Okay so once again I find myself apologizing to all of you out there in cyberland. I really have been trying to post more often and keep you all updated on the twists and turns that are the Connor's Army Ride Across America. But as the Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote in his poem "To A Mouse On Turning Up Her Nest With a Plow" (composed in 1785);
"But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain
For promis'd joy."
And so it has been with this past Spring Break here in the Connor household. I had truly hoped to spend this week racking up all kinds of training miles but one thing led to another and before you know it all I had was 80 measly miles to show for ten days off.
And now I find myself 68 days away from departing from San Diego to start the journey and I think to myself, "Gee, you had better start putting in some miles - and a lot of hills." For you see, the first day of our journey out of San Diego looks like this:
As you can see from the elevation chart, I'm climbing from 0ft to over 1200 feet in the first 50 miles of traveling. I certainly am going to feel like this if I don't get some climbing miles under my belt;
Yes, like I'm going nowhere fast - or in reality, probably more like this "Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie";
pedaling, pedaling, pedaling and getting nowhere fast! Of course the poet Robert Burns never tells us what happened to the mouse after it was turned up - it could be a dead mouse, not to be confused with the group Deadmau5. WHAT??? You're not familiar with the work of Deadmau5. Well for your education and edification I give you "Alone With You:
Its great music to listen to as I climb the hills of Long Island on my bicycle!
And of course, now the temperature is starting to kick up and I need to take advantage. So tomorrow will see me racking up the miles again. So far this year I've managed to log in just over 1000 miles since January and my goal is to try to get in 2,000 before I leave. That basically means I have to log an average of 120 miles a week from now until the day we leave. I figure if I can manage to put in that much mileage I'll be in relatively good shape - but then again, the best laid plans, yes?
In other good news, our major sponsor Smiles for Scott has also generously offered to sponsor our jerseys for the ride. We're now in the process of getting new jerseys printed up with all of our sponsors (and of course Smiles for Scott will hold a prominent place) and we're also getting some for the kids since they'll be riding with us part of the way as well. Can't you just see it? The kids and I riding our bikes along the road in Kansas (where it's flat) all wearing our new jerseys and looking so professional! We'll be a bit shy of a peloton but we'll manage somehow!
We've also been able to finally get in contact with a cyclist from Colorado who has advised us on the route from Four Corners, AZ to Pueblo, CO. It will be hilly and hard but doable - just as long as we plan for it (ah, there's that word again).
In other news, we are going to start blogging for the Syosset Patch soon. We'll be doing a weekly update for them and there is a possibility that Northport Patch will hopefully pick it up too! That way we can share with more of the good folk of Long Island what is happening on the road. Aaaaaaannnnddd, once we actually get Skype loaded onto our Notebook, I'm hoping we can work something out with Sunrise so we can Skype to them every Friday from the road!
We're still seeking sponsors to help us underwrite the cost of gas for the trip since there is most likely no way I can do this unsupported in the time I have available so if any of you reading this would or can help us in that regard, please let us know - we could really use the help. Of course, donations to help us reach our fundraising goal would be nice too! Or, if you are a new reader to this blog show your support to the kids of Sunrise Day Camp by going to our facebook page and adding us to your likes. We're hoping to get 3700 likes (one for every mile of the journey) to show the kids they are not alone in their fight.
In further positive developments, we have recently been in contact with some good folks in San Diego who we are hoping will help us get a media event together for the kick off in San Diego and perhaps a few California folk will join us as we begin our trek! Now if we could only get the New York/Long Island media to cover us!
So, what's the plan? How do I anticipate making God laugh next? I'm going to just plug in my Deadmau5, get on my bike and ride a lot!!!! I'm hoping all you good folk out there will help me do the rest. And now, because we all need a little vintage Pink Floyd in our lives, I present to you "Bike". And if you listen closely to the lyrics, in keeping with the theme there is a homeless mouse named Gerald;
And there you have it my friends, Pink Floyd's "Bike"!
Stay well my dear friends, I WILL see you on the road , hopefully a LOT!
