Lights in the Parkway Ride - December 19th

Greetings all.  Tis the season to bundle up and go for a ride.  Allentown is letting Bicycles through  Lights in the Parkway (LITP) on equal terms as all other vehicles this year and Bike Allentown wants to show them we are thankful.  We are planning a group ride through the display on December 19th at 5:15pm.  Front and rear lights are required by law and we are going to request that everyone wear helmets for good measure.  There are many options for getting to the start of LITP but I am going to keep this simple.

There are two parking lots off Fish Hatchery Road should you want to drive over there with your bike.  The lot closest to 24th Street and the one I am recommending parking at is the Fly Fishing Shop - coming from 24th you will cross under 78 and you will see a small sign for that lot shortly after on the right - head down the hill and park wherever there is space.  There is a bridge across the Little Lehigh right there that we can cross and head towards the 5:15 start at the beginning of LITP.  We should leave this spot no later than 4:50pm for good measure - that will leave plenty of time to get there and take pictures and things of the such and meet anyone who may have taken another path to the start.  If that lot is full - there is a second lot at the Fish Hatchery which is only about a quarter mile ride from this spot.  If you park there - you will come out of the lot and make a left - you will have to ride a small distance on Fish Hatchery road - cross a small bridge and make an immediate left onto the gravel path - that will take you to the lot at the Fly Fishing Shop.  Please be there by 4:50pm so we can all head to the start as a group.  Admission for LITP is $9.00 if you buy your tickets at the start - BUT - you can buy them in advance for $5.00 at either the Christmas Barn (located in the parking lot by Bogert's Bridge - this the entrance at the traffic signal at 24th Street and Fish Hatchery Road) or Allentown City Hall.

If you are going to head over by bike - the options of getting there are unlimited.  The main entrance to the Lehigh Parkway and the start of LITP is off of 15th Street - you will not miss it.  If you are going to meet us at the start of LITP - please try to be there no later than 5:00pm so that we can get ourselved organized, photographed, etc.  We will head off as a group and proceed to ride through LITP at a very leisurely pace so that we all have time for oohs and aahs.  The display concludes by the red covered bridge (Bogert's) at the traffic light on 24th at Fish Hatchery Road.  There is a Christmas Barn set-up at the end with gifts, hot chocolate, et al.  You can choose to hang out there for a bit, head back to your car or head back from any other direction from which you came.  The lots that I recommended for parking are just a very short bike ride back on a gravel path from this point.

Please come join us and bring your family and/or friends - it is sure to be a good time and we would like a decent sized group to show our appreciation to Allentown for letting bikes through this year (even though they should be allowed through anyway - but that is a different story for a different day).  

Afterwards I intend to head to Ringer's Roost on Liberty Street in Allentown to enjoy some holiday cheer and warm my arse.  Feel free to join in the celebration.  Ride on!

Another Year in the Rearview Mirror

Seasons greetings y'all.  Doubt anyone has even checked here as I have not posted since February.  A whole year has once again flown by.  Going on three years in our house.  16 as a Boyce Associate!  Sweet jesus.  Going on 6 months in a new and much upgraded (over the last) marriage.  I cautiously say - LIFE IS GOOD!  Season greetings to you all.  Best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010.  I smell a resolution to post more often and with meaning in the works.  I love you all.  Cheers.

Time Flizzies

Where the hell does time go? I guess the combination of wind - cold and a way busy schedule have somehow taken me straight in to the end of February. I have been fortunate to keep my fitness schedule pretty well intact and am ready for increased miles when things finally friggin warm up around here. Enough wind and freexing cold already. Not sure what I was thinking when I left the house this morning but there are 40 mile an hour winds raging - it is below freezing and I chose to ride in today. Here's to hoping the wind is at my back for my trip home - although somehow I always seem to be riding in the wind in both directions. Will make me tougher I suppose. This facebook thing is sweeping the world and seriously cutting into my updates - I know all three of you have been dying to know what the hell I have been up to - although you already know from facebook anyway. I needed more places to babble. The Iditarod Challenge is starting soon - I am pretty sure I still have a link up there - so if you have a chance check out Jill Homer's progress and send her your warm and happy thoughts. I will try and do more interesting things so I can bestow my witicisms upon all. Peace

