A Quick Recap, and a Funny Incident Involving a "C"

Yes, I know there's been another gap of substantive posts from me (not that I consider our wedding anniversary "unsubstantial") but when things get busy, the blog takes a seat on the back burner.  But, because of a funny little incident this morning, I thought I'd bang out some words to give a quick update on things, and finish up with this morning's incident.

Finishing up the
TT in Steamboat

 - I'm still biking and racing, though my racing season comes to an end this month.  I was in a stage race in Steamboat Springs over labor day weekend.  It started out well (5th out of 43 in the TT) but the wheels came off on the following days... I had to avoid 2 crashes in the crit, and flatted going over some RR tracks in the road race.  It clearly wasn't my weekend to complete the race, so I DNF-ed.  Despite that disappointment, I'm very happy with my TT performance and place.  I'm currently taking part in a 4-week TT race series, the first was last Thursday.  Continuing the "luck" from Steamboat, I dropped a chain at the start and lost about 40"... I finished 12th out 23, but would have come in around 5th or 6th had I had a smooth start.

Chloe before her 1st
soccer match

 - Chloe's been in school about a month already and really enjoys her teacher.  Her fall soccer season started as well, and has played 2 games already.  She's playing well (though still has some "picking daisies" lapses), and seems more comfortable in the "defense" positions.
 - Peggy's work is going well, and, as anticipated during these first couple of months with her new company, has her traveling a lot lately. (I'm estimating that between July24th and today, we've been together as a family for 3 weeks.... some of it is her travel, some of that is my time in France.)  But, we knew this would be the case so it's not a complete shock.  She really enjoys her new colleagues and role, so that makes it a lot easier for her (and us) to deal with the separation.

 - And finally, Chamberlain, the seldom-mentioned member of the family... he's doing well, and is the subject of this morning's "incident."  I took him with me as I walked Chloe to the bus stop.  Once she boarded and departed, I continued to walk with him around the neighborhood for a bit.  We were walking on a sidewalk, when up ahead of us, I, and he, noticed a rabbit sitting along a fence.  He kept an eye on it as we got closer, and when we got to about 15 feet of it, it took off in front of us and across the street. 
     I fully expected to have a tug-o-war on my hands.  But instead, I watched Chamberlain watch the rabbit run, and then watched him walk over to the fence to where the rabbit was sitting and take a leak!

A Fun Saturday

Part I - Chloe and her Fire Pickle sisters had another go at it again on the soccer pitch this morning, and lo and behold, had another good outing. Chloe's games-with-a-goal streak skyrocketed to 2, and she's already talking about taking it to 3 next weekend. (We'll have to see if there is a game, of course, as this is Colorado and it is April... snow and/or rain could impact things.)

Part II - I kicked off another racing season today by lining up for a local time trial (TT). It was my first time racing on my new TT bike, and only my 6th time actually riding it. As the course is basically a rectangle, the west-to-east winds made things interesting... going north or south involved some leaning, heading east (with the wind and slightly downhill) produced speeds in the 40-45 mph range, meaning heading west (into the wind and slightly uphill) was an absolute slog.

Going into it I had no idea what to expect in terms of placing... I knew I just didn't want to finish last. About halfway into the 16.5 mile course, I passed the guy who started 20 seconds before me, so I knew I would not suffer that fate. It took me just under 41 minutes to finish the course (averaged about 24 mph), which was good enough for 18th place out of 38 contestants.

A Post of Posts

I know it's been a while since I put anything up here, so rather than go back and create separate posts for events in the past, I'm using this post to highlight some of the recent goings on.

- I know writing about money is not the best way to lead off, but I wanted to make sure if one thing got read on this post, this item would. Next month, Chloe and I are participating in a fundraising event to benefit a local charity that provides services to families in medical crisis. (You may recall I did this last year, too, whereby I had my head shaved.) Chloe obviously won't be getting her head shaved (I will, though), but is looking to get it cut pretty short (for her) and, remembering this event from last year, wanted to tie her haircut to fundraising for this nonprofit. So, if you are so inclined to help her fundraising efforts, please visit https://shop.therewithcare.org/donate.asp to begin the donation process.

NOTE: On the final "check out" page (where billing information is entered), there's a section to personalize the transaction. To make sure your donation is attributed to Chloe, choose "On Behalf of" for the "Dedication" field, and enter "Chloe Schrammel - Give Hair with Care" for the "Name of person being honored" field.

And on behalf of Chloe, thanks your consideration and support.