So last week I wrote about a particularly good ride I had with my friends Mike Foresto and Glen Corso. Although I got spanked a bit (or at least mussed up) it was good to get out and push the hills with others as opposed to the solo flogging I usually give myself. In this regard I sometimes feel like the little monk from this historic clip from Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail (I've included subtitles for the Latin impaired);
But it was Palmarés Sunday and as such I owed it to myself to performance a penance of some sort as I tried to haul my Drahtesel around trying to keep up with their speedsters. As I also relayed, it was also a Holy Sunday of sorts for cycling fans as it was the Sunday of the Ronde van Vlaanderenone of the great spring cycling classics. As anticipated by many "in the know" it was one by a certain "Tom Terrific";
Oops, sorry, not THAT one (although I'm not sure if what he's riding would be considered a Dachsundtesel or not) even though he is holding up one hand in the obligatory winner salute. No it was won in an exciting sprint by this particular "Tom Terrific" of Belgian descent;
And with the similar (yet mirrored) one hand salute you can see why I got my Tom's confused.
This week brought us another Sunday that is holy to many faiths, most notably the followers of Christianity and Cyclinganity - Easter Sunday and what the French refer to as l'enfer du Nord - "The Hell of the North". Now as far back as the Dachsund's back (that's "Old School" to you and me)
this race has often been held on Easter Sunday, a fact which at one point angered the Catholic Church and set them at odds with the French populace - particularly those followers of Cyclinganity. Since this conflictfirst occured in 1897 we don't have any actual footage of the protestations but I imagine it probably went something like this (I've combined the reenactement of the first two conflicts but many more have occured on our way up the Dachsund's front haunches and up to his chin);
As you can see, despite the insistence that the followers of Cyclinganity conform and attend mass, the Cycling-crazed French would rather fling the contents of their mussette bags (thereby depriving themselves of mid-ride sustenance) and risk excommunication rather than give up their love of this torturous race.
This holy Sunday was almost a repeat of the last blessed Sunday in that one individual rode his Drahtesel to the adulation of the adoring faithful - yes, that blessed one - Tom Boonen;
he performed the miracle of entering the velodrome at well over a minute ahead of his nearest competitors. And here he is kissing the holy relic of his miraculous endeavor;
As you can see, he is reverent and humble in partaking of the dirt and the soil of France - even if he is a Belgian.
And for those among us who are faithful to the calling of gears changing at 30+ mph, to whom the whirr of the peleton is like an angelic chorus, yet were not able to witness it ourselves because the evil of cable has deprived us of our sports channel, here are highlights from this most special of Sundays;
Of course, considering the miraculousness of his not only winning today's race (arguably one of the toughest races ever) he also won the Tour of Flanders last week. I'm sure the UCI will start an investigation into whether or not he used performance enhancing substances or some other device that gave him an edge (similar to the allegations made about Fabian Cancellara when he one the race in 2010). Well, I think I've found the answer - a plastic Jesus;
(I Don't Care if it Rains or Freezes)
But to be honest, it was indeed a most blessed and holy Sunday in other aspects as well and for those of us who are practicers of two faiths and who feel our souls pulled between two callings, it was a day to attend church and be reminded of the meaning of Easter. We had the opportunity to travel to Swedesboro, NJ and be with my sister and her husband Per and my niece Anika. Although we attended the 9:00 mass it was standing room only and as we arrived at 8:50 we were standing. Yet it was a joyous occasion in which it was touching to see so many people there together to celebrate a common miraculous event - the resurrection. We reaffirmed what we believe and shared in communion of something we hold as holy and we did so without guise and in humility. If only ever day could be that simple and we could always come together in such simplicity and harmony. It would certainly cut down on a lot of the political drivel that seems to get spouted/slung/flung/sicked-up-upon the general population of our country. Ahh, but that's a posting for another day.
