Kevin picked the last of the tomatoes and corn yesterday from the OATC garden and made delicious salsa. Time now to prepare the beds for winter.

After today's ride, I got to work in the garden, thinking about the plans we made on the bike. Any time you get Andy B, Brian B, and I together, it's bad news. We were tame today - we only did Willow Creek Road. We had a solid group of 6: Julian (Brian's son), Kevin, Andy, Brian, Chris, and myself. We bumped into Dan Hopley on the way into Occidental too.

Brian "I've only ridden 5 times since RAAM" and Andy "I haven't been riding at all" were not shy to stick a paceline down to Monte Rio. We mellowed out after that, but as we turned up Willow Creek, the topic of the 2009 Terrible Two came up. By the time we hit the dirt, I had 4 of 6 saying they would do it this year. We were signing up others to do it as well. Talk is cheap in November, but now is when we'll start laying the foundation for a solid 2009 season.

Back in the garden, the sun came out while I piled compost and straw preparing the beds for Winter, and I dreamed about long, long rides into the hills while my garden decomposes.