- Chloe's Spring Soccer season kicked off a couple of weeks ago, and to date she and her teammates have played 3 games. The most notable change this season -- other than Chloe's marked improvement in skills due to her European training [hah!] -- is the renaming of the team. The now-former moniker of "Banana Bees" was in use for several seasons and there was a groundswell of support in the ranks to change it. So, after a round or two of voting, the girls voted to call themselves the "Fire Pickles."
Name change aside, Chloe's been playing well thus far and, to borrow an ice hockey phrase, put the biscuit in the basket at last week's game. She and her teammates have been lucky this spring season as all games thus far have been played in decent weather. In previous years, it was common for games to be either postponed due to snow or played in pretty cold conditions. With April upon us, everyone is hoping we've dodged that bullet and play the remainder of the season in decent weather. But, with Colorado weather being what it is, one can never fully tell.

- Chamberlain recently celebrated the completion of his 12th year on this earth. And by celebrated, I mean ate a huge chew stick and dined on a fair amount of cooked ground beef. And then proceeded to have an upset stomach for the next 36 hours. That short period of nastiness aside, he's in good health and trotting along just fine.

- Peg's work situation is about to change. It's been a struggle for a long time for her to come to some understanding with some powers-that-be about what precisely her role is, how much autonomy she has over the practice area she was hired to lead, and how much trust and respect she has from some supervisors. Long story short, some in organization treated her as if she had little autonomy, leaving her feeling disrespected and not trusted. It became a pretty big quality of life issue and as we're prone to say "Life's too short..." and she gave notice.
Not surprisingly, though -- especially to yours truly -- she's been approached by 2 companies already about possible senior management positions with them. And the kicker is she hasn't begun in earnest a search for a new job... these were unsolicited inquiries.

- As for me, well, I'm about to kick off yet another bike racing season this weekend with a time trial, so I get to use my new "horse." I'm also still dealing with some post-UK-bike-accident residuals. I unfortunately had to enlist the help of a lawyer to file a claim for damages resulting from my bike crash last September. Plus, the chap who knocked me over is being charged with "driving without due care" and I've been given notice that I might be asked to appear in court. Ugh. As much as I am a fan of justice, I must admit I am doing my best to not have to go... I have a feeling I'd spend more time waiting in line at airport security than I would in the witness stand.

That's it for now... I hope you enjoyed this quick recap.

Banana Bee Action Shots

'Twas a good game played by the girls this morning, Chloe not excluded. She showed off her speed (finally!) and caught up to opposing players to kick the ball away from them, and made a couple of good breaks down the field. And despite taking a pretty good kick to the shin (beyond the protection of her shin guard) early in the 2nd half, she, after regaining some composure, got back in the game and continued to play well (the bottom three photos are of her after the shin incident.)

Braving the Element

Game 2 of the Banana Bees season took place this morning, and in less than ideal conditions. The plentiful sunshine and blue skies were nice, but the wind... it was a-howling, and made for some very interesting game watching. The team that had the wind at their back could run well, but because of the nascent ball handling skills at this level, the wind-driven ball often took off away from them. Going in the other direction, the ball would more easily stay at the players' feet, but because they were running into the wind, it was easy for the other team to catch up. Suffice it to say, it was a low scoring affair.

As for Chloe, she played another good game. She was in goal when the BB had the wind at their back, so she saw little action. When out in the field, she made a couple of good runs towards goal, was trying to get open for a teammate to pass to her (something the team's been working on at practice) and took the ball away from the opposing team's players at times.

I hope to get pictures of her at her next game in 2 weeks.

Another Season Kicks Off

Under clear blue skies, and with snow-capped peaks as the backdrop, the Banana Bees kicked off another season this morning. It's the same squad as last season -- I think it's been the same group for 3 straight seasons now -- plus one more girl, so the familiarity factor is pretty good.

We arrived at the field early so Chloe and her teammates could get in a little practice before the game -- the regularly scheduled practice on Wednesday was canceled due to snow. After Coach Brad put them through some some warm-up drills, it was time to play some soccer.

Right from the get-go, the Bees looked good... dribbling the ball (instead of booting it long and chasing), and kicking the ball away from the opposing team (instead of running along side of them as they go down the field.) I think all parents hope those things continue for the next several weeks!

As for Chloe, she had a really good game. She played goalie for a spell, but didn't need to make a save as the all the action was at the other end of the field (yup... a bit of a lopsided affair. No score is kept, but I do know that one of The Bees had a hat trick.) When she was out in the field, she wasn't afraid to put her boot in the mix to get the ball or take it away from an opposing player, and she scored a goal!

