May Day Celebration Weekend

Do you ever have one of those weekends where all proportionate sense of time is lost? How about a Monday morning when you wake up groggy and tired and lazily snooze away only to experience an "oh, shit realization" on that third or fourth toss/turn that it's Monday (not Sunday) and you have to go to work? Last weekend was one such weekend for me. It was packed full of fun stuff and the weather was incredible. Spring finally won the battle. Winter has crawled off to cower in the corner for a few months.


Saturday's weather was forecast to be crappy -- rain/snow and 50s. It wasn't. Anthony called me up to see if I wanted to ride to Rude's house to get his fork fixed. I loaded up Sylvia in the Burley and we pedaled north and east by way of the Surly Brewery. Surly has a new beer up -- Bitter Brewer. The name says it all. If you like bitters, try the BB. It's very earthy, quite bitter and low alcohol.



Rude's daughter, Chloe, was napping when we arrived, but she soon awakened and the two girls started playing. Sylvia is a year older, so it was hard to keep her from dominating the action. Chloe was a good sport. There's nothing quite like watching your kid having a great time interacting with another kid. The last time Sylvia saw Chloe was nearly 9 months ago, I think. Sylvia wanted little to do with her then since she was younger and wasn't able to rough-house and play the same way. Things were pleasantly different this time around.

Folk music, the Dead, Afro Celt Sound System ... it didn't matter, the girls kept dancing. Meanwhile we talked about bikes and Rude's ideas for a 3-speed revolution. If you're on the inside, you know. Otherwise, consider yourself warned. This revolution will not be televised. Hell, it may not even be blogged. It was also great to converse with Jenny, Chloe's mom. I firmly believe dads should tune into the thoughts and ideas of moms they encounter along the way. You might just learn something.

Anthony, Sylvia and I cruised home down Victory and Theo Wirth Parkways about an hour before sunset. It was peaceful and quiet. None of us were in a hurry. Sylvia fell asleep in the trailer. It was a beautiful, mellow thing. Thanks to Rude, I had Dead tunes floating through my head which I hadn't thought of in a couple years. Yep, somewhere in my past is a Grateful Dead era (I have to send out a big thanks to Stew for helping steer me down that path. What a long, strange trip it was ... and still is, I guess.)

Sunday delivered even better weather. We loaded up the family on bikes and headed to Powderhorn Park for Mayday and an early birthday celebration for Sylvia -- she's the big 3 on May 7.

Mark threw a party on his front steps overlooking Powderhorn. This is his dining room. In my opinion, his priorities seem well adjusted.

The ladies -- Megan, Corrie, Sylvia, April, Willa and Angela -- enjoying a smackerel (in Pooh-speak) of Sylvia's birthday cake (homemade by April). It was G-uh-uhd. (That means GOOD!) Sorry, Angela, that I obscured you in the shrubbery.

Family portrait with the floppy baby. Actually, I think Willa was asleep. Maybe she was just sunning herself.

"Conversations: Nate and Mark. Next on PBS ..." Actually, this looks like one of those "behind the scenes of the Haynes Manuals" shots found on the back covers of most Haynes Manuals.

Nate's custom Candle Apple Red Big Dummy. Yep, the Xtracycle V Racks are also red. You just gotta know Nate to know. And if you don't know Nate you outta. I'm not a big fan of bicycle sound systems, but if either Nate or Nick Sande are playing the tunes, I have three words: "HELL F-CKIN' YEAH!"

A sleepy Willa at 6 weeks old. She's sporting the colors -- CRC, baby! Let's make Hurl proud. I have to give Hurl credit for calling me out in my comments to a recent post. I know it must be difficult to update his blog(s) on account of a demanding job as a coffee purveyor and all. Not like he can sit around a coffee shop and type on a laptop all day. That's okay, because when Hurl posts, he posts with a vengeance. You ought to read the posts, too -- some of them more than once. Here's an example, Dumb as We Wanna Be from 4/30. Don't be afraid of words, people. Words teach. Words good. A picture may speak a thousand words but a thousand words can teach you way more than a stoopid photo.

The birthday girl in her bunny suit. Emery says we should get Sylvia and BRose together for a photo op. Maybe we should call a press conference. That sounds like a grand idea.

In recent memory, very little was more grand than last weekend. That was mostly due to the fact that I spent it with family and bike friends. What are ye doing this weekend, friends? Make it good.