Wow - this is probably some kind of record for this time of year. It's been over a month since my last post(?!). The main reason for this is very little/no racing. In fact, despite the Rent' races starting for the year on May 15, due to weather cancellations there have only been two actual races - and I missed one of those due to work. I'm certainly not in race shape, and no racing means no race reports, means little blog fodder.
But, like you, I've been busy. Mrs Suitcase and I have been doing some long-overdue yardwork. Like 5 years overdue. We haven't done much but mow the grass since we moved here July 2007. But we're making up for that now. Thanks to riding friend Steve (and his Bobcat and 20yd dumpster), we got rid of a HUGE brush pile that's been nagging me - and nagging the Mrs even more - for far too long. And Kim - another riding friend - turned me on to a very inexpensive sourch of bark chip mulch. Five (5) truckloads later, and the ol' plantation is finally starting to look like someone lives here. We even have little baby grasses sprouting up where the brushpile used to be!
When I haven't been doing yard work, I've been doing house work - but that at least has been fun. I may have mentioned that every week (when work doesn't interfere), a bunch of guys come over to catalog the photo archive holdings of the New Haven Railroad Historical & Technical Association. We have quite a library - over 15,000 images and growing - and we've already catalogued almost 9,000. But all those holdings have been taking over the former "bonus room"/den, so I've been buying and installing heavy-duty shelving and generally moving/organizing stuff to make things work better. It's been a fun project, but it takes time.
Speaking of railroad stuff, another reason for not riding or writing this past month is that I went to the New England Proto Meet and actually did a presentation/clinic with my friend Randy on the steam locomotives of the New Haven Railroad. Randy did most of the prep and I took care of most of the photos, but we did the presentation together. Friday was tough since it was SOOOOO nice outside, but Saturday was nice and rainy - perfect for being indoors anyway.
"Rainy" - actually cold & rainy. That's been the hallmark of the last month and a half. It's felt more like early October than May/June. And with so many races being cancelled, and so little riding, it's been tough for me to get in the blogging mood. But that's soon to change. The weekend's weather forecast looks sunny and warm, the long term forecast looks good for Tuesday night's Rent' race, and my next "real" race is <gulp> the CT State Crit Championships at East Hartford on June 24th. Otherwise known as the Keith Berger Memorial Criterium, it's sure to be a sufferfest - especially given my (lack of) form lately. But I'm looking forward to the butt kicking seeing all the usual suspects and friendly faces - and looking even more forward to finally getting this summer going!
Comments