Aspirations

There has been a lot of birthday talk around our house lately. Today we printed up invitations to Cailan's birthday party and distributed them to his classmates. Cailan was a big help reading the names on the invitations and sticking them in the correct cubby.

Later he was telling me that when he turns four he will be able to do lots of things that he couldn't do when he was three.

"Oh, really?" I asked, What kinds of things will you be able to do when you turn four?"

"I will grow sticky feet and a lizard's tail and I will be able to walk on the walls like a gecko."

Wow. I didn't know this birthday would bring about such a metamorphosis.

More on commuting

I noticed this morning that the ratio of prep time to ride time is even more skewed on the days I take Cailan to daycare. Wrestling a semi-cooperative preschooler into coat, mittens, and helmet, buckling him into the trailer, tucking a blanket all around him, and snugly securing the trailer's cover adds several minutes to the prep time. I probably ride a bit slower when I'm pulling the trailer but not enough to substantially change the ride time.

I ask him every morning when we get to campus, "Are you ok? Did you stay warm enough?" He always answers yes. I hope it's true.

Winter commuting

The good thing about having a short bike commute is that, in the winter, I don't have to worry about overheating on my ride to work. Layering and moisture management aren't issues for me; I just have to bundle up enough to survive the eight minutes, and if I start getting to hot I can just ride slower and make it there in nine.

The bad thing about a short bike commute is that it seems to take as long to get dressed for the ride as it does to actually do the ride.

I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that wearing a snug balaclava doesn't actually seem to make my hair look worse. Hmmm.

Lost

So although I have been out to the local trail network (Lunch Loops) frequently, Heather has only been a few times. Those were mostly just the smallest loops for lunchtime getaways. There is actually a quite large network of trails available there, most of them quite challenging. Last weekend we decided to spend our biking day close to home (the Lunch loops trail head is about 4 miles from our house). One good/bad thing about the trails is that we have a very avid trail maintenance and development organization here in Junction: the trails get good upkeep, but they frequently change location and routing. Just in the past year they have opened about seven new trail sections, closed two, and rerouted numerous areas due to erosion.
Grandma came over and we loaded up Utah and went out for a medium/long ride of about 12 miles. We got lost. Five miles from home and we got lost. Unlike many trails though, it was hard to get too stressed about it as we could often see the town down below us.
The tall black building is St. Mary's Hospital which is about .5 miles from our house. Here's another view of town.
One with Heather
Since we live in a valley, pretty much everything goes UP on the way out and DOWN on the way back.
Maybe next time
After about four hours we had gone 12 miles and ended up on a totally different road than we came in on. It was also getting dark. Fortunately we were only a couple of miles from the truck, so we made it home for chili and cornbread.

Utah had a good time getting lost