Big brother versus little sister

I am well overdue to update this thing; things have just been busy for the past couple weeks.

The trip to Chicago was fun and truly was a vacation, including deep dish pizza, wine, and numerous Chicago-style hot dogs. We got there on Thursday, after our flight out of Pullman was cancelled because of poor visibility. Once there, we went into the city to meet up with Tammie and Naomi for dinner, and then to head to one of Tammie's favorite bars. The dinner place was fun - you could order flights of bruchetta with all different types of toppings, so we each picked some and then shared. Fortunately, Ted's friends were able to join us at the bar too, so it was a good group. We all sampled a variety of Belgian beers, some of which I really liked... and some of which I did not.

The next day, Tammie took us to a breakfast place she had told me about for years, called the Bongo Room. The place was packed, and I guess it normally has a huge wait on weekends. They make a great breakfast - I got some graham cracker-crusted pumpkin pancakes that came with a vanilla creme anglaise and cinnamon. Yummy. If you go to Chicago, this is a good breakfast place to try.

Things have been hectic since we got back here, with only a few days in town after our Chicago trip before heading to the Seattle area for the first bike races of the season. Yeah, uh, my first weekend of racing was pretty much a disaster. Let's just say I had not done enough intensity before the first races. So... now, I'm doing a few weeks of very intense training, with hopes that I'll be a little more prepared when the next races roll around in a couple weeks.

Speaking of races, I have committed to doing several big ones this year. I'll be doing Mt. Hood in Oregon in May, the Liberty Classic in Philadelphia, along Nature Valley in Minnesota in June, and the Tour de Toona in Pennsylvania in July. I may do a few others too. We'll see. I had committed to doing the races before actually showing my boss the schedule, so I was a little worried about what his reaction would be when I showed it to him this past week. Basically, I decided that the job is just a job, while the races are a fantastic opportunity worth taking, even if the job didn't work out as a result. Surprisingly (because my boss can sometimes be a bit difficult to deal with), he said he doesn't have a problem with it and we'll make it work.

My brother is coming home for a visit on Tuesday. He and his girlfriend are currently on a cruise to the Bahamas - I can't help but be envious. You may have actually seen their ship on the news yesterday, as their departure was delayed by 7 hours because of a failed safety inspection. Rusty called and said it was a miserable wait - 2000+ angry people holed up together, while their luggage all sat in the rain outside. I guess fights were breaking out, so the police had to come in. It just sounded like a mess. They should be on their way now, though, so hopefully it'll be smooth sailing now (that was a cheesy line, I know).

Rusty may bring his bike home with him, and if he does, he and I are going to have a little race up one of the grades in this area. See, he doesn't ride much anymore, aside from short little things here or there, so I think I can beat him now (which would be a definite first, especially up a hill). He, of course, thinks he can still beat me down, so it should be very interesting. Big brother versus little sister... who will win?