Thank you for your condolulations

I'm really OK about the brevet. Really. I'm not trying to be strong, I'm just OK with it. When it comes down to it, we still biked 129 miles by 1 PM. I did a lot of those miles with nearly no rear gears. Then, we fit in 13 more miles before everything finally blew up. We were strong and fast, we had brought redundant preparations for the flat tire that did us in, we learned a lot, we had fun, and I at least feel physically magnificent. Plus, there's still the nebulous possibility of replacing my derailleur and doing another 400k in New York.

I think I'm so robustly at peace with not making the cutoff because I still feel like I'm not entitled to these wacky endurance feats. Surely, if I can do it, it can't be that hard. I've gone so beyond anything that I ever thought I'd be able to do a few years ago that finding myself foiled by my equipment rather than my body actually makes me laugh. I always said I didn't deserve a new bike until I felt like I was limited by my equipment rather than by my fitness. Maybe I've reached that line, eh? Hmm! I hadn't thought of that. Gear!

So, yes, sure, it's sad that we didn't finish, but it was such a fun and instructive day that in the end, it's all good.

Right now, I'm actually more concerned about this bruised toenail thing. I bruised it during the 300k, and it's only gotten more purple. Worrisome. Any runners (or habitual brick-on-toe droppers) have any advice?

(no subject)

From the BBC's Big Read, a reader-nominated list of the "nation's best-loved novel".

( What a wild list. Ones I've read are bolded, ones I'm actively interested in are in italics. )