Month: June 2007

Bailing or Flaking?

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Byron had to cancel last night on our AM ride. He is incontrovertibly weak and has his priorities wrong, but its crucial to our ongoing jockeying for bragging rights to determine if he flaked or if he simply bailed.

The Facts:

  1. he waffled all week, but committed to the ride Thursday night
  2. he took an ugly spill on National on Thursday, PRIOR to committing.
  3. he sent me 2 emails asking for directions and clarification to the parking area on Friday
  4. his cancellation occurred just outside of the 8 hr window for a decent night sleep.
  5. he has a longstanding reputation for being wussy about getting up early
  6. he is a better technical rider than me, so had at least one huge advantage in his pocket for in-ride heckling.

The Analysis:

  1. In for a penny, in for a pound. Once you commit, the door to second-guessing has been opened.

    2. Verdict – flaked

  2. He said the fall was no big deal.
    • Point: a spill on The King can have lingering physical, equipmental, and psychological effects only discovered later much like a concussion. One must be respectful of this power.
    • Counter-Point: Byron said the wipeout (which I did not see, but only heard and shit it sounded bad) was a long extended save and really resulting in nothing but broken rhythm.
    • Point: Byron lies to show how tough he is.
    • Counter-Point: Byron is tough

    3. Verdict – push

  3. The emails indicated a clear pattern of commitment.
    • Point:One might say they were necessary to the information gathering required for a competent ride decision to be made.
    • Counter-Point:While he might not have known the exact trail head, he darn well knew mostly where he was going and could not claim it was soooo much further than he originally thought.

    4. Verdict – flaked

  4. 8 hours is 8 hours.

    5. Verdict – bailed

  5. Byron’s prior sleepy-headedness can not be held against him, since he did give fair notice. But we know he is a soft little meatsack about crack’o’dawn. hmm…stupid fair notice trumps all, grrr, stupid fair notice.

    6. Verdict – bailed

  6. Cancelling a ride where you can whoop-up on your buddy’s skills is poor strategically, but actually to my benefit. Byron would never miss a chance to acknowledge how he got something that I did not :-).

    7. Verdict – bailed

The Conclusion:

As much as I hate to acknowledge this and not be able to lord it over Byron on subsequent rides and \or siteeations, this was a clean bail.

spokes

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Last Saturday in Flag, I spent part of the morning cleaning my bike w. G. We sat on the lawn, and while I worked she played with my tools. She seems to have figured out how to grab the wheels without really hurting herself in the spokes, at least she spins the wheel slowly instead of just blindly jamming her mitts into the wheels while they are spinning. This is very exciting news! If I can tune my bike without G risking chopping off a finger, this might lead to riding the trainer around her safely. It will be a lot more things I can do around her without worrying, especially since there are so many more dangerous and more exciting things in the garage she can screw with. She still is drawn to the dirty chain, and can’t resist the urge to grab it, then get her greasy paws onto the most stainable thing she can find.

5am Saguaro Lake

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I was supposed to ride Pass Mtn. today, but some mtbr hookups fell through and then Byron bailed at the last minute.   Karma for this ride was bad so I would do my roadie.   No overhead, to make up for all the planning for naught.

Got up at like 4:15 and puttered around, got rolling at 5:15 and it was just getting light. I hit 39 going down the hill on Power, and then ran into the sweetest blast of cold air coming off the river. for almost 10 minutes until the short climb out of the riverbed it was like winter! the sun framed perfectly behind 4 Peaks, it looked like the AZ license plate. Some point into this 10 minutes of bliss something darted across the road about 100 yards in front of me…hard to say what it was, but it moved like a bobcat. Before I could reflect further on what the critter was, I got smacked in the face by 5 minutes of near-blindness. It was only a question of when i’d be riding into the sun, but the actual event was so much more tangibly unpleasant than the idea of it, it was like a physical blow. it hit me like…like…like staring straight into the sun…orange wave of squint and burn everywhere at once. Eventually the angle improved and I could see again, and noticed a dead skunk in the road that was hit but not run-over…hoped it would stay that way until I returned.

