Spring Doesn't Begin Until We Do This Ride

So says Big Al. And I believe him. So do the girls.For your viewing pleasure, I present a visual synopsis of Stage 2:

The Beginning


The Middle



Some Ends
Lorimer Park



Today's winner
Secret Team (don't mention the Vine to 4th Street shortcut)Relaxing at the FinishNearly featured on a milk carton
Until next week and the third and final stage....

Bowled Over

I am the raffle queen! Here's my song--just replace "dancing" with "raffle."

Evidence? In the past few years here are some of the raffles I've won:

Eagles/Redskins tix on the 30 yard line, 20 rows back (thanks, CHA)
Gore Ride On Cables (thanks, Jeff Bahnson)
Smart Wool Socks & a Camelback (thanks Sturdy Girl Cycling)
A PMBA jersery (again, thanks Sturdy Girl and PMBA)

I bought $27 worth of raffle tickets at today's Red Bowl benefit for the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and walked away with a CycleOps Fluid 2 trainer and Go Philadelphia socks, cap, and jersey. MANY thanks to Brian of Keswick Cycles for donating the trainerand Jeff for donating the Go Philadelphia stuff. Look at this sartorial sweet sweetness:
This all made up for my stunning defeat at the Goldsprint race. My 11-year old son crushed me by 2 seconds. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Those bikes must be rigged. Sigh. The boy heard of my raffle victory while he was downstairs bowling with Aunt Stacey and family. The announcer had the nerve to say, "This should make up for your son beating you." It sort of did. Sort of.

What really made up for it was our sneaking out to Capogiro. My raffle luck spilled over into parking luck and I found a spot less than 100 yards south of Capogiro on 13th Street. I violated Kelly Cline's sage advice of "less, more often" and dove right into a cup of Thai Coconut Milk, chocolate banana, and Nutella gelato. I can't say "no" to this:
Perhaps I'll work it off tomorrow on Stage Two of the Spring Classic. Or on my sweet new trainer.

The RED BOWL was fun and a great opportunity to chat with people I haven't seen in ages because of snow, life, and other distractions. If you missed it this year, definitely put it on the schedule for next year.

For now, "The night is young and the music's high."

2010 Spring Classic: Part 1

Part one, which may very well be the first and final part for me. Who am I kidding? I'll be back next week.

Here's some photos of week one. I sort of explained the route in my Examiner article. Sort of.
Here we are circling City Hall:
Al's pal Brett arrived with a truckful of food. Sweet! Damien digs in.
The girls. All four of us. Until WFSG suffered catastrophic failure. Next week, Stace. Next week.
A brief respite at Al's house. Unfortunately, the backyard luge wasn't operational.
I've been tired lately. Really tired. Can't get much gumption up about anything. Work. Riding. Writing. I just want to lie around and eat stiff that's bad for me. Have you tried Kettle Corn? The caramel kind? Transcendental.

I need spring. Today I wore a spring outfit to work with the intention of willing spring into being. If you wear it, it will come. I really need spring.

Maybe 2 more classics will do the trick.