Another Sunday

Another Sunday came around and I took the boys down to Stromlo for a ride on the single tracks in the morning. They had a great time and although Jacob cant ride at the moment he helped me to guide the little ones around the trails. Jem stayed home for some rare peace and quiet and when we got back I ducked out for a quick spin around Stromlo myself. Later in the afternoon we all went to Floriade to check out the wonderful flowers.

 Jumps and Skids - Probably 2 of the boys most favourite words

Stromlo playground

 2 hours to myself, Stromlo trails, lots of variety, fun.

 

Tag team

Team Raceline10 is in its final stages of preparation for the Scott 24 next month. So while the Lanes were in town we did a fair bit of MTB riding.

Rich and I as usual got out a lot, but this time Jem and Em went out to Stromlo together and also did a night loop of Bruce Ridge. At times it felt like a tag team effort as one pair would come home as the other would be getting ready to head out. The kids even got out for some single track action and also a bit of BMX jumping!

Broken Bones

Jacob had a little accident at school the other day where he was piggy backing another kid and they both fell landing on poor Jacobs arm. After getting an Xray, it turns out he has broken both bones in his right forearm. One is whats known as a green stick fracture (similar to what William had in his wrist) and the other is a normal fracture.

He has a temporary cast on now and will get the full cast done in a few days. 4 weeks of no action is going to be tough for him, especially as the school holidays start next week. The little trooper has accepted what has happened and although understandably frustrated, is dealing with it really well. Love you Jacob!

The break

 Before the cast

During

Finished

A trial of a trail

Rich and I rode Kowen on the weekend. One of my favourite trails in Canberra and I was very excited to see what he thought. What I didnt count on was that we would see half of it in slow motion, about 3 times!

Rich lost his car keys 10 or so kms into the ride and we then spent the next couple of hours scouring the track and surrounds for the elusive little black device. Not surprisingly we didnt have any luck as the old saying goes, 'A needle in a haystack'.  We did though still get to enjoy the whole 28km loop (although a tad slower than usual) and the awesome sweeping downhill section at the end. I think I can speak for both of us, for those 15 or so minutes the lost car keys were far from our thoughts!

Back to the carpark though and back to the dilemma at hand - NRMA to open the car + Tow truck to tow it and take us home + Locksmith to cut, replace keys and set immobiliser = an expensive ride!

Sh#t happens. I can think of worse places to be having a minor crisis. Out on the bike with a mate, beautiful day and single track to die for, not that bad.

Although I might drive next time!!

Visit from the Lanes

We had another visit from the Lanes over the last few days and it was great once again to catch up, go for some lovely rides and watch the kids playing together. 

Rich and I had the 3 hour twilight race at Stromlo on the Saturday they arrived. We both completed a fairly cruisey but in parts quite gruelling 4 laps. There are some very very good riders in Canberra, some of which rocketed past us like we were walking. A nice experience, ride and a good prelude to the Scott next month.

We took the kids to Majura Pines for some single tracking on the Sunday morning which they loved!

Some BMX tracking after school on Monday

  

Dinner time!

                                                  Trip to the Canberra Zoo and Aquarium

Sharks!

Looks as though Sam is feeding the bear here!

Lunch with the zoo animals

My mad 2 year old

Lucas is still in the 'needing a nap in the day' stage of his life. If he doesn't have one he is really grumpy in the afternoon and generally falls asleep on the way to pick the boys up from school.

Most days he will quite happily go to bed and although maybe having to put him back once or twice he will always fall asleep. Today though was one of those days where we did what I like to refer to as 'The Nap Time Dance'. He repeatedly got up out of bed and wandered downstairs. I then repeatedly took him back to bed with him yelling "No! that's the naughty rude word" when I said it was time for bed. He then came down in the nude! Yes that's right, nude! What a wally.

Its hard to get cross at him when he does things like that. Hence he is up now and watching TV with Sam. I'm looking forward to tomorrows shenanigans (I think). My mad 2 year old!!

School parent morning

We had the opportunity to go into to school this morning and check out all the fabulous work the boys have been doing in the annual Palmerston primary Learning Journey. Its such a proud feeling when you get an insight on what amazing things your children get up to whilst not with you. They are so clever and such good little boys when at school and seem to be well liked by their classmates, we couldnt be more proud.

Bike bling

A few months ago I decided to try and start up a little mountain bike detailing business. I figured there are plenty of people out there that love to ride on the weekends and trash their bikes but dont have the time or patience during the week to clean all that muck off. I have a few hours a week I can dedicate to it, so with an ad on Gumtree and a few mates now that are in to mountain biking I have had some flithy bikes through. 

I give them a thorough once over including the chain and cassette. Everyone so far seems to be really happy with the end product. My plan is for the money I make to mostly go towards new components for my own beast.  

Here is some of the 'bike bling' that has been through-

 Trek dual suspension

 Redline 29er single speed

 Commencal hardtail

 Giant XTC 29er hardtail

 Specialized Epic 

 Specialized Epic

I Couldnt resist another photo of my Camber Comp 29er, I have recently trained it to pose upon request!

Sunday

The weeks seem to consistently fly by and although we dont plan on filling up the days, we always seem to be flat out. I just found out that Floriade is on again over the next few weeks. How it was a year ago that we went there I'm not sure!

Another Sunday came and went and I was lucky enough to get out to maybe my favourite single track in the ACT in the morning, Kowen Forest. Its great and I could quite honestly have stayed there for much much longer if I hadnt already been out for 3 hours! Just a beautifully contrasting trail that would make any keen mountain biker smile.

In the afternoon I took Will and Sam to the War Memorial's storage facility in Mitchell. They annually open it up so the public can see all the amazing things that either dont get to the actual War Memorial or are waiting to be fixed up so they can be displayed. The boys loved all the old tanks and guns.

When we got back we went out onto the Laneway for a ride and a dozen kids from various houses emerged  to join us. There were kids, bikes, scooters, skateboards, toys and balls everywhere! Awesome for the kids to be able to all play together, but at the same time a little frightening with all the activity!!

William was amazed that this tank weighed as much as 30 of our cars put together!

Sam wanted to be sure that he was taller than that wheel

Wednesday nights

When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking. ~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle


I think this sums up a lot of peoples mindset when riding their bikes. Even if the bike is just a tool to get you from A to B, you have that time of calm while on the saddle to delve into your thoughts and forget.

On our regular 'Wednesday Night Warriors' ride last night I had Strava going and I achieved a personal record to the top of Stromlo - 25 and a half minutes. For the entire ride I had little thoughts running through my head apart from that next push, breathing and who is gaining on me from behind. Lights on, world class trail, about an hour and a half of simplicity.

I love Wednesday nights!

Goggle heads

Little goggle heads from yesterdays swimming lessons

Past to present

I love those images you find of cities or other landscapes from the past, however many years, and then next to it is a photo of what it looks like today.

This is a photo I found today in a Canberra magazine showing a view from the lookout at Mt Ainslie of which I rode the other day. Its from the late 1930's and shows the War Memorial being built in front of Anzac Parade and in the distance old Parliament House. The photo I took the other day isnt quite from the same position but you get the idea.

Past

Present