Future Olympic Sport?

As a soccer fan and ultra-competitive cyclist, Gravy should be a star at this:

Saturday

I actually have some free time this weekend, so I may take out the road bike on Saturday.  Kind of depends on how the weather shapes up, whether or not we decide to go car shopping for my soon-to-be 16 yr. old daughter, and how energetic I feel.  My plan is to head out 14th street to Saltillo, then if the wind is out of the NW as it is supposed to be (it is supposed to be less than 10 mph), I'll probably take Saltillo to SW12, then head north through Pioneers Park and if it's nice maybe out to W. 84th before heading back home.  If anybody wants to go along, I will stop by the old Wilderness Perk strip mall (14th and Pine Lake) at 1 p.m. before I head out.  If I decide not to go, I'll post here.

Have a good weekend!

Time for Toodlin'

It is supposed to be sunny, light wind, and a high in the upper 30's on Saturday.  Anybody interested in a little afternoon toodlin'?

Grabbing a drink

Check out the action at 0:55 in - what do you think, should we try this at the gas station in Cortland on our next group ride?

Fun Gig

I had a good time playing with good friends down at Brewsky's on Wednesday night.  I even got my son to sit in on a couple of tunes.  Tonight I'm heading up to Omaha to see Chicago at the Orpheum (will hear a number of friends who are in the pit orchestra), and then going back to Omaha on Saturday night to play in a back up band for a jazz vocalist - should be fun, as he does a lot of hip Sinatra tunes with really good arrangements.  Hopefully I'll have the time, energy,  and opportunity to get on the bike some this weekend as well.

Jazz @ Brewsky's

I'll be playing at Brewsky's on Wednesday from 7:30-10 with my jazz quintet - come have a burger and a brew and listen to some jazz.

I HATE WINTER!!!

That is all.

Embarrassing moments on a bike

A thread on BikeForums.net inspired me to see if we could share some stories here. Here was my contribution to the thread:

When I brought my first road bike home, I put it on the trunk rack, put a bungie cord around the front wheel and the downtube to keep the front wheel from banging around while driving, and took the bike home. When I got home, I put my new cycling shoes on, took the bike off of the car, practiced clipping in and out a few times (first time with clipless shoes as well), clipped in and pushed off to start my first ride on my new bike.

The ride lasted approximately 1 inch as I immediately fell down in the driveway. Seems I had neglected to remove the bungie cord from the front wheel before attempting to ride off. I looked up to see my wife disappearing from our front window as she fell over laughing.

Ok, your turn. Keep in mind that no matter how awful it may have seemed at the time, it probably won't be as bad as what happened to old Tom B. here:

Weekend of Fun

Well, only part of it was fun. Here comes a long story:

For some time wife had wanted me to install a deadbolt lock on our front door. After purchasing all of the necessary hardware and tools (hole saw, etc.), I was ready to go. Since I wanted all of our exterior doors to use the same key, I also had to buy new doorknobs for the front door and garage door. I installed those, then I cut the holes in the door for the deadbolt even with the doorknob so that they would line up. As I install the deadbolt locking mechanism, I notice that things don't seem to line up correctly. As I look closer I realize that the mechanism is about 1/4 of an inch too short to reach the center of the hole - meaning that the hole, even though cut with the same amount of setback as the doorknob hole, is off. This is potentially a $1000 screw-up, as we would have to purchase a new door.

At this point I throw a huge tantrum over how stupid I am, and how stupid the lock company is for putting a doorknob and deadbolt lock together in the same package with different setback distances from the distance from the door, etc., etc., (my middle son came home from school during this rage fest, looked at his mom, and said with a smile, "Ahhhh, good to be home").

After I calm down, I decide to take apart the whole mechanism, and discover that there is a way to change the length of the mechanism to make it centered again (this was nowhere to be found in the instructions, by the way). Big sigh of relief.

After I install the lock, I have to cut the hole in the door jamb for the deadbolt to slide into. I go into the garage to grab a drill bit, where my wife has just pulled out into the driveway to give my daughter a ride somewhere. I come back to the door into the house, and realize it is locked. As is the front door. And the back door. And the new keys are all sitting on the kitchen counter. Another bout of rage at my own stupidity ensues. Fortunately, I am able to catch my wife's attention before she leaves. We call a locksmith, who arrives in about 15 minutes to get us back in the house.

The locksmith was quite amused at our predicament, and complimented me on tackling this job myself instead of spending the $300 to get it done. Of course, I told him that the install was no problem, and that the $95 we spent on having him come and spend 5 seconds breaking into our house was well worth it.

Then the fun part of the day begins. Later in the afternoon, I went on my first road ride of the year - I needed to work off some of the leftover adrenaline from the morning. As it was about 30 degrees and calm, it turned out to be pretty pleasant. I headed out to Sprague by myself, then just as I was turning back onto highway 77 I saw Msgr. Tucker coming south on 77. He turned around at Sprague road and joined me for the ride home - we had a nice chat on the way in. He told me that he is not doing the trainer sessions at his gym anymore, so those interested in the Saturday morning sessions either need to go to one of the health clubs, YMCA's, or to Sidney's sessions. Here is a pic from the ride:

After the ride, we went out to the Dish with some friends (more fun) and had a great meal and some wine. Things are looking up. After dinner, I had a gig at the Zoo Bar - more good fun, but also a very physical, demanding gig that required me to be on my feet for 4 1/2 hours (after my first 25 mile ride of the year). By the end of the gig at 12:30, I was pretty tired, and I was tired an a little sore all day Sunday. Here is a picture of what the Zoo Bar looks like when you are a trumpet player relegated to the back of the bandstand:

So, how was your weekend?