Roll call...

Who all has been riding? Who all hasn't been riding?

My son can ride a bike... finally.

Haven't posted in awhile. Figured this would be good to share. My 6-year-old son finally conquered the bike. I had a three day weekend a couple weekends ago and decided on Friday that it was time. No more wimping out for Jr.

I lowered the seat so he could touch the ground while sitting, planted him on the bike and forced him to ride it without help. The first few times he steered down the driveway, then off to the left and fell in the grass. I then said "No more turning into the grass, if you're going to fall over, it will be on concrete." Long story short -- we were out there for about an hour. He had tears, I had anger/frustration and the wife couldn't bare to look out the window. Then, it happened. He made it all the way across the cul de sac and into the neighbor's driveway.

The next day was even better. At the end of the weekend, he was cruising around the circle and jumping off curbs. He rode with me on the trail to his soccer practice last week and is finally enjoying all the things I told him he would once he learned to quit worrying about crashing and ride.

I knew he was bit by the bike bug when the Saturday after learning, he was out riding his bike at 8 a.m. instead of watching SpongeBob in his pajamas.

Time to catch up

I haven't posted anything in a while, so I came to the conclusion that either I need to write something, or just let this blog die a natural death. I still hold out hope that this can be a place for people to post ride (or FAC) announcements, pictures, stories, or whatever.

The last three weeks or so have been pretty stressful for me and my family. Kind of a long story which begins with the natural frustration we have all felt due to the long and harsh winter. Seems like everybody I talk to is behind where they usually are this time of year.

Anyway, about three weeks ago, we had LPS spring break. I was looking forward to riding a lot during this week, but was unable to because my father in law had a stroke and we needed to spend time in the hospital with him, the weather didn't cooperate very well, and because we went through a kind of forced remodel in the kitchen (microwave broke, followed by the need to replace cabinets so the microwave would fit, followed by a new stove and fridge so that all of the appliances would match, followed by more new cabinets to install so the fridge would fit). Also, my rear wheel on my road bike broke (not a spoke, of course, but the actual hub broke). At first I was unable to get anybody to sell me a single rear wheel, but eventually I found one at CycleWorks that Kris sold me cheap. I have new wheels on order from a custom wheel builder (Psimet.com) who comes highly recommended on Bikeforums.net. They should be here in a week or two. Obligatory pic at the Cortland gas station of the new wheel I'm riding now:

And of the wheels I have on order:

At the end of spring break, my father in law passed away (suddenly, but not totally unexpected). We spent the next week doing what was necessary for the family. It is amazing how much it helps when a family comes together when something sad happens.

So recently, I have been riding a lot solo - out to Cortland, or the Roca rollers, or just downtown to watch part of the spring game. Obligatory pic of the huge crowd at the spring game:

We just got my son a bike as well (Kona Jake), so maybe he will join me on some rides. I have done some group rides - a couple of Mondays ago I started out with the JoyRide ride, but saw Janna and Kim and Gravy and others go flying by while we were waiting for a guy to fix a flat. I decided to chase (they were a quarter mile away by the time I started, took me from the Crete bridge to Princeton to chase them down). Turns out that there is now a 6 pm ride on Mondays from the Bike Rack - I will be joining that one when I can. I also tried the Bike Pedalers Thursday ride finally - seemed like good fun, a mix of racers, wannabes, and noobs. We got out to Pioneers Park before a big rainstorm hit - we headed for the shelter and I got out my cell phone - the rest went ahead and did some laps in the rain. I didn't trust my ability to see in those conditions, so I went home.

I'm looking forward to things getting a little more normal - hope to see you all on the road!

Ground Zero

Make sure you take a second to read today's Ground Zero section in the Journal-Star.

Click here to read the article online.