M.I.S.E.R.A.B.L.E

Yup. That's what it was this morning to ride north on a bike. Mis-er-a-ble. The winds were soooo strong. And when I had a cross wind, it was blowing me and my bike around so I made sure to ride 18" or so from the edge of the shoulder so I wouldn't get blown off the road. I wore long sleeves and don't think I ever broke a sweat. I rode my 42.65 mile course. A red-winged blackbird landed on my helmet again, on County 5 just west of County 3. Darn birds. Got home about 11:00 AM. I was STARVING. Had my usual bowl of oatmeal with all the fixins. The high today was a frigid 58 degrees. How cruel is that for the middle of July??? We are being gypped out of summer!!

Then it was a marathon of sorts. In the kitchen, where I can keep an eye on Ted. :-) First ...

a batch of banana bread with toasted walnuts and mini chocolate chips. Then ...

a batch of Oatmeal Super Chunk Cookies. I used dark chocolate chips (wafers), toasted pecans and chopped dried cherries. They turned out perfect today. Soft and chewy, but not dry. I'll be bringing them to the long run at the R.A.C. in the morning (7:00 AM start--15 miles scheduled--all are welcome--no membership in RTC or the RAC is needed). Bringing some banana bread too. (I can't keep all this stuff in the house!) Then ...


a batch of cherry jam. It's a coveted commodity in our house, and amongst my friends. ;-) I am 1 cup short of having enough for another batch, so I'll go pick some more tomorrow. I also promised Matt a pie so I'll make that tomorrow, too. Thanks to Matt for pitting all these cherries for me. Saved me lots of time!

I registered my entries for the Olmsted County Fair. I've entered: Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Drop Cookies, Snickerdoodles ("other drop cookie"), banana bread, and the HyVee Chocolate Baking Contest. Entries are due 7/27 between 8 AM and 8 PM. It's going to be a busy day. I remember last year's fair baking day: blistering hot. I drove down with the air on high in the car and didn't dare put the whipped cream rosettes on the dessert until I got down to the fair building where it could be wisked into the refrigerated case. Otherwise, it surely would have melted. Wish me luck!! I REALLY want a blue ribbon in Chocolate Chip Cookies. That has to be the largest lot in the field. Tough competition. But that's what I like. A challenge. :-)

Here are some more Graniteman Triathlon photos. They're from Kathy Carlson.

They're also on the St. Cloud River Runners website.

From Mario Minelli: Jeremy & Patti Ekman and I are going to run the RASC TT's which will beevery Tuesday in August--4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th. If you want tovolunteer to help out with the timing, let me us know. Details of the TT's are below and are also posted at TriRochester .

I TOTALLY forgot about the 20-minute Challenge at Running Room on Wednesday. With the events of the week, that wasn't on my radar. It wasn't on the calendar either. My bad. BTW: Ted is slowly getting better. Pain is under control. Still hard to get around. He has some metal rods sticking out of the elbow which will have to be removed at a later time. Thank you for all the good wishes and offers of help.

Thanks Eric (my son) for doing the bike-watching at TNT on Thursday. And for delivering the white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. :-) I guess there were about 20 there, even though it was pretty cold. Tough bunch, Minnesotans.

I was watching the Tour de France while I was in the kitchen today. Apparently Levi Leipheimer crashed and broke his wrist. The interviewer asked him how he felt about not being able to ride into Paris. What a question. What does he think the guy is going to say? That he's elated? Of course he's bummed. Majorly bummed!

Quote for the day: "People are like stained glass windows; they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within."

Shine your light.