Yoiks! It’s been almost a month! Things have been busy around here since the weather finally broke. Here’s a little taste of what we have been up to…

Son#2's first taste of fast and shiny; yeah, he was dig'n it.

Bonding with Dad

It is a big city...

But Son#1 doesn't seem too concerned.

In other news, Son#1 and I survived another trip down to St. Louis to see Uncle Steve, there will be some pictures from that expedition as soon as I find that flash drive. There has not been a whole lot going on in the biking scene lately, between the weather and family commitments I have only been able to get 60-100 miles a week, if I am lucky,but that is fixing to change. I am doing a ride down in St. Louis, a couple of local centuries, possibly a ride or two in the Michighan/Indiana area, and the Muddy Buddy Race, The miles are gonna start piling up real quick here in the next few weeks.

Luke 15:11-32

I once was lost, but now I am found, praise the lord hallelujah and all that stuff. Actually, ask anybody who has known me, or anybody who has spent more than 7 consecutive minutes with me, and they will tell you I have been lost more than once. And oh yeah, don't worry I am not getting all religious on you either, but truth be told, I have been lost more than usual the past few weeks, both on the road and off.

A few weeks ago The Warden started spouting off about "me time" and "compromises" and some whacked out "level and fair exchange among equals" new age mambajamba that would have given Steve and Joel hives. She had to speak up, so I could hear her over the screaming, red headed barnacle that has latched on to her leg. That's why I never stop moving when I am home. Anyway, it all just really confused the hell out of me, with all those syllables and propaganda and stuff. Plus she is kind of cute, and I get distracted easily; she saw me hesitate and went in for the kill and batted her eyes at me. Next thing you know, I can only come home from work and fly out the door on my bike on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. WTF? No big deal you suppose. A little quality time with the boys is in order, I did spawn them after all, but have you checked the weather here lately? We are in line for a record spring in the precipitation department. It has all fallen on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday. She has made good use of her time out though; she snagged a rough 24 miles on Saturday. Pretty sweet!

Then today I got lost on the road. Or at least I thought I was. It turns out I was exactly where I was supposed to be. The group ride headed out North east tonight. I almost never go that way. Between dodging potholes and trying not to lose the wheel in front of me I couldn't really pay attention to land marks and stuff like that. This is all complicated by the fact that even when I do pay attention to landmarks, I tend to forget them. Have I mentioned I am easily distracted? That is just a complication; the whole situation was exacerbated even more by the fact that I have this weird kink in my neck and shoulder that makes it somewhat painful to turn to the left. So, after I got dropped around mile six, I was just going off what I had heard being tossed around by the group. I stuck to those roads, but on the way back, I was on the opposite side of the road, and none of the route back looked even vaguely familiar. Actually, it all looked really familiar. Farm, gravel road….farm gravel road…rusted barbwire…gravel road…farm. I need GPS.

Inevitable

I always figured as long as I had my cell phone, the whole irony and luck of the Irish thing would save me from flats. That was so not happening tonight, and thus I had to make the Call Of Shame, in the rain. And thunder. The sag wagon showed up promptly with a Warden delightfully free of any “I told you so” vibe, Son#2 happy to be out, and Son#1 totally stoked to be part of the rescue mission to save Dad from his own stupidity. “Dad, you know what you need? One of those bags, and you can put a spare tube in there, and a pump, and then you can fix it yourself.” I knew this would happen, that someday Son#1 would prove himself to be a smarter, better man than his father, but I was kind of hoping this would occur when I had a few more gray hairs, maybe even a grand kid or something, or at least till after he hit puberty. In my defense, I do have one of those bags, and all of those tools, but they have been scattered to all points of the compass, in two or three different piles. He said it with such sincerity, with such and obvious desire to help it made my heart swell with more than a little pride. Of course, none of this helped suppress the urge to reach into the back seat, grab his favorite spider man toy, and huck it out the window of our moving minivan. Next time I flat, I think I’ll call Patty, or at least see if the Warden can’t leave Knucklehead#1Son#1 with the neighbor or something.

That’s us, back in the day, before he was smarter than me, or at least blissfully quiet about it.

Crystal

Yeah, I know, I have already used this picture of my wife, but this is the only one I have in digital format that she’ll let me post, and doesn’t require an age verification feature be added to this blog.

Anyway, Friday marks the day that 15 years ago, that Chas batted her big green eyes at me and used her cunning womanly ways to take advantage of my naive innocence, tricking me into marrying her. It is actually kind of ironic in way, seeing as if you were there 15 years ago when we said our vows, you would have thought it was her fifteenth birthday. Yes, she did look that young. I’d scan a picture, but the scanner is in Son#1’s bedroom, and I just tucked him in for the night.

A few interesting tidbits about our history:

-We met when she moved next door to me. She was 15, I was 17.

-We never dated. We each had our own little “almost” moments, but the closest we ever got to dating was a slow dance at Prom.

-I was persistent. I asked her to marry me more than once. I may or may not have been slightly intoxicated at the time. She finally said yes one night.

-I was in Hawaii when we got engaged, and back out to sea on my submarine about 36 hours later. Two months later l touched down at O’hare airport. Less than 48 hours we were married, in my parents living room.

-I’m guessing there about 100 people at our wedding. Of that hundred or so people, I’m guessing at maybe 70 didn’t give us more than 2 years. At least another 60 thought she was pregnant. They weren’t about to let math or human reproductive physiology interfere with their judgment. I’ve taken college algebra more times that I care to admit, so I can’t really blame them I suppose.

Ok, back to the bikes. I’ve been trying to mix it up a little more this year, running, biking, playing with the kids and all that. I won’t be winning any sprints to the next sign, but I am back down to 195, been stuck there well over a week actually. It’s almost May and Son#1 still recognizes me, and The Warden doesn’t roll her eyes every time I say “ride” –yet.

Son#1 pretty much out grew his first bike last fall, so we had been shopping around down in the BMX basement at the LBS. We’d would just take the occasional Saturday morning to escape from the house and I would let him hop on all the bikes he thought he would like. We finally found one he did like, and that he could straddle. A week later I went and in and paid for it, and had Tobey go hide it in their storage area. Then I took Son#1 to the shop, and acted all surprised that it had been sold. He was pretty tore up. Then Easter Sunday rolled around…

Just checking in...

It has been brought to my attention that I have not updated in a while. Sorry folks, but when it comes to rolling around on the floor for a bit with this guy

or fielding questions for an hour or two from this guy

while we cruise the local bike paths looking for puddles to ride through, something has to give. Until I can free up some time it is the blog that is getting pushed aside. Hopefully the weather will break soon, and I’ll score about an extra hour and a half a day not looking for full fingered gloves and 3 biking jerseys to layer up for the wind.

I haven’t been slacking though, I’ve been getting some saddle time. As of this morning I now weigh in at 202.4 burritos.

Today’s soul sucking 20+mph wind was brought to you from the fine folks of Dubuque, IA, you could almost smell the meat packing plant. Or was one of my layers festering? Either way, the wind, straight out of the west, sucked. I ate too much, too soon after my ride, or I rode too hard, I am going so sign off and crawl upstairs to my bed and try not to vomit. Later folks.

Oh yeah, what's the word Eric?