We spent the rest of the day celebrating in our family traditional way which is is to say searching for eggs (we had to find 49 of them this year), eating the eggs, lounging around, playing with the kids in Angela and Per's massive back yard, tiring out their three-year-old retriever Viking, lounging, reading, taking walks and having a fantastically prepared Easter dinner. It is truly a joy spending this day with my sister and brother-in-law (and niece) every year. We missed it last year but were able to come back to what's important. It gave us this kind of joy to be able to play and laugh forget our cares for a while;
I didn't get to ride this Sunday. Although every year I keep making plans in the back of my head to bring my bicycle and explore the roads of South Jersey, once again I failed to do so and instead got my excercise from chasing around the children and trying to retrieve chewed up balls from Viking.
But I'm acutely aware of the fact that we are only 76 DAYS away from our grand departure in San Diego. At last count we had raised a bit more than $6,000 in the combined efforts of Connor's Army, Sarah's Giving Tree, and the various student groups at Syosset High School that have been working to help us raise the $50,000 to send eight campers to Sunrise Day Camp. I don't know if we're going to be able to make it. I do know that I will keep training and when I get back to Northport I will get back to training, hitting the hills and mortifying my flesh to get myself in shape and ready for the first day of cycling from San Diego to Boulevard, CA.
BUT WE STILL NEED SO MUCH HELP! I know I haven't been harping on this (I leave that to Sarah) but if you are reading this, please consider donating to our Ride Across America. Even $5 is a big help to us - yes, the price of a Venti speciality coffee at Starbucks is a big help to us. The caffeine is nice but think of the buzz you'll get from knowing that you've contributed to helping a child fighting cancer have a life-changing summer!
So this Sunday of so many different miracles we celebrate life, family, giving and cycling! Please help us combing both by giving to our cause and we promise to give you a shout out from the road!
And because we all need a little help on the road your musical dessert - the ORIGINAL "Plastic Jesus" as recorded by the King Earl Boogie Band;
Stay well my friends and I will see you on the road!
There is a German word Drahtesel which is a colloquialism for a bicycle. It literally means "wire donkey" and today is a day we celebrate the importance of the donkey. For you see, without the lowly donkey a very important event would have been very different.
Today is Palm Sunday and in the gospels (found in Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; and John 12:12-19) we are told that Jesus made his triumphal entrance into Jerusalem while riding on a borrowed donkey as the residents covered his path with palm fronds. Although we ourselves didn't live back then (that would put us somewhere around the lower back of the dachsund of time);
(Right in front of the rear "hips" would be the famous procession)
Thanks to the imagination of Andrew Lloyd Weber we can see what it might have been given a driving rock musical accompaniment;
How can you possibly feel threatened by guys with open shirts and REALLY tall fur hats?
Despite the heavy metal celebration of the day, devout Christians across the world attend church services and Catholics in particular celebrate by receiving palm fronds during mass. As I live across the street from St. Philip Neri in Northport, I tend to find a lot of aforementioned fronds in my front lawn, deposited there by our younger celebrants. However many of the older devout, not content to leave them in their natural state, turn them into something more by engaging in Palm Sunday folk art from the simple;
to a bit more complex;
A little more complex version of the fish;
To highly intricate and beautiful works of art created out of a simple palm frond;
And if you have followed my blog for any time at all you know that I have problems drawing simple stick figures, much less creating something as beautiful and intricate as that!
Of course, if you are a cycling fan (as I unabashedly am) you will also realize that today (for some) is a day to make collecting palmarés an art form. What's that you say? What are palmarés? Well, its not an Italian dessert. Nor is it a Tex-Mex side dish or an Andulacian delicacy. Its the term given by cyclists to honors won while racing and today brought us the Tour of Flanders known to the Dutch as the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Its held in the Flanders region of Belgium and this year was won by the local favorite Tom Boonen (pronounced "Bone-in") in an exciting fashion and in the process becoming one of only four people ever to win it three times. Despite his reputation as a bad boy of cycling, when you are Belgian and you win one of the great classic races on home turf, the people are willing to forgive you almost anything, especially when you win like this (sorry, I can't tell you what the commentators are saying, I think its all in Flemish);
Now I myself also rode today but I have to admit I did not earn any palmarés (or Tex-Mex for that matter) but I did manage to spend a large part of my Sunday morning hauling my ass (I mean that of course in the Drahtesel sense) over various roads of Long Island. Now you have to realize I was riding with a competetive speed skater who just placed 9th at the World Championships in his age class and a former track racer so the fact I was able to stay within 100 meters of these guys throughout the ride was a palmaré all to itself for me - even if I did have my donkey handed to me on a silver platter;
Nevertheless, I made it back and with the miles I put in getting to Mike's house and back, I had put in 30.2 miles at an average of 18.2 mph (I really gunned it heading home) and still had some energy to spend with the kids.
