Happy [belated] birthday, Tonya!

Hope you have a very happy birthday month, Tonya. For the record, you look way younger than this woman.
Love,
Gareth and Tricia

Happy Birthday T-Bone!

And thus begins JB's birthday month....

Hope you have a great 39th, old man winter. Looking forward to dinner tomorrow night.

Love,
G

ps. your present is shown below. Great for commuting to the peninsula. Hope you like it!

Woohoo! First crash!

Ok, so I'm not posting from Alta Bates but did leave a little skin behind today during a ride with bad-ass mt biker T. Redrind. We did the West Ridge/Canyon/Ridge loop from Moon Gate in Redwood Regional Park which is packed with insanely steep and long ups and downs. Tonya rocked it of course and I did pretty well and started getting used to the new bike.

And yep, had a nice crash not 1 mile into the outing. More of a tip over than a crash I guess for I was going exactly zero MPH up a steep rocky hill. I think it's probably the same clipless pedal lesson many people learn. Coming to an intentional stop and clipping out - no problem. But it hadn't crossed my mind that I might lose momentum going up something steep. Turns out it would have been a good idea to have a foot out before I lost all speed and really, really needed to have a foot out. Boom, crash, topple, smack. Lesson learned? We'll see. Definitely was closer to the forefront of my mind for the rest of the ride.

Wussy scrapes aside, the ride was great - even when I was eating Tonya's dust which was most of the time.

omg. It's awesome.

My new mountain bike that is. Like upgrading from a '74 Buick to an '08 Lexus.

And the clipless pedals. whytf didn't someone tell me those are so freakin awesome also? Goddamn those rock. I have the Crank Brothers "smarties" (cuz I'm smart like that.. ok, actually I didn't know diddly jack about them but apparently they're good according to georgie). George, thanks for telling me to look for more pieces parts... that did the trick. Might need some adjustments but they're totally easy to get into and out of. Screw toeclips omg!

And I gotta say, the 3-way locking rear suspension? Sweet. Definitely makes a difference if you stiffen it up before going uphill. And freaking hydraulic disc brakes? Jeebuz.

Can't wait to get out for a ride tomorrow. I hope my next post isn't from Alta Bates hospital.