We cyclists are always measuring ourselves. It's either miles pedaled, average speed, or time.However, it's not very often we measure distance in feet. Let me explain. For those of you not familiar with the Chequamegon 40 mile mountain bike race, the only way to get into it is by lottery. Your applications along with a check have to be mailed in by a specific date in February. Sometime in March you find out if you made it into the race, which is held in mid-Sept.
The last few years, Bob, Matt, myself, and now, Bill have put our entries into one envelope. This way we are either all in or all out. The Chequamegon race committee does allow an essay contest for people whose names are not drawn. Last year, our envelope was not drawn. Matt wrote a great letter and the 3 of us got into the race! Got all that? So now, we're trying to get into the 2008 race. I dropped my app off at Bob's house to give to Matt at spin class. (Matt is the envelope master) Bob, being the capable man that he is, remembered to bring my app, but, he forgot to bring his! He told Matt he would drop it off in the door of his house. He did. Matt couldn't find it. Matt called his neighbors, nope, they hadn't seen any envelope. Reluctantly, Matt mailed in the envelope with his, mine, and Bill's applications. A day later, one of the neighbors calls and says they found Bob's app. He got it mailed in on time to meet the deadline.
A month goes by. We all start checking to see if our checks have cashed, if they have, you're in the race. If they aren't you didn't get drawn. One by one, Matt's, mine, and Bill's checks all were cashed. Bob's wasn't.
The photo above shows the distance from Matt's house to his neighbors. I suppose it's about 50 feet. The distance that Bob missed getting into the Chequamegon by!
It was the original 3 Amigos, Matt, Bob, and myself. You can see that Matt is pumped! If you look close, he has brand new Bontrager carbon rims on his Orca. I think the bike, with Matt on it, weighs about 112 lbs. It was the first road ride for all 3 of us.
We're tooling up the hill past Lake Independence, and we spot another rider up ahead. Looks like Loon colors. It is, with a pony tail! A rare breed, the female Loon. Sure enough, it's Madonna getting her saddle time in. Great to see her lovely face out on a bike again. We also saw another group of Loons, maybe 8-9, riding loops. We were heading in opposite directions so we didn't get a chance to chat.
A fitting way to end our inaugural ride of the season! We didn't go far, only 26 miles. The usual first time ride emotions. The exhilaration of being out again, the heavy breathing of climbing hills and cursing the wind. It never changes, no matter how hard you've worked all winter, it's not the same as getting on that bike and pushing those pedals. You always get humbled and know that there are a lot of miles ahead. Come June or so, we'll start to feel like cyclists again. What a great sport.
Yes, the sand and water are really that beautiful.
My beer of choice on the island. Almost all the Heineken bottles are 9 ounces.
The Pumphouse: Diane, Sarah, me, Deb, and Shani. I didn't know that Debbie was grabbing Sarah's boob until after I downloaded the pictures onto the computer!
Diane, Mary Ann, myself and Mike. Mike and I are having our traditional shot of Patron.
The lady in white and the guy in the back are from London. Angie and Deb found them on the beach and brought them down to the Pumphouse! Very nice people. That's Deb next to me. 
This is Logan. We met him our 2nd night on the island. He's 24 and from North Carolina. He's been sailing since he got out of high school, literally left home at 17 and sailed his own boat to the Bahamas. He's been working on sailboats ever since, crewing and doing charters. He is currently on a boat called the Blue Whale. They were laying over in Anguilla and he came into the Pumphouse to have a couple beers. He said this was going to be his last cruise, and that he was going to start college so he could get a "real job." He was a lot of fun to talk to. Here is the link to the Blue Whale website that he operates:
Shani is a new employee at the Pumphouse. She is a very sweet girl and always gave Diane and I hugs when we came in at night! Terrific smile!
And then of course, this is Sarah, manager of the Pumphouse. You can see that she has a whole row of glasses set up that she is pouring into. This is one of my favorite photos. I take so many while I'm down there, always hoping to get that one good one. Our new camera has both a sepia and B&W settings. The sepia was nice for indoor shooting and gives a softer effect.
This is Lyn. We've known him for many years, as he eats at the Pumphouse several nights per week. He's a Canadian who has lived in Anguilla for over 20 years. He's telling the ladies a joke about being an OB/GYN preparing for an exam.
Diane at the Dune Preserve, owned by Bankie Banx. Bankie is a musician from Anguilla. It used to be a bunch of driftwood made into a bar. It's a lot more formal now, and he has a concert there every year in March under a full moon, called Moonsplash. His music is reggae influenced, but not in the traditional sense. It's very nice music to listen to. Here's a link to his site:
These are ribs and chicken at Gwen's Reggae Grill near where we stay. Look good, don't they? I sat down after this shot and ordered up a plate.
This is Charlie. Charlie and his wife Trudy have been coming to Anguilla for many, many years. We used to see them on the beach. Several years ago, we saw them laying over at an airport on the way to Anguilla. We'd never spoke to them, so I went up and introduced myself. Found out they are from Lake City, MN. This is an unusual picture of Charlie, he usually has a beer in the hand that's not holding his cigar! He's now retired from 3M, and they spend 3 months a year on the island. 
This is my bride of nearly 25 years, enjoying her daily walk on the beach! Can't wait till next year. Unfortunatly, we will no longer be able to stay on the beach itself. It has gotten too expensive. We'll be about 8 minutes away by car. It's too bad, but we knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Our place next year is twice as big with a great view.