Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Day 15 - Brothers through and through



I guess the the Twin-kies are now old enough to head out in the trailer with their brother. They were a little uncertain, but all in all it was very well received. Now I just wished we actually had something we could actually pull all three around at the same time. Maybe I will just get a Madsen.


Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Day 14 - Quickie


Tonight we had Open House at my school, and therefore I didn't get home until after 8:30. I gave consideration to not putting my bike time, but decided against it pretty quickly. Here are a couple of shots from the quickie around the block.


Monday, September 13, 2010

Day 13 - Parent Night and Teen Party

After getting everybody to bed tonight, I took the 'ol steel horse out for a ride around the neighborhood. My plan was to circle the neighborhood schools (two elementary, middle, and high school) before heading home via a different route. I was able to catch this sunset on the Iphone before heading out. On my 4 mile cruise through my little part of the world, I saw a number of interesting things.
  1. Apparently tonight was Open House for the entire neighborhood, because there were tons of cars at all of the schools.
  2. A church parking lot that was playing house music and had upwards of a 100 high school kids standing around and drinking Mexican soda.....just seemed a little weird for a Monday night.
  3. lots of neighbors outside talking
  4. maybe the best part of cruising around is the smell of all those BBQ grills cooking dinner
  5. I was also able to help a fellow citizen by giving directions, without ever slowing down.

Day 10, 11, 12 - Off the Bike

I know this is going to sound extremely lame, but the weekend was BBBBBUUUUUSSSSSSYYYYY and I never did have a chance go get out, even for a loop around the block on the bike. One of the things that I did find time to do this weekend was to go out and get a Surly Cross Check bike frame, that I am going to build up to a commuter bike. I loaded up all three boys during naptime, and proceeded to meet the guy in S. Austin. He was a full on MAMIL (middle aged man in Lycra) and he said that he had used the frame as a commuter bike. Judging from the excellent condition of the frame (not a nick on the thing) and the BMW the guy pulled the frame out of, I am guessing he found that riding his bike to his law firm just wasn't lawyerly enough. His loss my gain....got to love Craigslist.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Day 9 - Dove Bars and Football


Tonight is the kickoff of the "When will Brett Farve get hurt watch" and so to celebrate after dinner, I made a quick trip to the grocery store on my bike, to pick up some Dove Bars. I took this shot on the way back to the house.


I have been reading about fellow 30 Days of Biking participants and their chilly morning commutes up in the Land o' Lakes. I don't figure that at any point in September I am going to need my sweet Grenade gloves to keep my digits warm while riding, but I did try and find a use for them tonight. The Boy wanted to wear them and so I tried to bribe him to say in bed if he wanted to wear them......he said no...DANG.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Day 8 - Storm aftermath

After last nights wet and wild ride, I settled for something a little less exciting when I got home today. Pulling into the driveway, I noticed that Mrs B had taken the ankle-biters out to do some important errand. I dropped my bag and lunch dishes in the house and ran back outside to get some shots of the 'hood after the big storm (over 12 inches alone at our house). I didn't figure on a long ride, and since it wasn't even raining I just went without changing clothes.

Here is my cycling attire for today

Those 12+ inches of rain filled up the local lakes and watered my drought weakened flowerbeds (and all the weeds mixed in with the intended plants), but all that water also washed out the local trails.

The neighborhood drainage ditch also looked more like a creek instead of the usual mosquito breeding ground.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Day 7 - Tropical Storm be damned, I ride bikes.

"You can't go out tonight, it is pouring, thundering and lightning, and there is a tornado warning" those are the words Mrs B said as I was headed out the door to sneak in my 30 Days of Biking trip. Tropical Storm Hermine was not going to keep me from getting in my nightly ride. So for all you people out there who say you can't get out there and ride on a daily basis, if I can do it with a storm the size of Texas sitting right over my house so can you.

Post 3 mile loop in the torrential downpour

The eye of Hermine passed within 30 miles of my house (really not as impressive as it sounds) and brought more then 5 inches of rain so far, and it is still raining.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Movie Monday - Timer

Timer - We watched this little film with my sister and her husband Alex once we got all the kids to bed. It was a little rough around the edges in the quality, but I think the story was highly entertaining and provoked quite a bit of discussion once the movie was over. The general storyline of the movie loosely follows your standard romantic comedy, but with the addition of a science fiction element (timers that tell you when you meet your soul mate).

