Update from T-Town

20th in the 500m TT. He's not too happy about it, but considering he crashed in his first attempt (pulled a pedal on the fourth pedal stroke), he did get points for getting back out there and trying again. A few scrapes and a sprained wrist. He'll make a decision about continuing in the morning. For what it is worth, he was running a full 4 seconds faster for the 500m in training we'd done back home.

Marty came up to Noah after he fell and said all the right things, patted him on the back and all that. We went back to the gear to get reset, and I found out that Noah had no idea who Marty was. Pretty funny. That's Marty Nothstein, if you need to google.

Couple video clips:

Pre-Race (there is no post-race interview this time)

Rain Delay

I miss these kids so much

23rd

It could have gone better, but Kid #1 just didn't have it today. Pie seemed to make him feel better afterwards, though.


Start of the RR (only about 20 seconds)

For My Two Girls and Apple Granny at Home

PSA

Noah updated his blog. If you don't know or don't remembe his blog address, you can email me to get it.

This just in...

Staging. G$, check out his sleeves.















Post-race. 11th.

















The Interview

11th!

The Noah Channel- two

Descent #4 on the TT course
Shot during a recon of the TT course. I shut off the camera because it would have been too stupid of a story to tell about how I was riding with one hand while filming Noah and crashed at Junior Nationals. (about :15 of wind noise)

The Interview
This is a bit from our recon of the road race course. I love the look he gives me when I ask him, "Are you gonna go slower?" (about 1:19 of silliness)



Getting registered.

















At some point on the day, his max speed on the bike was 44mph. Yeehaw.

Good to Go

We're about to start making our way up to PA for Nats. Here's a shot from our ride this morning. Noah is trying out our new race wheels. We had to raise his saddle again today.


Here's a pic from April of last year.

Bedtime Story at Stella Sola

POSS3, 20 min after they should have already been in bed. I'm not sure why I sound like Elvis at the very end. (about 3 min video of kids playing on the Slip and Slide on Steroids)

Tell me about it...

...I can never figure out which socks match my flip flops.














Thanks for the offering, Lauren on Thursdays.

The Noah Channel

Get it Noah! Get it!. Race on 6.16.06 at the track. You'll hear me hollering for Noah, as usual, but the "He looks so smooth. That's awesome" comment is about Colton Holland, who is riding in third at the time. His mother was next to me and I was talking to her. The racers there are 10-14yr old. I think there is actually a 9yr old in there too, but his racing age is 10yr. Noah and his buddy Royce are great competitors on the track for each other, and this clip of their third race on the night shows what all of their races look like--right down to the line. For those who aren't sure, Noah is the one with the fancy rear wheel. (2:50 of pure action)


Swim Meet on 6.19.06. It would have been a little more exciting to see Noah in one of the two previous heats since there were six swimmers in each. For this season, this was the deepest field in his age group with 15 swimmers. His meets so far this season have been two-up meets...his team and whatever team is hosting the meet. Noah is in lane 2. (about 38 seconds of video)


The Reanie Channel and The Buddy Channel coming soon!

It's not his birthday, but...

...here's more of Buddy sleeping anyway. 

