100 Mile Century Ride to Defeat ALS

Today I got a chance to participate in another charity bike ride. The course was a big 100 mile loop around the Napa area. The weather was perfect; blue skies and nice and cool all morning. It didn't really get warm until almost mile 85. This week's ride was much faster than the ride a couple of weeks ago, as we completed the ride in about 5 hours 40 minutes, which included riding a couple of incredibly steep hills, including one at the 85 mile mark.

Our team, CyclePath KPIX Channel 5, sponsored by a local bike shop and the CBS local affiliate, rode in support of a local ALS victim, Kay.

I found out on the weekend that most people, once diagnosed, have about 3-5 years to live typically. Kay has had 7 years. I also heard, rather sadly that she was a top surgeon at a prestigious hospital in Palo Alto, and on her wedding day, she was unable to hold her bouquet. She thought it was a pinched nerve or something, went to the hospital the next day, and had tests run to fin out she had ALS. Very sad.

I have enjoyed riding with the CyclePath / KPIX team, and hopefully we will find some more events in the future.

Dianne the Olympian - NOT

The picture may be a little hard to make out so I thought I come right out and let you know that the foot and giant bag of ice belong to Dianne.

A corporate Ernst and Young "Olympic" event designed to build teamwork turned into a battle for all the older partners trying not to get injured. Dianne, thinking she was 29 or so, vaulted over, under and probably through a huge air filled obstacle. As she exited the structure, it was quickly apparent that her foot was "not quite right". Several minutes later, the ankle started to swell and it became painful to stand on.

Upon her return home, the swelling got worse and a whole lot of icing and nice wine did little to alleviate the pain. Our attempts to humor and otherwise make fun of her also did little to fix the problem, but we did have a good laugh or two.

The next morning she was still in a lot of pain, so off to the doctor she went. The prognosis was a bad sprain, but it was unusual to have a patient hit the roof after touching the affected area. Doctor's orders paraphrased, "take a whole bunch of anti-inflammatories, ice and rest the foot, and if it still really hurts in a week, come on back".

It's now a couple of days later and she appears to be on the road to recovery. As to those other partners suffering from pulled back muscles and other such ailments, we are not so sure.

Conner and Parker Swimming

Last week Conner and Parker started swim lessons. For Conner, this was the beginning of season two. Last year he worked hard on his freestyle stroke and managed to get up and down the (short) pool a couple of times. Hanging out most of the summer saw a decline in swimming skills. Luckily they are coming back pretty quickly, and as you can see in his left hand, is the long awaited ribbon for mastering the free style stroke.

Parker talked all summer about how excited he was to start swimming lessons in the fall. When the day finally arrived, it was, "thanks, but no thanks. Maybe next year will work better for me." With a little pushing a proding by a great instructor, he was in the pool, kicking his feet, blowing bubbles, and otherwise having a great time. Today he earned his first award (if you haven't figured it out from this blog, there are awards every other week or so :) ) and he was totally thrilled to have mastered floating on your back with a little help. We've told him that a little practice and he will be faster than Conner in the spring. Go Parker !

Cubbie Basketball

We finally found a team sport that Parker can join. He has spent the last couple of years following his brother to soccer, baseball and other such sporting events, only to be told he couldn't play. Well, it's Parker's turn now. The town of Danville sponsors basketball lessons for 3 year olds and so we were quick to sign him up. It's totally parent run, but perfect for most of the kids including Parker. At 45 minutes, it's probably 10 minutes too long, but fun is had by all for the first 35 minutes.

I haven't told Parker yet, but his genetics are definately against him for pursuing basketball more than the next couple years. He doesn't seem to care at this point, and it's fun to get out and let him run around and have Conner watch for once.

Conner's First Story of the Greek Gods

In school, they are encouraging kids to write free form and Conner seems to be having a great time telling stories. His first story of Zeus.

one day thir was a linetning palas it had shimaring gold linetig bolts on the sides it was colld Mt. Olimpis it was Zueses pales he was the god of lineting his wife was helen thay had a lot of the gods and godessis and thay had the strogest wepen in the werld it was the master bold the bold was gold it cuud desroe eneyone hoo gets hit by it

Parker Visits Grandma

Friday afternoon was a big day for Parker. He found out a couple days earlier that Grandma was going to pick him up from pre-school just before lunch so that he could be wined and dined and otherwise have a great time with Grandma all afternoon. Bags were backed with swim stuff just in case the weather warmed up a little.

Didn't get all the details except that he can't wait to have another Grandma adventure and making cookies sure was fun.

Never did get in that swim, but I don't think it mattered!

Kira Turns 17 - Yikes!

How can Dianne and I be so young, and have a 17 year old daughter??

Kira had a relaxing day hanging with Mom and the boys. Special treat dinner was Kira's favorite, sushi, from her favorite restaurant, Sakura's. http://www.themenupage.com/sakura.html

A low key birthday party with cake and truffles followed by gifts Kira could truly appreciate; gas cards and car wash coupons. Oh yeah, we paid for her upcoming trip to London over Xmas too :).

