Baseball = Mountain Biking. Huh?

Attention please: Ignore my whiny comments about mainstream stick and ball sports kids and parents not digging bikes. During Ian's little league baseball game on Saturday, I wound up talking bikes with two parents - nice dads of kids on Ian's team.

One of the dads mentioned really digging riding years ago and even entered a few mountain bike races. He's been off the bike for awhile though. They live right in our neighborhood and when I mentioned hitting the local trails for a tour, he said why not tomorrow? Otherwise we'll just talk about it and never actually do it. Perfect! Father and son both planned to ride.

Another dad offered to join in as well, with son and daughter along for the fun. Wow, this should be cool. I goofed around with Ian, since he seems to be embarrassed that I talk bikes at baseball games. Now he thought it was pretty cool some of his team mates planned to ride with us. See, dad's not so weird after all.

Ride was planned for 9:30 AM on Sunday - today. Woke up to 47 degree temp and rain - not bad, but wet. One dad called at 8:30 AM to cancel, due to the weather. No problem, riding in the rain is not for everyone. Ian and I suited up and rode over to the local woods to check if the other family showed up. Sure enough, they did. Dad riding a clean older Klein, 10 year old son Jack on a new GT. They rode over to the park as well. Sweet!

Ian and I played tour guide and showed 'em the local trails. They've only seen a few of the trails and didn't realize the other areas linked together with singletrack. The rain stopped and the boys enjoyed the muddy trails - only really muddy in a few areas. The dad, John, mentioned they've been meaning to ride and explore the area, but this was the first time they checked it all out. I'm glad I gave them a little incentive to get the wheels rolling.

I think they had a blast, John said it's the most fun he's had in awhile. Jack seemed to really have a great time and did fantastic as a beginner. I showed him how to roll over some small log drops, lean back on downhills, and a few other pointers. He seemed to dig it all. Dad and son had a few falls, but no big deal and they laughed it off. Ian also seemed to enjoy riding with someone his own age for once.

In the end, they did a great ride - about 10 miles of singletrack - much more then I expected young Jack to pull off. We had a fun morning and I'm sure we'll ride with them again. I'd also bet we see the family that canceled out there eventually as well. Good stuff.

Jack on left. Check out that smile - think he had fun? Ian on right, nice job as tour guide.

Official stand by sign photo - required by state law. Say good bye to the Cannondale and Specialized - last rides for both.

Official sign photo number 2 - with me standing as stupid as possible. Thank you.

This ride spells the end of the line for my Cannondale and Ian's Specialized. Ian has outgrown his bike and makes it look like BMX bike now. The 24" wheel Specialized has been awesome over the last two years, will now be mothballed for future use by daughter Amy. My Cannondale as of tonight as been stripped to the frame, as per Project Access. Cannondale parts now being transferred over to Ian's new frame.....

Almost finished. This will be one sweet bike for a 10 year old. Ian is psyched - me too. Should be ready to hit the woods by the weekend. Oh yes.

With my Cannondale now a bare frame, what will I ride? After much debate, obsessive research and counting pennies, I pulled the trigger on the Sette Razzo 29er. Should be here in a few days. For the dough, a nice parts spec and a cheap way to enter the big wheel world of 29ers. I've read all positive reviews online and even if you tossed the frame and replaced it with a Niner EMD - still a great deal. Should provide some interesting blog posts down the road anyway. So more to follow.

On its way via UPS - please hurry, oh brown truck.

I'm still without a car, as mentioned previously. Did a little looking around this weekend, but not much. I'll need to get something eventually. Hitting the spring stride with 100+ commuting miles last week and the mountain bike ride today. Who needs cars?