Season Wrap-Up

(This post is about a week overdue, but as we've learned from our time here in Boulder, few things happen in a rushed manner around here.  Unless, that is, the issue involves medicinal marijuana access and dispensaries... then the pace, ironically enough, is pretty frenetic.  Who knew some many people in Boulder County had glaucoma?  But I digress.)

Another soccer season for the Banana Bees came to an end last weekend.  The record?  0-0-9 (wink, wink.)  I think it's fair to say all casual observers noticed some improvement in skills over the season.  Equally important, and perhaps a better measure of the season, is that everyone had fun, and, as far as I know, is interested in playing again in the Spring.

(Picture:  Chloe receiving her end-of-season trophy from Coach Brad.  Thanks to Megan Dawson for the picture!)

Some Soccer Pictures

Action shots from today's play on the pitch...

A New Season

A new season for the Banana Bees is underway. It actually began last week, but I just didn't get around to doing a write-up on it. In short: the BBs did really well (an "agreeable" defense by the other team helped) and Chloe tallied a goal for herself.

As for this week's action, Chloe found herself (probably due to her lobbying) playing goalie quite a bit. And, man, she did a great job in net! For the longest time, it was a shooting gallery at her end of the field, and she hung right in there and made some really good stops. One girl on the other team had a pretty strong boot, and laid into one. Chloe took it off the arm and chest like a trooper, and kept it out of the goal.

The personal highlight of the game, though, took place when Chloe was out in the field. I'm not sure if she was on offense or defense (besides initial positioning, there's little difference at this stage of the game in these two once the ball starts rolling) but she was dribbling the ball down the near sideline, with 2 players from the other team right next to her, preventing her from going towards the goal. And then, without any prior experience or training in doing so, Chloe executed perfectly the "pull back" move whereby she stopped quickly, rolled the ball back towards her, and made a move towards the center of the field, leaving the defenders behind. It. Was. Beautiful. And right in front of where Peggy and I were sitting, too! We were joined by many others in stunned laughter when she did it. (Sadly, I didn't have the video camera with me to capture it.)

(Pictures, top to bottom: Chloe chasing down an opponent; Chloe mixing it up in The Bunch; Chamberlain sleeping it off after having "one too many" during halftime; Chamberlain eyeing-up the Coors Light guy.)

Some More Banana Bee Action

This time there's photos!

The girls are definitely improving. They played the same team they played today a couple of weeks ago and it was pretty lopsided, particularly because one player on the other team has mad skills for a girl her age... dribbling around and through people, and taking hard and accurate shots from long range (well, long range for a Kindergartner.) Today, though, they were able to contain that player somewhat while at the same time get a goal or two for themselves.

As for Chloe, another great game in goal and on "defense." She made some great stops and put her boot on the ball to kick it away from the other team as they were coming down field. (Pictures: Chloe putting her hands and face in harm's way to make a stop, even outside the 6 box where such technicalities are overlooked at this level; Chloe getting ready to put the ball back in to play to one of her BB teammates.)

A Great Day for Ballgame... Let's Play Two!

FINALLY! Chloe and her Banana Bee mates caught a break from Mother Nature and had some absolutely gorgeous weather today to play some soccer. And thanks to some freakish snow last month, there were two games on today's slate.

The first game kicked off at 10:00a and not only yielded the first goal of the season for the BBs, it yielded the first multi-goal game for them as well! It was, by far, their best game of the season. Not just because of the goals, but because they were running up to the other team and trying to kick the ball away from them (vs. just running along side and watching the other team shoot on goal.) There's no official score, but it was the first game in which the girls were competitive.

The second game was to take place at 2:00p. But thanks to a meeting of the minds earlier this week between the coaches, a new start time of 12:15p was agreed to. So, after the 1st game ended, the BBs and their groupies hung around and had a picnic of sorts to bide time. There was no way the "groupies" (i.e. parents) were able to get their girls to sit still for an hour, so they ran around quite a bit. At around 12 noon, the other coach came over to see if we'd be OK with some revised rules; namely shorter halves, as his kids had just finished playing. There was no objection from us, for we've been sitting in the sun for 2+ hours.

Much like the first, the two teams were pretty evenly matched. The goal-scoring was much lower than earlier, which was partly due to both teams being a bit tired, and the grass being pretty high... it was tough to move the ball up or down the field, and any hard kick on goal was slowed quite a bit before it reached the goalie.