First I took a little trip to Dunkin' Donuts here in Northport (a favorite haunt of ours) with James to rehydrate and get some carbs in my system. It was fun hanging out with my little man since he and I don't get to hang out as much or as often as I do with the other two. William was on a play date and Sarah was hanging out with her friend Cedar so James was by his lonesome. I just took it as a great opportunity for the two of us to hang and to laugh and enjoy each other's company - gee, all this male bonding in one day!
After I picked up William and brought him home (a chore in itself, he was ensconced at his friend Jake's house with a computer game) we worked on his catching skills. Apparently on his Little League team he is going to be doing a lot of catching this season so we went out yesterday and bought him some shin protectors. Today I took him out back and threw some pitches to him so he could get used to the feeling of the shin guards. I purposefully threw some off target to him to get him used to the idea of reaching and watching the ball all the way into the glove. The only problem being we got him the smallest youth shin guards they had in the store and they still come all the way up his thighs. He has now assumed a new secret hero identity - Lobster Man! and this is what he looks like;
(Beware of large pots of melted butter!!!!)
Okay no, but very, very close. Here is the actual photo of my little baseballing cherubim;
(They Call me "Catch"!)
Of course I would be remiss if I didn't relay some of what I did yesterday. The first thing was I entered the Bicycling Magazine's "Win Any Bike" contest. I won't bore you with the rules (you can click the link on the left) but here's the photo I sent;
(ahh, my noble Drahtesel!)
and here is the text I sent them as my entry;
“This is it, end of the line.”This thought spun through my head as I lay there waiting to be tossed into the back of a trash truck.I’d outlived my usefulness and was now destined to be left rusting in a dump.And then this guy stopped his car.Could it be?Would he?He did!He took me home, he stripped me down ( a little embarrassing!), and painstakingly rebuilt me.Over the years we’ve traveled many miles together to raise money for cancer charities (over $20,000).But it’s our next ride I’m worried about, cross country to raise money to send eight kids with cancer to a summer camp.I’m not sure my old bones will make it.I wish for my rider to have someone younger to take with him, someone who’ll last. He’s been so good to me, can you be good to him?
Now I was limited to only 150 words and the theme was "a picture is worth a thousand words - if your bike could talk". I'm hoping it is quirky enough for someone to them to perhaps see that I'm worthy of a new bike to help haul my donkey (euphemism for body part) across the country this summer!
The other big thing that happened yesterday is I finally heard some great news from the Northport Fire Department that I've been hoping to hear for a long time! Back in the summer I had put in an application to become an EMT and had my initial interview. It was then that I was told it might be a while because they had to wait on approval for new hires and that it might take a while. I am so incredibly excited to say that yesterday I received a phone call telling me that the approval has come through and if all goes well with my background check and interviews, I will be sworn in as a member of the Northport Fire Department on June 7th (a week before we leave for San Diego) and I will start training in September!!!!! With any luck they'll let me join the bicycle EMT Corps and really combine my passions!
And finally, a musical video (or two) for your entertainment and edification.
Recently a lot of hoopla (the technical term for hula hooping and yelling excitedly at the top of your lungs at the same time) has been made about a drunk Canadian singing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the video has gone viral;
Now I'm not sure what is more disturbing, that he can render it word-for-word while drunk, or that Canadians can sing (Rush not withstanding, of course there is Bryan Adams, but don't get me started on Celine Dion!). However, with all the hoopla (there's that word again) we're losing sight of the really important issue here - NO ONE DOES IT LIKE FREDDY AND THE BOYS!
So to bring us all back to reality and remind us of why we love this song in the first place, I bring you Queen;
Well, I don't know about you but I'm going to straddly my Drahtesel, listen to some killer Queen and go for a ride! Oh, and for those of you starting to keep count - 83 days until the Grand Depart (uh, that's French for big leaving)!
