Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Scored some free Mariner tickets at work for the Friday night game. Baseball fan I'm not, but son Ian is and I knew he'd enjoy going. He's only been to one other MLB game and was so young, doesn't remember any of it. Boss Man at work was giving away 4 tickets, so a coworker and I split the booty.

Super nice weather, great seats, stuffed our face on overpriced food, had fun with coworker dude and his girlfriend, since we all sat together - really nice people. He also shares the New Jersey homeland experience, so we get a kick about sharing NJ stories. Ian had a good time and actually paid attention to the game - as opposed to me - who was just enjoying the scene.

On the way home, stopped by the used car lot that's offering the boat sized Chevy wagon I tested a few days ago. Lot was closed, but the car was unlocked, so Ian and checked it out once again. I crawled under there once more with a flashlight to convince myself it's too rusty to purchase. Everything I see is just surface rust, no structural damage. Yeah, eventually there will be - years down the road. Still weighing it out, but I've already dismissed it - I guess.

On the bike front, can feel summer drawing to a close. One commute last week in 55 degree temps and pouring rain. One ride home finished in darkness after getting stuck at work late. Yup, will need to charge up the lights soon. Summer went by quick. Too quick.

Solo mountain bike ride this afternoon. With the rain - dusty conditions have improved - trails in great shape. Solo ride means I could push the pace a bit, so I did. At speed, the 29er still works really well, even with a hardtail. Besides the rolling smoothness of it all, you can feel the cornering benefits over a 26 wheel bike. It just plain works. Sure, I wish it was maybe 3 pounds lighter at times - but that just being picky. Overall, it rocks and so did the trails today.

Over 'N" Out.....

Team Jerkcx Prologue to Baseball - Wha?

The Group Health Commute Challenge is just around the corner - the month of May in fact. It's a once a year gig where companies and individual folk compete against each other for the most bike commuting miles, days biked, and other measurements of fun. It's a friendly competition and excuse to get people exposed to bike commuting. Nothing wrong with that.

I've rounded up a few teams over the years at "the office" and this year is no exception. In the Seattle area, about 20,000 people sign up for this two wheeled shindig, and you can see the increase in bike commuters for the month long event. Super cool to witness.

Last year, our team, Team Jerkcx - a little wordplay on Merkcx - kicked ass in our own company race for the commuting title. We scored the most mileage, thanks to some serious mileage junkies and regular commuters. I'm flattered everyone wanted to be on the team once again, with acting me as Team Captain. Should be a fun May.

With that, I was heading home today on the spiffy carbon Ibis minus fenders, instead of the spiffy steel Ibis with comfy fenders. So of course, it's raining. I stopped to put on a jacket and rain booties, when two fellow members of Team Jerkcx cruised by - Jay and Jamie - so we shared a spontaneous ride home together, since our commutes run the same direction for a few miles. I joked this was the official Team Jerkcx Prologue to kick off the festivities next month.

Jay, fellow IT Geek, has taken up cycling about 2 years ago. He's since gone gaga over riding and has lost 100 pounds. Yes, that's with two zeros. Amazing. His partner in crime, Jamie, has dove in as well and rides quite a bit. She's some sort of graphic designer type at "the office". Both super nice folks and have become pretty strong riders. I think they're hooked for life.

After they peeled off our shared commute route, I continued on in the rain towards my son Ian's Little League game, hoping to catch most of it. Ian is burned out on this baseball gig and came close to quitting last week, but elected to finish out the season. This is our first experience at this Little League deal and the schedule is loopy. They're scheduled to play or practice 4 times a week, with another "optional" practice session at times.

So, we're talking 10+ hours of baseball per week. Unless you're the baseball fanatic, that's a lot of hours for a 10 year old. I find it ironic that Little League actually killed his interest in baseball. Or maybe his interest just ran it's natural course. In any case, we're looking forward to the end of the season. I'm curious to see if he wants to play next year.

To give him additional encouragement, I'm trying to be at every game. I've made almost all of 'em, some impossible due to work reasons. The rest of family however, attends all events - practice and games.

