School is in session

And consequently, my blog has been neglected.

I've been busy with things like getting my syllabi ready, teaching classes, meeting my new advisees (love them), and generally putting out small fires here and there. For the record, I really love my job and feel extremely lucky work at such a fantastic university. Go spiders!

Meanwhile, I have been getting in some quality workouts. Two weekends ago, I rode about 50 miles with my Team in Training peeps. Before we headed out into the countryside of Goochland, we listened to several of our patient honorees share their experiences/battles with blood cancers. Very sobering and humbling. Each of our patient honorees spoke with grace, eloquence and candor. From there, we rode the first mile in silence as a tribute to everyone battling cancer. Read my teammate Art's blog for his perspective.

Last weekend, I did a 60+ mile ride out in the somewhat unfamiliar roads of the east end. Alas, due to the construction of an exit (or something) for I-895, our original cue sheet (courtesy of Shawnie) was not going to work. We did find some nice, quiet country roads to ride on so all was not lost. I rode 63 miles, while my riding partners continued on in their quest for more mileage. More power to you, riding machines!