Ass whoopin'

Had a pretty average week. Took Ellen to her 2 year check up. She's where she should be in development. The doctor confirmed what we already knew, she's a big girl, but she's proportionate (not chubby). I have a horrible fear of having chubby kids.


Had friends Roy and Monique over for dinner on Saturday night. Grilled some bratwurst, drank some beer, and the kids played. Sort of a belated b-day party for Ellen. Roy and I fired up the fire pit and listened to the Cyclones game on the radio until their daughter forced their departure. All the kids were very well behaved for a change.

The ass whoopin came on Sunday when I decided to race at Sugarbottom. There are 4 divisions: Beginners 10 miles, Sport 20 miles, Singlespeed 30 miles, and Expert 30 miles. I really, really wanted to race sport class, but I made myself race singlespeed. I felt that if I raced sport, I would be giving in to my lack of fitness and would never try to get in better shape than I am right now. Turns out, I gave myself the ass whoopin' I deserved. I struggled through 30 miles of tight singletrack, climbing, and root infested trails on a rigid frame.



Here I am lined up with the Singlespeeders, with the experts in front of us by a few minutes. This is pretty much the last time I saw any of these guys except for one of them, who ended up dropping out of the race.

After the first 20 miles, I was getting pretty tired, so I just rode the last lap at a leisurely pace. Stopped for a swig of beer from my buddy Ken who was volunteering. And prepared myself for a very difficult technical climb called Gravity Cavity (name stolen from Palos in the Chicago area). I later found out that I as one of the few who made it up that climb without walking on each of the three laps, so at least I have that to be proud of.



A pic of me on the prarie coming out of the woods. I don't know when or where this was taken on the trail. When I crossed the line, my friend Dave was waiting with a Fat Tire Ale and some swag from the sponsors came a little later than that. Can't beat the atmosphere of these races.

Got home around 5 and was toast. Took a shower and had a nice evening with the family. Stacey had dinner going and we hung out in the yard for a while before dinner. It was nice of Stacey again to facilitate my need to go out and play and get dirty with my friends.

Sorry for the continued lack of photos of the kids. Hopefully will replace / repair my computer soon.