this is gonna be HUGE! and complex machines...

 Last night was our first official group run night, and we had 5 people show up. It's funny,  I had a Michael Scott (from the TV show "The Office") level of enthusiasm LOL. I'm thrilled to see how we kicked off last night. Like I said all along, I didn't think it took much to get this going outside of having the idea and getting the word out there. :) It was a great way to start, and I'm sure it will only grow with time. I was thrilled to see a number of people show up!
 I managed to get a ride on the mountain bike in after the run due to the long days of summer being at it's peak. Looks like the trails are finally ready (dry) to be ridden! WAY overdue because of all the rains we have had during the last month. So I spent the ride continuing to make minor adjustments to the seat height, bar height etc. The one thing I noticed (and drives me crazy) is the fact that there a LOT of adjustments to make on a full suspension mountain bike, but once you find the sweet spots, you notice it. I'm not there yet but as these "adjustment rides" have continued (while waiting for the trails to dry out), I've begun to have  moments where I notice some pretty noticable improvements and things feel right. YES it is tedious but like I said, when your sitting in the right spot, the benefits of the bike become evident. SUCKS to have that Eddy Merckx criticalness in adjustment mentality, but the end results are worth the time and 420 adjustments it takes to get there LOL. Plans are to hit the trails later today to get some much needed dirt time in, and the 4th is the annual 4th of July 100k. Every year I try to break3 hours, it has become a solo break away effort ride, and I'm lookin to once again meet my mark. It's all about personal goal setting, be it a race for some, or in my case winning a stage of the tour by soloing away and "stretching the elastic"as Phil Liggitt would say while commentating on my inspiring solo effort ;)

Tomorrow I'm off to Naperville's Rib fest to catch Sammy Hagar in concert. Sammys is a HUGE part of my defining young adult years, and when he joined the MIGHTY Van Halen, I was in musical nirvana. I've seen EVERYTHING he's done since the early 80's starting with up front at Chicago Fest back in 83, witnessed the first time he and EddieVan Halen shared a stage down at the first FarmAid concert, been down to Cabo and met him at his annual birthday bash...You get the picture? Not gonna miss this one, should be fun!

2 of my favorite front men - Michael Stipe, and SAMMY!
ROCK (and ride) ON...
Ray