Title Change:
A few weeks ago I change the title of the blog again. I have never been able to find a name that really suited what I am getting at. What am I getting at? Well since this is more of a diary than anything else and the things I like to write about are not always going to be bike related, I figured a different title was required. Hense the “Pelton Chronicles”. Those of you that do not have little pieces of your DNA running around may not understand, and those that do will definitely understand. There comes a time when your accomplishments/challenges pail in comparison to the activities that your children are involved in.
I am very fortunate. I have a daughter who plays soccer with an intensity that I truly understand and a son who begs for the hardest mountain bike ride ever. Both of these sports are part of who make me who I am and I get to share that with them.
Currently our soccer team, U8 Girls “Honeybees, is tearing up the competition. We were undefeated last season, and with one game left we are undefeated this season. I think it is a 17 game winning streak. It is hard to explain how proud I am of these girls. Twice this season we have been down by more than 2 goals and have rallied back to take the win. That my friend is heart and that is not something you can coach. Sure they are only 7 years old, and sure most of them probably will choose other sports over soccer. But hopefully this sport and these seasons are teaching them how never giving up is how you become a winner.
The boy: As mentioned before he has a new bike of which he loves and I have made a vow to take him on a “real mountain bike ride” at least once a week. About three weeks ago he completed the Sesqui Mountain bike loop with very little walking, and absolutely no complaining. This loop is ~ 5 miles. Afterwards he did not even seem tired. So this week I figured I would take him to Harbison. This would be our 4th trip to Harbison and by far our longest. His request was “the hardest, longest ride ever” so I figured we would ride about an hour. We started out going counter clockwise, passed crooked pine, left on midlands, past spiderwoman, down the switchbacks, around the outer loop, up fire road to miss the rerouted uphill( the one that is great the other direction) back on the trail and out to the cars. The loop took us 1.5 hours with two big stops and came out to 8.2 miles. He made some great climbs and never complained. At the car he made the statement that he was lucky because not all dads are bicycle dads. I agreed. Got in the car and he fell asleep for the ride home. As soon as we got back and the car stopped, he popped up and yelled “THAT WAS THE GREATEST RIDE EVER!”. I would have to agree with that too…