Summertime

Gotta love summer - and underwater cameras. Steph and I took well over a hundred pics yesterday at the pool - Stonecrest membership rocks as much as the camera. Although we have not had a run of very hot weather here on the east coast - we have definitely been getting our money's worth with our pool membership. How can you not love the fact that you can bring a cooler stocked with adult bevvies and perch your arse poolside. We hit the diving board for over an hour yesterday - showed those young kids how it is done and no one got hurt! I do not think that I have used a diving board that much combined in my 38 years on this sphere. I got the front flip dialed but still am nervous about going backward - maybe before the end of summer. Have a fun filled week coming up - our first Iron Pigs game on Thursday - in the Morning Call box none the less - that should rock as I have heard nothing but great things about the new stadium - except for the no alcohol signs in the parking lot - that is why God created plastic cups. Picnics and fireworks for the 4th - and who can forget the magic bestowed upon the world 39 years ago on July 5th? I gotta admit I am lucky to have a birthday that falls next to one of the biggest U.S. holidays of the year - one that does not jip you as far as presents go - say like if your birthday happened to fall next to Christmas. The weather is great in July and everyone is partying anyway on the 4th - so why not celebrate my birthday for at least two days? Have never thought of a good reason not to and am not going to stop now - I really try and stretch it into the week to month range. This week will also hold another extremely important milestone - the anniversary of my first date with Stephanie on the 2nd - I am blessed to have her in my life and that adds yet another thing to celebrate this week. Told you it is going to be a good week. The Tour de France kicks off on my birthday this year - champagne for breakfast - I friggin love the Tour and watch as much of it as possible - gotta find the evasive link so I can listen to it over the internet while I work - come to think of it I really need to find myself a better cowbell too - can scare the shit out of my coworkers ringing that bad boy as I listen. I love bikes and all things associated with them. I love how I heap all of my rambling thoughts into one big paragraph - not that anyone should be surprised. Enjoy the shit out of yourselves - I will check back soon.

Crizzushed

Something tells me one piece cranks circa 1950ish were not designed to be ridden with such veracity. It could be the squares that I pedal in - even though I would love to think it is my massively powerful legs. I chased the bike race around Allentown on this bad boy and might have pushed it one big hill too many. So anyhoo - I just got a new set of bearings and put Humpty back together again - then we had a lovely Friday long ride into the office. That being said - I have been having so much fun with one speed that I have been obsessing over something a little more svelte. I have been looking and looking and looking and I suppose you get the point. Got to talking to my man Scott at the Bike Line in Allentown about this yesterday and he turned me onto a super sweet ride from Origin 8 - the best part is - just a little over four hundred bucks complete. I spoke to my beautiful banker/fiance about my dreams yesterday and me buying a bike for that amount seemed reasonable to her - that is at least she did not laugh at me. The truth of the matter is - any money that I/We spend on bikes truly is paid for in a few months time - that is if I am not spending three grand on a bike - which would probably get her laughing at me. I love bikes and I am not afraid to admit it - it is truly much better than being in love with doughnuts or automobiles with 8 cylinder engines. So we are going to work on starting the special saving plan for my newest bike lust - reasonable bike lust at that.

On another note - the annual Saucon Valley Community Center golf tourney is upon us. Boozer and El Wapo will be arriving in town on Sunday evening so that we can carbo-load for the ungodly early start on Monday morning. I usually drink more yellow beer in those two days than I do in an entire year - that is really not such an exaggeration. My perennial foursome of Matt, Keith, Chris and myself will be joined by that of Boozer, Greasy, Leon and The Kibbs. The second is a new foursome and we will all be starting on the same tee - should make for a day of great laughs and lots of peeing - damn yellow beer. Do not want to rush through the weekend but I am counting the moments until the silliness. Good laughs.

Have a great weekend all - enjoy the poop out of yourselves.

Great Stuff

More kharma repair took place in the form of an event called Girls on the Run. Stephanie had seen their booth when we were picking up our packets for the Half Marathon and I got on board when I saw that they were still looking for volunteers for the event. Broken down to it's base - this is a program that is being developed to build self-confidence in young women - the bigger picture is that it is a fantastic event for all involved parties. The girls spent a few months training with volunteer coaches - training with a goal of finishing a 5k run. There were a plethora of skill and fitness levels for both the girls and the volunteers. It was the intent of the organizers to pair the girls with an adult who would be able to keep up with them - some of these young ladies were pretty darn quick. The first finisher came in somewhere around the 25 minute mark and the last closer to an hour. It is hard to pick what the most touching moment of this event was - I am going to say it was the group of girls that ran back out after they finished to help pace their slower friend to the finish line. The enthusiasm of all participants was refreshing. Last fall there were 9 girls from one school participating - this race had 75 girls from 8 schools and I would estimate there to be about 50 volunteers - everyone with big ole smiles on their faces. This event was such a success that it is hard to imagine it not growing even larger. If you are in the Allentown area I have to encourage you to get involved because it is such a fantastic cause - if not I would look for similar events as it is truly good for the soul.

