Congrats Ryan!

Mazel tov Ryan

Ryan, he's absolutely gorgeous! Congrats!

and you thought lead poisoning and infectious diseases were the only reasons to keep your kids away from those bouncy castles:  

^

For Fu*k's Sake! These things are gonna need their own thread soon... http://www.breaking911.com/bouncy-slide-rolls-hundreds-of-feet-with-2-children-inside-one-ejected/

Parents, any opinions on tricycles for 2 year olds? Peter already has a pedal/crankless scoot style bike which he's now just sort of growing into. But his grandma wants to get him a tricycle. And frankly, I hadn't given it much thought. I mean, I know he doesn't know how to pedal. And I sort of thought he'd go from scoot to scoot to bike to bike (all purchased second hand from Jules and/or Ragot, natch).

But if grandma wants to get him a trike, is that so wrong?

Marc Bertucco said:

Parents, any opinions on tricycles for 2 year olds? Peter already has a pedal/crankless scoot style bike which he's now just sort of growing into. But his grandma wants to get him a tricycle. And frankly, I hadn't given it much thought. I mean, I know he doesn't know how to pedal. And I sort of thought he'd go from scoot to scoot to bike to bike (all purchased second hand from Jules and/or Ragot, natch).

But if grandma wants to get him a trike, is that so wrong?

Could be.  At the very least, it takes up space and if he's already scooting, the trike will probably be harder to use.  My feeling is if you can avoid self-balancing bikes, do so.

mugwump said:

Marc Bertucco said:

Parents, any opinions on tricycles for 2 year olds? Peter already has a pedal/crankless scoot style bike which he's now just sort of growing into. But his grandma wants to get him a tricycle. And frankly, I hadn't given it much thought. I mean, I know he doesn't know how to pedal. And I sort of thought he'd go from scoot to scoot to bike to bike (all purchased second hand from Jules and/or Ragot, natch).

But if grandma wants to get him a trike, is that so wrong?

Could be.  At the very least, it takes up space and if he's already scooting, the trike will probably be harder to use.  My feeling is if you can avoid self-balancing bikes, do so.

The only real issue is space/clutter.  I don't think it enhances/hiders the learning curve at all.

I agree with Jules and jp. Luka never rode a tricycle well. He sometimes rode one at grandmas house that was it. But skuut to real bike was barely a transition. Say 5 min.

Sarah had the Kettler with the bar and handle out back for the parents to steer. She liked it for a little while but it ended up being not much more than a reduced function stroller that took up a shit load of room.

Skuut to real bike in 5 minutes - what Ragot said - same for both of my kids.

Kids races at Mengoni after the big kids races finish.

Vlad raced the 35+ and cat 3 qualifiers this morning and made it to the evening race. He wasn't sure if he would stay around for the big downtown crit.

The family and I arrived in time for the 1/2 qualifier. With 30 spots and only 20 int the field, if we made it halfway without being dropped we were in. Still these small races can be tricky. Especially on this course with the wind. I sat on the field for most of the race. There moments of aggression but nothing sustained.

With 5 to go I bridged to a two man break by attacking the inside line of a climb as the field went left to set up for a right hand turn at the top of a little climb. Got my gap and buried myself to bridge which took a lap. The break crumbles soon thereafter and I try to recover in time for the sprint. No go though. I shut it down a little early to keep the legs good for tonight's main show.

After the race me and my boy rode around he told me congratulations, cheered every lap, said "go faster" and use pedals daddy" My wife tells me a couple of times she had to keep him off the race course as he said, "I go race now." After way too much cheesesteak, I'm heading into town for the big finale.

Road rash. My son suffered his first. Did a nice face plant on a fast descent of his balance bike. And has a shredded chin to prove it. Tough kid, my Peter. Bad parents. Sometimes we forget he's just 2.

By the time all the qualifiers were said and done, about 60-70 riders started the "Amateur Finale." It was classic tight crit course and the scene at the pre-race staging barriers was tense. Getting stuck behind some Juniors or Cat 4s in turn one is not an ideal way to start the race. While waiting for grown-up tricycle round robin team races to be done (not kidding), a colorful local with some kind of beverage lanyard-ed around his neck engaged me in conversation that could only be described as wide ranging and distracting.

Notable absences from the evening finals crit (despite having qualified...which was basically everyone, FWIW), were Zeb Nelleson (VanDessel), Vlad, Robert Mecca, and Mengoni's Karl Nelson. For me, the reason why I show up to the qualifiers, so I can race a surprisingly hard 4-corner 1k crit in the heart of downtown West Chester (an adorable town, with shops, restaurants, pubs a-plenty).

What makes this four corner rectangular shaped crit especially hard are tight turns all around. Turn 3 is coming off a very fast 2% descent, transitioning to an out of the saddle hammer up a 3% hill, followed by a false flat drag through the main street. Turns 3, 4 and the homestretch were brutal. Interval after interval. 35 of them to be precise. I was in a world of pain from the first lap.

What we've only done 15 minutes? Can't this race be over please? 20 laps to go? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?! This race was as hard as several of the ToAD crits. And that surprised me. I went from being quietly confident, to praying I could finish with the bunch.

