She's One Good Girl

Tuesday I celebrated my 8 year anniversary with my furry best friend.  I feel like I've had her forever.  My thirties are defined by her love and her paw will always be inked into my right leg.  I love this dog more than I could ever imagine.

Here are a few of the many, many pictures I have of Miss Libby over the years...

Bobcat Century Challenge

100 miles in 1 day.  Still sounds a bit crazy, but I did it.  My first "century" bike ride.  

It was back on May 27th that I took up the challenge and completed the Bobcat Bootlegger Challenge  A ride hosted by Crank Arm Brewery that was "a self–supported ride in the Adventure Format."  I've ridden the Crank Arm social rides a lot and it's usually filled with cool people so I felt comfortable giving the challenge a shot.

Bob gives us the instruction

So on a warm Saturday morning during the Memorial Day holiday, a group of just under 100 riders took to the greenway trails of Raleigh to have fun and log some miles.  There were two different routes to take.  One was 50 miles.  One was 100 miles.  Around mile 80 I wished I had done the 50 miles.  In the end, I was happy I did the 100.

My preexisting condition

I'd been working on training for the ride for a few months. Going into the ride my longest ride was 71 miles on my road bike back in February. I had also ridden a handful of other rides around 50 miles leading up to the ride and had practiced a few of the difficult parts of the ride in the weeks before. About 2 weeks prior to the ride, while practicing on the gravel paths of Umstead Park, I had a crash and ripped up my elbow.  I was lucky the injury wasn't too bad and had mostly healed in time for the Bootlegger.

The Squirrel Incident

I was involved in my first bike hit-and-run accident on my commute yesterday.  Fortunately it was with a crazy squirrel and not a car.  It was weird.

I was only a few blocks from my house and cruising at a solid pace on my road bike when I suddenly felt something hit my right shin.  The road was clear so I assumed I must have kicked up a hidden branch laying in the street.  However when I looked down at my right pedal I saw the psychotic tree rat scurrying away and up the closest pine.

"Did I just get hit by a squirrel?" I asked aloud as I traversed the empty street.

I repeated the question in my head for the next 12 miles of my commute.  When I arrived at work and changed out of my cycling socks I noticed the remnants of my altercation.  I indeed have a small scratch on my shin.

I'm sure the squirrel ran back to his friends and bragged about how he got the guy on the bike.

Perhaps this is karma for those times I let my dog off-leash to chase his friends.

On the way home, in almost the exact same spot, I was chased by a loose wiener dog.  Fun times commuting by bike. 

Field of Dreams

Last Friday night I got to go to one of my favorite places on this Earth, PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA.  I've been around the world twice and there aren't a lot of other places where I feel so happy.  A beautiful summer night in Western Pennsylvania, when you can smell the grass, hear the crack of the bat, feel the energy of the crowd, well...it's just heaven. 

I went to the game with my Sister and a few of my friends.  My sister and I spent the first few innings in our third base side seats but then wandered the ballpark taking the game in from different vantage points. 

The view from the upper deck is probably the best.  The city comes alive rising above the outfield wall with the Clemente Bridge drawing your eye to the skyline perfectly.  It was while taking pictures there that we met a young Japanese fan who we asked to take our picture.  He then asked if we'd take his and we had a nice chat.  Our conversation then went something like this:

Me: Where are you from?
Him: Japan.
Me: Ah, yeah, but where in Japan?
Him: Oh this town called Yokohama.

Me: Oh cool, I've been there twice.
Him: What?! Really?
Me: Yeah, I was there back in 2006 and in 2013.  I even got to go to a baseball game there in 2006 to see the Orix Buffalo.
Him: Oh my godness ...

He then pulled out his Orix Buffalo jersey.  It really is a small world sometimes.  He was in town because he was traveling across the USA going to different ballparks.  PNC was his 19th and according to him, "The most beautiful of them all."  So I guess it's not just me who knows that truth.

We chatted for a few minutes longer and then told him to go eat at Primanti Brothers sandwich.  If Pittsburgh has a flavor it has coleslaw and french fries piled onto whatever it is.  We wrote it down for him to go and visit and then went on our way.

Funny how when I was traveling in the foreign countries I did the same thing where I had locals write down places to go eat.  You get sent to some really good places that way.  And when you are lost you can just show someone the piece of paper and then can help get you there because the place is usually a point of pride for the city.

While walking through the outfield section of the stadium during the 6th inning break tragedy almost occurred.  We almost missed the pirogi race!  We darted into the closest seating section in the right field bleachers and we just happened to be at the finish line for the race.  It's such a Pittsburgh thing to have pirogies race around the outfield I can only imagine what our Japanese friend must have been thinking while seeing it. 

Hog Heaven

There are many great things about living in North Carolina.  The weather is awesome, the people are friendly and the cost of living is low but all of those things pale in comparison to the BBQ.  The love and devotion people put into cooking the perfect plate of pig is just astounding.

We've got a few great spots here in Raleigh with Clyde Cooper's and Ole Time bbq being are two fine establishments with some tasty cue.  Today, spurred by a recent article in the local newspaper, Steve and I set off to sample the goods at Stephenson’s Barbecue in Willow Springs, NC.

It was about a half hour drive to go hog heaven and it was everything I hoped it would be.  The place has history.  It's simple and doesn't need to impress you with decor because the food is out of this world.  The pig was full of flavor and when I drenched it in the Eastern style vinegar based sauce it created a party in mouth.  I chose the "healthy" vegetable options of boiled potatoes and the green beans with my barbecue plate and both were very good.  All for $8.