Just how I wanted to spend the last day of 2009

A family hike on the "secret" trail in Valley Green. Added bonus it snowed!!!! Happy New Year!

2009 Riding comes to an END

A great year of riding all kinds of bikes! The last few days I have been on winter break and enjoying the extra time on the bike. The highlights so far are a road ride from Morgantown to Wellsville. Becki and the kids dropped me at the turnpike exit and I began my 4 hour and 30 minute ride. When I looked at the weather at home it said the wind would be 5-10 mph out of the west. Since my trip is due west for most of it I thought "thats not bad". The weather was wrong! It was a constant 15-20 mph. A hard ride just got harder! About half way through the ride I had to cross the Susquehanna River in Columbia. The wind was so bad I was in my second lowest gear on a flat road!!!!! I did not know if I would make it. The second half of the ride was hard until at 3 hours and 30 minutes I made the turn to go north on rt. 74. The last hour was on hilly road but it seemed EASY! Great day on the bike.

As for the mountain bike I have had two "highlight" rides so far. The first was on Xmas eve morning in the snow. It was only about 1 1/2 hours but so much fun. The second ride was a 3 1/2 hour tour of the Wissahickon. The snow had melted and the trails had frozen into a super fast dirt highway! I love the grip of frozen dirt! Hope 2010 is as good or better the 09! Have fun be safe!

Christmas Morning

Our family had a great day!

The Tradition Continues

Christmas Eve has been on of the best days of the year for as long as I can remember. As a kid playing with Peter, Pam, and David gave me a great sense of family. I would look forward to going to mommom and poppop's house and wonder what kind of fun we would have. The memories are great and not one of them is about an xmas present. The time together was the "present".

Fast forward 25 years and we all still get together as adults for Xmas eve. The venue has now shifted to nana and papa's house. Some years not everyone is in attendence but, the fun continues. I am so happy my kids are getting the chance to spend time with their cousins to create their own memories of Chrismas eve.

Merry Christmas

Let there be LIGHTS!

A close family member does it BIG with the Christmas lights. We made our yearly visit with Nana and Papa. The amount of time and effort they put in is amazing to me. People come from all over the are to check it out. Sometimes by the bus load!

Sure Beats the Rain

The snow was a welcome addition for the parent in me. The rain we have had in the area makes entertaining a three and five year old, less then easy. The snow is a no brainer. We did some "work" with the shovels and a whole lot playing. Let it snow! Good Times!

14er

About 14 inches of snow in Plymouth Meeting. There was to much snow to ride off road so the Rig on the snow covered roads was the call. Once again it was fun to ride through the snow. The pictures are from the Chesnut Hill area. This town is part of the city of Phiadelphia so many of the back roads were not plowed long after the storm had disappeared. It was really fun for me and the high school kids who were pulling each other on a slead behind their car.

Happy Birthday Josie!!!

I see a future in bike racing!!!!!!!

frosty

Great ride last Sat. Found some handy work done in the trails. Thanks to all the people making the Wissahickon a better place to ride.

Happy Kids

6

Had a great road ride on Sunday out in Dillsburg. We were in town for the annual Xmas party and family fun. More on the family fun soon. Back to the ride. Temps were cold and the roads were great. I only had six cars pass on my side of the road in 40 miles. Low traffic equals fun riding! I kept the pace reasonable and smooth. Another great ride in the land of the Dill.

Riding the Road

With the trails under water the road has been the call. Charlie do know were I was on Sunday from the picture?

Back in the Wissahickon

Its been a couple of weeks since I have done a good ride in the Wissahickon (Valley Green). Although I have been there at night its just not the same. I started at 7am with the plan of riding for three hours. I was able to cover many of my favorite trails in the park. The steep hills and rocks were slick and made more challenging by a covering of leaves. The trails were in good shape overall considering the amount of heavy rains we have had over the past couple of months.

It gets dark to early

Night rides become the only option.

It started with a phone call...

The last shows at the Spectrum! Pearl Jam would close down this amazing arena with four shows. Charlie called and said you have to try and get tickets! He called me because he knew I would be home on the day when the tickets would go on sale earlier in the summer. I thought I would try but, how quick would these tickets go?

The day came and at 10 am I was on the computer typing in my information to buy tickets for the opening show of the four! The seats were not great but, we were in the door! To make the situation even better Andy also got tickets to the second show through the Ten Club. This meant I would go to two shows in two nights.

After a wait for a couple of months the days were finally here! Charlie, Andy, and I would leave for the parking lot at about 3:30 pm. the weather was cool with a light drizzle. Perfect for some tailgating and people watching. The first person we see when we get to the lot is this homeless guy and his plastic rat friend. We knew it was going to be a good night after seeing him.

We had to have the Blue Ribbon for the big event!

We sat and talked and took in the view of the Spectrum.

After getting our picture taken we took a walk around the Spectrum to take in the action and the sights. Nice poster!

After we had a few more Blue Ribbons the show time was growing closer and we would make our way in for show #1. As we entered thoughts of posters and seats were dancing in our heads.

The show would start and we were seeing a great performance in a great venue!

As the first show ended with Rockin in the Free World we would leave satisfied and looking forward to the next evening for show #2.

Show number two was just Andy and I and we would have Ten Club tickets. You don't know were your seats will be until you pick up the tickets the night of the concert. Where would we be? Row 20 on the floor! The view was good for floor seats. I did not have any tall people in front of me and the line of sight stayed clear most of the night. this show seemed to have a higher energy level then the first show. One reason for the high level of energy was the World Series game. The Phils score was updated by a "Vegas Showgirl" with a large sign. The crowd went nuts everytime she came out. The Phils won just to add to a good night. I did not have the camera for this show. The key was enjoyment! Overall, two great shows! Thanks to Andy and Charlie. It was unforgetable! Thanks also goes out to the Spectrum for all the memories through the years.