Chloe played great in both games. She definitely has a knack for playing goalie, and is definitely one of the faster girls on the field. Today she used some of that speed to both track down players on the other team, and break away on offense.

So, if the weather was so great, why no pictures? Yours truly had coaching duties today as head coach Brad was involved in a 12-hour single speed mountain bike race in SW Colorado. Perhaps next week I'll be able to take my camera.

It's Saturday, So That Means...

... cold, rain, and another game for the Banana Bees.

Unfortunately, the weather hasn't been the only commonality: Despite a valiant effort by the little girls, a sound drubbing from the opposing team seems to accompany the games, too. No one is keeping score, for it is only Kindergarten soccer, but I do get the feeling the parents of the BB would like to see the girls experience a goal (in their favor). That aside, I, like the rest of the parents, take great comfort in that the girls aren't fazed one bit by the outcome... they come off the field just as happy as they went on.

Chloe has another solid game as goalie, but because of the weather, the camera stayed in the car and was unable to capture any images. Hopefully next week will present some changes.

The (Seemingly) Frozen Tundra of East Boulder

Chloe's soccer season kicked off today after a 1 week delay due to snow covered fields last week. And while the flaky, white stuff was absent today, it was plenty cold enough. Cloudy, temps in the upper 30s and a slight breeze out of the East had players and parents bundled up aplenty.

Shaking off the elements, Chloe and her fellow Banana Bees (that's the team's name this season, story below) teammates put together a good game. Her team scored a goal (a rarity last season) and the various goalies made plenty of good saves. As for Chloe personally, she made a couple of great runs down the field with the ball when on "offense" and got in the way of the other teams several times when on "defense."

I hope to take some pictures at future games when the weather is more conducive to having hands exposed.

About the name...
At practice on Wednesday, Coach Brad was soliciting suggestions from the girls about what they wanted the team name to be this season. It became evident early on in this process that the girls were thinking up team names on the spot, and basing them off of either something they saw near the practice field, or some off-beat animal-and-color combo. Realizing this was going nowhere, Brad decided it was best to limit options, and took it upon himself to come up with a team name after seeing the color of the T-shirts the team would wear. So, this morning, after picking of the shirts and seeing they were a bright yellow, he offered up Banana Bees and it was warmly accepted.

Can It Be Played With Snowshoes?

The opening to Chloe's spring soccer season was supposed to be this morning, but Mother Nature had other plans; namely 4" of snow, temps in the low 30s, and 20+ mph winds. (It's good to have Winter... in Spring.)

Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, for Chloe and her teammates have yet to decide on a name for their team (last year they were the Tiger Bears.) And having gone through the name selection process last Fall, few decisions are more important to Kindergartners than what wild-concoction-of-a-name they can call themselves. Stay tuned.

A day of football, American and otherwise

Woke up to another brisk, sunny Saturday morning, and a pretty full slate of athletics.

Chloe had another soccer game in the AM. Thankfully, this game was more competitive than ones in recent weeks (i.e. Chloe's team scored a goal this week.) It doesn't bother the girls too much, but us parents do like to see the joy in their faces when the TigerBears score a goal. Scoring aside, the coach and I are beginning to see some gains and we'll have to take pride in that.

After an afternoon of relaxing (me) or getting manis and pedis (Peggy and Chloe), it was time to head down to Folsom Field on CU's campus to watch the Buffs take on the Longhorns of Texas. We got there a little earlier than anticipated, which provided several benefits: it allowed us to get a bite to eat, watch the marching band do their pregame pep rally in the field house, and see the scoreboard showing a 0-0 tie (because that's as good as the score got for the home team.)

The most anticipated event of the night, though, was watching Ralphie run. Ralphie is the real, live buffalo that runs out onto the field before the game and after halftime. There are handlers tethered to her (yes, despite the name, Ralphie is a girl) that in theory are there to guide her around the field and into her trailer. But in all practicality, after watching this event one clearly sees the handlers are largely along for the ride.


In addition to those tethered to her, there are handlers I've termed "the human guardrail." They position themselves around midfield in an arc, creating the "outer barrier" to where Ralphie is supposed to run. As Ralphie runs towards them, they "guide" her through the turn by running in the arc they formed, and if everything goes right, she runs safely to her trailer. The video below isn't the best quality (it was taken with a digital point and shoot) but it does somewhat capture the spectacle.

(Pictures, top to bottom: Chloe in action on the pitch [x 2]; Chloe waiting for Ralphie to run; a view of Folsom Field with the Flatirons in the background.)

