Just got back from cheering Debbie on to the finish line at the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Marathon. She did very well and then had the energy to walk with us to Uwaijimaya for lunch. We said goodby to her at the bus stop as she went back to her hotel for a much needed rest and Yangguang, the boys and I went to catch our bus back to Tacoma.

Although I am unable to do my event (I am still not able to ride) we still raised over $4000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Thank you to everyone who helped.

Last week Saturday I again helped with the team sag wagon. I was definitely needed as two people had mechanical problems with their bikes that required transport back to the cars. Since I was there I was able to take them and leave Bill to support the others with the sag wagon. Luckily this happened last week rather than this week when they are in Tahoe doing their ride.

This week I had the boys overnight so I wasn't able to go sag with the team. I figured trying to get them up early enough for me to go was not worth it. Instead we met Yangguang down on Ruston Way and worked a water stop for Debbie and her team of runners. The boys wore their Team in Training shirts. This week was Debbie's 20 miler. Only a couple more weeks before she has her big run. Go team!

Last Saturday I did my duty on sag wagon support for the team. Since I can't ride I figure I will support the team by helping out with the sag wagon. Saggy Bill has things so well organized that there wasn't very much for me to do, but I did bring bags of ice which I was offering at the second stop where I figured it would be most needed. I also figured that I am there if anybody needs transport. This week nobody needed a ride unlike the previous week when there were two of us getting a ride for the last few miles.

It was a beautiful day for a ride. They started in Kent and went up through Black Diamond and Enumclaw. I think they did about 70 miles. I found that the sag wagon involved a lot of time sitting in the car and waiting. It was very nice listening to the birds and I had brought some stitching along to keep me busy. The first sag stop was at Black Diamond so I had time to go in and buy some bread from the bakery. Next week I will do this again

I went to the doctor today and it looks as if I will not be doing the STP. He said I should avoid riding until my knee heals which can be 2-6 weeks and then I should just start out with short rides and if it starts hurting I need to stop. He recommended that I don't do the STP and I know that if I miss that much training I won't be able to catch up anyway. I may be able to switch the credit for my fund raising for another event later in the year. At nany rate I know the money that I have raised has gone to a good cause and I now feel comfortable about continuing to ride which was one of my goals.

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a ride, the nicest weather I have had on a ride to date. We started in Monroe and rode north to Granite Falls. There were two options for the ride, a 75 mile ride to Arlington and back or a 50 mile option to Granite Falls and back. The ride took us through the countryside and then through rolling hills around Lake Stevens and Granite Falls. For part of the ride we were on the same course as the Tour de Cure riders. I did fairly well on the first part of the ride and even made it up a few hills. However the hills took a toll on my knee and I started hurting with the result that I grabbed a ride with the sag wagon at about mile 36 (just about the point where we left the hills for the flat). Today I will be spending the day with a bag of ice.

Yesterday I had a nice long ride on the Foothills Trail between Puyallup and South Prairie. Although there was a head wind (both ways!) it did not rain. It is a nice ride through the countryside past rhubarb fields and cows and along the river for part of the ride. I was using my new clips and did very well until I came to the last crossroad before the parking lot. As I was slowing to stop I did not free my foot in time and fell. I got some lovely bruises on my arm and collarbone but the worst damage was to my knee. I didn't think it was too bad and was able to get up and start walking. I even was able to get back on the bike and ride the little way to the car. By the time I got home I was starting to hurt and getting up from the chair was not any fun. This morning instead of going on the scheduled 70 mile ride I went to the Urgent Care and they said I had a sprain and told me that I should not do any biking until it is healed. They wrapped my knee and prescribed some painkillers. The info they gave me said it could take 3 - 6 weeks to heal. If that is the case I won't be doing the STP because I will never be able to catch up on the missed training. I'll keep you posted.

I am home again after a lovely trip through the Netherlands and Belgium. We started with 3 days in Amsterdam then took a barge through the inland seas and canals to different towns and cities. It was a little early for the tulips but we did see some. Most of the fields we saw were daffodils and hyacinths. One of the most fascinating things we did was to go to the Aalsmeer flower auction. This is a huge warehouse where they auction off flowers that are then sent to florist shops all over the world. Instead of bidding up the price there is a clock that starts at a high price and then goes down. The first person to press the button and stop the clock wins the bid at that price. The flowers are then loaded onto a different pallet and sent to the loading docks to be shipped. They can be on the other side of the world and in your flower shop by the next day. It was an amazing thing to watch with people scurrying all over the floor of the warehouse with carts of flowers of every description. It also smelled wonderful with all those flowers.

Our last three days we spent in Bruges, Belgium. From there I was able to take a train and go visit some friends in Ieper for the day. It was a lovely trip!

I had hoped to be able to use the exercise bike on the ship to keep up my training while I was gone but that did not work out very well. The exercise room did not open until 8 at which time I needed to be getting ready to leave for whatever excursion was planned for the day. The bike they had was not very good either. On one of the few times I did manage to get on the bike the seat collapsed on me about a half hour into my session. I never was able to adjust the seat nor was I able to adjust the wheel tension. The exercise room was also small and hot even when the hot tub wasn't filled. However I did get in a lot of walking, at least enough to offset the calories I was taking in from all the good food they served us. I walked all over Amsterdam, Bruges, Delft, Ghent, Antwerp and a number of smaller towns.

Now I am back home and trying to get back into my routine. At least the weather is much nicer now for bike riding than when I left.