Traverse City

This is turning out to be a great weekend. Cindy is always the party planner and she planned this weekend. I hijacked it. I'm not sure but I think she was envisioning going to quaint vineyards with me and her girlfriends and their husbands. We would sit in Tammy's cottages and discuss wines and the best way to blanch vegetables. I couldn't imagine anything worse. I am way too white trash for all that.

Laura's husband, Paul, signed up for the Iceman earlier this year so I told him to bring his bike and we would pre-ride part of the course. Paul has a catering business that specializes in small, upper end parties. He is cooking for us this weekend. Amazing. Cindy's other friend, Rene (Emilie and Allie's first and second grade teacher), is a hard core runner who also does the Iceman along with her husband Mike. I contacted Rene through Facebook and casually mentioned there was a bike race this weekend near Traverse City. She immediately pre-registered for the race. I dig her. Typically I just do what I am told (a skill I learned from strict Evangelical Christian parents and honed during 12 years of public schooling) but slowly I was turning this ship around from a wine tasting weekend to a mountain biking weekend, or at the very least, a little of both.

Key to my scheme was to talk Denny and his wife into coming up for the weekend. Denny is very funny and I knew this would change the dynamics of the weekend. Den and his wife are racing the Iceman on a tandem and are getting ready for cross season so talking them into the race in Grayling this weekend was easy. And there was suppose to be a pig roast at the end of the race and they are burning a Huffy, like a sacrificial lamb I guess, much better that nibbling on Bluefish Pate at a vineyard. I called Tammy and asked if she had any more cabins available this weekend for Denny and Barb. She did. Sweet.

We did the Hartick Pines to Hanson Hills race this morning. It was interesting. Everyone got lost. Everyone would have gotten lost even if some hooligans didn't steal the signs on the course. It was a beautiful day and I got in a hard ride. Nothing else really matters right now.