Two

Two is a big number for us this year.

Birthday cake is good.



New bikes are always fun. Note the sweet Leopard motif.

A very good day

042907_16191.jpg
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

Creek

This is how my weekend closed out, sitting by the creek throwing rocks in the water. Rooting around in creeks getting dirty was one of my favorite things to do when I was a kid. Sharing this with my son was really cool.

Before chilling at the creek I helped out with trailwork over at Patapsco. I showed up late, but still got to help out cutting trail, moving dirt, and (most importantly) drinking beer. We rerouted a section of damaged trail over on the Hilton/Hilltop side. The new singletrack is a big improvement and it has plenty of technical bits.

The crew of volunteers that does trail work is amazing. Good people dedicated to the proposition of sweet trail and good times. They put in a lot of hard, unheralded work that benefits all trail users (exept for the jackasses riding 4-wheelers in the Park!).

After the work session there was a cookout/beer session over by the tire park. Clipper City donated a keg of Red Sky at Night Saison, a tasty Belgian style beer. It was a nice afternoon for downing a few of these.

I did get in some solid riding too, including a 3 hour Avalon tour with Melanie and friends. What an awesome ride! There were a lot of smiles and grins.

Now I need to decide whether I'm doing Lodi next weekend. There are a lot of what-have-you's to consider.

Either way I'll be on my bike because riding bikes is the f-ing bomb!

Birthday Burrito!

042507_18281.jpg
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

2nd birthday dinner at Chipotle

Cap

042107_10341.jpg
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

Logjammin'

041807_18171.jpg
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

29 in. wheels

Big tree

I'll need more than a few white russians to sack up and try to ride over this beast.

pushing aside my worries

Chaos, uncertainty, and anxiety permeate my mind on many fronts: work, financial security, and our current geo-political cluster-f#ck among them.

Subprime lending and the over-supply of credit will have real consequences...and not just for the poor saps that reached too far to rip down a bigger casa. Our leaders in the executive branch continue to pull off mind-blowing displays of incompetence/criminality. We continue to piss away lives and money in Iraq. Work is at least entertaining for all of the usual ridiculousness, but it's a downer for the same reasons.

Aside from all that bullshit I'm really happy! 8-)

A big part of the way that I deal with stress is to ride my bike. It's good for the body, mind, and soul.

Unfortunately, it's not looking good for riding this weekend. Crap weather is moving in quickly.
This could potentially get me down, but my legs are due for a bit of rest. I rode the trainer briefly this morning, but my ass was not into it. I don't understand how I can feel perfectly comfortable riding a bike for hours and hours outside, but 45 minutes on the trainer is torture on the 'ol taint. I tweaked my saddle position and angle 4 times this morning and nothing felt right.

It'll be a great weekend anyway...food, family, & fun...starting with dinner at our favorite mexican joint tonight! When the weather gets back in synch with the calendar I'll be back outside on the bike hungry to ride.

Happy Child

041107_19081.jpg
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

Here's our hard hat wearing dump truck driver delivering a load of imaginary dirt from the kitchen to the family room.

It's incredible watching someone grow from a newborn to an interesting, curious, loving, and FUN individual...easily the most rewarding thing I've ever experienced.

Haircut #2

040907_1638.jpg
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

Haircut #2 at Cartoon Cuts

sonogram

040507_16151.jpg
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

Baby #2 is a Boy!

Due to arrive at the beginning of September.

2 boys will save us a lot on clothing. 8-)

Panic

040407_19571.jpg
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

Widespread Panic played the Hippodrome in Baltimore Wednesday night. Beautiful venue with excellent sound and plenty of bars. The show was solid overall with a couple of hot moments.

The first set in particular was big...Chilly Water > Jack > Chilly Water was nasty, dirty, and LOUD.

Back in-tha-day I'd hit every show within a 5 hour drive, but nowadays it's down to once a year. I'm perfectly ok with that. It was nice to have a night out. Beers after work, sushi, and a coupla jack & coke's during the show.

I'm looking forward to hanging with the family tonight and getting to bed EARLY!

What a weekend

040207_1543.jpg
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

What a weekend.

On Saturday we had a babysitter (Grandma) so we met up with some buds for a mountain bike ride over in Avalon. Me, Mel, Bob & Di, John, Perkins, and SuperDave hit most of our favorite trails. This was a fun, social ride, but we still covered some ground.

Later in the day we got a bunch of landscaping stuff done around the yard and the 3 of us put away a bag of white cheddar popcorn.

We missed the expected rain on Sunday so I got out early to meet up with Bob, Perkins, and SuperDave for a spirited ride around the trails. This included playing around on the jumps and stunts. I was the only one that didn't hit the deck, but that's because I was only doing the small jumps and e-z skinnnies.

It was fun & by the end my legs were feeling back-to-back longish rides on Rita. That bike is so much fun to ride. Viva la singlespeed!

In the afternoon the kid and I cruised over to the playground and hit it hard on the swings and slides. His climbing has really taken off in the last few weeks. I still spot him, but he's doing it all on his own.

To cap off a wonderful Spring weekend we hit up El Salto for a Mexican feast! Word.