Any News Over There in the U.S. Today?

I haven’t heard anything so let me tell you a bit about our nice and relatively easy ride today from Braemar to Ballater in the Highlands.

But first, I seem to have offended the niche cardioligist group that subscribes to this blog. Dr. Linda wrote to me as follows: “Your last post set back my profession by 50 years. The American Heart Association recommends a moderate intake of meat and pork products and I do not know any cardiologist who would endorse donuts and barbecue as fuel for a long ride. And, hey, couldn’t you find someone who enjoys a nice bowl of oatmeal and fresh fruit for breakfast?” Well, we were feeling pretty bad about offending our good friend. We therefore opted last night for a vegetarian restaurant rather than eat at this nice place that I had booked for a pre-ride meal:

Before I get to today’s ride, I wanted to mention Mary’s struggle this year with an annoying knee injury. For the past nearly 30 years, every Saturday morning (even when silly hot in the summer or wicked cold in the winter),Mary and her friends Randi and Joan have met at our house for a 10-15 mile run.

While running, they chat about life, kids, plan life events and no doubt husband-complain at times. But this year has been a really tough year for Mary. In 2008 she broke her left kneecap in a freak accident having nothing to do with sports. Her surgically repaired knee has been acting up since March and she has not been able to run. This is like torture for her — sort of like me having to give up chocolate. I told Mary to rest and take it easy. She recently came back from a walk in tears and said that her knee just buckled. Under cross-examination, she fessed up that “there might have been some running involved”.

Thankfully, biking is usually pain free for her. So on Saturdays this year, upset that she is missing her weekly Joan/Randi therapy session, she has taken out her frustration by blowing my doors off on morning rides. But now we are on a relaxing cycling trip without killer mileage or elevation. So far, so good. And I kept her in my sight most of the day.

Today was a really sweet ride. The majority was through Cairngorms National Park, which was beautiful and just like the Scottish Highlands I have seen in the movies. The last 15 miles of our ride was on a road that passed Balmoral Castle. It was downhill with a tailwind — extra sweet. Unfortunately, you can’t see the Castle from the road so the following pictures will have to do for today:

Last night we had our first dram of Scotch — Laphroaig 10. Not too bad, but very smoky. The waitress brought it with a glass of water and we did not quite know the Scotch/water etiquette. I probably looked about as suave drinking it as I did 44 years ago at Tom’s wedding. Tomorrow’s ride ends at a distillery and hopefully I can pick up some pointers there.