Turtle = 2, Badger = Negative 0

The Badger & I decide to ride from my house yesterday. I rode a whopping 38 miles last week, and it was a pretty good headwind from the south. We "warm up" together, and get out in the country, when he starts taking massive pulls into the wind. I can barely stay on his wheel, I'm dying here, please, relief! He continues to look back, smiling at me, watching me suffer like a dog, laughing to himself on the inside the whole time. This goes on for 2.5 hours. (GREAT ride though!)

After we were done with that 44 miler, I said, "what are you trying to kill me"? He replies "Hey, you wanted to get back in shape right"? Well yeah! I responded, just not in one night, if that's OK with you"! I thought he was going to have me put to pasture when we were done!

Round two: We decide to ride again tonight, same conditions, windy, hot etc. He's telling me that he can beat me on the flat sections, and ESPECIALLY on the hills, because I am a turtle: stout, slow, awkward and most of the time not too bright. He of course is a badger: fast, lean, smart and a killer.

OK, bright eyes, let's see what The Badger can do to an old fat turtle, with a broken leg for that account! Coming back into the tail wind, I lit it up to about 35 miles per hour, the badger responded, but must've been on lunch break with his buddy The Hare, because the turtle won that sprint. Oh, his excuse for getting beaten was that he didn't get out of the saddle, and he didn't have the right gear, and he missed his doggie, and he forgot his good luck charm, blah, blah, blah. Ive heard them all by now.

So, he lays down the challenge. One final sprint, UP HILL, like really UP HILL, behind my house, mega up hill, really steep. He will give me a head start, so he says. I, of course being the noble turtle, accept the challenge, and know that no matter what, the badger will be beat at his own game! Even if it KILLS me.

The Turtle called The Badger at the start of the uphill sprint, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring.......The Badger looked at the phone, ringing, and didn't even have the strength to answer it he was so exhausted & humiliated from the whooping I threw down. After he sees this Blob posting, I think there are going to be many more sore nights for me, via "pain-o-grams" issued by The Badger himself!

Turtle = 2
Badger = Negative 0

Fans of Edgar

Saw Dr. Watson last week, pretty un-eventful. X-rays still show the fracture, blah, blah, blah. He said he was as disappointed (he didn't exactly use that word) as I was, but eventually, he states that they all heal. We agreed to meet in two months for the follow up. He was swamped with patients, and then got called into trauma surgery.




I have been trying to lose this thing, with some success, I believe. I have been able to get around, short distances without the cane, unless it gets bad, like at the end of the day, and my leg/ankle starts swelling up, and the pain becomes more than what I would like to bare!




My PT, Darvis recommended a "heel lift" for my left leg, since it is about 1/2" - 3/4" shorter than my right, post surgery. I have been using it this week, and it takes a little getting used to, but I think it has helped. When I was trying to scoot around without it, my lower back, right hip & knee would end up compensating so much for the height difference, it was quite painful. I am going to continue to try this, and see if an orthopedic insert would be worth the investment for a full time strategy.

Been doing some riding, but not as much as I would "like" to do, oh well. I have been showing up at the Tuesday Night Training Races with the local racers, and trying to mix-it-up with them. I cannot do this well at this time. I usually make it about 1-2 miles with the group, then get dropped like a bad habit. I guess the 600 miles I have in for the year don't really match up to their 3000 -4000 miles that most of them have in by now. Oh well, I'll get there, one of these days. It's more important for me to show up, get dropped, ride the next 30 miles by myself, than to do nothing at this point.


Here's Edgar. He's is the president of my fan club. He's working on a recruitment drive right now, but, if you can imagine, he does things reallllllyyyyyy slow. That's OK with me. He started the fan club at the beginning of the year, of which I am flattered. He tells me every day that he's out there, recruiting, pitching the benefits & features of the club, and has gotten great feedback. I looked at the fan club roster this morning, and it hasn't changed much since the beginning though. The list is as follows: 1. Edgar 2. Gina 3. Sam 4. Darby

I guess you have to start somewhere......

Turtles & Ducks

G&I spent a 4-day weekend at Lake of the Ozarks, Osage Beach, MO. last weekend We needed to get away for some time, as it has been a while. We have stayed the last couple of times at the most cool, secluded place in the area, the infamous "Mallard Point Resort"


G used to stay there as a kid, and it consists of several "cottages" that you can rent, as well as full houses etc. We always get cottage # 2, right on the water. Bruce, the owner is a really cool dude.
It's a 1 bedroom cottage, with a full kitchen, bathroom & awesome balcony to veg out on. We spent our time going out to eat a couple of nights, and ate spaghetti at home one night. It was awesome!








Here's the pic from our balcony, right out the back door. Perfect for a couple of afternoon naps in the sun, watching sunsets and having breakfast & coffee in the am.













G ran the trail every morning, and I went over to Ozark State Park to ride my bike, as the traffic is so bad in the area, unless you believe that you are tougher than a car (you're not) than you have to go to the park to ride. Did some loops in the park on Saturday & Sunday, and it was HOT & HILLY! Geez, I probably looked like the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile going up-hill on some of these climbs!
On Sunday's ride, I saw a bunch of turtles crossing the road (I think they were heading to church). I told G that they came out to cheer me on! There was one little turtle, named Edgar, who would stick his head out of his shell every time I passed and yelled, in turtle language of course "GO Steve"!!!!!!!