Sound Upgrade

When I sold the truck I pulled my nice component speakers out of the doors and replaced them with some cheapies.  Ever since buying the car I wanted to install the good ones.  Well, I found the time and did the install.  Okay, truth be told, I drove around with the passenger side inner door panel removed for about two weeks while trying to complete the install.  :-)  But, it's done now and they sound good!

 New woofer mounted and wired.

I made a custom baffle to adapt the 5x7

opening to my 6.5 woofers. 

 Small blocks glued to sail panels with JB Weld.

 Tweeters attached with a metal strap.

Working Outside

Borrowed a log splitter and got to work.  The wood collection for this winter is looking good.

Daniel was liking the log splitter.

Dad bought a new zero turn mower, so Daniel had to get in a ride on it.

 Ready to mow.

Friday Night Riding

Friday afternoon I was sitting at my desk and had the sudden thought “it would be a good evening for a night ride!”.  My next thought was “oh man, I haven’t charged my light since the spring.”  I called home and asked KT to plug in my light.

About 7:30 I headed out into the dark and wind.  Daniel was in the bathtub when I left.  After his bath he was asking KT where I was.  She told him I was out on a bike ride.  He wanted to know how I could see where I was going.  KT explained I had a bike light.  Next he wanted to know how it hooked onto my bike.  Nice, I like his inquisitive and specific questions.

Turn now.

I only planned to be out for an hour or so, but a couple hours later I rolled up the driveway.  The wind seemed to lessen and I enjoyed being out in the dark, riding through the swamp a couple times.

 Nightime cockpit.

This morning I was talking to Daniel and he asked me how my bike light hooks onto my bike.  I told him there was a clamp and I would show him next time we were in the basement.  Good follow up on the light attachment question.

A Road Ride - chasing the sun

With KT's help, I came home from work and immediately headed out on a road ride.  The weather was perfect and sunset was around 7:30.  I made the most of it.

Just about ready to roll out.

I was rode north into the wind, out through the Overton Valley.  Then I chased the sun for a while before turning south.  Even after all the bike rides I've done I found some un-ridden roads within a couple hours of home.

 Nice front yard decorations.

I realized the sun was setting fast as I rode across Elyria Road.  No more wandering, it was time to take the direct route home.

 Nice light as the sun was setting.

In the last mile of my ride I swung through Triway Estates to avoid riding on SR3.  Looking off to the side I saw about 11 deer watching me ride by.  I stopped and they didn't run, so I took a picture.  Nice way to end a ride.

 Deer at dusk.

Monday vacation day = Mohican ride

I took the day off work while Katie and the kids were out of town.  The plan was to head down to Mohican to ride the loop. 

The past three days in a row I got in rides while the family was gone:  a short road ride after work on Friday, a longer road ride on Saturday with Ryan, and a partial loop at Mohican Sunday.

Unfortunately the forecast was not looking good at all for today with a chance of rain.  It didn’t help when I left the house a little later than expected in the morning and was greeted by rain drops on the windshield while driving south.  Oh well, it’s my day off and I would rather ride in a drizzle than not at all.

Damp in the woods.

I parked at the Discovery Forest parking lot and started the loop from there.  I rode about 15 miles beneath dry but threatening clouds.  The trail was damp but not too wet to ride.  It felt good to be out in the woods instead of at a desk on a Monday morning.

A slight but steady rain started about a mile before reaching the campground.  I had a slippery encounter with some rocks in a corner but no harm done.  As much as I wanted to ride the full loop I made the call to skip the first 4 miles and take the short loop connector backwards.

 Hitch-hikin' leaf.

The final five or so miles were wet but I was still having fun.  I made it a point to walk the bridge at about mile 5.  Good thing too, it was slick as I walked across it.

Back to the car I was wet but not drenched.  A wet day in the woods was better than a dry day in the office!

Firewood Helper

Daniel and I went down to the woods to bring home some firewood.  He was a hard worker and didn’t seem to mind that Grampy’s gloves were a little big on his hands.

 Little big hands.

After filling the trailer with firewood we kicked around in the woods and found a snake beneath some old firewood.  Of course we poked it with a stick, it became perturbed and snapped at the stick, and Daniel said “that snake is mean!”

 Little big attitude.

Daniel and the Makeup Bag

So here's a good story...

KT and I were sitting at the kitchen table when Daniel disappeared back the hallway.  Mommy instincts kicked in a short time later and she went to investigate.  "Daniel what are you doing!?  You know to stay out of my makeup bag!"

I head some small feet running in my direction.  Daniel came up to me at the table and showed me his painted toes.  Nice.  I explained that boys don't paint their toes, and KT also explained that makeup is for girls.  Okay, ha-ha, he painted his toes, no big deal.

 Of course he picked blue.  And why is

he wearing Santa PJs in September?

A short time later, after we all went about our business, KT went back to Ellen's room where she had been left laying on the bed.  "DANIEL!  What did you do to your sister!?"

Ellen's first makeup, courtesy big brother Daniel.