So yesterday I was reminded of the reality of what I'm going to be doing - I realized that we are only 88 days away from our departure in San Diego. Only 88 days away from what will probably be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life and my family will be there with me to help me through it. Although many may look on this as just a middle aged guy checking off something on his "bucket list", its really much more than that. In the movie The Bucket List Morgan Freeman's character tells a story about how the ancient Egyptions believed at the entrance to heaven a person is asked two questions: "Have you found joy in your life?"; and, "Has your life brought joy to others?". Their responses determined if they would be allowed to enter heaven. Of course, he tells it much better (but then again, he IS Morgan Freeman);
And of course, part of the irony is that in this movie his character talks about the questions that would allow one to enter Heaven and in another movie he actually played God;
Yesterday I realized that both of these clips from Mr. Freeman's work are really appropriate for what my family and I are trying to accomplish this summer - we've prayered to be able to make a difference and we're hoping that God will provide us with this opportunity to do so. I have found so much joy in the health and happiness of my children and now I would like to have the opportunity to bring joy to others. Now could I do this by teaching at Sunrise for the summer? Yes, perhaps. But the chance to be able to make it possible for eight children to attend camp this summer, I think, is the best joy I could bring.
It doesn't matter that I have been looking forward to this for two years, that its something I knew I had to do ever since the 2,000 miles of the original Connor's Army mission. I reasoned back then that if I could ride 2,000 miles and raise over $10,000 then I should be able to ride 3,700+ miles and raise $50,000. So now, only 88 days out we find ourselves trying to get all the planning done and begin booking the accomodations we'll need upon the way. We're still working on adjusting the route in regard to where we stay as we find motel and hostel availability. We are hoping to connect with people we know along the way who might let us stay on their floor/couch/lounge chairs, whatever. For instance, we've adjusted the first day from 50 miles to 80 miles so we can actually stay in a place where we might have a chance to eat dinner.
Now don't get me wrong, we are not looking at this as a luxery vacation for the family that we can hide in the mantle of doing good for others. The whole point of this is to spend as little money as possible, especially since all the family's costs are coming out of our own pockets. And, the more we save, the more we can use those sponsorship monies as more funds to add to the monies we are trying to raise for Sunrise. If we can reach our fundraising goal AND add another couple of thousand dollars on top of that, it would be a dream come true. The more money we can raise for Sunrise the better. Its part of the reason that my daughter Sarah is using her thirteenth birthday as an opportunity to fundraise for Sunrise. She really feels that she wants to celebrate this important turning point in her life giving to others. Part of the way we want to reward her for what she is doing is that we are going to try to get to San Diego early enough so that we can spend her birthday at the San Diego Zoo. Its sort of a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to take her there so we've been saving up to take her before I start pedaling east on the 23rd.
With that in mind I'm still trying to work out the kinks on the bike. As you may know, I'm not spending money on a fancy bike to carry my butt across the country. I'm using a fifteen year old steel frame I dug out of the trash one day on a drive in to work. I've upgraded it as much as I have been able to afford using gift cards received at birthdays and holidays, buys on e-bay, parts I've cannibalized from road finds, and deals I've been able to get from my sponsors at Adams Cyclery of parts that have come off of other bikes as people have upgraded. I've got a little more tweaking to do but once I have everything dialed in I will get it tuned up at Adams and we're ready to go. I still need to fix the gearing a bit and I've just upgraded my saddle to one I had been using on my mountain bike (its got more padding for my tushy) so now I just need to ride.
And that's the next step of my planning is to get my fitness level up. I'm averaging 18 mph on a fifteen mile ride in to school and I can generally average 17.5 mph over a 30 mile course of rolling hills. Now if I can build on that over the break next week I may have a good solid core. And that's the difference between training for what I'm doing and training with the HBC guys on the weekend. I'd love to join them but many of them are really about hammering it out and basically making the rides a team time trial and I really need to get my body used to maintaining a steady 17 - 18 mph pace for longer distances than just 30 miles (which is when they usually stop). As we get closer to June 15 (my last day at school) I'll start taking the REALLY long way home and try to log in as close to 40 miles as I can. I'll have to work on climbing hills and trying to maintain a steady tempo up hills like this up Snake Hill Road in Lloyd Harbor, NY;
Just follow it on up and check out the switch back that is oh, so much fun!!!!!!
