England 3, Belarus 1; Bike 1, Lindsey 0

I thought I would share a brief story from last night because a) Dominic let me know that he had bet this blog would not last a month and and he now points to the 'week in review' blogs as evidence of a petering out of our efforts, and b) I am procrastinating doing some work.

So, we had Kevin, Kaidyn, and Janet over for dinner last night (see the picture of Liv and Kaidyn). As always, it was great fun, a marvelous Rachelle-made meal of ratatouille, and some good English beer. I had planned to meet my football mates out at our pub, Belvedere, to watch the England vs. Belarus match. (See the picture of 2 England fans who were not allowed to stay up to watch the game.) So, I hopped on my bike just as the Vowles family was heading home. As you might know, we live on the top of a long steep hill. So, I thought it would be fun to race the Vowles down the hill. I was flying down the road illuminated by the Vowles headlight when my chain locked up. You might not know that my bike is a fixed gear, so when the chain locks, the back wheel also locks. As I went into the skid, the surprisingly calm thought went through my head that I was about to have a very nasty wreck. But, more surprisingly, I continued upright on the bike and stayed in the skid for what felt like a kilometer before stopping and stepping off the bike. Lucky, lucky me. Kevin pulled over and applauded the spectacle. With shaking hands, I put the chain back on and rode the rest of the way to the pub at a reasonable speed.

I joined the football fans and enjoyed watching England beat the feisty Belarus team 3-1. Everyone was headed out of the pub and into ... pouring rain. My nice teammates had a hearty laugh at me for riding my bike as they headed for their various tiny European cars.

Some tipsy Brit saw me putting on my reflector vest and helmet (safety over fashion), and suggested that I have another pint and wait the rain out. He added, "It is really pissing down". I took his advice and enjoyed a talk with a couple of locals still at the pub. Based on his experience, one guy found Americans to be "very social" and "open and free" as compared to the "proper" and civil English. He said that he thought it was due to there being so many Americans and to stand out you really have to be eccentric. The bartender said that she was dying to travel in the "deep, deep South", and she especially wants to visit small towns in Alabama. I was slightly perplexed, but I did then understand why I kept hearing Lynard Skynyrd and REM playing at the pub. The conversations lasted until the rain was done, and then I biked on home.