What’s not to like? The day began on what could have been a bad note, waking up at 6:35am, 20 minutes before the alarm is set to go off. I briefly thought about getting up, but instead thought hey, maybe I can just get back to sleep, and I did. Can’t tell you how it works, but when the alarm did go off at 6:55am, I felt like I must have had an hour or two sleep since waking up. Amazing! So how does that work?. Doesn’t make any sense at all. Just happy that it does.

Also happy that Kevin’s kidney stone pain wasn’t so bad. And really happy that the skies were clear with not a hint of the rain that was supposedly coming in later in the day. Of course, Kevin was happier with his 25-something time than I was with my 28-something, but I was able to keep him in sight for at least the first quarter of the climb. And the funny thing about happiness is that it creates more opportunities to be happy, probably because you’re more confident, and that confidence took me to my first sprint victory at Sky Londa in a while. It was a blast; heading down that final drop, sneaking up on George, Keith and Kevin, then sling-shotting forward off each, passing the last (Kevin) just before the line. Perfect timing, and much-improved confidence on the descent leading into it. They had a good hundred meters or more on me early-on, but it didn’t matter, because I knew I could close that gap.

And the various walkers and joggers in Woodside all seemed happy too. Especially the dog in the photo. What a great day to be out on a bike! Too bad it had to end. –Mike–