Steve Driscoll-Because It Is About The Bike!: Off to a Good Start!

G&I went to one of our favorite Midwestern cities for the celebration of a New Year, St. Louis, MO on Tuesday. I brought my bike, and G brought her workout clothes. We had a tall list to accomplish, working out, relaxing, going to the world famous St. Louis zoo etc.

Here is the dinosaurs that live in Forest Park. They were hanging out, counting laps as I went by.

Wednesday am, 26 degrees, 30 mph winds, feels like 14 degrees. I rode down to Forest Park for a ride and G worked out at the gym. I did 5 laps, make them 5 VERY cold laps for a 2+ hour ride at 190 watt average overall, not too bad. I think I had almost every piece of winter gear on me, and I did "OK".

After that, it was the zoo. I love the St. Louis Zoo, and almost all zoos in general, as I love animals. G&I had a blast there. It was cold, and I was VERY tired and sore from the weather and hardware related problems, but we did it, and I loved every minute.

Wednesday evening, we had dinner at the Ritz, and it was awesome! We partied in the Lobby Lounge afterwards. They had a great crowd, an awesome swing band playing, some hotel guests, some locals etc. I ate too much, drank too many beers, but hey, it's New Years Eve! In bed by 11 pm.

Oh, we had to leave by 7:30 am, so I could ride with Uncle Gary and my Team Mack teammates in Springfield, IL. G dropped me off on the way home, and we went out for a wonderful, 24 degree, 30 mph 2+ hour ride! I did a New Year's ride with The Team a couple of times before, last in 2007, which turned out to be a great year for me. I decided that I needed a full on-slaught of Uncle Gary & Crew to kick off my 2009, and it will be a great year as well.