Thursday, February 21, 2008
Eclipse
Did you see that eclipse last night? Ian and I went out to check it out about 11:00 last night. It was a really cool purplish-red color with a crescent of white along the bottom edge. Brilliant. I was going to take a picture, but I knew I couldn't do it justice with a little tiny picture. If only we could have seen the exploding satellite being shot by that missile!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Representin'
In the lingo of the hood, this past weekend, the Matthews was representin'. Allow me to explain:
Our Bible study group decided to have a weekend get together at the beach. It would be a guy's only weekend, a time for bonding, worship, fellowship and.....COMPETITION! Now you may realize that I was not at all comfortable with that last part. I'm the Un-sportsman if there ever was one! No skills, no interest. It was suggested that we bring along a few of the older boys, and this included Ian. As it turned out we had 16 people there, 12 men and 4 teenagers. Greg has a huge house at Holden Beach and we rolled in there Friday evening, just in time for a fabulous barbecue chicken dinner. Good praise and worship session after the meal: we really have a great bunch of guys.
Saturday AM we drew lots for teams: Ian and I ended up on what I felt would surely be the "losers" team. The events would be 2 men on each team run together, relay style. The second group of guys couldn't begin until BOTH of the previous guys crossed the finish line. The run was an out and back run on the beach which totalled 1-1.5 miles, per the estimate of the runners in our midst. Ian and I were the 3rd pair in our group to run. By the time our team got back to the finish line, the competition's 3rd pair was already on their way out. We were already 100 yards behind before we started. Ian was confident we could catch them however, so off we went. Before I realized what was going on, we were in a full sprint down the beach. About half way to the turn around point, we were closing in on the other team. We caught them at the 3/4 mark. Ian was saying "lets pass them" while I was more like "let's hang just behind them for a while and prevent a heart attack". That strategy paid off, because at the turn around point, the other pair slowed down even more, while we kept up a brisk jog. About 3/4 way to the finish line, I was ready to puke, but the cheers of the team provided an extra burst of strength (as intended no doubt) and we finished our leg more than a minute ahead of the other team. With that lead, our last pair of guys headed out and handily won the relay for our team. So the Matthews' leg went from 100 yards behind to more than a minute ahead: we had won this race for our team!
Next up was a 2 man kayak race. Most of the guys had little or no experience in a kayak. I sugested that Ian and I race in the last leg, as I suspected we could make up a deficit if it were needed. It really wasn't needed: we started our last leg of the race with a good lead over the other team. We were half way back from the turn around point when we passed the competition on their way out to the turn around. Several people asked us "how did you get that thing to go so straight?" Another victory for our team.
The next event was a 2.5 mile out and back bike race (on montain bikes). Once again, Ian and I easily created a huge lead over the opposing team that handed the competitors their third consecutive loss!
Next came a basketball game and a volleyball game capped off with a beach flag football game. I wanted to sit on the deck and rest after the bike race, but I wasn't allowed. Our team lost the first two ball games but won the football game and the overall sports competition. Ian was so psyched that he secretly called his mother to tell her about our sports domination. I could not have asked for a better day for us. Did I mention that Ian was not thrilled to go on this weekend in the first place? Those guys really showed him some love and I think he summed up the weekend as "awesome".
Although I wouldn't change the weekend for all the world, I don't think I have ever been this sore in my life. My quads, my shoulders, my lower back, the soles of my feet (from all that sand time). I'm too old for this!!! We have already decided we need to do this again, but I'm going to try and figure out what we can do BESIDES sports. Any ideas???
Our Bible study group decided to have a weekend get together at the beach. It would be a guy's only weekend, a time for bonding, worship, fellowship and.....COMPETITION! Now you may realize that I was not at all comfortable with that last part. I'm the Un-sportsman if there ever was one! No skills, no interest. It was suggested that we bring along a few of the older boys, and this included Ian. As it turned out we had 16 people there, 12 men and 4 teenagers. Greg has a huge house at Holden Beach and we rolled in there Friday evening, just in time for a fabulous barbecue chicken dinner. Good praise and worship session after the meal: we really have a great bunch of guys.
