Impromptu rides are often the best rides

30. May 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: cycling, daily life, mr. grey, mrs. tkd, sidetracks, storytelling

Me and Mr. Grey, the RADDEST little bike rider in the world

You know how it goes.  The weekend whips by and you do a ton of things on your todo list around the house, but you don’t get a ride in.  You’ll admit that happens won’t you?  I’m not alone in this, am I?  Didn’t think so.

The morning started out a wee early when Mr. Grey got up at 6:24.  Mrs. TKD was out for her MWF run at 6:00 and he was not happy about the fact that mommy wasn’t here.  To be fair, he usually doesn’t wake up and not have Mommy home.  Mr. Grey and I watched some quality PBS programing with milk and coffee.  He had milk, I had coffee.  Everyone had some form of breakfast, and we headed outside in a vain effort to beat the heat and get a little gardening done.  That’s when my neighbor Dave rolled up, “You up for a ride, or are you tied up in your projects already?”

It didn’t take me long to calculate that I was going sweat my ass off no matter what, it was a choice of doing it in the yard or doing it in the saddle.  The saddle won.  I did check with the boss first, but she said that it would be okay.

Dave and I have never ridden together before so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  He is a few years older than me but a pretty fit guy.  He does triathlons.  I don’t.

We cruised out of the neighborhood at about 17 Mph and kept the pace high for the first 12 miles, then I started to lag a bit.  No worries though, I knew the route and Dave wasn’t going to drop me anyway.  Every now and then he’d slow down and I’d catch up.  We rode a 30 mile ride in under two hours, with an average pace (for me) of 16.39 Mph.  There was one mile where I averaged 21 Mph.

When I got home, my boy wanted desperately to “ride with” me and so we did.

Mr. Grey is Growing Up

19. May 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: daily life, fatherhood, mr. grey

  The craziness of modern life is hard to escape, unless you are a little boy.  Then, you walk around somewhat oblivious to the rest of the world and think that it’s perfectly normal to wear a pair of swimming goggles as a fashion accessory.

And why not?

When you’re three years old, life your only job is to play.  At times it may feel like the only job that your child has is to make messes for you to clean up.  That’s their job too.

A few weeks ago, we took a camping trip to the beach with some other families.  Mr. Grey had a great time playing in the sand with his buddy Mr. Curtin.  Literally, these two boys spent about six hours digging in the sand and getting exceptionally messy.  (My car was a mess after the ride home).

iPoopNevertheless, Mr. Grey is starting to show signs of growing up.  He is starting to get the hang of riding his bike.  He’s asking to go play with other kids in the neighborhood.  It’s fun to watch, but there is a part of me who wants that little dude who wore the ever so classic “iPoop” shirt when he was 8 weeks old back.

Okay, sanity just arrived – I don’t really want that guy back, he cried and puked too much.

Update on 2011 Goals — New Developments

07. March 2011 · 2 comments · Categories: cycling, daily life, exercise, family, fatherhood, fitness, good things, mr. grey, weight loss · Tags:

Earlier this year, I wrote about setting realistic goals for myself. The three goals I listed were:

  • Loose about 30 pounds. Yes, 30.
  • Choose three cycling events for the year. At least one must be a century.
  • Take Mr. Grey to a park once a week and spend an hour playing with him.

I’m happy to report that I’ve managed to choose three cycling events for the year, and one is a century. I’ll be riding on May 7th at the Six Pillars Century on the Eastern Shore. I will not be doing the century however, just the 56 mile ride. I also plan to ride in the MS ride in Gettysburg, PA in July (another 60 miler) and the Seagull Century on the eastern shore in October.

I have not managed to take Mr. Grey to a park once a week, but I have managed to spend quality time with him on a weekly basis, which is really what that goal was all about.

Where I’ve fallen down is on the weight goal. I haven’t done anything to move forward on that goal, until this past weekend.

