Right Before My Very Eyes.

Me getting a gander at my new bike in the hotel lobby.

It's been almost a month since I posted. Sorry. In that time I turned 47, did some races and went on RAGBRAI.

I guess I'll start with my birthday. Which started about 2 weeks early. I had been interested in getting a road bike - a Cannondale Caad 10. It's aluminum, instead of carbon fiber, so it handles really well, but is about half the price of most road bikes. Cannondale doesn't sell their bikes on-line and there isn't a dealer anywhere near us who had the bike in my size. So, I had to let it go and figured I'd wait until next year's bikes came out and there were still plenty of them to buy at the beginning of the season.

Then, when we went to meet my brother and his wife at the hotel in Maquoketa, before the triathlon, I was telling my brother how I had to make sure I could ride my time trial bike up that 20% grade hill at the beginning of the bike portion of our race. He said, "Wouldn't it be easier on a faster, lighter road bike?"

"Um, I guess..." At that point, my sister-in-law walked behind me and The Guy wandered into the other part of the hotel lobby and reappeared with a Cannondale exactly like the one I wanted. Still not getting it and thinking that one of the other racers had left their bike in the lobby like my brother had, I said, "Hey, this is exactly like the bike. I want! I wonder who's it is?"

The Guy answered, "Yours." He had been sneaky and found a shop in Madison, where my brother lives and had him pick it up and bring it down for me. The best surprise and birthday present ever!