I hit the park/ball field with plenty of time to catch some action. Once at the park, I cut through the woods to save time and passed a couple on mountain bikes. Goofy fun while riding a road bike with 23c tires, dressed like Euro Race Geek, and carrying a messenger bag - in the pouring rain.

I wondered if the game would be rained out, but no - it was in full swing when I arrived - despite the weather. I watched Ian make one good play, which was cool. I was also soaking wet and shivering in bike clothes. 49 degrees and pouring rain, Northwest baseball weather. Since I was now officially in attendance, wife Lori and daughter Amy got to hide in the car with the heat on. I don't blame 'em.

After the game I totally froze my ass off riding home. About a two mile ride, so I never fully warmed up. And yet I still enjoyed it. I am insane.

49 degrees and rain. Perfect baseball weather.

Carbon Ibis shivers against the bleachers.

Another game tomorrow afternoon, as per the crazy Little League schedule. We'll be there, cheering Ian on, probably shivering in the rain. Carbon Ibis however, will be tucked in warm and cozy in the garage. Lucky bastard.

After our baseball commitments, we're hoping to get some dirt miles in on Sunday. I'll take wheels over balls any day.

Hey, now there's a catch phrase to offend people at the field - no? I better keep it to myself.

Ride on.

Rambling Man - Some Photographic Proof

Nice weather for the bike commute today. Sunny and 43 degrees on the way into work, then more sun and 60 degrees for the ride home. Not a bad 34 mile round trip. With no rain or wet roads, carbon Ibis drafted into duty - felt great. No actual photographic proof - you'll just have to take my word for it. You can trust me.


During the commute home, I spotted this VW Camper for sale. I always wanted one of these - perfect family camper, mountain bike race vehicle, and still small enough for regular transportation. I stopped to check it out. As expected, price was a little loopy for the pretty ancient rig - asking $14,900. We're talking a '89 van with 133,000+ miles. Not in bad shape, but the usual rusty looking exhaust and some oil drips, comes with the territory on these rigs.

From the vintage buses from the '70s to the Eurovan models of the '90s - all the camper versions are crazy priced. They do hold their value however. Still, a steep surcharge for basically a small ice box, stove and fold out beds. You still need to crap outside and "shower" with a wash cloth. Even so, I'd love to score one of these.

After I arrived home, before even changing out of sweaty bike clothes - started wrenching on Ian's bike to cure the screwed up shifting we experienced last weekend. I sorted the rear out a few days ago - easy cable adjustment. Discovered the front shifting issues revolved around the left crank arm not being fully seated, allowing the crank to drift a few millimeters. I also moved the spacers around on the BB - one on each side as intended. I had moved both to one side to get a better chain line. With all that fixed, shifts okay now. I buzzed it around quite a bit myself to be sure. I also swapped the stem upside down to lower the handlebars. With the Stack-O-Spacers, the bars were a few inches above the seat (I don't want to cut the fork, this way it could fit a larger frame down the road). I think this contributed the weird cornering feeling Ian mentioned (plus the fact it was the first ride on 26" wheels).

After the adjustments, Ian gave the shifting and lower position a thumbs up after a quick test ride. No actual photographic proof - you'll just have to take my word for it. You can trust me. We'll hit the woods again this weekend for a real test.

Here's actual photographic proof of what's been taking up lots of time - baseball. Ian at bat from a recent game. This little league scene gets a little crazy. This week, practice or a game for 5 days straight. That's 10+ hours of baseball in a week - for 10 year olds. Then fit in homework and family time - kind of nuts - my take anyway. This is Ian's first year for little league and he's enjoying it, but is getting a little tired of the practices as well. We plan to skip a few for his interest sake and our family sanity.

Maybe if I was a baseball fan, I'd be digging it all. Even if I was a fan, I think one practice and one game a week is enough for 10 year old kids. When they hit 7 or 8th grade, or even high school - and really dig baseball - then play 5 days a week. No?

Oh well. Time to pull the plug on this rambling post and hit the sack.....