Our ride on Saturday was great --- it was good to see Barb, Joe and Brenda. We explored some new roads and revisited some old favorites. Had popsicles at the campground afterwards that really hit the spot. It had cooled down a little bit (still in the 80s but humidity was lower) and it's really starting to look and feel like fall is just around the corner. Purple asters and small yellow sunflowers are blooming everywhere in the ditches, and the corn and bean fields are drying up.

Dinner at Coopers Hawk was wonderful. We sat outside and enjoyed the nice evening. Had waaayy too much food and brought enough home for another meal. I don't drink much these days and had two glasses of wine. This morning I've got just the slightest touch of a headache.

On tap for today is a 45 mile ride with Brenda and a new-to-gravel-riding girl, Lane. Lane borrowed someone's CX bike and is wanting to get her own gravel rig. She did IMMOO a few years back but was a one-and-done person (like me) and now just runs.

Heading out to Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Park for a group gravel ride, we're headed west toward the town of Virginia and exploring some new roads. There are a couple of very old (circa 1830) churches out that way that are still in use and I'd like to take some pics.

Then tonight we have reservations at Coopers Hawk (sitting outdoors). Hopefully the cooldown that is predicted really happens.

Steve's DD and her family spent much of Thursday with us --- their a/c (heat pump) went belly up on Wednesday and it looks like parts won't be available for several weeks, thanks to Covid. They managed to borrow a couple of window units for the duration.

Big fun stuff today --- our hot tub will be delivered this morning! We had a landscape company build a patio (stone pavers) in the back yard and they finished up yesterday. It looks so nice that I almost don't like the idea of covering much of it up with a hot tub.

In the process of building a walkway to the new patio, most of the landscaping along that part of the house was sacrificed. I can't say I'm sad, it was a lot of day lilies and purple salvia which had all gotten very sparse and scraggly and needed to be divided up. The landscapers saved me from having to do that. Thinking we'll just put some kind of shrub in there with a ground cover.

Found a gravel race that's taking place in Sumner, Missouri, which is about a 3 hour drive. It's on the same day as the now-cancelled Little Sugar, which we were signed up to ride. It looks like a good event and gives me something to train for.

Today will be 80DO, maybe some yoga and most likely more Zwifting. It's still supposed to be crazy hot and humid here --- I'm really ready for some fall temps.

It's officially too hot (for me at least) to be doing any outdoor activities. Heat index has been over 100 since Sunday and probably will stay there until at least Thursday. Ugh...

Got the email yesterday that our last event of 2020, the Big Sugar Gravel Race in Bentonville, Arksas, will not take place this year. We've got the option to defer or get a refund. Need to see what Steve wants to do. My friend Brenda is inclined to defer until 2022, which is an option. It's a Lifetime Fitness event, so they do have their gym memberships to sustain them, but I have to wonder what kind of an impact all of these cancellations will have on that company and if the race will even happen in 2022.

Slept like crap last night for no apparent reason, so I'm glad today is a light day with nowhere I need to be other than work-from-home. There will likely be a nap in there at some point.