The best part of the movie was when it was all over, and we all talked about if we would get the timer or not. This is a good movie, but not a great one, you see the ending coming from fairly far off, but continue to hope that there would actually be a different outcome. If you are looking for a quick movie for date night this would be a good choice because it is available Instantly from Netflix. So this poses the question.

If you could know the exact moment you were going to meet your soul mate before it happened would you want to know?

Day 6 - Cool Down on a Busy Weekend


Well the extremely busy and fun weekend is coming to a close, and with getting my Honey-Do list from the weekend completed in just one day, I didn't get much of a chance to go out and spin the gears. Once we put the Twin-kies and the Boy to bed I hopped on the ol' steel horse and went off to explore new (to me) streets in my neighborhood. Here are a couple of shots from the ride.


Bringing New Meaning to the words "Wardrobe Malfunction"


We don't have many dresses in our house since this place is essentially a frat house, but when the cousins are here, dress up time takes on a whole new level of fun. The Boy really wanted to wear the purple dress to church.

The cousins already went home today, and as I am writing this the Boy looks over my shoulder and says "I am missing my cousins already" ----- I couldn't agree more.

Day 5 - Dare me. I dare you!!!!

With my sister in town for the long weekend, we are constantly finding new and inventive ways to do childish things. Over dinner we were talking about 30 Days of Biking and how the cousins and the Boy were pushing the weight limit of the trailer, not to mention my legs. In true sibling fashion she dared me to pull her around the block, figuring I would just refuse because I worried about the structural integrity of the trailer. NOPE. Just seeing her try and fold her six foot frame into that trailer was worth the $40 I spent at a garage sale for the thing. We made it all the way around the block without a problem, and even came up with another idea for a 30 Days of Biking event.

Here are a couple of the shots my sister took while riding in the trailer:

This the view from the trailer.....I am guessing at about this point, my sis is starting rethink this whole idea. Nothing says extreme fun like my giant butt and a bike trailer. Thankfully, if for some reason were in an accident and we both had amnesia my name is written right there on my belt....safety first people.

Here is the passenger's self portrait.

Proof that we did actually ride that day, you can see me peddling and her riding along. For those of you wondering, that 100lb max that was listed as the safety limit is apparently flexible, very flexible.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Day 3 - Grocery Getter


Upon getting home from a very stimulating staff development (said with tongue firmly planted in cheek), Mrs B asked me to go to the local HEB and pick up a few things for dinner. Since traffic was backing up on the road to the store, I figured that I was just going to load up the Boy and head to the store with the bike. We made it there and back in about the same time it would have taken us in the car. We are going to be doing that more often, it was just too easy not to continue. Thank you #30daysofbiking for opening my eyes to this opportunity.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Day 2

I waited until the end of the day, and everybody else was fast asleep, but I still found 15 minutes to get out and cruise the hood in the dark. I certainly didn't mind the cooler temp's or quiet streets.

30 Days of Biking

The Boy could not be happier at the moment. I have finally got the bike up and running as well as the pull behind trailer we picked up at a garage sale last spring. The reason for this sudden completion of my biking to do list......30 Days of Biking. If you aren't familiar, the basic idea is that for the 30 days of September you commit to getting out and riding your bike, whether it be a 30 mile hill workout (which you would never find me doing) or riding to the grocery store to pick up those last couple of items before dinner (I plan and doing this) or just cruising around the block with the kid in tow (he's hoping for lots of this---and will probably get it). The boy and I have come to an understanding, as long as he doesn't wander into my room at 5am to chat, and instead waits until he hears the shower, he gets to go on a bike ride with me when I get home. It has worked for 2 straight nights.....I am hoping it continues.

The main reason I decided I wanted to give the 30 Days of Biking a shot was because I was sick of wishing that I lived in a bike friendly city like Copenhagen or Amsterdam. If Austin is ever going to get to that point, I need to get out on my bike. Although I doubt there are any group rides organized in Austin for 30 Days of Biking, I am going to do my part and get out there and start riding. My hope is to chronicle all 30 days with a photograph of some sort from my daily ride, it should be fun. Now if I could just figure out how to get Minnesota's September weather (cool mornings and mild afternoons) instead of Austin's (muggy mornings and stiflingly hot afternoons) we would really be in the business.