Fare Thee Well, Fair Readers!

So much to write, so little time! I haven't covered our trip to Newport! The MC Lars concert! The regatta in Long Island!! All of this will have to wait because Ed and I are flying out tonight for a trip to Europe. The initial plan was to help our friend Ethel cheer for her boyfriend Eliot as he competed in the Ironman in Embrun, France. It's one of the toughest courses in the world because of all the climbing, and he's been training for it all year. Alas, two weeks before the race, he was out on a training ride and was hit by a car. (Details about the accident, the aftermath, and his wise philosophy can be found on his blog, which is worth a visit even if you don't fancy rubbernecking; he's an accomplished photographer as well as athlete and writer).

Post-crash

Luckily for Eliot, he's going to be fine. He has a cracked pelvis and is still quite sore, but he was able to walk away from the accident. His bike was not so lucky, and was totally destroyed. Even if he had a bike to compete on, though, doing an Ironman when one isn't in peak physical condition is not a good idea, so he has decided to forgo the race. But our tickets were already paid for and our reservations were made, so all of us are going on the trip anyway! After a few days in Embrun, we'll head to Alleghe, Italy to enjoy more mountains. I look forward to hiking, running, sight seeing, and hanging out with some very cool people. So don't look for blog updates for the next two weeks; I'll be having far too much fun to sit down and write about it!

Catch you on the flip side!