April 21

On April 15 I rode the Tour de Braz.  The name comes from Brazoria county where most of the ride occurred.  The ride was to raise money for an animal shelter.  It was another day of vicious wind.  The ride started into the wind and again I could only average about 11 miles per hour.  I did that for 30 miles.  Then we turned and the wind was at our back.  Now the average speed was around 23 miles per hour.  Below is a picture of the check in tent.

Here is a picture of me ready to go

At one point we had to stop and wait for a train that was blocking the road.

And here I am home and all cleaned up.  Elizabeth said I smelled like I had ridden 65 miles.

So far this has been a busy week end.  For us the week end includes Friday.  On Friday Elizabeth had a doctor's appointment in the morning.  She has a couple of issues that need to be watched.  It will be difficult since our insurance will no longer pay if we use this particular clinic.  I think it a an absolute shame.  And we all know why, the insurance company wants to make more money.  We have absolutely no concern for the patients.  And they really do not care because their customer is the company and not the individual.  It is not like we can take our business to another insurance company.  If BO wants to really improve the health care in this country then stop the insurance companies form practicing medicine.  OK I got that off my chest.

After that we had some errands to run.

Today I got up and went for a ride.  There were not an many riders on the road as normal.  This week end is the MS 150.  That is a two day bike ride from Houston to Austin to raise money for the battle against MS.  I have ridden it 9 times and it is a great ride.  But it is not for me this year.  In fact I an not sure I will ever ride another multi-day ride.  The logistics are just difficult.  After getting home and eating breakfast, I worked on the yard.  I had to mow and edge.  I also pulled some weeds that are trying to take over.  It is a gorgeous day.  Low humidity and temperatures in the 70s.  For lunch Elizabeth made a pasta salad and ribs.  They were wonderful.  While ribs are not on the forbidden food list it has been a while since I had them.  We ate outside to enjoy the nice weather.

After eating we ran a couple of errands including a stop at Barnes and Noble.  Once back home we both rested.  For supper I had a sandwich and chips.  After the big lunch a light supper was all I needed.  All in all a very nice couple of days.