Saturday AM we drew lots for teams: Ian and I ended up on what I felt would surely be the "losers" team. The events would be 2 men on each team run together, relay style. The second group of guys couldn't begin until BOTH of the previous guys crossed the finish line. The run was an out and back run on the beach which totalled 1-1.5 miles, per the estimate of the runners in our midst. Ian and I were the 3rd pair in our group to run. By the time our team got back to the finish line, the competition's 3rd pair was already on their way out. We were already 100 yards behind before we started. Ian was confident we could catch them however, so off we went. Before I realized what was going on, we were in a full sprint down the beach. About half way to the turn around point, we were closing in on the other team. We caught them at the 3/4 mark. Ian was saying "lets pass them" while I was more like "let's hang just behind them for a while and prevent a heart attack". That strategy paid off, because at the turn around point, the other pair slowed down even more, while we kept up a brisk jog. About 3/4 way to the finish line, I was ready to puke, but the cheers of the team provided an extra burst of strength (as intended no doubt) and we finished our leg more than a minute ahead of the other team. With that lead, our last pair of guys headed out and handily won the relay for our team. So the Matthews' leg went from 100 yards behind to more than a minute ahead: we had won this race for our team!
Next up was a 2 man kayak race. Most of the guys had little or no experience in a kayak. I sugested that Ian and I race in the last leg, as I suspected we could make up a deficit if it were needed. It really wasn't needed: we started our last leg of the race with a good lead over the other team. We were half way back from the turn around point when we passed the competition on their way out to the turn around. Several people asked us "how did you get that thing to go so straight?" Another victory for our team.
The next event was a 2.5 mile out and back bike race (on montain bikes). Once again, Ian and I easily created a huge lead over the opposing team that handed the competitors their third consecutive loss!
Next came a basketball game and a volleyball game capped off with a beach flag football game. I wanted to sit on the deck and rest after the bike race, but I wasn't allowed. Our team lost the first two ball games but won the football game and the overall sports competition. Ian was so psyched that he secretly called his mother to tell her about our sports domination. I could not have asked for a better day for us. Did I mention that Ian was not thrilled to go on this weekend in the first place? Those guys really showed him some love and I think he summed up the weekend as "awesome".
Although I wouldn't change the weekend for all the world, I don't think I have ever been this sore in my life. My quads, my shoulders, my lower back, the soles of my feet (from all that sand time). I'm too old for this!!! We have already decided we need to do this again, but I'm going to try and figure out what we can do BESIDES sports. Any ideas???
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Sucked again today..
Another crappy ride today. I rode with a group of folks that I don't normally ride with. I joined the ride because it was listed as 15-17 mph. I figured that would easily fit my riding style at this point in the year (middle of winter, holiday pounds still hanging on). I had heard some talk that this group liked to occasionally pick up the pace on some rides, dropping a few people in the process: even though its advertised as a "15-17 mph", no drop ride.
I was able to hang for the first 20 miles and that was it. I knew where I was at that point, so I rode the last 10 miles solo, I took a shorter flatter route back, to finish the 30 miles with a pace of 17.3 mph. I would really like to kwow what the average of the group was at mile 20!
There is another local ride with a faster listed pace at the very same time as this ride. I just can't figure out why these guys don't just go to the faster ride to begin with??? Maybe it makes them feel better to see a dropped rider like myself come straggling in? The beauty of it all is that only 2 guys in the group new I took a different route back, and I ended up hitting the parking lot mid pack with the original riders anyhow. Boneheads!
I was able to hang for the first 20 miles and that was it. I knew where I was at that point, so I rode the last 10 miles solo, I took a shorter flatter route back, to finish the 30 miles with a pace of 17.3 mph. I would really like to kwow what the average of the group was at mile 20!
There is another local ride with a faster listed pace at the very same time as this ride. I just can't figure out why these guys don't just go to the faster ride to begin with??? Maybe it makes them feel better to see a dropped rider like myself come straggling in? The beauty of it all is that only 2 guys in the group new I took a different route back, and I ended up hitting the parking lot mid pack with the original riders anyhow. Boneheads!
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