Post Parade

Last weekend I did my slowest ride ever. Good thing too because I was pulling two princesses on our custom made float.

Long story short: Abby got aced out of being in the River Days Parade with her dance troupe (the troupe decided to skip the parade this year) so when I got an invitation from the neighborhood program I jumped at the chance…on one condition. I had to ride my bike in it.
This allowed me to pull the girls in the bike trailer (Ang’s condition was that Emma be strapped in so she wouldn’t just stand up and walk off the back of the thing). This meant we had to get creative with the trailer, running it in “flat” mode and with some tulle and Ang’s deft hand it became a pretty decent little float at about 23:00 the night before. For that matter Ang did most of the hard work as I had to be on site 2 hours before the parade started to get queued up with the group. She got the mermaids dressed in their (current) favorite princess outfits and they sat atop the float waving their hearts out.

In a couple of these shots you can see Abby’s hand near her face. She was plugging her ears because the SeaFair Pirate Cannon was only 10 floats back. The report from that thing is, let’s just say, convincing.

two ghosts!...er Princesses!

elbow elbow wrist wrist wrist

The Belle of the Ball

I thought it was funny to watch the crowd react to the thundering cannon everytime it went off. You could almost see the speed of sound in the wave of reactions of the onlookers down the parade route.

Cmon, just tri-it.

Maybe this is a reaction to missing the STP. nah
Maybe this is the start of a mid-life crisis. nah nah
Maybe this is some kind of reverse-dare where I dare myself without provocation. no comment

If you know me…and I am pretty sure that you do otherwise you would be all like

Woops, I spelled ‘belief’ wrong.

and be gone before you ever got this far.

So, as a knower of me, you are at least familiar with my relationship with dare. Not just any ‘ol Tom, Dick, or Harry-dare (or would that be Tom, Jack, or Derriere…never-mind) but a dare that speaks to me…you know. A dare that has legs, one that comes from the heart, means something, and has (all important characteristic) a reason behind it.

I don’t jump off buildings into swimming pools or ride shopping carts down hills for TV, that’s just stupid, save that lunacy for Jack Derriere.

* But I will swat at a honey bee to prove to my younger brother that I am faster than a bee-sting: reverse-dare style.
* Or accompany friends to a 35 foot overpass to watch them jump into the lake and then show them how it’s done…alone: reverse-dare style.
* Or convince a friend that she was Princess Leia and I was Luke and I could easily hold on to the rope with my strong hand, hold her with the other, and swing into the river: revers – well that wasn’t reverse-dare style but it had reasoning.
There is always reasoning; maybe some tongue-hanging “didja see that” glory, a little bit of wacky-ness. I am playing this up too much, get to the point, Okay?
Ok, so it didn’t take much this time but there was reasoning, that’s all. One call to Bastelyon and we had it worked out. Ya see, he has been trying to make me run his first marathon with him…in November.
HA! a marathon? Hey, I said REASONING c’mon!

So here’s what I reverse-dare styled him to get me to do with him, with me:
I will run 3 miles with him if he will bike 12 miles with me and we both try to keep from drowning swim in the lake for a quarter mile, in succession. I think we can do it, and…well, we’re gonna Tri.

http://www.racecenter.com/kirklandtri/

48 hours: STP’s and Appendices

this may feel a bit strange

Now 13 July
Ahh, home. What a weekend. And it isn’t even over yet. Gonna take tomorrow off so that Ang can just rest, Abby can still do swimming, and make sure that no mermaid climbs on her. THAT hospital had a very bad time keeping things together from the get go…but that is a different post.

2 hours ago
Ang is in the hospital, recovering, she is going home today. I smuggled in a Venti Mocha, and my computer so I could tell you all about it.
The girls want to stay at Nana’s house another day but I think it won’t happen again tonight. I am sure they love being the focus of attention, the painted fingernails and toes, and lots of movies. Maybe in a couple hours the 3 of us will get outside and wash the car and enjoy the beautiful afternoon sun.
I am in the hospital blogging with ‘loaded’ legs and a full nights sleep behind me.

14 hours ago
I am leaving the hospital after spending an hour or so nodding off while watching Pirates of the Caribbean III. I must say that the first hour of that movie is tedious. I smuggled in a chocolate bar for Ang for the movie but it didn’t make it past the DVD player setup.

15 hours ago, 12 July
I feel like I have to ride. My legs are juiced and I don’t care that it is 10PM, a ride through town in my t-shirt and shorts (which now present just way too much drag) over to Mom’s house for three personal pan pizzas that burn the roof of my mouth. The summer evening, and the breeze on my face, reminds me of being a teenager; too young to drive, too old to be in bed but not so grown up that a good game of hide-n-seek is out of the question. It is very liberating after the last 24 hours. Thank you so much to Nana and Papa for taking the girls for the night.

approximately 19 hours ago
Dad and JC finished the ride! Congrats you two. Hopefully you got a nice post ride picture that I can link to later. No cramps, extra energy, and a good tailwind at the end all combined for a good ride. Sorry to hear that JC had such pelvic pain. That was unexpected and made for a miserable ride until the Advil kicked in. 🙂

approximately 21 hours agoJust talked to Mom and she heard from Dad They were approaching the Lewiston bridge about an hour ago; Damn I’m good!

