Saturday PM

2 did a nice job at Bix. She averaged a little over 10 minute miles. Not bad for not having trained. I saw her going and coming from my viewing spot which is no small feat with 15,000 people streaming by. Actually, she saw me which is the way it usually happens in that kind of situation. I just placed myself in a bit of an elevated spot and stayed clear of other spectators.

The running conditions weren't bad. Warm, but not hot. Humid, but not oppressive.

4, Mom and I met at The Maidrite for breakfast after the race. We sat at the counter like the old days after church.

I did 27 right after lunch. 1 called and said that she had run 15 this AM and 1.1 had done 13. That was a bit of an incentive for me to hit the road.

RAGBRAI ended in Bellevue today. LA had bailed earlier and was in France for today's stage of the Tour (which Levi won and Alberto kept yellow). The Saturday of RAGBRAI is always a bit of a letdown: it's a shorter ride, the riders are all anxious to get home, and the host community is just saying, "Hello" and "See ya" in the same breath.

1 and 1.1 head to LV tomorrow AM. Their watching the Northwest Air cancellations to see if there's any pattern.

The SB's location in downtown Davenport may be the nicest of the SB's stores in town. I stopped in for the first time yesterday at lunch time when I went downtown to check out the food vendors for the Bix street fest. The manager is a nice gal. It sounds like they don't have much trade after 5PM, and that they do get some unwanted attention from some homeless people. I suspect that a downtown Chicago loop location for SB's can survive with just the business day traffic. I'm not so sure about that scenario in Davenport.

Biagii's last night for Sonoma red. Liberty School 2005 cabernet. Try it. The staff in the bar area has experienced quite the turnover this Spring/Summer. And not for a net improvement. At least three of the better cocktail gals have moved on, and my favorite bartender is selling cars. 2 knows the drill with the turnover in the local food and beverage industry.

One of the farms that I ride past on a regular basis has a small flock(?) of wild turkeys that wander around the barnyard near the road. Gobbling a constant gobble. The first time I went past, I couldn't figure out what the noise was! Denise may want to check M. gallopavo off her list (by my proxy).

All for today. Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.