Angel Down - Then Up Again!

We were short an angel on Monday (family emergency) and naturally it was the one who was to carry the 4 bikes! All I can say is my next minivan will have the stow-n-go seats as I got an early workout wrestling the middle seats in my vehicle so that we could get 3 bikes, 3 bags, and 3 babes into it!

Pool then bike under cloudy skies with a sprinkle every now and then. Got some great help from one of the swimming instructors who advised me to slow down my strokes, which doesn't sound right at first, except that slowing down allows me more time to catch a breath, which means I'm not gasping so much (involves stopping swimming), and the end result is a more efficient process! Go figure! Maybe I'll graduate out of advanced beginner yet (probably not - but maybe!).

Since the skies were so threatening we did not go the death hill-orchard-endless hills-Kohl's route and instead 'circled' the YMCA with a 'short' 2 mile loop. Two of the angels made 3 loops, but after I finished the second I knew there wasn't time for me to do a third, plus I had the car keys...

One angel had a close encounter with not only a semi but also with several fair sized tree branches - no, the semi didn't push her off the road, but as it passed her she dropped back so as to not be in the driver's blind spot. The semi was soooo tall it broke off some tree branches overhanging the road and dropped them right in front of her - resulting in some quick dodging and weaving on her part!

Another angel had a close encounter with a stone, the curb, and someone's lawn! Not that we're competitive, but one angel passed the other (baiting may have been the word used) so the second angel sped up to get back in front and caught a stone on a corner and went down - hard - possibly flipped over and for sure skinned up her elbow/knee and had a handlebar imprint on her cheek for a while. No serious injuries, 2 other TRY classmates saw it happen and offered assistance, but we're a pretty hardy bunch, so after the fallen angel dug her pedals out of the grass, she was up and at em again. Some wet wipes helped out on the way home to clean up the worst of it!

Our instructor also had a moment when she thought she had lost a rider (frowned upon for sure) - and it was me! I had thought she had seen me come back, given the bright shirt and all, but I was inside the car (takes an inside person and an outside person to get 3 bikes in the minivan) and had not only taken my helmet off but taken out my ponytail - so didn't have the same 'look' as with the swim cap or bike helmet. Fortunately we got that situation addressed to all our satisfaction!