The Hugh Hefner of Mountain Biking

Got an unexpected call from The Most Beautiful Man in the World shortly after 9pm Eastern Time. He's carousing even further oop north with the ever-lovely Andy Armstrong. They were 3 bottles of wine into the evening, which was no surprise given the time of night that the call came.

It took a while for me to get out of Steve exactly where he was. I'd forgotten that he was heading to Andy's this weekend. He finally told me, but not until after he'd called me "y'idiot" at least 3 times. Turns out they've got another Yank chick with them. My replacement, I joked. I think TMBMITW was so excited that he'd made another American friend, that he decided to call to find out how far I am from where she's from, which is Portland, OR. I could tell where he was going with this. He was hoping to figure out a way for all of us to get together when he's over on this side of the pond for his family holiday later this year.

I hated to burst the poor lad's bubble though, since for those of you who aren't geographically challenged, you know that Portland is on the opposite coast from me, a mere 3,047 miles from Henniker, NH. For reference, Henniker to Steve's house outside of Manchester, UK is 3,150 miles. So not that close, really. Bless'im.

Still, a call from Steve is always a pleasant surprise. Hearing him having a good time with other good friends is somewhat bittersweet. It's sort of like when my sister calls me from Mack&Manco's on the boardwalk in Ocean City to tell me that they are all happily stuffing their faces with The Best Pizza in the World. One time when she did that, it made me cry.

Thanks for the call, Steve! Don't worry, I didn't cry. :~)