Worked my way up to the B-line, down to Butcher Jones Beach, and then down down back to the river all still in shade! An hour and a half of great weather so far…and the skunk was still intact! Had a good climb up Usery managed to stay above 11 most of the way, and a workmanlike finish to the ride in 2.5 hrs for 44 miles.

Today’s Official Word List

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6-25-07

  1. kila
  2. shoes
  3. boop
  4. bb (aka blankey)
  5. momma and\or mommy*
  6. bubbles
  7. noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

*Officials debated rigorously over whether this constitutes one word, or two. It was decided one based on the tinyHuman’s usage of them together, in close juxtaposition, or at the same time.

The Evolving Cognition of G

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G wants things.   All sorts of things, at all sorts of times, for all sorts of reasons.   its no longer a bright shiny thing distracting her, its a precious rarity and its very very important she get it.   this must be the start of the terrible 2s.

it started as:

<asleep | awake>

then it became:

<asleep < content | discontent > awake>

onto:

<asleep < content < happy | unhappy> discontent > awake>

and now at:

<asleep < content < happy <want | not getting what i want> unhappy> discontent > awake>

beyond chemical change

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there’s more to party hats then just slowing down and mellowing you out.   when you slow down, you see the details that make the simple things beautiful.   if you are lucky, some of that beauty and wonder stays with you and fills you with enough joy to carry you onward.

Gimulation

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Gimulation
–noun

  1. that which arouses or inspires yon tinyHuman to action or effort, as by encouragement or pressure; spur on; incite.
  2. that which, when without, leads to an unfocused and volatile baby-situation.

Ex:   We played with the screen door, we did the bellybutton game, we read The Little Firefly…I need some new gimulation or she’s gonna blow!

how do you not like cheesecake?!?

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beckie coming and going from the hotel room has gotten G very angst-ridden.     nothing will take her mind off of pounding on the door.   not even strawberry cheesecake.   not even strawberry cheesecake…

sometimes you wonder if they didn’t switch her at the hospital?

the hotel pool

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I’m saying it, here, now: this kid will teach herself to swim before summer is out.

After a busy morning of dirt exploration, we slipped into a pair of swimming pants and headed to the hotel pool.   Best part, pool lets me skate on a bath.   we started by walking around the pool, to tire her out a bit and make her a little more compliant.   at first G headed right for the edge of the 9 ft section, of course, the most dangerous section.   She had no idea about the drop-off; our pool may have given her false confidence.   Then she moved to the ladder, which i figured was an acceptable risk and opportunity for continuing education.   She started by putting her feet on the top rung and kickity kicking and stomppity stompping, with much delight.   some back, some forth, some running out of the pool and back to the first rung…it was pretty amazing watching her get it down better with each repetition.   Then she tried to go past the first rung and I grabbed her harder and said “NO”.   and she tried it again and heard my command, and she got it.   Its just like the dog, as long as you give her really clear signals.

but she was having too much fun playing in the water, so it was time to go in!   She cautiously approached the top step, figured out she was safe, and then the fun began!   First step, 2nd step, she knew what she was doing.   I didnt know if she’d be scared in a new pool but she was totally cool with me taking her around.   She was having much more fun then she ever had with me before…her increasing comfort with the water is just incredible.   Back on the steps, she was trying each time to get the water closer and closer to her mouth.   It shouldn’t surpise me but its just like her with everything else — she just keeps pushing her limits.   jumping off the 2nd stair for me to catch her, flopping her way back to the 1st stair, each time getting more comfortable.   She laughed when I went underwater, and it was only like a month ago that move got her crying.     I kept thinking it was too much, cause after awhile her face got and stayed real serious.   But each time I moved to get out she kept going “no no”.   must have just been the water in her eyes.   she just kept splashing and putting her face in.   finally, she miscalculated a jump and a landing and wound up going underwater by herself on the 2nd step.   I figured that would trigger a meltdown, and she ran to the top of the steps, but then changed her mind and came storming back for more.

a brief nap, then back outside for more!