Weekend Recap

Saturday
Today was the beginning of a very active weekend. We got up around 7:30a and got Chloe ready for her 1st Soccer game (and mine as assistant coach... a stressful role, indeed.) Unlike in PA, the league she's in here is co-ed (although her team happens to be all girls), and the games are 5-on-5 (including goalie) and are played on a much smaller field. Chloe and her team played well... Chloe scored two of her team's goals, and made some saves when she was the netminder. The most important stat, though, was that the TigerBears (Chloe's team) and the Squirrel Girls (the opponents) had a fun time.

Upon returning from the game and having some lunch, I went on a short, but climbing-intensive ride. It was just a shade over 27 miles long, but involved almost 3,200 feet of climbing. I would have liked to go for a longer ride, but there were important matters to attend to...

Tonight, Peggy and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary by going out to dinner at a great restaurant in Boulder's West End. Not having lined up a babysitter, we had Chloe join us and a great time and meal were had by all. Afterwards, we strolled around the Pearl Street mall to get some ice cream (for Chloe and I) and coffee (for Peg). We couldn't make it too late of a night, for there was more in store for tomorrow.

Sunday
Today is the second day in a row where the alarm clock went off at 7:30a. After topping off the stomach's with fuel and getting the right gear on our bodies and loaded into car, we headed to the CU campus to participate in the Buffalo Bicycle Classic. The ride raises money for scholarships that go to students within the CU College of Arts and Sciences. Since it's inception 6 years ago, it has raised over $800,000 and is the single largest source of scholarships for CU's CAS. Like many charity rides, this one offered routes of varying length. We opted for 14-miler, which had its own nickname, the "Little Buffalo."

For our first, big family ride, things got off to an inauspicious start. We got to the Start/Finish line about 30 minutes before our ride started. So we checked in, got ourselves a course map and read that there is a rolling start (meaning we can leave when ever we want too, versus a mass start for everyone riding a particular route). Rather than wait the 30 minutes, we decided to venture off on our own.

We left the Start and followed the directions given to us by the volunteers manning the intersections. Right off the bat, we were pointed in the direction opposite of where I knew we needed to go, but I figured it's early, maybe we'll head back the right way after a block or two. As we approached the first intersection, I asked a volunteer if this was the way for the 14 mile route. He said "Yep." I wanted to make sure because I knew if we made this turn and it was wrong, it meant going down a short but moderately steep hill, and that we'd have to go back up said hill to correct things. (Normally, I don't mind climbing hills, as my brief cycling comment for Saturday attests to. But it's a COMPLETELY different ballgame when I'm also pulling around a 45 pound girl on a 15 pound trail-a-bike. In these situations, hills are considerably less attractive.)

We make the turn, go down the hill and continue on for a couple more blocks, still not heading in the direction we need to go. At this point, we pull to the side of the road, consult the course map again, and begin to think the ride organizers don't have the swiftest volunteers manning the course. We turn around, head back up the aforementioned hill and make our way back to the Start/Finish line. By this point, more "Little Buffalo" ride riders have amassed to begin the ride, so we decided to wait a bit and leave with the group. As luck would have it, we met up with friends, Jordan and Baylor, who were also doing the ride with their kids, and pedaled away most of the morning with them. (I can't complain too much about my setup with Chloe... Baylor has a tandem trail-a-bike for his two sons attached to his bike.)

We crossed the finish line around 11:00a, parked our bikes and took in some lunch. And talked about what (longer) route we wanted to do next year. (Photos, top to bottom: Taking a break at the first rest stop; At the finish line; Chloe nearly getting stampeded by a raging buffalo.)

1st Soccer Practice, and Sunset

Immediately after school today, I took Chloe to her 1st soccer practice. (It also happened to be my 1st practice as assistant coach, too.) Coincidentally, her team is an all-girl team in a co-ed league, so Brad (coach) and I are curious to see how that plays out once the games begin. From what I saw, I think the unnamed-as-of-yet team will fare well... I saw several girls willing to put their boot on the ball when someone else has it. As for team names, Brad took suggestions from the girls, and the choices thus far are: Lions, Tigers, Bears and Yellow Kangaroos. We have another practice next Wednesday, and the first game is September 6. I'll keep you posted.

While cleaning up the kitchen tonight, I happened to look out the window and into the foothills to see a very pretty sunset taking place. So I ran upstairs, grabbed the camera and went up the street a bit to get this unobstructed view. (click on the picture to see a larger version.)