Beer, Bikes, and Snow

A few months ago, a friend posted about the Rapha Braver than the Element s ride in December.  There were only 10 locations in the United States that were offering the ride.  Originally I only saw the ride in NYC, which isn't exactly the easiest for me to get to.  I later saw another friend post about the ride going out of Emmaus, PA - much easier for me to get to.  I signed up thinking it would be great motivation to ride and hopefully see some friends. As we got closer to December 20th, I found out that more of my friends would be attending.  Awesome!  More friends more the merrier! The week leading up to the ride our leader, Beth Strickland , sent out an update on the ride logistics.  She mentioned that our ride had 109 women signed up - the largest group out of all 10 rides.  She also mentioned that it was a ride - not a race - and anyone looking to beat records or destroy Strava segments stay home. I know about Emmaus because it's the hom...

I was waiting patiently for my insurance to go through for my sleep study.  Almost two weeks passed when I got the phone call during my lunch break that I was good-to-go.  I think all of Roxbury heard my happiness. The nurse said they would be doing an in-home study and that I needed to make an appointment to get the equipment and go over how it's put on.   I took the first available appointment, which was December 4th at 1 pm.  I took a half day to get to the doctor's office.  The nurse went over how to put the two chest bands, nose tube, and a watch-like sensor on.  She also explained that I needed at least 5 hours of sleep.  I was to return the equipment between 8 and 9 am the following morning. That night I suited up and fell asleep easily.  But I didn't stay awake.  I was up for an hour shortly after I fell asleep and then I woke up several times during the night.  Not that uncommon for me.  But when I went to look...