100 Mile Century Ride Waves to Wine

This Saturday I officially joined the KPIX / CyclePath charity team to raise money for MS with Paul, Patricia, Sergio, me, Roberta, and Greg to do a 100 mile bike ride starting at AT&T Park in San Francisco and ending up in Rohnert Park. Actually it was a 104 miles and it took us forever to complete as we pedalled along enjoying the incredible scenery and stopping along the way to eat vast amounts of food offered to the riders.

I didn't think it was possible to ride that slow, but we had a great time and can't wait until next year!

Event details are on their home page: http://bikecan.nationalmssociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=BIKE_CAN_homepage

Super Sonic Gerry!

How Y'all Doin'?As you can see by this salutation, we're settling into this Florida thing quite well. Gerry, especially, is taking Florida by storm (no more Tropical Storms or Hurricanes, I hope). We ran the 44th annual 5 mile Beach Run last Saturday night. There was limited beach because TS Hanna was creating high water levels, there was a head wind for half of the race, and it was hot. Despite all this, Gerry came in 1st in his age category! His prize was a beach towel, which, if you can view the first photo, he is modeling. He ran the course in 31:45 and was 14th overall out of 1,151 runners! I ran the race in 52:10 and was 22nd in my category (out of 60). I'm slowly moving up from middle of the pack to top third, but this isn't because I'm any faster, just in an older age category. I'll look positively fast in the 75+ age category if I maintain this pace :-) The race is the oldest in Florida and a local Italian restaurant sponsored the event, so we munched on chicken and pasta after the race. As for all public events in Florida, the Budweiser truck was there dispensing foamy sparkling water they insist on calling beer. The race was only a mile from our home, so we could walk there and back. It was a great night. The next day, the high surf brought about some great beach finds. Check out the sharks teeth in the next photo. Next race for Gerry is the local Marine Corps (not the famous one) half marathon in Jacksonville in October. Cheers,Lois

Five Parks, Five Days

What better way to describe our five day, five parks adventure than to say "Parker in Motion". We started Monday with a visit to Osage Park, which included riding the bike for several loops and hanging in the play ground for an hour or so.

Tuesday we were off to the newly revamped Sycamore Valley Park to test out all the new cool rides and play structures. A quick bike ride and then we were done.

Wednesday was Hap Magee Park for the first time in a long time. Playing with the sand digger was the highlight for sure. We attracted a lot of kids to our sand castle adventure. Biking a couple loops again, and we were done for the day.

Thursday was Central Park in downtown San Ramon. Today's goal was just hanging on the play structures and having fun. The water park was awesome and it was a long fun day at the park.

Friday was the grand finale and big day of the week. We started the day at Black Hawk Plaza to feed the ducks. To our amazement, they had just constructed an outdoor play structure. We hung there for a while and then headed to the big park at the end of Bollinger with plenty of play structures, lots of grass and a bike park with lots of off roading fun. The route was a little intimidating, but we did do a couple of loops. By noon the day was done, and we headed off to join Dianne for lunch at Chevy's.

Five days, five parks. Mission accomplished!

Conner Discovers Greek Mythology

It all started with Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1, The Lightening Thief; a modern day adventure starring the Greek Gods and Goddesses. Dianne and Conner settled down to read a great book when Conner became obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology.

Did you know???

Zeus is the ruler of all Gods and Goddesses.

Zeus is is the ruler of the heavens and earth.

His siblings were Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, Hestia. His parents were Cronus and Rhea. His children were Dionysus, Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, Hercules, Hebe, Aphrodite, Artemis, Apollo, Hermes, Helen, Minos, Perseus, and the nine Muses. Wow, what a family!

Poseidon, god of the sea, horses and earthquakes

Hades, god of the underworld

Hera, goddess of women and marriage

Demeter, goddess of grain and fertility

Hestia, goddess of the hearth

Dionysus, god of wine and madness

Ares, god of war and violence

Athena, goddess of heroic endeavors

Hephaestus, He was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes

Hercules, the greatest Greek hero

Hebe, goddess of youth

Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty

Artemis, god of the hunt and nature

Apollo, God of music, poetry and oracles

Hermes, Messenger of the gods. God of boundaries, shepherds, cowherds, thievery, travellers, invention, general commerce and literature

Helen, "the face that launched a thousand ships."

Minos, King of Crete

Perseus, the hero who killed Medusa

Swimming at Lake Del Valle

I have been out at the local lake this year. I've given up the pool "thing" in favor of swimming once a week or so at Lake Del Valle out in Livermore. It's a beautiful lake; big and clean. The temperatures are still pretty good and you can theoretically swim all year round, but I'll take that one swim at a time and report back when I have officially decided it is too cold.

I've met up with a couple of local triathletes this spring to hit the lake, but lately it's been mostly Roberta and I.

From left to right, me, John, Roberta and Todd.

You can follow along with the adventure of Roberta and John here http://cbs5.com/roberta and here http://irontridad.blogspot.com/