I came running back to find that Daniel had learned and applied the lesson.  "Mommy, you said makeup is for girls so I put some on Ellen."  We laughed hard.

Fair Time!

Daniel was absolutely loving the fair this year...

 We "drove" quite a few tractors this year.  Daniel

insisted upon buckling the seat belt on each one.

 Scooping up mommy.

 637 pounds?  I can't believe my eyes!

 Jeepin' on a carnie ride.

KT learned some new chicken care techniques.  I don't expect

to find her brushing our chicken's teeth anytime soon.

Old versus New

Twice in the past week, as I’ve been enjoying my new car, I’ve found scenes of the old versus new…

 An old school station wagon.

 A Mazda Protege5 in red.  The predecessor to the Mazda3

I currently drive, and the same car I owned before the truck.

Daniel Big Boots

Something is out of proportion here.

the Manitoc Experience, my first

Once a year Camp Manitoc, up in the Cuyahoga Valley, is open to the public.  It's a Boy Scout with quite some acreage of wooded, varied terrain.  On the big weekend for mountain bikers, the trails are open for riding on Saturday and races take place on Sunday.  There is also a trail run and cyclocross race on Saturday.

 Ready to roll out.

Ryan and I arrived about 10 am to ride.  It's the biggest mountain bike crowd I've been a part of and was a pretty fun scene.  We parked in a field and geared up for our ride.  It was hot, like in the 90's hot.  The trail was fun.  I remember some good rooty sections, some twisty fun, and a punchy climb or two.  Nothing too crazy and just a fun ride.

 Mid ride photo op.

We returned to the car for some fluid and food replenishment before heading up to the "expo".  There were tents setup with vendors and bike demos.  We waited our turn and both took a spin on full suspension Specialized 29ers.  Ryan was on a $10k carbon fiber ride and I was on the cheap, $5k bike.  The demo loop packed in good trail variations and we got a feel for the full squish bikes.  Yes, you could blast over roots or rocks without much consideration for choosing a line.  And yes, it did not feel as efficient as my hardtail climbing or pedaling hard.  Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of our test rides.  I'm going to blame it on not feeling well, I had been sick the previous week and was not feeling my best.

After hanging around a bit we headed out for another lap.  While zig-zagging through some trees I looked ahead to see Ryan stalled out.  Oh yes, his crankarm had once again dislocated from his bike.  A trailside repair had us going again in short order.

 Dislocated crank arm.

Somewhere past the halfway point of the lap my body protested in the heat.  I took a short cut back while Ryan finished the lap.  Oh well, I was glad to have ridden the first lap with energy given how I felt earlier in the week.  When we got back in the car to leave the temperature display said 96F.  On the way up we stopped at a gas station and I bought a gallon jug of water.  It was nearly gone by the end of the trip.

We'll have to put the Manitoc Experience on the calendar again for next year!  Good times.

Michigan Vacation #2

It's a nice routine.  Head out on the boat after breakfast with Daniel, play around the water in the morning, mountain bike ride while kids sleep, back to lake after dinner.

We drove a little south to a unique coffee and doughnut shop called Cops & Doughnuts.  Yes, it was amusing and they were all about the merchandise.  Cops & Doughnuts hats, t-shirts, and more.  We stuck with the doughnuts.

 The boy likes blue.

 That's right, bacon covered creamsticks.

One of the highlights of the week was getting Daniel out on his first mountain bike ride!  The trail was mellow enough I figured this was the perfect opportunity for our first father and son trail ride.  Daniel was pretty excited to "go mountain bikin' with daddy".  Good times, good times.

 Daniel happy to roll off road.

 Through a fern section.

After Daniel and I finished our ride I hit the loop on my own.  Daniel continued on his bike too, riding on one of the hiking trails with mommy and Ellen.

 The powerline "climb".

 Riding towards a blinking camera on self timer.

 Ellen looking very... munchkin?

It was a very nice week on the lake.  I think we will be back.

Sunset by the dock.

Michigan Vacation

We are staying in a cottage at Budd Lake in Michigan for a week.  Should be an enjoyable time.

Daniel enjoyed cruising the lake in the boat.

Mr. Serious on the dock.

 

Fake fishing, but having fun.

 

There's a twisty mountain bike trail about 5 miles down the road.

 

It's a fun trail.  What it lacks in elevation changes it makes

up for in twists and turns.

It's a good place for me to work on less braking and more flow.

 

Ellen having a good nap.

Dry Wallin'

Who do I call when it's time for drywall?  Same guy I call when it's time to go for a bike ride: Ryan.  I was glad to have his help while finishing the garage.

Slingin' some mud.

Kids

Riding?  Yes, been riding but have not been taking too many pictures and a blog post has to have pictures.  So... how about some more kids pictures...

How can that possibly be a comfortable way to watch cartoons?

 Ellen knows comfortable.

Extending Ryan's Driveway

Hey, now we don't have to ride through gravel when leaving the driveway on road bikes!

"Driving" Ryan's tractor.

Fish Fingers

Smell my fingers!