DUDE!!!

Sweet Jesus what a hoot. I really hope that Allentown appreciates the blessing that this bike race is to the Valley and that they bust their arses to keep it here - give me a ring if you need help. First leg of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown rolled through town on Tuesday and I am already counting the days until next year. The Fireman and I split two gears between us and headed out to chase this race around town. Started out our journey by riding downtown to search for some schwag - caught a bit of the women's Elite race - got some t-shirts and a pretzel and set to plannin' on our next stop. We decided instead of watching the start and then then struggling through traffic to get to our next stop - we would head out to a point fairly well out and wait for them to come to us. We headed off towards the Parkway - battled it out with an older father/son team on tricked out road bikes until they rode another direction - I think they were scared - and chose a spot two thirds of the way up the switchbacks heading towards the North parkway. There were a handful of folks waiting there already - including aforementiond father/son - they dug our bikes - we dug theirs - started taking bets on when the first rider would hit the climb - Fireman chose lowest at 7 and a half minutes and even he was high - these dudes were haulin ass. Watched two laps there and headed up a bit further North - figuring we would hang just past the feed station and lay in wait for some discarded schwag - or swag - depends how you roll - we left that spot after lap 4 schwagless and swagless - turns out we were a bit too far past feed station. Headed out to 24th St to head back South as the feeling was the descent down 24th followed by a hard right might prove for some excitement - the ride down 24th was amazing - maybe the coolest part of the day was that the streets of Allentown were empty except for people and bikes - smiling people at that - wild - we ruffled the feathers of Spang's Army a little bit - they kept telling us we were not allowed on the road - the Fireman kept telling them no - I fear authority - even those goobers - and would head up onto the sidewalk for a few moments before I dropped back to the street. So anyhoo - smiling people and bikes - what the hell - heaven? The vantage point from Hamilton St was stellar - no crashes thankfully as I do not think it would have been pretty - saw a dear friend I have not seen for way to long - people who love bikes will even bribe their kids with candy so that they can go see the bike race - great stuff. A few more laps - Tyler is in there somewhere - then off to our next stop. Rode east on Hamilton towards St. Luke's - one big assed hill and one big assed gear - not for the faint of heart - tried to keep the momentum rolling as we hit the incline - got cheers and cowbell ringing for my climb on that old Schwinn. Fireman needed to head towards home to walk the dog so I headed with him and we stopped for a nice tall cold beer - heaven? I intended to head back after the Fireman departed but got another visitor - had another beer and some shit shootin' in the sunshine. Decided to cut the grass and let the beauty of the day soak in. Damn that was fun. Has been a feel good week after such a tough weekend. Girls on the Run update soon. Peace.

Shazzam

This bad boy turned out better than I could ever have imagined. God bless the crew at the Bike Line in Allentown - they honestly are the best game around - I thank them for their patience and space. Check them out if you need anything and let them know I sent you - it honestly pays dividends. So anyhoo - I took the maiden voyage on this bad boy by putting it into service as my commuter last Friday - it rocked. One big ole gear which takes awhile to get up to speed - but once it is rolling - smooth as butter. Takes me awhile to remember I have no ability to freewheel and that I cannot spin the tires when I stomp on the pedals - but slow and steady wins the race. Did I mention it has a coaster brake? That takes a bit of thought as well. Have been on this exclusively since I finished it and I am pretty sure it will be my main ride for anything under 25 miles. Schweet. All kinds of bike fun recently - will post that shortly - hint: Lehigh Valley Classic baby!!! Peace out.

God Speed my Friend

Stephanie and I lost a very dear member of our family this weekend. After almost 14 years as Stephanie's dedicated companion we had to make the unenviable decision to send Thomas on to the next world. We found out almost a month ago that he had an extremely aggressive tumor - inoperable so the only option was to watch this disease slowly wear him down. He was with Stephanie through some of the toughest times that life could throw at her and fortunately was still around when we found each other again to start a new phase of both of our lives. I thank him for being there through thick and thin - making her smile when not much else could. Hopefully he left this earth knowing that we have found a peace in our lives that has been missing for a long time and that he will be forever in our hearts. God speed my friend - we love you and miss you terribly.