panniers and popsicles

half way through august already!? in an effort to make the most of the remaining days of summer, we have been using our training runs and new bicycles to get out of edinburgh and explore the surrounding countryside. saturday we completed a 16 mile training run and our rapidly dwindling team managed to complete it in three hours. the beautiful weather, improved pacing, and supplement timing made it a successful and (mostly!) pleasurable run. hopefully dustin's knee and simon's foot will heal quickly so we can resume training together soon. that evening, dustin and i visited some friends for a meal (american hot wings!) of epic proportion. the good company and time spent standing outside around a bbq were good for the soul.

yesterday dustin and i went to the local bike shop and picked up more gear for our three day bike trip through the great glen in two weeks. after we got the pannier rack, mud guards, etc. mounted we headed out to crammond. just to the north of edinburgh and along the coast, crammond is a tiny village where the river almond reaches the firth of forth (read: bay). when the tide is out, a long causeway is revealed and you can walk to crammond 'island' out in the middle of the forth. when the tide comes back in, crammond island is completely surrounded. we cycled around, ate cheese, and watched the hikers hurry inland from the causeway as the tide came in and the sun set. for only being a few miles outside of the city, it was nice to feel far away and test our our new gear. in two weeks' time we venture to the highlands to ride the great glen from fort william to inverness. (www.greatglenway.com)

to see more pictures from crammond, go here.