No Goofy Faces!

When my husband was 12 years old, he rode his brand new road bike he received for Christmas on the ice. The first few times he found it entertaining to spin the wheels without going anywhere. And it was cool, until he fell on his face, breaking his jaw and two front teeth.

As the boy and I left to go riding this morning, my husband issued the following warning: "I don't care if the boy crashes, but if he crashes because you (subtext worst mother ever) made him ride on the ice I'm going to kill you." OK...rocky descent, sketchy bridge, gnarly single track crashes are okay, but ice crashes land me in divorce court. Got it!

Jimmy and I headed up to Mercer County Park this morning to meet Ray Z. and his son Kieran for some fun in the single track. Yes, this is the same Mercer Park that is home to the USGP of Cyclocross. Fortunately, the conditions were infinitely improved over the cross race which sounded like a soggy death march. Ray said he thought that race was a blast which makes him either insane or fatally optimistic; either way, he's okay in my book.

Sometimes what seems like a bad idea is absolutely brilliant. While driving up to Mercer Park I feared we would be greeted by icy trails and if we rode, bad spills followed by a trip to the hospital and then divorce court. After a few initial setbacks, we found snow-covered trails that weaved between trees. The trails were kind to the 10 year-olds, but plenty challenging for yours truly who found herself occasionally stuck between trees. (Drop dead Barry Gee, I know you just made a smart ass booty comment). This is a terrific place to hone turning skills while introducing neophytes to the sport. There are plenty of challenging log crossings with trails that go around these obstacles as well. The fact that there were no lung-busting climbs warmed my soul. Frankie--road trip! Something for everyone.

The deer population must have had a kegger, because their tracks were everywhere. Indeed, we saw a large group of them running through the woods on two separate occasions.

Hey, great picture of Ray riding the see saw. Only you have to imagine it because I left my camera in the car. As Erik Dekker remarked in my favorite Velonews quote: "Stupid, stupid, stupid. I am the stupidest ride here today."

I did manage to get these photos in the parking lot. Real action shots. Way sexy. I warned the boys not to make goofy faces and wound up with these:

Everyone decided to be goofy in a different shot. Together, I could get one reasonable photo.

At least all of our teeth are in tact.