first and last rides of the year


the last ride of the year was a simple ride home
si
mple and straight
had worked New Year's Eve Day
so it was the standard short and straight commute home

did not pass GO

did not collect TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS


this was my last time on the bike in 2007

while this was my last time on dirt in 2007


rushed home from work to gather with my family for some New Year's Eve gatherings

on this short and straight ride home I could not resist snapping a few shots of some Tall Bikes in front of the DC Biker Bar Asylum

then after the photos rather than returning my camera to my backpack I rolled the final city blocks home with the camera dangling around my neck
which allowed me to catch the above shots of Micaela on her freshly fixed fixie

when I arrived home there was a big question of
"what to wear?"
the whole family ran about scattered brained looking for the right outfit of the eveing
dean and grant wanted to wear pajamas

at the last minute dean and I decided that we did not know the hosts well enough to wear pajamas to their holiday cocktail party
while for grant the fleece pjs with the little footies made perfect sense
I thought that the pjs plus the robe worked
but grant was not looking for my fashion advice


as Lisa and I plotted the course of the evening we thought about several things....
the parties were were invited to, the notion of the stroke of midnight, and the arrival of 3am Eastern Standard Time
in this plotting and planning we estimated both Grant and Lisa's likely hood of making it to midnight
while also questioning my ability to last until 3am
3am Eastern Standard Time being the registration time of the Single Speed World Championships for 2008

there was the tentative plan of Dean and I dropping Lisa and Grant off after party one...
then Dean and I hitting party two for the Dick Clark Time Square Experience
the evening went along splendidly
our first party of the evening was a gathering of families from Dean's elementary school
there was pleasant conversation for the adults while there was a trampoline and various video games for the kids
food and drinks for all

as expected there was a mass meltdown which lead to a mass evacuation from party one

having us evacuate roughly an hour before midnight

ah... just as we had anticipated
dean and I drove lisa and grant home then went out for party two
dean was patient and calm
while his fatigue was apparent
even with his visible exhaustion he was determined
to stay up to midnight
dean and I arrived at party two at roughly 11:30
we walked into a house filled with energy fueled by Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero is a game that both Dean and I are familiar with
but neither of us are that experienced with
in no time at all Dean and I were in on the mix!

neither Dean or I scored very high with Roc
k Star Potential
we stayed for a toast at midnight then a little longer

then we joined in on yet another mass evacuation of families with very tired small children

dean's fatigue was showing

it was also clear that dean was a tad let down that party number two consisted of all girl children playing princess games

not quite the testosterone fest of the last party where cast of young boys fought for their turns on the trampoline and the video games

once home dean got dressed for bed without argument

then dean went to bed without a story


it was not quite One AM so I figured I had time for one more party before I logged on to register for the 2008 Single Speed World Championships in Napa, California

I altered my evening wear enough so that I could comfortably
ride a bicycle
then I rolled a few sketchy city miles to the location where I had heard there would be a New Year's Party
with a more adult tone
I looked forward to catching up with some friends who I do not see enough
may of which I may not have see since I crashed a New Year's Eve Party at this same location last year

so... on the bike I moved about the city streets like one of the Warriors trying to make it home safely from Coney Island
Riffs... Bat Boys... Orpans... they were all out tonight
as I rolled up to the house hosting the said party I tried to morph from bicycle guy to civilian guy
I marched up a long set of stairs with my bicycle over my shoulder
with the bike locked on the porch I placed my helmet and my lights in my bag and a bottle of champagne in my hand I noticed that there were a few bodies moving about but not enough bodies to constitute a New Year's Eve party
maybe just the bodies of the residents and the would be hosts of a party that did not look like it was happening
perhaps I had been misinformed
so I started to reverse the process
I would again be bicycle guy

with my helmet back on my head and gloves back on my hands I threw my bike over my shoulder and left the champagne on the porch

in a stealth-like fashion I tried to depart as I had arrived, unnoticed

as much as I wanted to connect with old friends my true objective was to kill time before the 12AM Pacific Time registration for the 2008 SSWC

back on the bike I took an alternate route home
a tad longer... but not much longer
as I feared that all the cars on the street possessed great potential for danger
each and every car is most certainly being driven by someone who should not be driving
getting tangled in some drunk's grill is not how I wanted to start my new year

with lights flashing I raced around the near vacant city streets
noises came from houses filled with parties still operating at full capacity
cars with fogged windows packed with people passed me
the bodies on the sidewalk not only offered eye candy but a potential threat
once home I felt released
it was that much closer to 3am

my time leading up to 3am was spent eating, watching television, and catching up with the blogs

I ate so much that one may think that I was prepping for the 2008 Clydesdale World Championships

then at 3:04 Eastern Standard Time I filled in that little form and hit SEND

it was sent

nothing for certain
but more likely than not I am in
it was bothersome that there was no AUTO-REPLY

it is a tad bothersome that the process is set to take 7-10 days
but I am not going to sweat
it
it is unlikely that 349 people registered in those two hundred and forty seconds before me

this is the most prep I have ever made for anything in my life
I am not certain that I applied for college this many months before my first semester

SINGLE SPEED WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008
RETROTEC BLOG