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Day’s Verse:
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
1 Corinthians 9:25-27
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Here I am, usurping Ian’s perfectly nice post. He even picked a Verse of the Day that applies! What a husband! –I mention how fabulous Ian is because today we celebrate our FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. I know. I can hardly believe it myself, frankly. Although we can’t decide whether the time has flown or dragged (since in reality it’s marched along at the exact same pace it always does), I can say that we have had an overall wonderful five years, overcoming some tough obstacles and growing closer together, closer to God, and more in love all the time. Here’s to ten times as many more years together in the future as we’ve had so far!

The bike ride that usurped our huge anniversary bash (catch the sarcasm there?) was the Bike MS Manchester Bike Ride, which I did for free as a VIP of the Cape Cod Getaway. Here’s me all perky and cheerful before leaving:

And here’s the rather amazing picture Ian took of me coming in as I finished:

He only got one good picture of me coming in, because, as he said, I was “going too fast.” Music to my ears. You just can’t tell how much my legs were burning at that point. As it turns out, doing a metric century (62 miles) almost a month after I finished doing long training rides kind of hurts. I did one fairly easy 50-mile ride last weekend, but clearly I have a lot of riding ahead to stay in shape for the Tour de Landry’s in mid-October.

Despite my out-of-shapeness, everything else with the ride went swimmingly. We got there with no problem. The weather proved quite amenable, refraining from thunderstorms the entire time but also remaining in the high 70s and not too humid, beautiful cycling weather. Regardless, I sweated outrageously on the climbs, with sweat literally running down my arms and legs. Mmmmmm. The well-marked route, which had about six SAG stops, had a couple of scenic points where we had climbed up high enough to see what I think was Mt. Monadnock in the distance, plus all the lovely big thunderclouds. Say what you will, but I love thunder clouds with their perfectly flat, dark undersides and huge billowing cloud mass above it. Something about that shape appeals to me. At the end they had a free barbecue, which even supplied me with a pretty decent veggie burger. As 60-mile rides go, I’ve had ones where I felt better, but I haven’t had many better supported or planned out.

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Ian here. Katie is off on another MS Society bike ride today. This time its an easy 62 mile ride around beautiful Manchester, NH. This time her camera worked so i was able to get some shots of her before she left. Here’s a couple of picture of Katie from the starting point (warning this are fairly large images):

Katie in front of the river
Katie in front of the river close up
Another picture of Katie in front of the river
The river behind Katie