probably going to have to break out the next size one. 

We got to the pool, right before scheduled opening time to find madness. Today was the swim team's "family" time--an annual event where they take over the pool for two hours before opening. Despite efforts by management to get them out, many of them stayed. The head life guard, Igor--a fractious Serbian, said to me, "good luck finding room to swim."  I replied, "well, you'll get them out of the way for me!"  LOL  I was able to find us some lounge chairs and the lap lane was vacant, aside from some woman, standing in the water next to the ladder talking to a pal.  In the adjacent area of the pool, there was a rowdy game of keep away going on, the object of which was this big pink beach ball.  It, of course, kept coming into the lap area as I was swimming. After nicely but very stridently asking the kids to keep out of the way (they would linger in the lap area when fetching the errant ball), they were more or less courteous.  I ended up swimming 80 laps in about 70 minutes.  Brian read and napped on his chair. Thank God it's a once-a-season event. The old lady (aka Flipper) showed about after about 25 minutes, so I moved myself to the further side of the lap area so she would be furthest way from the rascals and their antics.  Later, she thanked me.  She, too, was annoyed by the crowd and their rudeness.  

It was a decent day, weather-wise, mostly cloudy but cooler than usual for this time of year.  No nap, which probably was just as well since tomorrow is back to the grind.