, my close friend of 17 years left for New Jersey. We had a long lunch together where I was so messed up from the antibiotics I was grabbing for furniture just so I could stand up. Then a kiss on the cheek and she was gone...So on my 38th birthday I drove 170 miles to Beech Grove, Virginia, and finally conquered Reeds Gap on my bicycle. The road was lined in snow and there was ice on the final 100 meters but I did it! Then I gloated.
