More proof of aging

Got on the bike a few times (other than the commute) last week, and I fear that the seemingly continuous deteriorating of my minisucs in both of my knees is going to at least hinder, if not end, my single-speed days. Rode Sugarbottom last night and the knees are screaming at me today.

Secondly, I went camping last night. Figured it wouldn't be too busy out there yet, but I was wrong. I got a spot and got set up after riding. Cooked some burgers over the fire and had a couple beers. And went to bed. Problem is, there were a couple of jackasses in the campground. One of them was playing music LOUD out of their car and another one actually had a stereo system going. I guess I've begun to equate holiday camping with going to the bars on New Years and St. Patty's day. Amateur night. I want nothing to do with it. I want peace and quiet. I haven't always been like that. There was a day when I was the jackass. If anybody understands the party life, it's me. So rather than flag down the ranger, I pulled up stakes, grabbed the fat beagle and went home.

Stacey Ridin' Singletrack

Christmas of 2004, I bought Stacey her first mountain bike. I remember telling her I wanted her to experience the sport that seemingly takes up every minute of free time I have so that she can hopefully join me in my experiences. A week later we found out Mara was on the way, and her bike has seen nothing but pavement since. That ended today. Our local Mountain Biking club led a Ladies ride for women of all abilities. Stacey signed up and joined in. I have spent many days, and put a lot of time into the trail system at Beverly Park. The fact that my wife's first MTB experience was on trails that I helped create made her first day of mountain biking all the more special. While Stacey was riding, I brought the kids home from Clear Lake. Mom and Dad met me in Waverly to cut the drive in half. We met Stacey at the park. The kids loved running up and down the trail. The finished the day off by playing in a mud puddle. They were absolutely filthy and were loving every minute of it. Grandma S may have fainted if she saw how dirty they were. Don't have any pics of the muddy kids, but here are some pics of Stacey:

Other weekend news, Mara and Ellen spent the weekend at Grandpa and Grandma Kehrt's house while Stacey and I spent a quiet weekend at home. The highlight of the weekend, other than Stacey's ride, was our night out at the Stone City Pub. As of last night, I declare this place my favorite place in the CR area. It's a little restaurant and pub in the middle of nowhere. The food was awesome, the staff was awesome, and the beers were awesome. It's in a cool little building right on the Wapsi river.

Soccer

Mara has had a couple of "practices" now, and I gotta say, this league is pretty lame. A bunch of high school kids with no direction trying to reason with 3 year olds. Funny. Actually, it would probably be better if all the parents would back up 20 feet and let the coaches coach. Either way, it's a start and something we'll keep doing if she wants to. I'm going to look around for a better league though with an actual coach.