I got an email this morning from Google telling me that people still visit (and maybe even read?!) this blog, which I’ve neglected, so:

What’s been going on?

Bike Racing

If you’re not watching Le Tour, you’re missing a pretty exciting year! Lots of big wins, Cav is close to a big record, MVDP was in yellow…​for a loooooong time, Wout Van Aert totally destroyed the two climbs up Mt. Ventoux — it’s been fun. And there’s been lots of very fun "me-mes" on the interwebs, too. I’m doing a lot of mechanical work at work this week (and a lot of waiting for builds to build) so it’s been nice to have on in the background.

I still haven’t watched La Course yet (but hey: a proper Women’s TdF next year?!!?!), but I’ve been following the Giro Donne on Cycling Tips and DAMN does SD Worx have a deathgrip on it. I’ve been able to see a few highlights on the 'ol YouTube and it’s fun to watch Van Der Breggen beat…​ everyone. She’s amazing. But also, Marianne Vos is also amazing. 30! 30!

Bike Riding and Other Bike Stuff

I’ve been able to get out quite a bit — if not for super long rides — and I’ve even been able to get some good rides in with friends. Apparently the tires that I put on two+ years ago have worn out…​so I need to fix that, but unfortunately my rim tape on the rear was toast, too. Luckily, I have a pair of tires (not the ideal tires, but they’re good tires and I can live with mini-gravel knobs for a while), and my friend Jim opened a new shop, Battle Road Bikes, up in Arlington, MA, and he was able to get me some new tubeless rim tape. Yay, Jim!

I think I mentioned in a previous post that the Schwinn is dead (long live the Schwinn) but actually this time: the headtube is ovaled and it’s not worth trying to repair. I did manage to sell the replacement I’d built up that ended up too large for me, so I have a little cash in my pocket when it comes time to build up this bike my brother’s left for me in MO: I’m excited to build a bike again, I’m annoyed that parts are so hard to come by right now. Still: bikes!

Reading and Writing

I’ve updated the reading page so that’s what I’ve been reading. Writing is going slowly but it’s going, you know? I’ve at least caught up on my correspondence, which was…​lagging.


That seems fine for now. Suffice to say that — now fully vaccinated — I’ve spent a lot of time lately with friends, catching up, trying to reacquaint myself with the world. More maybe soon. Maybe.