1 year and 10 days

I am happy to report that Rachelle and I made it back from our weekend on Martha's Vineyard safe and sound. Sadly, the same cannot be said about my CPAP machine, which disappeared somewhere between the ferry dock on the island and when we got in our car back on the cape. This led to a less than ideal night of sleep last night, but a Breathe Right strip applied before bed and a liberal dose of caffeine applied when I got up are helping me through. Thankfully, I have terrific insurance, and I'll have a replacement machine today.

The weekend itself was fantastic. It reminded me very much of Mackinac Island, MI, except it's bigger and allows cars. The buildings and towns have that same old style charm, but in a distinctly New England way. It's very touristy, but mostly in a nice way. A few too many t-shirt shops, and everything is pretty expensive, but that's all to be expected.

Contestants in the Vineyard Fishing Derby trying to hit it big

We didn't do as much riding as we had planned, mostly because we did more shopping than we had planned. Big bags of purchased goodies do not go well with riding a bicycle. We did however ride the 5 miles between Edgartown (where we stayed) and Oak Bluffs. The ride between the two cities takes you right along part of the northern coast of the island, and we got some great views of the ocean. It just so happens the day we went out there is a festival that unofficially marks the end of the summer season. We got some great deals on souvenirs as well as just some nice stuff we liked.

The MV old-time bicycle club rode their bikes in the festival parade

While we didn't do anymore riding the rest of the weekend, we walked at least 5 miles on Friday before and after dinner, and Saturday was probably closer to 10. Sunday we only did a couple miles, but we still made time to enjoy our last morning on the island before hopping the ferry home. Then we did some much needed shopping for the house on our way back to Boston. A new dresser for Rach, a new TV for the living room, and an Xbox for me. It was a great way to cap off an amazing first year of marriage to the love of my life.

Rach and I at the top of Edgartown Light. She's so gorgeous. I'm a lucky guy

The second year of marriage to my darling wife is starting with an important 10 day window that I'll be using to really push my training for Club Nationals. I'll be running tonight and riding and swimming tomorrow. This will be the schedule for the next 10 days, running and biking every other day before it's time to taper for the trip. I'm otherwise prepared, with a plan for basically everything, including getting my bike packed for the trip down. I do need to buy some new bike gloves as my good pair got destroyed during the Landmine face plant incident.

Notes:

- I'll be adding the pictures from the weekend to this post tonight, and go back over plans and goals tomorrow.

- The 2011 sponsorship process has started and I've got some exciting news on this front. Obviously, I don't rate a full time sponsorship from anyone (yet), but I do have some stuff in progress that will add to what I can do this season, and hopefully will allow me to spend my money strictly on the most important aspects of racing.