first bike ride of spring

It was a little cool this afternoon - in the 40s, I think - but the sun was shining so I decided to get my bike out and take a spin. It's always interesting how much time it takes to get ready for a bike ride when it's the first one of the season. Pumping up the tires, finding my bike shoes, shorts, jersey, tights, jackets, gloves, helmet and shades. Reattaching the bike computer and searching for a replacement battery, then resetting the computer so it's ready to record the season's mileage. I traveled about 10 miles today. I say "about" because I'm not sure of the exact distance. The computer wasn't recording during the first mile or two. Then I had to stop and reset it because I realized it was displaying kilometers instead of miles. It felt good to be out. A couple of the steep hills proved to be a good workout, with me standing on the pedals.

A dive to remember

We're on the Caribbean island of Dominica for vacation, and doing a lot of diving and hiking. Yesterday was a memorable dive day -- when the dive boat swamped and nearly sank. It was a combination of factors. Being Sunday and because we were all experienced divers, the dive shop scheduled a less experienced boat captain and dive master. Since there were only 5 divers, they used a small boat. Everyone was back into the boat after the first dive except for one guy -- the heaviest diver. (He should have been the first to board.) He climbed the ladder on the side, the boat tipped and swamped. The captain and dive master ran the bilge pump and had us all go forward, but it kept taking on water so they told us all to jump overboard. Mary swam to shore. I grabbed a spare gas can that was floating in the water and waited near the boat so I could record the adventure. No one was harmed, except for the pride of the dive master and boat captain.