Cranium Vortex

Apple Granny arrives in a day or so for her 2-3 month live in with us. Noah is either at swim practice or a swim meet everyday. This week is also basketball camp. This weekend we go to Longview for a family visit. I'm riding again. Noah is trying to find time to ride before Nationals. We leave for Nationals on Monday. We'll be gone for two weeks. I bought Reanie some soccer shoes yesterday. I've got some work to do to get ahead for the two weeks I'm about to be gone. I'm a few days behind where I should be anyway. The yard needs mowed and trimmed. It is a pretty big yard. Have to get a trailer hitch put on Wallace (the Toyota) before we leave for Nats. Need to spend some time with Buddy so he still calls me "Daddy" when we get back from Nats. I've got a column 1/2 written in my head and 1/8 written on the 'puter, and it needs to get all the way written on the 'puter so it doesn't keep me up at night. I have one more episode of Miami Vice on the second dvd. My OCD makes me unable to be ok with having one episode on one dvd unseen. Have to get to the bike shop for some tubular glue, since all of mine is too old. Need to get the tires glued on so Noah has some hot wheels for road Nats. It doesn't bother me that he gets to use my wheels before me. He has a bug bite on his ass, but he doesn't want me to tell anyone. Actually, I don't think he cares if anyone knows. Also need to get a box for some wheels, as I sold my Powertap and need to get that shipped off before we leave. I need to reserve a room for Track Nats and get Noah registered. I probably ought to print out some maps and schedules of what we are doing, since driving to PA will only get us kinda close. Need to change out Noah's track gear, which entails breaking the chain and adding a couple lengths. Not a big deal, really. Just has to be done before tomorrow's workout at the track. Need to cut Buddy's hair again. I've got to get to Sprouts to get stuff for the dinner I need to cook for Mama and the POSS3. Can't really count Noah in the POSS3 anymore since he's getting kinda big. 5'2", 114#, 10.75 yrs old. That's a chunk of boy. I'm under 200# for the first time in over a year. Doesn't feel like it yet, though. I have to replace my handlebars, as I bent them in a workout the other day. Fugg yeah! But they were cheap bars to begin with, so don't tell me, as it will mess with my badassness. Buddy will now hold hands with me, so I'm sorta tore up about leaving for a spell. Thinking about taking him with us to PA. That's a long, long time for a 2 yr old in a car, in a hotel, at bike races, and pretty much nothing else. I'll still love him the same without him there. Just found out that Noah sprained his ankle at basketball camp today.

Enough of that. Back to work.


Noah's 10th time up Hilltop Rd in a row. Sorry for the heavy breathing on the audio. It was my 10th time up the hill too.


Reanie's first soccer shoes. Pink stripes and cleats too.












Buddy and I watched the car while Mama and Reanie went to IKEA to do some damage.

Hands

4 grapes, 1 black eye, and Blowing Kisses Mob Style

Chow, babe.

Mama is in NYC, so Buddy and I are gonna...

get our DC on

The Letter Game

We usually play "The Letter Game" when driving around in the car. Someone calls out a letter and then we take turns coming up with words that start with that letter until we get where we are going, the game fizzles out, or we run out of words that we know. This has gone well with Noah for years, and Reanie just started getting it a few months ago (Buddy just repeats what we say, so he's a part of things too).

While running some errands this evening, Reanie wanted to "Letter Game" the letter J. When playing the game with Reanie, it sounds something like, "juh, juh, juh, jeep!" and "juh, juh, juh jelly bean!"

We came up with jeep, jelly bean, jump, jersey, jacob, january, and Reanie's last contribution..."j, juh, juh, juh, drink!"

Full weekend!

If I would have realized I had the camera, I would have started the photo and video essay earlier in the trip. Anyway, here's some of what #1, #2 and I did this past weekend.

Our first stop was a motel in Centerville. It was very late when we got there, so the highlight is probably the waffles I made at the breakfast thingy in the lobby.















Our first real stop on the trip was at Uncle Neal and Aunt Shaunie's. Here Reanie and Noah get to hang out a bit with their cousins, Aidan and Brodie for a couple of hours while I went to work with a client nearby.


Following this short but pleasant visit, we made way over to the Alkek Velodrome for the 2006 Youth State Championships. This was Noah's first time at this event, but his second time on the track there.

This is Noah getting up on the track for the first of his warm up laps (it is only about 10 seconds of video).


And this is Noah up on the banking getting ready for his races.
















This is Reanie helping out the guys on the podium.
















There we go.
















Right on.

















We only made it as far as Hearne before I had to find a motel and call it a night. This is a shot of Reanie at the local cafe for breakfast. She didn't spill her milk. We all recommend the chilli and eggs.
















Somewhere around Abbott. about 20 minutes before this picture was taken, Noah was being profound when he said, "Having chilli burps is like farting out of your mouth."

















We had to motor it home because Reanie had a recital that afternoon. We didn't have time to do pics before because we got home just in time to load up and leave. Then I forgot the camera for during the show, but I was able to snap this one afterwards.


Whew!


And today, the kids didn't have school, so they were with Daddy, and then Grammy stopped by for an hour or so and a trip to lunch, and then we went to Noah's swim meet...SUMMER!

I May Be Slow...

...But I'm faster than the naked kids on tricycles. 

Economy Lesson for the Day

Communists wouldn't need to advertise.