First Trail Ride

These boys have done plenty of riding off road but this was the first time with big uphills and intense long fast downhills.  Did great!! And thankful for no injuries. 

Awh. It FINE-ally happened.

This six and  a third year old has lost a first tooth.  

I think he might be excited. 

We raised the roof

And there is a new excitement about the fort. It's a great place for meals and reading!

Dual Well Visit

Alder: 52 inches tall, 57.5 lbs. 

Heath: 50 inches tall, 62 lbs.

It was a riot the way they were talking to the doctor and nurse.  They knew everything about each other and themselves. I just had to drive them there. 

Evidently they don't remember the "hernia check" thing where the doc can see your penis. After that Heath came over and said in my ear "THAT ..... was so weird."

And after alder's turn, 20 seconds later , Alder came over and said "THAT.... was so embarrassing."  Mind you, the doc was  arms length away and heard all of this.  Our docs are so wonderful. 

Bikes!

       

Its been bike madness for the past several weeks.  One big reason is new neighbors - a family with two 9 year old twin boys who love riding.  The boys are constantly riding all over three yards and in between, building ramps and obstacles out of plywood and practicing slides.

Our carport turns out to  be the best slick sliding surface in the vicinity.

Here's Heath on a hand-brake slide:

And Alder on a pedal-brake slide.  So here, Alder is riding my bike from when I was his age.  My Dad hung onto it and we got it back up and running pretty easily - new tires and new chain, done!  Vintage BMX.  Solid and stylin'.  ( I think I like it more than anyone.)



And then Alder got the hankerin' to give his bike a new look.  So, together, we disassembled it, labled parts, took pictures for reassembly.  This was prime opportunity to tool practice.

Alder did turn every screw and bolt, but there was one Friday night where I wrestled with a derailer for awhile.

Alder chose metallic silver and blue tires.  He has ordered blue grips and we are looking for decals now.  I will post a pic of the new ride in action soon.

And then there was the UCI World Campionships of Road Biking, which Richmond hosted this year; apparently only the second year that this race has been hosted in the United States.  For a year prior the city was prepping roads and the downtown, functionally and facade.  VCU even closed for the week, and state government offices were all scrambled due to closed streets.  Lots of staff, including us, planned work travel and work from home for the week.  But on Friday, I pulled the boys out of school mid-day and took them down for the Men's under age 23 race.

How wild to stand in the middle of your own downtown in a state of conversion for television and biking competition.  It was so surreal to see Richmond on a big screen, as televised worldwide, where our town looked like it was wearing a European city costume.  

When the riders came by it was cowbell madness.  You could hear the cowbells in the distance as they approached - like sonic dominoes.

The race was so exciting: ten 16 mile loops and we stood in a spot where we could watch the jumbotron, but see them coming from a mile away, watch them pass and wait 20 or so minutes for the next lap.  I'm leaving out lots of details here.  It was way cooler than I thought it would have been.  So glad we went.

(pondering something, is he not?)

The support vehicles, one per country, were something else.  Mechanics would hang out the back window and make adjustments to the bikes as the riders rode alongside.  The race started with 160 riders, and ended with fewer than 40: crazy crashes and/or mechanical failures deeming them at a loss to continue.

This video here is better than any I grabbed with my phone, showing the highlights of the race we watched all Friday afternoon.  There were races everyday for 8 days.

These boys are ready for trails and we are looking forward to some trail-riding this Fall and Winter.  Plus a 50-mile Captial Trail just opened here which we will have to do too.  Heath is asking for a road bike, and we are trying ti explain that they just dont make them that small.