As I was cycling on Saturday (the first time since my first ride of the year in January) I made the decision that I would indeed dedicate myself to losing weight and getting fit. I was thinking primarily about re-dedicating myself to hitting the gym. I was thinking about making time to go to the gym and maybe even looking into a personal trainer. I really wasn’t thinking about losing weight as much as thinking about getting fit.

Then, I had one of those epiphany type moments later that day in REI.

I had gone to REI to try on some cycling jackets. In particular, I was looking for something that was a bit more Hi-Viz than what I have today. There has been a Gore brand jacket I’ve been lusting over for some time that conveniently converts into a vest and has all the pockets in all the right places.

I thought my barrier to entry with this jacket would be the price. I was wrong.

The XL doesn’t fit. I’m too fat.

So, I started to re-evaluate why I was thinking about getting more fit. I looked back at my goals. I joined Weight Watchers again.

I’m pretty excited about the prospect of Weight Watchers. They have re-vamped the program with a stronger emphasis on carbs rather than calories and fat. I get a ton more “points” per week than the last time I did this and I was able to eat pretty much all the things that I wanted to over the weekend. I haven’t found any crazy substitutions in recipes (like black beans as an ingredient to brownies – YUCK). I even had a few beers and didn’t have to sacrifice and make them “light” beers.

In addition, they have made online and mobile tools available to members who go to meetings. This makes tracking my food intake a breeze. No more carrying around a crazy slide rule and little book filled with points values of foods I don’t eat.

I can already feel a difference after just two days – not necessarily in weight but in attitude and mood. I’m uplifted. I woke this morning at 6:38 when Mr. Grey threw his pig at me and actually felt good. I can’t remember the last time I felt good in the morning.

A Day Off

25. February 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: daily life, family, fatherhood, marriage, mr. grey · Tags:

LOMO GI woke today around 7:05 when my boy walked into the room and announced that I’d left my slippers in his room. I had, it was true. The room was exceedingly dark for 7:05 AM and I had an immediate sense that the day off was not going to go according to plan. Much needed rain was falling out of the sky. Why does it always seem to rain on a day stolen from the nine to five?

I’d hoped to take the boy to the park after he was done with school, but that clearly is not in the cards at this point. I’ll be picking him up in an hour and I’m not sure what the two of us will do. The rain has subsided for the most part, so maybe I’ll bite the bullet and take him to a wet park anyway. We’ll have to see what the rest of the day brings.

I suppose that when you are married with kids, you never really have a day off. Even if you aren’t at work there is always something to be done and you never really have time to yourself. That gutter on the back of the house that needs fixing, the wall that needs to be re-painted, the toilet that desperately needs cleaning – these are the things that you attend to on your days off. Or, that you should be attending to.

But, I’m not doing any of that stuff today. Even if the rain prevents me from doing all that I wanted to, and even if I’ve got the full responsibility for the boy this morning, I’m going to find a way to make the best of it. Perhaps a stop at the Donut Shack is in order? Or, maybe a trip to the City Dock.

It’s the Little Things

07. January 2011 · 3 comments · Categories: coffee, daily life, family, fatherhood, good things, mr. grey, smiles · Tags:

The little things in life really do make life worth living.  Since I took my new job, I’ve been able to spend time with my son almost every morning.  It’s not much time, perhaps an hour or so right after we get up.  I should say, right after he gets me up.  He’s not coming in to the room and waking me up, that would be far too civilized for a three-year old.  He calls to me from his bed.  I wake up every day to, “DAADDEEEE…”

After going to his room, I stumble down the hall after him bleery eyed.  I get him a cup of milk and I start my coffee ritual.  I’m always mildly annoyed that his morning drink of choice takes 45 seconds to make and mine takes minutes, but that’s not his fault.  Then we chill out and watch Curious George together.  After that, we have a little breakfast.

This routine developed rather quickly after I left my last job and I’ve got to say, I really do love it.  At the last gig, I was up and out of the house by 6:00 AM.  The only mornings Mr. Grey and I had were on the weekends.

I know our little routine will fade away at some point, as he gets bigger, but for now I won’t trade it for anything — not even a few more minutes of sleep on those days when he wakes before the sun is up.

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