Party Pardee

The first century of the year for me was the Party Pardee. This great metric century started in Ione and took us through Amador and Calaveras counties. This was the first time I have ridden in this ride although I have been on most of the roads before on other rides. Mike warned me that the hills were brutal, I just didn't realize how brutal they were. Mike's son, Spencer, joined us for the ride but had little notion of what he was in store for today. Today was not only Spencer's first century, it was also his first organized ride, and he hadn't climbed this much before. He had a new bike, an awesome looking Trek 1500, which he hadn't even been on before today!!! The odds were stacked against him but he persevered!!! Even though there were times he wanted to take the SAG wagon back to the car, he didn't give up (the Chariot's of Fire theme song would be appropriate here) and kept pounding away at the climbs! Mike rode exceptionally well, especially since he's put less than 150 miles on his bike this year.

This ride was one of the best supported rides in the area and we will definitely be doing it again next year.

At the end of the ride Spencer found his way in front of me and Mike so it looked like he pulled us the whole way. You learn fast, Spencer! So, what did he look like at the end of day? Cool, calm and collected... ah to be young again!

Thanks for the great ride gents!

I only took a couple of pics, but here they are.

Guess What?!?!

After Dawn's mornings started getting tougher we thought we would find out for sure. So, last week we took the test and... surprise! Guess what's coming to the Beckwith family?

After a trip to the doctor we discovered that she was farther along than we originally thought.

September will be here before we know it!

update: look at the date!

Christian's Birthday Party

Happy birthday Christian!

After everyone devoured cake and ice cream and Christian opened up his gifts (and counted his loot) Ken and I went and picked up theboneshaker / penny-farthing. Mike and I had tried, unsuccessfully, to ride it a few weeks before but Ken was sure he could do it on the first try. And ride it he did... he had no problem riding it right from the start. Here's a quick video of him sprinting down Mike's street.

Even I was able to finally ride the bike.

Check out the pics here.

Pink Panthers on the Prowl

Opening ceremonies for the Stockton Girls Softball Association were held today. Our girls, the Pink Panthers, looked really good for the first game of the season.

Check out the pics here.

Naughty Nicks Auction

Well, Naughty Nicks closed with little fanfare (see Times, they are a changin' and Recordnet article). Mike and I never made it for a ceremonial game of snooker but when we heard they would be auctioning everything away on February 24th we knew we had to be there.

We got there early in the morning, registered, got our bidder numbers and made it in to the building to inspect the hundreds of items that would be sold before heading back outside to wait for the auctioneer to begin. Pool tables, video games, pinball machines and tons of little nick knacks (no pun intended) were tightly packed in to the back half of the building. On my list was a couple of the Ms. Pac Man cabaret and cocktail table games, the famous table #9 - the 6x12 snooker table where we learned to play the game, and of course two very specific items: that crazy old-fashioned bike and the big wall clock.

The videos games went quickly and were very overpriced. The pool tables started to go dirt cheap so I called Dawn to tell her I might be bringing home a snooker table. I ended up losing table #9 but had a couple of bids that forced the winner to pay a hefty premium for it.

Then, as the weather worsened, everyone moved inside and we got closer and closer to the two remaining items I was hoping to take home. I could live without a game or a pool table but I really wanted that bike and that clock. There didn't seem to be that much interest for the bike but a lot of people were looking to bring that clock home.

The pictures below tell the rest of the story. I got the bike and the clock! Sure, I could have found a replica boneshaker / penny-farthing bike at any number of places and I'm sure that 42" wall clocks are easy to come by, but I wanted these particular ones.

After getting the handle bar reattached (thanks Fred) I have tried to ride the bike but have not been able to reach the pedals. I'm still looking for a taller volunteer to take it on a test ride. Ron said it is ridable... not sure about that though.

It took us some time to find a place in the living room to hang the clock and then to get the right hardware to do it safely. Finally, this past weekend, we did it. I can't get over the fact that the Naughty Nicks clock is hanging up in my living room.

I was lamenting with a good friend recently (one with whom I spent a lot of time with at Naughty Nicks) and he reminded me, "...the memories of the past places that I hung out as a teen are not nearly as precious and memorable or valuable as the people that graced my time and being then...". I agree! And I'm still a sentimental ol' sap and think of the great friends I had and have every time I see the Naughty Nicks clock.

Rachel's birthday party

Who knew a birthday party at a toy store could be so cool. Happy birthday princess Rachel.

Check out the pics here.

San Francisco Trip

Mak finally got her belated birthday trip to San Francisco. And, just as she planned, we had lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe and then hung out at Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. The girls really liked watching the sea lions fight on the docks and also liked watching the street performers. One of the performers, Marcus Raymond, did some pretty cool tricks like escaping from a straightjacket and solving a rubik cube in less than 1 minute (after a kid from the audience scrambled it up real good).

Check out the pics here.

Road Trip to Hornbrook

So many of my summers growing up were spent up at the R-Ranch in beautiful Hornbrook in Northern California. Even though spring is creeping up on us we were still a little nervous planning a trip up there this early in the year. With all of the snow on Black Butte and Mt. Shasta it looked like it was going to be cold. Lucky for us the weather was awesome and we had a blast hanging out with the Deckos. The Property at Hornbrook fits the Decko family very well and their home is awesome!

We even made a trip to Ashland which looked exactly the same as it did the last time we were there (probably 10 years ago).

Check out the pics from our trip here.

Christina took some great pics of The Property in December and January when it was snowing and asked me to publish them (it would take her weeks to do it over dial-up).Check out her pics here.

Thunder Video

What's the best way to spend a Saturday night in Stockton? At a hockey game! It was a sell out game so we were lucky to get nose bleed seats, well, some may consider them nose bleed but there aren't any bad seats in the arena. We lost the game but it was a great night of hockey anyway. As always, I put up a couple of videos on YouTube.

Videos: Thunder's first goal to tie the game - from our seats in section 210.

Jeff Lang (Thunder) dukes it out with Greg Stewart (Cyclones) - from KW's seat in section 209.

The Tour of California Rolls Through Stockton

The Amgen Tour of California Riders ride on Center Street in Downtown Stockton

In its second year, the Tour of California rolled through Stockton for stage three, starting downtown, on the waterfront and ending in San Jose.

What a great event for downtown Stockton. The girls and I went downtown first thing in the morning and walked around. With Center Street closed between Fremont and Weber, the area in front of the waterfront was filled with the greats like Hincapie, Leipheimer, Haedo, Basso, Rasmussen and O'Grady. I even had a chance to say hello to Johan Bruyneel and wish him good luck.

I also got a chance to meet David from The Fred Cast, the internet's premier cycling podcast. David covered everyday of the race and provided some great insight and interviews as he travelled with the race caravans.