Diablo

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Back to the mountain!  What a perfect day for a ride up here! I met Chuck and Bill for a ride up the back-side of Diablo.  Going up from Walnut Creek seemed harder than starting in Danville... I guess the jury's still out.  I was very happy to climb again less than a week after the SBC ride.  This time I made it to the top with only a short (less than 2 minute) stop at the ranger station.  I felt very good today but was bummed to see Chuck resting on the side of the road with only a couple of miles to the summit.  What a crappy place to pick up a flat... without an extra tube.  When I passed him he just yelled at me to keep going and to catch back up with him on the descent (thanks, Coach!).  I was nervous about "the wall" but made it up just fine, rested and then went to get Chuck.  Well... Chuck's luck kept getting worse.  I gave him my tube and pump... my pump broke and then the tube croaked when Bill CO2'ed it!  So, now we had 1 tube and a 12 canister of CO2 between us... thankfully it worked. Bill made it to the summit (great job, Bill!) eventually we all got down.  What a great ride... thanks guys!

 

Folsom - American River Trail

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I finally made it out to the Old Sac - Folsom trail.  Since I heard there was flooding in the Discovery Park area I decided to start from Folsom.  This is one of the coolest rides in the area... no cars... a lot of other bikes, which I will take over cars anyday!  I only had time to go from Folsom (Beale Point) to CSUS and back.  Next time... Old Sac or bust! 2002-07_camping_10s

 

MHP's

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That's right... Stockton's own MHP (Mia Hamm Pups) are kickin' tail out there.  It seems like these girls are unstoppable.  With 3 wins in a row they are excited and are looking forward to the tourneys coming up next weekend [2/27/04 - tourney has been postponed Sad ].  Emily has moved to the goalie slot along with Jordan and Taylor and is doing great (1 goal allowed in 2 games... and it was a penalty shot!).  When she's not playing that spot she usually fills in at left-wing.P2210193s Stockton's MHP (Mia Hamm Pups) after a 2-0 weekend

 

Back from AZ

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What a road trip!  we are finally back from arizona.  uncle Joey's passing is what got us there, but whatever the reason, it was great to see everyone.  when we told everyone we would be driving to arizona they said we were senseless and we should fly... add to it that we would be taking jack and rita along with us and i heard the same thing from everyone, "six people in the van is crazy... two of them being your in-laws is INSANE!" well... it was a lot of fun... driving 1,500 miles with your in-laws may sound difficult... but we passed the time by horsin' around and even singing "99 bottles of beer" (the greatest drinking song of all time!!! - thanks tom, for keeping me in check)  

What's New

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Welcome back to mattbeckwith.com - we redecorated... again... pretty much the same content... but we will try to post more pictures and keep the site up-to-date.....enjoy. So... what are we up to... well, it's january so that means new seasons of 24 and american idol... yes, american idol!  that is our family show... we all watch it together... cheering on the good ones and laughing at the bad ones.  we are very civil to each other... that is, until voting starts... then we can get mean and nasty. during season 1 we always had one unified vote... one family, one vote... we had to agree on one vote... last year we could never agree so now everyone gets their own vote.

Superbowl?  no thanks, we'll pass!  actually, we will be in arizona that weekend ... rootin' for the panthers!!!

 

 

Livermore Loop

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What a ride! We met at the Airport in Livermore just after six o'clock in the morning.  It was cold (of course) but there was almost no wind.

From Livermore we headed north through Collier Canyon to Danville and then came face to face with the Devil himself... that's right sports fans... Mt. Diablo !!!  We made the climb to the ranger station (half way up) with no stops (easy feat for Chuck but not for me and Bill).  The climb was made more tough since we had a 20 mile ride just to get there.

We descended from Diablo and headed into Walnut Creek (after my flat of course) and then cruised through Clayton.  Little did we know that the fun had just begun.

Our second helping of hills came in  courtesy of Morgan Territory.  We climbed the several miles to the top and then hit the killer downhill road back to Collier Canyon and then back to Livermore.

What an absolute killer ride ! As I am writing this Sunday morning my legs and chest are still reeling from the pain.  As our coach always says, "Cycling rewards consistency" - he was right and now I know why he pushes me every Saturday.

Total distance: 70 miles

 

JR At 40

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You know those age progression pictures they have on the news that show what Elvis or JFK would look like today? Well.... we always assume we will grow up to look just like our parents.  For instance, everyone assumes JR will grow up to look just like Melville.

I disagree.... and offer this proof...

Here's a glimpse of what JR might look like in 15 years.

JR at 24 JR at 40?

We went to Emily's school for her Christmas performance and this guy (JR at 40) is in the front row... Fred, Flower, Dawn and I all freaked out and said, "Wow... it's like an old JR."  Even Emo, Mak, Carina and Dan saw the similarities.  Well, to be fair, Dan & Mak were just going along with the rest of us.

... much love my brutha....  reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeb