Big Weekend

And it begins!  Actually, it began with the Young Dubliners playing the Thursday's closing night of Music On Main--so rad.  I remember seeing these guys 10 years ago, and they still rock the house.  Even Erica loved them!  It probably helped that I was actually dancing, but she claimed to dig the electrified Irish music.  It was the biggest crowd I've seen at Music On Main, and these guys kept the crowd stirred up; bouncing up and down, violin-guitar duels--so fun.

So that was a pretty sweet kick-off to my weekend of adventure.

And now I'm in New Hampshire!  Crazy!  3 flights and a rental car, picking up my bike at FedEx, driving around in the dark trying to find Nils' parents' house on a rural dirt road outside of Hopkinton. Ultimately, despite an address snafu I was falling asleep in a comfy bed before 11pm.

Arriving in the dark didn't allow me to appreciate New Hampshire--this place is beautiful!  Humid, yes, but cool forested terrain and quaint towns connected by rolling state highways.  The Eddy's house is a cute passive-solar home.  Unfortunately they're out of town so I won't get to meet them, but that means that I have the house to myself.  I so appreciate the opportunity to stay someplace comfortable where I can cook my own meals and do my thing.

And now it's race-prep time--filling bottles and Camelbak bladders, unboxing my bike and building it up, checking in for the race, hopefully getting a short ride in at the race venue.  Big pasta feed tonight, and early to bed before racing hard tomorrow!