-- The Twin Cities really got hit with storms last night! We had about five or ten minutes of hail right where I am (the garden made it through without damage) and the loudest cracks of thunder I've ever heard. South Minneapolis (I live on the north side) had flash flooding, and a lot of the major freeways were stopped due to standing water. Crazy times. The cats and I hung out in the guest room, which I tidied up recently. It tends to collect junk that I don't want to put away, so I keep it closed up most of the time. But whenever it's clean, I think it's such a nice room.

-- I bought a road bike yesterday! As soon as I saw this 1974 Schwinn Continental, I had a feeling it was going to be the right bike for me (I've been looking for a little while now). It's just so yellow! I believe Schwinn called the color 'Cool Lemon'. In addition to just getting used to riding a road bike, I'm going to have to learn how to use friction shifters, which seem to be to manual transmission as index shifting is to an automatic car. More skilled required, and a bit fussy, but people who use it swear it's better. I feel the need to shower Yellow Bike with gifts. I might make it some yellow panniers.

-- This morning was the Time to Fly 10k. I was looking forward to effortlessly beating my previous 10k race time, but a downed tree on the course pushed back the start time by almost an hour. By the time the race began, the sun was out and HOT, and my breakfast was quickly losing its staying power. And the humidity! It was like running in a sauna. I shaved off a minute or so from my Get in Gear 10k time, but I was several minutes slower than my personal record for the distance. Next Sunday is the Red, White & Boom half-marathon, though, so I'm just focusing on resting up and being ready for that one.

I'm hoping to tackle my long run this week (on Friday), so I gave my ankle a rest today by biking instead of running. A map of the regional trails mysteriously appeared in the mail a couple of weeks ago (okay, not SO mysteriously -- other people have gotten them, too), so I set out today for a 24-mile round trip ride to the Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park. It was the perfect morning (sunny and calm), the trails were beautiful, and I had a great time.

On the way out, I saw some goslings, but I guess it wasn't until my ride back that everything decided to wake up, because I passed baby ducks, a couple of deer that were right next to the path, and a snapping turtle. I couldn't get over how amazing the morning was! I felt so lucky to be out on my bike, and I nearly laughed when I passed a woman who was cycling with a frown and a furrowed brow. I'm sure she had her reasons, but it seemed a pretty incongruous mood, given the setting.

I'm still looking forward to buying a new bike soon (though I need to sell mine first, really). My Crossroads has actually been pretty good getting me through the miles lately, but I know a sportier bike with less of an up-right riding posture would make me faster. Pyow, pyow!