turnings

Looks like this:

We got out early on Mother’s Day so that Lisa would have some time to herself. True, she was busy prepping for Noah’s final 3rd birthday party later in the day, but us being out of the house changes the tempo. So we went to the Lake and rolled around for a while. Then we stopped at home, grabbed some breakfast, and headed out to the Park (read slides ad swings). We were pretty much out of the house the entire morning getting air and sunshine and running around. A great gift for all of us.

By the time I took this picture, Noah had already squirmed out of half his harness, was occasionally snacking on his Bites and sipping from a water bottle, had two plush bears and a blanket with him. He also requested that his red backpack ride along (filled with enough “Noah supplies” for a really tough day (changes of clothes, diapers, wipes, etc., etc.) All in all I was pulling about 65lbs.

Thinking of you.

So a while back, when I started the Great Clif Mojo bar Taste Test and we’ve had a very cold spring. What that means is that the results are taking quite some time to accumulate. Sure the folks are riding and doing, but not the sort of long rides where somehow tastes change in odd ways, or where they need to pack energy along in the first place. (Little known secret, unless you’re a skinny sort, working out all the time etc. you don’t need extra calories (generally) for a two hour bike ride. I tell you three times.)

However some more results were written up a while back, and I never got around to posting. SO without further ado I present the always lovely, impossibly snarky, funny, and joyous Jenni on her Mojo bar experience.

The first thing that I’d add before I move along to the next bit of commentary, is that Jenni didn’t even know these existed… which doesn’t say much for Clif marketing. Sure this seems a bit like biting the hand that fed us (we did get the bars from clearly happening and with it Dean Mayer of Clif Bar Inc. afterall) but one so generous and kind will surely understand that I’m merely trying to point out that they are not achieving nearly the market penetration they should out here in the East, at least with Mojo bars.)

Next up was a partial report from David. Besides being the President of the Rockland Bike Club, he’s also an incredibly talented and created soul who authors columns, reviews, and books on photography, software, and stuff. He travels a lot, seems to find more than his fair share of food poisoning, and has done stuff like biked across Alaska. So without further ado, his rejoinder and first comments.

More comments to come soon… I’m sure. Right? Hello? Seth? David? What’s that? I haven’t finished yet either? Yeah, yeah. It’s coming. Soon. Really. No, seriously.

A quick ride with Gerry this morning. First I had to drop off Noah, then run down to Piermont for our start. Too much stress. Naturally, it was 35 degrees (F) outside as I was getting dressed, but it was warming quickly. Gerry had already been riding already (naturally) so after a couple of minutes of my fumbling around with clothes, off we went. First annoyance, the heart rate monitor wasn’t being read. It connected shortly into the ride though.

This was the first ride on the “Weapon of Choice” with the light wheels installed. I’m not really any lighter, as I recover from the enforced carbs of Passover, but the winter wheels need some attention, and I don’t want to keep riding on them until they get it. Naturally, the beater wheels have an old, not really working cassette on them, so they were not an option. I kept a light thought and prayed that I would not drop into a water system cover hole or something and taco a wheel.

Stats for this sneak a ride before work thing were 15.67 miles in 1:03:39.44, Avg pace 4:03/mi, Avg speed 14.8mph, Max speed 23.8. Avg heart 130bpm, Max heart 158 with just under 500ft of climbing (essentially flat). Not bad numbers for me in spring—better overall for this time period than over the last two years.

In my never ending quest for more fun with bikes and more time (and fun) with Noah, I finally got a ride in with him in the trailer.

Scene 1: Enter the trailer

Really, I guess this should start with “enter Noah” but I’ve only got a few seconds here before you move on. So I EBay a bunch of stuff I’m not using and purchase a trailer… about a year and half too early it turns out. Ever the eager beaver am I, and in this case, hugely misjudge where Noah’s at as far as this was concerned. So I stored a large box with said trailer over the winter.

Scene 2: Try, try again.
Assembled last spring, Noah stepped in, pronounced it worthy of further study and stepped out. Getting him to wear a helmet for longer than three seconds was out of the question. It was an affront to his dignity that I even tried.

No helmet no trailer, soooo no trailer. I, btw, don’t think it’s absolutely necessary for him to wear it in the trailer, but I’m not going to try and explain why “no” in the trailer and “yes” on the trike, or why when we ride on the trail it’s ok, but not when ride on the road. So there.

Winter sets in and still no trailer ride with Noah. We continued to try but he was never interested. Then it got too cold as far as my wife was concerned, so I folded it up and once again, stored it for the winter. The plan became the just-work-the-trailer-into-conversation-about-going-to-the-park-when-the-weather-warms-up type stuff. Parentally sneaky, but isn’t that what parenthood is all about? I think so. (Plus I just received notice that I’m in the running for longest dashed sentence. Rocks.)

Scene 3: Behold the trailer!
In hopeful preparation, a couple weeks ago I rehydrated the trailer, inflated the tires and trailed it behind my bike round and round my short driveway for a mile (no, really, I measured) to make sure everything was ok. Nothing loose, no strange tipping, nor lack of soundness. Cool.

Today, as we prepare for the last couple of days of Passover (and the sad end to my vacation) Lisa needed some time with Noah out from underfoot, and the weather was calling. Taking one from the Better Daddy(tm) playbook, I whip out the ever so casual, maybe I should try and take Noah for a ride in the trailer? (Thus collecting good husband points, good daddy points, and bike time at once. A triple play!) And so we went. He’s been excited lately because the weather warmed up and we’ve been making excursions to various parks (slides, swings, pirate ships, bikes, trikes, outdoors!) and so with his helmet (just like daddy) on his head, his bear in his hand, he buckled up and off we went. First just around the corner to make sure everything was cool from his perspective and then down the block and back and then around the neighboring streets. Only once did he complain about the wind (he’s not a fan), and it was not generated by us, it was a sudden gust.

He did get a little freaked by a passing car—a nice, polite toot, and plenty of clearance on the pass, but stupidly I didn’t warn Noah. He very quietly said “Daddy” and I looked back at him and something had taken the wind out of his sails. I pulled over and he added, “Something’s behind us, Daddy”. I made sure he was OK, explained it was just a car, and that he had a window where he could see out the back if he wished, and we moved on. It took a few minutes, but he was fine. Hopefully we both learned something.

But mostly he was singing, and shouting out directions (”Go this way Daddy!”) and singing some more and enjoying the experience. And since he never seems to want to go home or inside once he starts, suspect there’ll be some nice long rides in our future. Wheee!