With 12 laps to go, I just didn't know how I was going to survive. Guys who I thought were reliable wheels were blowing up and leaving HUGE gaps for me to bridge (What no hand-sling? Thanks for nothing). One particular lap I was in a panic. The gap seemed insurmountable. But I had the backside descent and the tricky turn three to make up ground. It was my only hope. I tried not to panic. I put my head down and pedaled just as hard as I could. Approaching the aforementioned turn, I narrowed the gap significantly and would have to finish the job on the "climb." I got to choose my own line, but I went in so hot and fast that I managed to not only clip my pedal (something I must have done like 5 times on this course) but also ALMOST send myself into a wall of hay. Yikes. Disaster narrowly avoided I got back on to the two last guys of the now significantly diminished peloton. Phew.

No time for congratulations though, because both of these guys whom I just reconnected with blew sky high on the false flat homestretch, leaving me with another big gap to close.

"FOR CHRISSSSAKES, stop ringing that damn preme bell!!!!"

With 8 laps to go, I wanted to quit. I seriously did. And so did the dudes around me. And they actually did. More guys taking themselves out of the race. More gaps for me to close.

This race was so ballistic that I only heard a few of my son's cheers, but later was told that, "Daddy, use pedals" and "Daddy very busy now." were his favorite motivational words. On lap I did hear him though and knowing he was out there was all I needed. That kid is totally awesome. We watched wave after wave of the kids races (lots of kids racing here) and let me tell you he clapped and cheered for every one of them.

There were plenty of laps where I was buried in the drops, out of the saddle, dropping the sledge hammer on my cranks, that surely if there was any weakness to my recent bike repair, it would have been revealed. With 3 laps to go, the remaining group of 25-35 of us (everyone else left for dead, pulled, dropped, whatever) the pace calmed for about 1/2 a lap, then the fun began all over again. I should have used that opportunity to get closer to the front...that was a mistake on my part for sure. Because once things got crazy again, and my calf was cramping, It was all I could do just to hang onto the group. I did get out of the saddle and put in a sprint-ish effort to you know, finish like 5 or 6 spots better than I would have had I just been a cool dude who sits up when all the money is gone. (I didn't stick around to see exactly where I finished, because mostly I'm satisfied with having finished with the front group in a 4 corner race that approached 50% attrition rate.) But as all of you know, I'm many things, but definitely not cool. Although during my cool down lap, kids were holding out their hands for high fives, so I naturally obliged and well, pretended I was cool.

After the race I found my son chomping on some sidewalk chalk standing amongst a huge on the street art project. Noticed a stand offering free henna tattoos, a band playing in the background. After my race, I was approached by several kids a few years older than Peter, all of whom wanted to ask and tell me things. One kid wanted to get on my bicycle like she had seen Peter (he always wants to ride daddy's bike after a race) do. I said, "It's up to your mom" With permission granted I picked her up, placed her on the saddle and will now be on some strangers iPhone photo roll. Then a grown-up, approached me and asked me about racing and told me how he just started doing triathlons and wants to race on the road and...well, I don't know what it was, but I guess I had that "talk to me" face today.

Sarah, Peter and I got some fro-yo for the road home and while we're all exhausted, we all had an amazing family day of racing, riding, walking around, eating and fun. (Peter is really digging his new front facing car seat, and Sarah is so happy to be able to sit in the front seat again!)

Epilogue: thinking about this race and some others, I think how well suited it would be for the guys who just like to go out and shred. While the morning qualifiers were sort of sleepy (although Vlad reports that his 35+ race was HARD), mine served as a perfect warm-up/leg opening exercise for the pummeling I was to endure in the evening. Plus, one entry fee gets you two races in a day. And had we had time (too late for us to stay), watching NCC racers battle over 15,000 or something like that ain't too shabby either.

Would love to continue the "hot streak" and race the crits in Danbury and Chris Thater, but alas, family duties and another trip back to Chicago will keep me from pinning on a race number again until GMSR.

Marc,

family peoples,

For all you "jerks" who bullied me into trying to glue my own cross tubulars, you clearly don't have a 2 year old who refuses to nap and is going out of his mind crying for pancakes.

Thanks. Thanks a f-ing lot.

Tubular glue can have alternate uses . . .
Try finger painting.

Or puppet making.

It is with some sadness that I'm thinking of selling this beast , lots of time hauling ass,but now the kids are too big It's a Raleigh frame , not sure on the size ,I'm 5,10, Rear disc brake , wheels run true ,tires pretty good shape , extra cycle bags didnt hold up so great , the mesh ends have holes , but the Velcro is good and the straps are ok Not sure what it's worth , make me an offer ,depending on what the offer is , I might just keep in the garage as I'm somewhat sentimental about all the time the 3 of us spent on the thing rain or shine Oh , yeah this thing weighs a ton

So if I were to move to Montclair, NJ, will the cycling be miserable? 

I hear maplewood is the new brooklyn.

according to the ny times...brooklyn is dead...

20 miles from Montclair to GWB.

dstokes said:

20 miles from Montclair to GWB.

Of that I am aware - just can't tell for sure what between the two.

I've never figured out how to go from GWB to around there. If I were in Montclair, I'd go riding southwest towards Summit, Chatham and the Great Swamp and north to Morristown historic national park. Great riding out that ways. If it were only about the riding, I'd pick Maplewood over Montclair.