Most everyone is watching the Superbowl right now, including Brigid. We are, of course, rooting for the Colts since it is time for Manning to get a Superbowl ring and they were originally from Baltimore. The guys are really into it -- they are cheering and screaming constantly. I am very glad that they are into it, but man, it is Loud in here.

I went for a bike ride yesterday with a new group. It was very interesting... Most of the women were lawyers, and extremely successful lawyers. One of the women had run for Congress twice and had been defeated twice. She was a staunch Democrat and when I told her that I hadn't encountered anyone that talked about politics since I moved here, she said that she really thought that Arizona Democrats needed their own secret handshake since you can never tell who you can share your opinion with. She seemed very nice. It was a co-ed ride, which was a strange thing for me -- usually, I end up riding with all women. The men seemed nice too, and one of them was the Dean of Engineering at the University of Arizona.

The ride was ok. We went through neighborhoods that I had never seen before, and that was nice. However, there were some nasty hills including one that had a 19% grade -- it was horrendous. Several of the other women got off their bikes and walked up the hill, but my pride got in my way and I thought, damn it, I am going to ride up this hideous hill. I made it, but my heartrate went all the way up to 200 beats per minute. It was bad -- I thought I was going to throw up at the top. I had to stop and rest for a couple of minutes. Then we got going again and rode around the neighborhood some more, and had more short, sharp hills. We finally turned around and headed back to the house and as we were going up one of the hills, I looked up and everyone was gone. I thought, ok, they must have turned a corner, I'll find them in a minute. I had no idea where I was, so this was kind of important. I didn't see them when I turned the corner, so I started looking for someone to ask directions out of the neighborhood. I found a couple out walking and got directions. I headed out and then hit a patch of gravel...

And totally wiped out. It happened so fast, I couldn't believe it. I only had time to think, Oh Crap! and I was down. I landed directly on my right elbow in the middle of the street -- I had been trying to go around the speed bump. I sat there for a minute and tried to decide if my arm was broken and what to do. Duh, get up and get back on the bike! I was so grateful that I wasn't with the group and that no one was on the street I wiped out on. All in all, it was a great wreck -- no one shared the moment and I wasn't permanently broken. My rear derailleur is bent and so shifting was a pain, but I could still ride. I got out to the main road and was heading back to the house, when the guys I was riding with found me. They had realized that I wasn't in the group and had been looking for me. We all went back to the house and had breakfast. My elbow was bleeding a little, and swollen, but I seem to have landed just before the joint, which I appreciate quite a bit. All in all, it was a pretty good day: a decent ride, some excitement, met very interesting people, and had a fabulous post-ride breakfast.