Sick for two weeks, epic dancing, mountain biking etc.

So like I said before, I was feeling a little bit sick when I rode out of Seattle, but I wanted to get going and I figured I could make with no trouble.  The ride was pretty nice - about 100 miles total, with maybe 35 miles on a paved bike path, which was great.  It was a beautiful sunny day, but unfortunatly I was pushing against some pretty massive headwinds by the end.  Not too much fun, but it was all worth it when I got to the last 15 miles or so, riding on Chuckanut drive.  It was ridiculously senic.  The sun was setting over Bellingham Bay and by this time the wind had finally died down.  I was stopping every half mile to take more pictures-- it was too beautiful.  I finally made it into Bellingham to find my friends Gretchen and Margot partying already.  I took a quick shower, had a few beers, then we all headed downtown for drinking and dancing.

Next day (saturday) I was still feeling a little sick.  As if riding all those miles wasn't enough, I probably should've thought twice about dancing.  "oh well,"I said to myself, " I will just take it a bit easier tonight."  Well that night was Marie's last night in town, so I had to have a few drinks with Marie and her friends.  "Sure, I'll have another" became he the phrase of the evening.  Then of course, that night was foam night at Rumors (the local dance spot)  Now for those of you who don't know what foam night is, its pretty simple.  Basically, everyody's dacing in a bubble bath.  By the end of the night the foam was four feet high in places, everybody is covered from head to toe, bubbles everywhere, condoms on the floor - Epic.  Truly Epic.   Well, as you've probably guessed, I couldn't say no to Foam night.  It was soooo much fun.  Don't worry, there are pictures, thanks to a friend's waterproof camera.  

So of course I was still sick the next day.  Next couple of days, actually.  I took it easy.  I rested.  I drank a lot of tea and layed around in the sun.  I even painted my toenails.  And it was working.  I was starting to feel a bit better. 

 So on thursday I was hangin with Nick S. and he suggested we go mountain biking.  Why not, right?  I'm feeling better, probably over the worst of it.  He let me borrow one of his downhill bikes and we hit the trails. It was alot of fun, despite that my chain would pop off if I pedaled more than a few rotations at a time.  It was a blast and riding a full suspension bike really made me realize how crappy my mountain bike is.  I also managed to go over the handlebars, which wasn't too bad at the time, but I hit my ribs pretty hard.  Now it's a week later and it still hurts to take a deep breath or cough.  After riding, we picked up some booze to celebrate everyone being done with finals.  Of course, we ended up going dancing.  People later told me that I was "shirtless and all over the ladies" but I will just have to take their word for it.  

Of course, during the night the cold germs were able to regroup and make a fresh assault on my sinuses and throat.  The next two days were spent resting and recoverying.  I even went to bed early on friday while everyone else was partying and dancing. (amazing, I know).  But saturday I couldn't say no.  It was Gretchen's graduation and (forgive me Gretchen) she was soo drunk and happy; how could I not party?  Maddie was visiting for the weekend as well, so really I had no choice.  We ripped it up on High st. for a while, then back downtown for, you guessed it, DANCING!  It was great dancing.  Photobooths.  Shirtlessness.  Gyrating.  It was all there.  

Now its a couple days later.  Im still sick and my ribs still hurt.  I am going to go to the doctor tomorrow.  The doc will probably tell me to stop drinking and dancing.  To which I will reply, 'NEVER!'  But seriously, despite the fact that I've been here so long and I can't shake this cold, I've had a fantastic time in Bellingham.  This town is awesome and the people are amazing.  Thanks so much to my wonderful friends Margot and Gretchen for putting me up for so long, you're the best.  

But lets get real.  So far I've spent way more days hanging out with friends and goofing off than riding a bicycle.  What happend to riding across the country?  Well don't worry people, its going happen.  When I say I'm going to do something, I do it-- I just end up doing it way slower than I planned.  (This is why I am always late to everything)  So its going to happen, but its going to happen on Greg-time.  And I am fine with that.  Greg time is good time.