Belated Resin Recap

I had so much friggin fun once again that I am just getting around to talking about it. As a former soccer player - all I know about playing football I have learned from being a part of the spectacle that is the Resin Bowl. I study the playbook of the big guy in the top right picture and suddenly I understand. Ben was in his first game back since knee surgery - made a cut as seen in lower left pic and his leg was still attached when it was all said and done. Twas the first year that there were second generation Resinites - Ben's nephew Michael and Matt's son Drew they seemed to have plenty of fun - except for the part where Drew was the recipient of a flying body that knocked him out of bounds - welcome to the Resin Bowl son. Next year is the "Official" 20th Bowl and we are aiming to make it extra special. I am hoping that we can go old school and have a little sideline barfing - there has been none of that for awhile which means we are either getting old and lame or that our bodies are processing the alcohol much more efficiently. There is talk of t-shirts, pregame - during game and post game festivities - okay that part kinda goes on all of the time - and a History of the Resin Bowl pictorial. Considering that every year we play and talk about how we had so much fun that we need to play at the six month mark and it never happens - we may just end up being happy with the ever full cooler of beer on the sidelines. That being said - the call goes out to our dear graphic designing friend in the pacific northwest that we miss more and more every year he is not on the sidelines and works for a company that is spelled very much like Bike or Hike - we need a design for a t-shirt and that maybe we would also put on a flag that we can plant in the ground every year to mark our territory. You know who you are - and we need your help. I mean sure I could do it myself but the football might look like an egg and if there were people involved they would have to be stick figures and then I would have no idea how to get that on a t-shirt unless I did it directly with a marker and then would have to do them all by hand but at least if I numbered them they would be unique and might end up collectors items but probably not. You get my point. I truly digress and lose my train of thought. In summary - the Resin Bowl rocks - everyone has fun - my pregame no one play like an asshole speech is either working or we are getting too old to bother tackling and breaking noses or maybe we just want this bad boy to keep on going as long as we can. Long live Resin. Oh and I am proud of most of you guys not being scared of a buzz. Play on.

Join the Fight with Team Fatty

I have no idea who even reads this thing but Stephanie and I have signed on for a cause today. We both signed up to take part in the Philly Livestrong Challenge in August - she is going to ride the 10 mile version and I the 70. I have been following the blog of The Fat Cyclist for some time - a link can be found in the sidebar. His wife has inoperable brain cancer and it is his intention to break team records in not only all four Livestrong regional challenges but to also decimate the overall fundraising record. It only takes a few moments of reading his posts to get excited about the cause. As I not only have family members who have fought their own personal battles with cancer - some of which strangely enough do not even tell me that they have found masses - I have also had a bit of the cancer removed from my neck a few months ago and so this whole thing struck a chord with me. Bottom line is we are going to need everyone's help to even get there as we each need to raise at least $250 to have the opportunity to join the ride. So as we do not have any kids that have been trying to sell you cookies or wrapping paper or other things of the such and as we have not really done anything like this before - we are hoping we will far surpass that number. We are going to try and divide and conquer so as not to hit everyone up twice - I know these are difficult economic times so anything that can be spared will be greatly appreciated. I am going to compile a list of e-mails which will give you a link to one of our pages. In the interim if you really cannot control the urge to donate - by all means check out http://philly09.livestrong.org/saulgood or http://philly09.livestrong.org/princess - if you need any motivation just check out the link to Fat Cyclist in the sidebar. It is my promise that should we end up with a child they will have a direct edict to not harass any of you with their childish fundraising pursuits - if you do not donate however they will have your arse on speed dial. I crack me up.

Resinationability

Yes boys and girls that IS the smell of Resin in the air once again. The boys are psyched for that chance that just maybe this will be their year on the highlight reel - sure the highlight might be some puking on the sidelines or a broken nose or two - but those of us that are not capable of a one handed catch need a moment in the sun too. The girls are psyched to get rid of us for a few hours yet send us off with trepidation as to just what the size of our pupils will be when we return home. I know that at 39 I am just hitting puberty and have plenty of good years left in me - shit I will play on a walker if I must - I just hope my diaper does not leak - although that does make for some good tv. For all those Bowlers that cannot be here for one reason or another - I thank you for giving this soccer player a chance to actually make it in the game in your absence - sure I have no damn idea what the hell they are talking about when they tell me to streak right - just know I have a damn fun time getting there wherever that may be. I think I am going to go out and start training now. Gobble gobble.

The Flight of Time

I gotta say time has flown faster than a mofo this year. Somehow we are midway through November and a New Year is shining on the horizon. Too much fun - too much stress - just plain old? No damn idea but time is haulin arse. I have been extremely fortunate to have been doing a buttload of riding my bike this year. Road rides. Mountain rides. Cruiser rides. Cross rides. Early morning rides. Night rides. Solo rides. Group rides. Rinse. Repeat. Good friggin stuff. I have refurbished a number of bikes this year and I am getting pretty damn good at it. Everytime I finish one project I start eyeing the other bikes on the wall to decide who is next. Keeps me busy - or maybe it is a convenient excuse to be in the garage next to the beer fridge. There are truly worse habits to have I imagine - bikes not the beer fridge that is. Oh by the way - 15 days to the RESIN BOWL - 16 to the RESIN ROLL - the most wonderful time of the year. Ride on mofos!