Summer was in hiding the past couple days, and along with some fierce storms earlier in the week, I’ve been pretty inactive. In the future, the weather should cooperate with my feelings so I don’t have to cancel any more bike rides.
But the clouds parted this morning, and I’m at the peak of my feeling-goodness, so I jumped out of bed, slammed my contacts in my still-unfocused eyes, and got on my bike to join the sprint ride. With about 20 people, it’s always a fast and free flowing ride, and today was no exception. I tucked into the back of the pack in an effort to not get dropped as the road ticked upward on Beeline Rd. And it worked. I’m obviously not winning any sprints with my fitness, but this morning was the first time I wasn’t put into the red and fallen off the back. Progress.
After the obligatory swing through the farmer’s market (dangerous place to be on an empty stomach) and a stop for coffee, I went to the country fairgrounds for our annual employee picnic. It’s mostly geared towards families with kids, with carnival games and big inflatable things to play on, but free food and the faint possibility of winning a prize in a raffle was enough to get me there too. I ate until I was uncomfortably full, which tends to happen more than it should, then sat in the sun for a bit watching my coworker’s band perform before heading out when none of my tickets were drawn in the raffle.
More fun was the annual employee meeting that was held last night at the Civic Center. The meeting itself wasn’t anything too special – a bonus was announced, a few speeches were made, awards were handed out, some laughs were had – but it meant I got to leave work early (a well earned break), and more importantly there were specials at most of the businesses on 8th St. for employees afterwards. So for once I didn’t have to pull anyone’s leg to get them to celebrate happy hour with me. It was also a rare opportunity to actually casually chat with other employees, something that I think happens all too rarely as things are now. Oh, and I got a discount on some stylish new cycling shoes. If I can’t be fast on the bike, I might as well look good at least.