Captain Random Strikes Again!

Bon dia my friends! I would like to point out that by "friends" I vehemently am not including the hacker who broke their way into the behind-the-scenes at MissingSaddle.com. Why on earth someone would hack into MissingSaddle leaves me flabbergasted. That's low. But enough of that doom and gloom! My blog is full of cheeriness and sunshine and sugar and spice and everything nice! Let's roll.Here's a worthy and artistic picture from one of my final days in Santa Barbara. I took the Yellow Dragon out for a spin into town to run some errands, go to the farmers' market, and mostly put out the vibe. Of note is how badly I'm hunched over and how asymmetrical the wheels are. This, however, is due to the reflection in the window because I am in fact not hunched over nor are the wheels square. So with that explanation, everything in this picture should now make perfect sense to you.Things on the homefront are simply grand. I had a pair of follow up doctor's appointments at Access Sports Medicine to go along with an MRI, x-ray, and some physical therapy. My recovery continues to chug along nicely and I'm have a series of good reports to... umm... report:- x-rays show very good sign of bone growth. Thank you milk!- MRI shows no soft tissue damage. Plus I enjoyed a nice nap in the MRI machine.- range of motion is fairly strong, although strength in my left arm/shoulder certainly leaves room for improvement. Thankfully that's what PT is for!- I made it through the rigors of the Charge Pond Training Series Race numero tres! I was in no mood to ride with lots of folks all around me, so I treated it like a kermes and attacked the ever loving daylights out of the race until I was off the front in the good company of Frank McCormack. My dear brother Robbie didn't want to be left out of the fun, so he quickly bridged up to us to make a pleasant 18 lap race winning breakaway. That was followed by a very poorly executed race winning move by Robbie and me, and thus a victory for Frank. Hats off to him.Besides a successful and safe first race back, the other highlight of this day was catching up with Corey so that he could give us some super organic, all natural, peanut buttery, enormous non-Rice-Krispy-brand rice crispy treats! If you look closely, you can see the very natural look of complete and utter awe as Robbie gazes at this beauty. For a brief moment, Robbie was rendered speechless with his jaw genuinely dropped. Yeah, it was that good.In addition to this being my first Charge Pond Training Series Race ever (a surprise only because it is a staple to New England racing), I also witnessed for the first time someone trying to pin their OWN race number onto a jersey that he is already wearing! I would put a big black box on his head to grace him with anonymity, but a) I don't know how to do that b) I don't feel like learning how and c) I think his glasses and arm cover his face well enough. We'll call him John Doe. This was thoroughly entertaining and I even think John himself was someone amused at the difficulty of this task. I chimed in with a few bits of advice - the first was to tell him his number was upside down, while the second was to remove the jersey - but he was unwavering in his resolve to put his parachute, I mean number on. Again, hats off, this time to John Doe, for being able to put on a number while wearing the jersey. THAT is talent.I enjoy a hearty breakfast more than any other meal, so I'm always happy when someone recommends meeting up for some breakie! This recent adventure took Robbie, Tom, and I to The Big Bean Cafe in Newmarket. I snapped a picture of the outside, but sadly didn't take a picture of the largest pancake I've ever seen. It was a hefty 3/4 inch thick and about 16 inches in diameter. It was a thing of beauty and so curiosity provoking that I was left wondering how big the spatula is that's used to flip it. Food fascinates me, so I'm sorry if you find this paragraph boring. Your B... not mine.Lastly, but certainly not of least importance, is the 1,500 mile bike ride by Trish Karter, CEO of Dancing Deer, is undertaking from Atlanta to Boston to raise awareness for homelessness! HERE is a link and HERE'S another. I just learned about it and wanted to promote it because I love baked goods in general, I think Dancing Deer is an amazing company (with not only their phenomenal brownies and cookies among other tasty delights, but also their environmental and social consciense), and think that all bike rides for a worthy cause deserve a shout out. Good luck Trish!