We are cleared for launch

Went for an after work ride around the seaport with Annie.  Leg looking feeling good, so I'm happy with that.  I won't continue the photo log of the injury because honestly, it looks gross.  The bruise on my thigh is an interesting mixture of purple and yellow and behind my knee is a rasberry/purple blend.

Another adventure I had was taking attempting to take off the old cleats from my bike shoes.  One bolt would not come out and of course I hadn't dug ALL the dirt out so I ended up stripping it.  GREAT!!  So I dropped it off a the LBS close to work and they drilled it out for me.  It had to happen.  On my last ride at Wompatuck my left cleat did come out at inopportune times during the ride... and although didn't cause a crash, caused some close calls.  The ride today was easy, and with new cleats on new pedals (I got myself a pair of XT pedals as Annie will sooner than later be converting to clipless so I figured I'd give her the new pedals I had put on the HiFi originally) things were a bit "tight" unclipping.  That's one of the things I love about the pedals I've been using - they adjust to your personal comfort level in terms of clip-ease.

So the leg is feeling good, the cleats are all set and the pedals will be tuned in for that perfect clipness... all things leading to the best news.  Preride this Sunday at 10am.  All the arrows are up on the course, which apparently has been modified from last year to include more singletrack with some short steep climbs thrown in there.  The fact that it has changed from last year makes no difference to me as I'll be riding it for the first time, but I'm excited/anxious to get out there and see what I'll be facing in a week!!!  Oh boy...  the nerves haven't started but I know they will soon.  I'm certainly not near the weight I'd like to be for race season, my legs are OK, and my lungs are no where near good.  But it's only a 5 miler, so I should be able to push through it and get my ass in gear for the next one.

I'm ready for the eye-opener... hello race world (First Timer class anyway), here I come.