Sunday, May 15, 2011

Cheryl is awesome

Ok, so last weekend was mother’s day, and as you can see from Cheryl’s post she got much of the usual mother’s day treatment – cake, day off to do whatever she wanted, balloons, chocolate, cards, etc… Well, in that same weekend she got me my belated birthday present… A new Demo 8ii.

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That’s right, the bike that won the UCI Downhill World Championships, 5-time world champion Sam Hill’s bike. That one.

Now, a new bike like this isn’t something you just buy, it took her about a month of back-and-forth with folks in Vancouver, local shops, and riders, and a lot of preparation for the official unveiling.

On the day of, she blindfolded me while she drove to the local bike shop, where the bike was waiting with bows on, and a sign that read (among other things) “Ride it like you stole it” – one of Glade’s oft cited quotes.

I was completely surprised by this (as you might imagine) since it wasn’t my birthday. She had mentioned a couple years ago that she wanted to buy me a new DH ride because the one I had was out of commission.

Kayla came out to the shop with us as well, so here are a few pics of her:

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Anyhow, needless to say, when I went out on a ride on the local trails later that afternoon it was very obvious that none of my riding compadres had gotten such a great bike as a surprise gift. Cheryl is their new hero :)

Anyhow, I just wanted to point out that Cheryl is awesome.

For the heck of it I’ll throw in another photo of Kayla from that day:

 

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Anyhow, Cheryl and Kayla are in Ontario for the weekend, so I’m at home alone. I had a chance to do a great bike ride up at Duthie hill with Evan yesterday, but today the weather isn’t co-operating much.

Have fun!

Monday, May 02, 2011

PEPS, Alki, and the Seattle Aquarium

Cheryl has been keeping everyone up to date on Kayla’s adventures in April. This included Kayla’s first Easter Egg hunt, some biking, and a Whistler trip.

This weekend we stayed in town, but managed to take in a few sights.

On Saturday morning we went to our monthly PEPS meeting. Kayla had a chance to hang out with her friends who are now all very mobile. Kayla had fun playing with other people’s toys, and we had just as much fun watching her. It was a great day, so we also had a chance to get Kayla back on the bike, and down to Seward Park.

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Sunday was a beautiful day. We managed to go down to Alki Beach. Kayla had a great time playing in the sand, and soaking in the sun.

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We also invited Henry and Trang over for dinner. BBQ burgers! Nice.

On Monday Cheryl took Kayla to the Seattle Aquarium. This time she could run around all over the place. Last time she was there she wasn’t quite as mobile as she is today :)

I’m told that Kayla had a lot of fun, but that people in SCUBA suits waving at her kinda scared her a bit :)

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And, now for some videos!

See these higher res here, here, here, and here.

Anyhow, until next time!