Sunday, May 20, 2007
What a race!
Right after the race, they said the winning time was the fastest in history. I saw an article that mentioned two other horses had previously won the Preakness Stakes at such speed. It was an excitingly close race, there at the end, with Curlin and Street Sense. It's good for Curlin to have won, he's a beauty of a horse. However, because now the same horse doesn't have a chance to win the three races, it's too bad Street Sense didn't win. He's certainly a wonderful fast horse. Second by a touch of the nose isn't that bad. The third horse was Hard Spun. Just like the last race, he ran and ran. How strange. The same three horses that came in the first three places in the Kentucky Derby, came in the first three places of the Preakness, just different order.
I started the morning by watering my garden. I'm hoping it will give more produce than last year. Then it was off to pick up a co-working friend. We threw her bike onto the bike rack, along with mine, and headed for a trail. We rode about a mile when her pedal fell off. We put it back on, but it wouldn't tighten very much. She rode a couple yards and it fell off, again. Some young guys came by and she asked them if they had a wrench. The one guy says to the other, "you have an allen wrench, don't you?" I said, "not an allen wrench," but they didn't listen, and pulled out a pack of allen wrenches. One had a bright idea of getting some hardy twigs and using them to tighten the pedal. It didn't work because the branches were too brittle. We thanked them and I said I would go back to the car and get pliars or a wrench. My friend said she would start walking the bike back. I got back to the car and pulled out the tool bag, strapped it to the bike, rode back. We tightened both pedals and rode some more. We were planning, originally, on riding four miles up and four back. She told me she had a meeting a little later, so we needed to start back. All total, she got to ride five miles, and I rode about seven.
She said she was going to be sore in the morning. She apologized that I didn't get to ride the whole eight miles, but I was satisfied. Sure, it's not the 50 miles I rode, one day, several years ago, or the 30 miles my friend (the one that was in the accident April 06) and I would ride a couple times a summer, but it was something. It was the first real ride I've done this year. We can ride farther next time. My other friend couldn't join us, but she thought eight miles would be good to get her started riding again, too. We will do that, soon.
After that, my sister came over and we headed out for her birthday meal. Of course, we had to pick up a couple growlers of that yummy green chili beer. The restaurant has tables outside and the day was perfect. Not too cold, not too hot. The food was delicious, and the beer we consumed was marvelous. Stuffed and ready to watch the race, we headed to my place. After the race she headed home, but for me, it was naptime!
I started the morning by watering my garden. I'm hoping it will give more produce than last year. Then it was off to pick up a co-working friend. We threw her bike onto the bike rack, along with mine, and headed for a trail. We rode about a mile when her pedal fell off. We put it back on, but it wouldn't tighten very much. She rode a couple yards and it fell off, again. Some young guys came by and she asked them if they had a wrench. The one guy says to the other, "you have an allen wrench, don't you?" I said, "not an allen wrench," but they didn't listen, and pulled out a pack of allen wrenches. One had a bright idea of getting some hardy twigs and using them to tighten the pedal. It didn't work because the branches were too brittle. We thanked them and I said I would go back to the car and get pliars or a wrench. My friend said she would start walking the bike back. I got back to the car and pulled out the tool bag, strapped it to the bike, rode back. We tightened both pedals and rode some more. We were planning, originally, on riding four miles up and four back. She told me she had a meeting a little later, so we needed to start back. All total, she got to ride five miles, and I rode about seven.
She said she was going to be sore in the morning. She apologized that I didn't get to ride the whole eight miles, but I was satisfied. Sure, it's not the 50 miles I rode, one day, several years ago, or the 30 miles my friend (the one that was in the accident April 06) and I would ride a couple times a summer, but it was something. It was the first real ride I've done this year. We can ride farther next time. My other friend couldn't join us, but she thought eight miles would be good to get her started riding again, too. We will do that, soon.
After that, my sister came over and we headed out for her birthday meal. Of course, we had to pick up a couple growlers of that yummy green chili beer. The restaurant has tables outside and the day was perfect. Not too cold, not too hot. The food was delicious, and the beer we consumed was marvelous. Stuffed and ready to watch the race, we headed to my place. After the race she headed home, but for me, it was naptime!
