The Past 4 Months

I am sorry that I do not update my blog as often as some of my competitors, but I will try my best during the summer to keep you all updated. Since my last post, a lot has gone on and I will summarize everything below with a few pictures.

(Yes I know, another bike picture...)

In mid January during my winter break, a few of us made a trip to Rays Indoor Mountain Bike Park in Cleveland, OH for some indoor riding. Since I am a fair weather rider, this place is great for me. With many different obstacles, it makes for a great time. I will post links from our YouTube videos at the bottom of this post.

The day after returning from Cleveland, mom poked her head in my room to say that Reba is sick and I need to get up. Reba has been on a steady decline for the past two years and many of us were surprised she made it this long. Probably one of the hardest days in my life, I had to say my good-byes to a very close friend and proceed to work. Reba will always be remembered as the greatest dog in the world to our family. She will be missed. RIP 1/14/08

At the end of January, school started back up. As usual, most of my attention shifts to focus on completing my classes. This semester has been different then others in the past. I have buckled down more to complete my work and pass all of my classes, while still maintaining a normal life. School is soon ending though, which is a good thing because I am ready for a change in schedule.

In early March marked the start of my Spring Break and another Ray's Trip. This trip was different as it was a nice sunny warm day in Columbia and made for good traveling. On our way up the Penn Turnpike (best road in the world) we stopped by Bedford, PA to get a personal tour of the Cannondale Bicycle Factory by our old shop manager Eric. In Bedford, they hand weld almost every Cannondale in the world and the factory is a large part of the town. This was a highlight of the trip for sure. We arrived to a snowy Ray's and enjoyed our 12 hours of riding on Saturday. For lunch we got the famous White Castle burgers (they can't be found in MD except in frozen form) and they did not sit too well with me, at least. Overall a great trip and well worth the 6 hour drive.

The following week marked another sad day in our family history with the passing of our loved Grandmom Jean. She was a big part of my life and she loved all of her grandchildren dearly. Her funeral played out just how she would have wanted it and was a joyful celebration under the circumstances. I will miss our trips to Ocean City, playing Rumee, eating ice cream before bed, helping hang clothes on the line, weekend trips to the cousins house in PA, stopping at the orchard, and our large Christmas get together which she made sure was special. It has been exactly a month since her passing. You will always be in our hearts and someday we will be reunited. RIP 3/22/08

On a lighter note, finally Paul has been released from Iraq and is now HOME! I know Alex can now rest knowing that he is home and so can we. These past ten months have been hard for Alex but FINALLY the weight is lifted from our shoulders and we see the sunlight!

Overall, the past 4 months has had its ups and downs but I will try harder to help keep this blog updated. Since the warm weather has arrived though, I can not guarantee anything and many of my posts may be bike related.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8mWfLFnmstU (January 2008 Trip)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=h-5xRWBHxB4 (March 2008 Trip)