Stopped to refuel with my favorite ride nosh White Lightning Marshmallow A3 Bar

and this horse, I swear, was begging for a bite.  Can’t really blame him.  But it was still so hard to resist that face!  Here he is being adorable in an ultramini video:

If you don’t know about Phil Keoghan’s scrumptious line of energy & snack bars, you’ve really gotta try them.  I say the marshmallow one is my favorite and I do mean that, but it’s equally true that I keep changing my mind.  Sometimes the PB&J bar is my favorite.  Sometimes the S’mores bar is my favorite.  I can’t help it.  They’re just so dang good that I have a hard time sticking with allegiance to one or the other as my main squeeze.

I love the White Chocolate Fruit & Nut Bar, I love the Strawberry Newton bar, I love that these bars have good-for-me ingredients I don’t see in other bars, like manuka honey & chia seeds.  I have no doubt these “secret ingredients” are a big part of the reason NOW bars & A3 bars taste far & away better than others.  But one thing’s for sure, the entire line of NOW & A3 bars are my favorite of all the offerings out there in the big wide world of sports nutrition.  Thank you, Phil Keoghan, for some scrumdillyicious snackage & sources of refueling for a No Opportunity Wasted life!

Official ride report:  11.33 miles.  Made a point of going down side roads I’ve never been on before:  I like to create adventure, indulge wonder, whenever possible.  Hence, the lower mileage, ’cause I needed to drink it all in.  Saw 2 horses, 3 wild hares & a red-tailed hawk during my ride.  Then off to the pool for my longest swim ever – 2 miles.  Seriously, TWO Miles!  It was a very good day.  Day 88, to be specific, in my countdown to the San Diego Tri Challenge.

I want to give a big shout-out to KD Rausin – awesome blogger & gifted, precedent-setting author – for donating to my fundraising efforts for Challenged Athletes Foundation.  Every dollar matters, and I’m crazy-grateful for each one.  THANK YOU, Krista!

Krista’s daughter Arielle is also a 3-wheeled athlete :0)  Who, by the way, was the inspiration for Krista’s novel featuring a wheelchair-bound protagonist.  You can listen to an interview with Arielle about her mom’s book HERE.  Mystic is being hailed as groundbreaking, and very rightly so.  I’m hoping to meet Krista & Arielle in person someday soon.  I want to cook (check out the food-love on the blog), talk storytelling & writing craft with Krista; I want to ride like the wind with Arielle.

~          ~          ~          ~          ~

I still need somebody to do the swim and/or run portion of the triathlon on my relay team for the San Diego Tri Challenge!

And I still need a sponsor – any business or organization – who’ll make a donation and/or help with travel expenses in exchange for my wearing a jersey & flying a flag with your name/brand/logo.  Might this be you?  Might you know somebody?

This will be my first triathlon since MS came-a-vistin’ to my life.  I’m raising funds & awareness for Challenged Athletes Foundation, an organization devoted to making a difference in the lives of folks with illness & disability who need our help to enjoy a more active, independent, wild-&-wonderful life.  Like this guy, JJ.

Wanna make a difference?  You could pass on my story & donation page:  email, Tweet, Facebook post – anything you can think of to spread the word would be an enormous to help to me.  And, more importantly, to CAF :0)

Here’s where you can donate to my San Diego Tri Challenge adventure.  And you may read more about my motivation for this ride & the marvelous Challenged Athletes Foundation in my previous blog post.