approximately 22 hours ago
Ang just called, she said she is feeling better but still needs the IV medication for pain. I guess she won’t be coming home tonight. I got a lot of work done today. I just stayed in all day despite the beautiful sun so I could be ‘on call’ and I just woke up from an unexpected nap. I guess I was a little tired after last night. By my estimation Dad and JC should be just about on the Lewiston Bridge by now.

approximately 30 hours ago
Dad just called. He said they were already in Centralia! He really wanted to check on Ang and let me know that he and Jim really miss me being there on the ride. I miss being there too. But priorities are priorities and I did,
by the way, make a vow “in good times and in bad”.

approximately 32 hours ago
Wow, she had her surgery at 2AM. That was fast! After waiting for 4 hours between the time that we got to the ER till the time the doc got time for her they sure moved quick on the surgery.

approximately 35 hours ago
Just got off the phone with Andy. He is incredulous that I am not riding. I am already over it, a lot has happened in the past 8 hours. PaPa called too, he was worried because Yvonne didn’t come home last night. I may as well get up and get over to the hospital so that I can be there when she goes in for surgery.
The girls will be hungry and I am sure Gramma Nana didn’t get much sleep with Emma. She isn’t just a kicker, she is a grinder too. Speaking of which…coffee.

approximately 37 hours ago
I had to at least see them off. Dad and JC are pretty upset that I am not gonna be able to ride with them. I think they both had a brief moment of denial, followed by a question about whether they wanted to ride or not. It didn’t (and shouldn’t) last long. They are there for each other and even though last nights activity didn’t make for the BEST night’s sleep they seem prepared enough. Dang this is early.

approximately 39 hours ago
Angela is getting admitted. She has a clear cut case appendicitis and the doc said she will probably have surgery sometime in the morning. It is abundantly clear that I will not be riding with the guys 200 miles to Portland starting in just a few hours. They should be able to make it just fine.

approximately 41 hours ago
Angela’s mom Nana is cleaning all of our dishes. Worried.
Ang is finally comfortable with a heavy double dose of pain reliever and she should be going in for a CT scan of her belly in about an hour to see if they can get a fix on what the problem is. I am still fuming about how LONG she just laid there, in clear pain. The STP is an also-ran.

approximately 42 hours ago
I have had it. I finally got into it with one of the orderlies/nurses and he took it for aggression. I clearly and loudly explained that I could walk out the door and get some Tylenol to at least help with her pain and he just said “rules are rules”. Nobody in this place has a snowballs chance of getting on my good side now. In fact, I don’t have a good side anymore. My good side was going to the STP and wasn’t worried about how much pain Ang is in. Ack!

approximately 44 hours and 15 minutes ago

[in a hurried voice] JC? I am sorry but I need to take Ang to the hospital.
No problem…It’s that bad?
Yeah, she is in a TON of pain.

[in a calm Dad voice] Abby? I am gonna take Mommy to the doctor okay? JC is gonna stay here with you until Gramma Nana can get here.
Which doctor? You mean like where my doctor is?
Yeah.
Okay, as long as I know where you are.

[on the phone]Dad? Can you come get JC and have him stay at your place instead of mine so that you all can get to sleep. I am taking Ang to the hospital.
No problem.
Thanks, bye.

approximately 44 hours and 30 minutes ago

Hey JC! C’mon in. Grab some pasta. We already ate but we are gonna get our bikes prepped a little bit here and then hit the hay! Ang is laying down for a few minutes. She isn’t feeling great.
See ya in the morning! [to Mom and Dad as they drive away].

approximately 45 hours ago

Hey Andy! Yeah, I am really full too. Kinda takes the edge off the butterflies doesn’t it? Cool. Maybe we’ll see you in the morning? Yep, we are starting out at 4AM and driving to get near the starting line. Allright. Get some sleep. See ya.

approximately 47 hours ago
Foods all ready. Mom and Dad should be here shortly. I am pacing around like a caged animal and the kids are endlessly squealing. Movie time. We just need to get the food done and the bed made for JC and the bike ready and…

Honey? [with a serious look]
Yeah.
I am having some serious gas pains.
Hm.
If this doesn’t stop there is no way I am going to Portland.
[blowing it off] Ok. It’ll be fine. [I can get a ride home with somebody…shouldn’t be an issue]

approximately 48 hours ago

Woo Hoo! I am home early. Feeling good, a little weak in the legs, but I am sure by tomorrow morning I should be good to go.

famous last words

The Haps

Lots of things have been going on in the past couple weeks. I will have to tell the story in pictures.

JC, BopOp, and me finished our 100 mile training ride as you may have read about earlier. I didn’t really recognize how much yellow we had on until now. I like yellow.

Flying Wheels? What about Flying hair!

We made a sandbox for the girls.

Sandy mermaids

After a very hot training ride just yesterday BopOp got a nap in with a Mermaid.

Good snuggles

Abby excellently performed her jazz routine to Think Pink by Barbie.

She definitely thinks pink