Way back in February

My second trip to Allaire did nothing to squelch my desire to mountian bike. In fact, it made me even more interested.
Now, to find a bike. I shopped and shopped, trying to find an adequate rig within a minimal budget. I had connections with reps from two manufacturers and got so close to a dream bike at 1/3 of it's retail that I could smell it. But, like the shimmering cool blue lake in the middle of the desert, it wasn't really there when I jumped at it.

Major disappointment.

Then I came across a possibility in a used bike. A couple years old. Well used but not destroyed. The size... pretty darned close. Could it work? When I discussed it with the original owner, he, being about four inches taller than me doubted it would fit me. Undaunted, I had to see it. I guess he thought I was shorter, cause when I got out of the car, he seemed surprised and said it just might fit me.

I tested the bike on the road and it felt okay. Size seemed fair, but it did have a bunch of bounce. I decided to give it a shot and wrote my check with the agreement that if my shop guys thought it was too big, I could bring it back.

Cool!

Then, I got slammed with a second bout of the flu, this the 3 days of ache and ill stomach variety. So my son comes home from school, announces that the neighbor's dog that he walks after school is missing and he's gonna search for it. What?!! I get out of my bed, out of my jammies to go chase a fool kid who just ran off in the pouring rain on a freezing cold day on a scooter. Aches and all, I take one step out my front door and both feet fly over my head and I land straight across my tailbone on the edge of the step topper. Laying on my front path in a puddle on a sheet of ice, I'm amazed that I'm not dead, cause if I had hit my head instead of my butt, I would be. Well, it just added to the misery of the flu, back in bed I went. And I cried.

The injury and the weather kept me off bikes for 7 long weeks.