Mom, Lo, and Ash.... oh, and my birthday

Where's Ashley?

 So how bad have I been about keeping up with this blog? Ril, ril bad- that's how bad. A month ago I turned 35 years young and my Mom, my sis, and my niece came out to share in the joy and I'm only now getting around to telling the world about it.

It was a great weekend (if sweltering). I only had the presence of mind to keep my camera around me for the first day of their visit. If this blawg is any indication, my camera seems to be the only way things get remembered in my life. Case in point, only the first 1.5 hours of the visit actually happened; the Georgia Aquarium was a dream - my party at Memorial Park, and all the people who came to well-wish me, heat-induced hallucinations.

Here's what really happened:

My sister and her daughter sat in the pecan cathedral of our back yard in blissful peace.

 

Then we all went inside and the Wild Rumpus started!

 

...Until Mom cried, "Stop!" and everyone mellowed out. Ashley paid Mom back all the money Lo and I had ever bummed off of her (Thanks, Ash!). 

 

Then Hannah told Mom a really dirty joke.

 

...And then crawled off to cook me the finest meal I've ever eaten. 

 

It was the best birthday ever - and it wouldn't have been if Mom and Lo hadn't bent over backwards to get themselves here. Thanks, ladies. Indebted. 

All true, I swear. 

-r

Yay Bikes! My quiver.

Yes, Sarah will roll her eyes when she sees this, but I'm doing it anyway.  I have four (4) complete bikes and each serves a different purpose. Here they are:


First up is my geared Cyclocross bike. If you missed my, "What is cyclocross?" post way-back-when, follow this link.

Contemporary: aluminum frame, carbon fork

As if that's not bad enough, some of us do this on bikes with only one gear. Below is my SSCX (single-speed cyclocross) bike.

Traditional: Steel frame, steel fork, high spoke-count wheels

 I commute on an old Peugot steel frame from the '80s. Again, just one gear- easier to keep the gears clean. Yes, the blue-white-orange color scheme is completely gratuitous, but really - it looks nice, no?

Deep dish rims and a spoke card. Maybe I am a townie!

 But for long rides on the road, I have one of those new-fangled swoopy carbon fibre things. Crazy stiff and stupid light, this thing will go as fast as I make it (my unofficial top speed is somewhere between a dashing squirrel and a Clarke County public vehicle, speeding, trying to hit said squirrel).

Meeting up for a group ride one morning, an octogenarian stopped in his tracks after seeing my bike. I thought he was going to start on the whole, "You cyclists..!!" thing. Instead he just said, "Pretty."

 Still, all good things must come to an end. The Specialized has been good to me but carbon fibre tends not to age gracefully. I'd rather not wait to see how ungracefully this bike will decline. To that end, I present my new frame:

The Raleigh International, new and improved for 2011, complete with "rock out," courtesy of the most over-qualified bike shop employee in town.

After 100+ years of making bicycles, Raleigh has incorporated new alloy technology into their framebuilding in the last few years. It is my hope that this frame will be my road flagship for many years to come. I'll  post a pic once it's built up.

Thanks for indulging me.
More family-centric stuff soon.
-r

Kate and Cody and some New Shoes

Our friends Kate and Cody paid us a visit while they were in from Oxford, Miss, and they were kind enough to think of Lil' Hannah before they came.
See?

, 

First "steps" in the new shoes

Yes, really.

2 happy girls.

It was great to see you, K & C!