June 6 – 13 days to go. Sweating like granny in front of a death panel.

Since the last post, Suellen and I took a week off to go to New York City to see our friends Jeff & Mary Kay and to meet some Swedish friends Eva, Anders and Karin and, of course, to see Elliot and Julia. We love New York, even when it’s hot and humid as it was when we visited.  It’s a great walking town.  I switched on my pedometer and found that we walked anywhere from eight to 12 miles a day.  We did touristy things like the Circle Line tour around Manhattan and a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Then we saw the Alexander McQueen show at the Met and it just stopped us in our tracks. Simply amazing.  We also visited the Cooper Hewitt to see the Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry collection.  A fun and well-put-together show but not even in the same league as Alexander McQueen.  I didn’t take a bike to the Big Apple but got plenty of exercise by hanging out at Clay’s gym and spa on 14th street.  As far as I’m concerned, it’s the most fun gym in New York.  I mainly rode the stationary bikes and ogled the clientele, which included some bold face names.  We also took our young architects, Elliot and Julia, on a tour to New Canaan, Connecticut to visit Philip Johnson’s Glass House.  It’s a brilliant tour and a drop-dead gorgeous location — highly recommended if you’re in the area.  Now we’re back in Denver and I’m riding my butt off.  I’m also back at the gym working with my trainer, Alison. She’s working me hard and I think I’m pretty close to being ready to go.  At least my legs and lungs are ready to go — I’m not sure about the rest of me.   I did my yoga this morning along with foam rollers to loosen up my fascia.  Let’s see … what else do I have to do?  Oh yeah, gain three more pounds so I’ll have some body fat in reserve for those long days in the saddle.  Whew…. a biker’s work is never done.