Aluminum Cog = Bad

Those lips on the teeth - no, they're not suppose to be there. That's about 8 months of on-the-trail, do-it-yourself extrusion. We'll use stainless for now on.

Cleaning Up for Good

I finally got the boys to finish cleaning out their rooms (for now, anyway). They had some left over Pokemon cards (300+), and I had my eye on the trash can. My 7 year-old suggested that we eBay them instead. He didn't want to help count them, so I told him he would not share in the profit. To my surprise, he immediately quipped that his intent was not to keep the money, but donate it. I can't argue with that... 30 minutes later - with the help of both boys - the cards were counted and organized as you see here.

In 7 days time (the length of the auction), AFC will have a bit more cash, and my boys will know a bit more about what things are worth. Pretty cool.

[Update - $40 was raised for AFC + the house is a bit cleaner!]

Relativism

So some of my friends think I ride my bike a lot. As this chart demonstrates, however, I ride little compared to some of my friends - as far as road-miles are concerned. (I'm the grey line.) None of us, however, ride as much as elite or pro riders. Yet the gap between each successive rider category is large. I can't keep up with folks 'one step' above my level in most cases. Yet folks 'one step' below me feel like I'm too fast.

So as a cyclist, I really can't relate to some one like Lance Armstrong any more than a non-cyclist.

Almost 70. (Farenheit)

The thermometer read about 70F today, so the kids went on a mandatory bike ride with me. :) Ben's inner descender is finally emerging. He made it up BB today as well (2+ mile climb). For that feat, he earned his very own AFC jersey. [update - Each kid has received a prize for their first successful climb; I asked Ben what he wanted, and he asked for the AFC jersey... Good thing I had already bought him one!]

2 thermoses of hot chocolate and a few snacks can easily entice my kids into a 2 hour ride. Of course, I probably should have fed them a real lunch.

Mike

ps - I raised his seat for the trip back home!

Two Wheels

We finally got some good weather, so Luke could try out his new wheels.  I think it's cool that he lets his dad ride with him.  My kids are starting to think dad isn't so cool these days.