0 for 2 at FMV, Roller coasters and NELLIE KANE!!

The last week has been sort of an up and down week, much like a roller coaster, literally and figuratively.

First, last weekend's bike race series ended the same way that the Full Moon Vista Grand Prix weekend did for me last year - with me on the pavement wondering WTF just happened. Friday's race went ok, it was a criterium in Genessee Valley Park. Crits are great for spectators and it was so cool that friends and family were able to come out and watch me race right here in town, which is pretty rare for any of the stuff that I compete in. I'm not a great sprinter and don't really have any desire to be a better one, so crits are tough for me to really do well in. I did stay with the front group which ended up lapping the majority of the field. The race was hard, but I felt pretty good. The last few laps were really fast and it was really tough to move up and fight for position, so I ended up finishing near the back of the front group of about 15 riders. Overall though, I was feeling pretty good that I stayed upright and was looking forward to Saturday's hilly circuit race in Powder Mills Park. Saturday's race was going pretty well until about 2/3 of the way through the race I crashed on a downhill section. I'm still not sure exactly what happened or what I could have done differently, so I'm trying not to dwell on it. I avoided any serious injuries and my bike is fine, really frustrating nonetheless but could have been a lot worse I guess. So, I sat out Sunday's race. I have been able to ride a few times since then and generally speaking, I'm back on track.

Tuesday night my buddy Scott drove up from Philly to go to yesterday's Phish show at Darien Lake. Nancy and I both took the day off and went to the 6 flags resort which was open only to phish ticket holders. I don't think I'd been on a roller coaster in like 15 years, but it was a good time. After a couple hours in the amusement park, we got a good tailgate going in the parking lot with Kevin, Brandi, Scott and two of Scott's buddies from Philly. It was great to hang out with all of them. I've been to a lot of shows with Kevin and Scott, but unfortunately, I don't get to see either of them nearly enough these days, so it was really cool to just hang out and catch up with them both. It's pretty wild to think that the three of us became friends working in the Outdoor Apparel department at Galyan's 10 years ago. We went to Bonnaroo together 8 years ago this week, wow, I feel really old. Kevin is (among many things) a freelance photo journalist, and was shooting the show for a magazine, so he was in front of the front row for the first 3 songs. The first set was amazing all around - in fact, I'm not sure I could have picked a better setlist based on my favorite phish songs, but the highlight was that they opened with Nellie Kane. Nellie Kane is a bluegrass song which they rarely play, but I have always joked with Scott and Kevin during every tailgate that they would open with Nellie Kane. It became a running joke between the three of us, especially in recent years since I listen to a lot of bluegrass and "twangier" music all around. Kevin played guitar during the cocktail hour at our wedding last year and learned how to play Nellie Kane specifically for our wedding because of that. Needless to say, when they opened with that, Scott and I had one of the strongest hi-fives we've ever executed. Kevin was still up front at that point shooting, but claimed that he could hardly hold his camera steady with excitement. Overall, it was a great day all around and great to take a step back and just chill out for a change (although I did get scolded twice for reading work e-mails at the tailgate).

Left to right, Nancy, Scott's buddy (also named Scott) and Scott at our tailgate.
Nancy and Brandi are sitting down, then left to right is Kevin, Kevin's buddy Luke, Rick and Scott.

Scott at the show.

Looking ahead, Nancy and I are celebrating out 1st anniversary Saturday. She's also graduating from the U of R on Sunday, so some serious milestones this weekend for sure. Difficult to believe that we've already been married a year, time is going really fast. I will say, it was a really eventful 12 months and a lot happened, it's just difficult to take the time to step back and realize all of the stuff that's gone on and the places we've been lucky enough to see. I guess that's why I started a blog in the first place though.