Madison's First Poker Run

This past Sunday we attended the Slow Rollers Bicycle Club's poker run in South Lake Tahoe. It is about an 9.5 mile ride total with 5 stops along the way about every 2 miles or so. You start and finish at the Horizon Casino with stops at Tahoe Hemp Company, Turn 3 Bar, Tudor Pub, and Hot Gossip coffee bar. The money raised is used to buy bikes for less fortunate children.

At the beginning you pay and get a "map" (I use that term loosely) and then at every stop you draw a card. The person with the best hand at the end won a bike. There was also a raffle for a New Belgium Brewing Company bike that we have been drooling over for years.

This is Brent with his own custom designed cruiser with his new iPod speakers. It was pretty cool to have music along the way it added a lot to the already festive atmosphere.

About half way from the start and before the first stop we had to stop for a picture in front of the lake. Madison was so funny since she had no idea what to expect and was anxious asking every time we stopped if this was THE stop.


Our friends the Mosers were there too so it was great to cruise with them and hang out. Our lives have gone in such different directions that we rarely get the chance to do that so it was a special treat. Kristy and Madison had fun too at one point they were cruising along and Madison was looking at Kristy and then looked up and she was headed directly for a pole! Notice the plume of smoke in the background?


That is the Angora fire which started while we were at our first stop of the poker run. We were standing outside (Madison can't go to bars!) the Peanut Bar and it started raining ash on us. Click here for more pictures of the blaze from a local news station.


Madison did real well on the ride and did not get tired until about the third stop, the Tudor Pub. They had a nice grassy area with tables and chairs so we relaxed for a bit. Her skort was too short and so her bare legs were rubbing on her seat. We told her she had monkey butt

.


This is us at the home stretch back to the Horizon for the BBQ. They did the raffle drawing (we did not win) and a slow drag race. Jeff had already loaded he and Kristy's bikes into the truck so he borrowed my Hello Kitty bike and won two flame tires.

It was a great day with beautiful weather (cept the fire) and good friends. We were so proud of Madison for being able to make the entire ride with little complaint and she actually enjoyed herself. We can't wait to do it again!

You can read more at the FBC blog which also has a link to more photos.

Diamond Valley Loop

One of the other things we have been doing with ourselves is playing with our new toys. In February Brent got his road bike and in April I got mine. Oddly enough we rarely get the time to ride together due to logistics of the kids and all that. However, we did get a chance recently to do the Diamond Valley Loop.

The ride can begin in several locations but we chose to start in Genoa at the
Mormon Station park. One of the most beautiful State Park bathrooms I have ever seen. They had HOT water, a stall with hooks on the wall and a bench for changing along with a full length mirror. This is great for after the ride to freshen up before heading to your next destination. Ours just happened to be Costco.

You head south from the park on Foothill Road and follow that along until you hit HWY 88 and cross over to Diamond Valley Road. You take this road around and end up at the Woodfords General Store. This is where you stop and refuel if necessary for the last leg of the journey. From there, you take Carson River Road for a stretch and that connects you back to the start of Diamond Valley Road and you then cross over back on to Foothill Road for your trip back to the start.

It is a beautiful ride with nearly zero traffic once you get on Diamond Valley Road. When you start from Genoa it is about a 45 mile ride in total. There are really no big hills to speak of, one gradual switchback but that is about it making is a pleasant spin.

On Monday after work I did this ride with my friend Kathy who is recovering from knee surgery. Instead of Genoa we parked at Kingsbury and rode to the intersection of Diamond Valley Road and took Carson River Road and then looped back to Diamond Valley road since she is not allowed to climb just yet. That ride was about 31 miles.

Davis World Cup

Those of you wondering what we have been doing with ourselves the past couple of months, soccer!

On Memorial day weekend we traveled to Davis, California the most dog and bike friendly town I have ever seen.

Madison's team the Patriots did great in the tournament especially when you consider that last year we decided at the last minute to pull out of the tournament because the girls were just not up to speed. This year we made it to the quarter finals and played 5 games over 3 days.

We stayed at a KOA in West Sacramento in a camping cabin. On the last day of the tournament before check out we let the "kids" have some fun and rented these recumbent style bikes. Shortly after taking this picture Brent almost lost control and crashed. He used his mad skills and recovered.

The cabins had porch swings so every night after all the soccer and once Madison was safely tucked into her bunk Brent would head up to the campgrounds store and buy us a 4 pack of cheap Sutterhome Chardonnay
(the mini bottles) and we would sit on the swing and unwind.

Chili dog enjoyed the front porch and did a great job of protecting us from bears and stuff. Overall it was a great trip with lots of excitement and not to far from home. Brent and I want to return to Davis just the two of us and take our bikes so we can take advantage of all the bike friendly features that Davis has to offer.

Let Them Eat Cake

It has been a while since I have had the time to make a post so I just wanted to share a happy parenting moment. Not so much to share with the world but more so to document so that I can come back here in those down moments and remember that it is all ok.

Soccer has been literally running us all ragged. We have had back-to-back-to-back tournaments and we are all exhausted and getting cranky. This weekend we had a mini one day tournament in Carson and then on Sunday we had a game in Squaw Valley (where the Olympics were held way back when). After the game yesterday we were famished so we went in search of some food. We ended up in Truckee, Ca. at a brewery called Fifty Fifty that had just opened for business. The beer was great and the food was so-so. Typical brewery fare but sort of bland. Did I mention the beer was good?

Back to my story, while we were eating Madison says to me "mommie, didn't you ever want to just enjoy being a kid?" Anyone who knows me knows what a loaded question that is. So I ask her what was on her mind thinking to myself that something big is about to come out of her mouth like she wants to quit soccer or the like. So she says to me that she is tired of eating granola cereal for breakfast and really thinks she should be able to have Reeses Peanut butter puffs or Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Breakfast Cereal, that is Madison's biggest complaint!

So I ordered chocolate cake for desert....