-NRSBGGITS #1-
When Noah and I took the little ride out at Lake Cherokee, we used the lake roads, which are narrow, twisty and kinda hilly. The ride we did was an out and back thing that had a little loop at the end that goes around the pitch and putt, nine hole golf course out there. The total ride is about 14 miles or so.
Anyway, we spent most of that ride side by side. When we got to the golf course part of the ride, Noah was watching someone take a swing when he got his front wheel into my back wheel. For those of you who ride, you know that feeling. He should have crashed. As his wheel and tire were getting all up in my business, I had time to think, "Well, here he goes, his first real road fall. It is going to burn a bit, but we'll get to see what kind of toughness he has." Yes, he was rubbing up against me that long.
But he didn't go down. When I looked at him, his eyes and mouth were wide open. We were prolly going about 17mph or so at the time.
The first thing he said..."I was checking out her swing." Right on.
-NRSBGGITS #2-
On Wednesdays lately, Noah and I have been going out to the track to workout. This past Wednesday, I met him at the pool after his swim practice. He was on his road bike, which he had ridden over to Lisa's the day before. I intended to ride around, meet him there, and ride home with him, but I got caught up with something that must have been important, so I had to hustle and meet him on the scooter.
He asked if he could motorpace home. So that's what we did. 22 mph most of the way. He could have gone faster, but there wasn't any real need. He did go about 20 mph up the McMakin hill, which is something that not just any bike rider can do.
-NRSBGGITS #3-
When we go to the track on a weekday, I load up Moby with bikes and gear, and then Mama takes it to work. I run the kids to school in the trailer, and when Noah and I get ready to go, we take the scooter to Mama's office, then take Moby to the track from there. All silly, I know, but we are having fun trying to figure out how to use the scooter in place of a car.
Anyway, after we finishing ripping laps at the Superdrome, we take Moby back to Mama, and then head home on the scooter. This week, though, Noah wanted to hang out with Mama at the office. And that's what they did.
While riding home, I saw an Indian grocery store. Hadn't noticed it before, so at the next stop light, I break out the cell phone, call Mama, and ask her to stop by to find something new to try for dinner. Felt weird to be riding a scooter talking on the cell phone. Felt stupid, actually. Especially since it isn't an automatic. I didn't mean to ride and talk, but I was blocking traffic when the light turned green.
-NRSBGGITS #4-
I can't remember what the stuff Mama and Noah bought is called, but it was all good. It is always a treat when Mama gets creative in the kitchen.
It sounded like they had fun going in there and not knowing what anything was. This is an authentic place, so even reading the name on the package, reading the ingredients or even looking at the picture wasn't enough to really explain what they were getting into.
-NRSBGGITS #5-
That evening, Noah and Reanie played on the bouncy slide. I don't mean that they just happen to be on it at the same time. They were actually playing together. Singing together. Carrying on conversation. I wish had the skills to write about how amazing it felt to watch them interact like that. I must have spent 15 or 20 minutes watching them through the window.
-NRSBGGITS #6-
I coach a junior named Andrew. He's the real deal, but we have to find all the pieces before we can put his puzzle together. Since his return from Nationals, we're spending more time together. Frankly, I wish I could coach like this with everyone, and now that the magazine is out of my hands, I do have the time to do this better.
Back to Andrew...we've been meeting on Wednesdays at the track (same session with Noah) and then again on Thursdays here for motorpacing. Last week it was very windy to the extent that it made the scheduled workout almost impossible. Since he is a junior, he races on restricted gears, which means at some point, he can't just go to a bigger gear to go faster; he has to simply pedal faster. On the National and International level, since all the juniors have the same highest gear, races often come down to who can pedal that gear the fastest. So, we get him behind the scooter and I take him to speeds that I know aren't easily attained. We got up to 40mph last week, which is something in a 52x14 biggest gear. That's about 135 rpms and holding.
Well, today he comes over for the motorpacing session. And it rains. We wait it out, and after a few hours, the skies clear and the roads dry up (we won't motorpace in the rain). I tell him to get his cycling stuff on, and I go check messages real quick. When I come downstairs, Andrew is sitting by the door wearing his cycling clothes and helmet, and he tells me, "It's raining."
So I stick him on the rollers on the back patio, set up a fan and a radio, and tell him to knock out an hour. It wasn't until he was on the rollers that he told me that this was only his second time to try. But I left him next to the glass door and windows anyway. Maybe I should get him to sign a release or something.
Andrew makes it 59 minutes before he falls off the rollers. That's pretty close to an hour. So good job!
No comments:
Post a Comment