Busy Season

If you live anywhere near your nuclear family, you know how busy this time of year gets. For us, it starts with Emma and Jeremy birthday celebrations in late October. Actually, it REALLY starts with my birthday in September... Wait, what the hell am I talking about? Life is f-ing busy.

City Bikes starts planning for the next model year in August. Again, another qualification, we TECHNICALLY start planning in July but August is the big push. The new model years are announced and ready-to-ride in the middle of the season. Usually, the lower-end stuff pops out as early as May. It's crazy. This is usually the beginning of my busy time.

Racing and riding usually run my life from Jan (depending on the weather, I'm not a masochist) and really ramp up in April. 'In Shape' for me means that I can ride hard and not feel like I'm going to die. There are some people I know that I should ride with when I'm starting to feel fast. They usually allow me to realize that I'm still just slow but I feel better about it.

Spring and Fall are the trail work seasons for us as well. MORE does all of their trail work in these seasons. As the Patapsco Liaison, I'm in charge of setting the dates and figuring out the projects. Luckily, I have ECrawford, Joe and Jeff to help out. I haven't made all four trail work days in a year since Emma was born. Now that Emma is helping out, maybe that will change.

Of course, this is just my small, inconsequential world...

This week, John Bolton resigned (WOOHOO), Utah considers redistricting and adding a fourth seat so that DC can have a voting member of Congress (about damn time), Gates has his confirmation hearing in the Senate so we can get Rumsfeld the hell out of the Pentagon... Maryland is getting ready to have Martin O'Malley, Democrat, in the Governors Mansion, another mayor of Baltimore as Governor and the previous mayor of Baltimore turned Governor turned Comptroller is out after many controversial mistakes including asking a staffer to walk away again... A younger female staffer. Smart. AND we have the Supreme Court hearing a case on school choice.

Busy times here in Washington. Oh, how could I forget... Congressman Oberstar is going to be the Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee in the House. Let me be one of the first to bring up reauthorization of the transportation bill, TEA-LU. If the Dems keep control of the House during the 2008 election, bicycling will be in even BETTER shape.

Keep your ears open. The Portland Eurobike show has been canceled and they are now working with Sea Otter to do something down there. I wish the industry would go to Portland...

Some Fall pics for ya.