Amy and I area also in the process of trying to get a few more sponsor to help us purchase supplies that we'll need for the journey - we're hoping someone can help us gather together the things we'll be needing (3 tires, 6 tubes, 6 spokes - three for each of the two types of wheels I'm taking, 4 derailleur cables, 4 brake cables, degreaser, a spare nine-speed chain, brake pads) basically the replacement parts that we'll be hauling with us (hence the need for a van and a support driver) in case I break down in the middle of nowhere.
But the closer we get to the event, the more excited and scared I get. My biggest fear is that my body will give out somewhere along the route and I'll feel as if I have let the kids of Sunrise down. My greatest hope is that this turns out to be a jounrey without problems and that I will find joy in it and bring joy to others at the same time. If I can manage to reach my goal and indeed raise $50,000 then I will feel that I have done some good in this life.
And now, since its been so long since I've actually posted a music video - this is the official video for a song that I plan on choreographing to for this year's Spring dance concert - Panic! At the Disco performing "The Ballad of Mona Lisa". And for those of you who are fans of the Steampunk look - enjoy!!!!!!
So I have a couple of confessions to make - the first is there is no way in Hades I could ever solve the above equation. You see in high school I transferred halfway through my senior year to a lovely high school called C.E. Ellison High School in Killeen, TX (actually, it was the second high school I transferred to since I actually spent three weeks at Copperas Cove High School) and the only math class they could fit in my schedule (becuase of all the band classes and drama classes) was Algebra II. Algebra II was taught by a lovely(insert perjorative adjective of your choice here) of a man who couldn't give a's (insert funny animal of your choice here) patootie about math. You see, in the great tradition of Friday Night Lights he was the head coach of the football team and his class load consisted of one Algebra II class, two driver's ed classes and supervision of two study halls (during which time he caught up on his newspaper time). As great fortune would have it, I had this teacher for three out of my eight classes - yayyyyyy!!!!! So, as fate would have it, when he taught Algebra II he sat at his desk and read while we did problems out of the book which he would grade and hand back - and I didn't learn a lick of math!
My second confession goes like this, "forgive me reader, for I have erred and it has been 41 days since my last entry". Now, I know that since this is the Lenten season I should probably do some sort of penance so I have taken it upon myself to watch as amany episodes of "My Little Pony" as I can before my brain turns to permanent tapioca. I would offer to do a daily Rosary Novenabut since I am already doing that for Lent anyway I thought the MLP penance would work better. That, and I need to write to you what I've been up to. So let me explain, no there's is too much:
So I figured I would catch you all up by doing a little weekly highlights event of what has transpired over the last five and a half weeks;
February 15 - 19
Okay, so all of that talk about riding with a vengeance didn't really go as planned. One thing snowballed behind another and the next thing I knew I had only logged 60 miles this week. But I did get to spend some time with the family and Amy was busily rehearsing for her featured role in the Broadhollow Theatre Company production of Nine!
February 20 - 26
So this winter we decided that we wouldn't go anywhere for break since Amy was in rehearsals. He show didn't open until February 25th but rehearsals were intense and she was out late in rehearsals this week. I spent my time riding as much as I could during the day and trying to sell more bikes for ReCycle for Sunrise. I only managed to sell one bike but I got to spend a lot of time with the kids and we played and had a lot of fun.
Amy's show opened on Saturday the 25th and the whole family was in attendance and I have to say (from a biased opinion) she was AMAZING!!! But of course! She was French to the extreme and her role allowed her to improv with the audience which is something she enjoys doing. Although I don't have any "official" youtube videos for the production (I can't even seem to find any "unofficial" version either) here is a "trailer" a member of the cast put together as an ad for the show. Although you see her being interviewed and you see little snippets of her in the clip, it really doesn't do justice to the amazing performance she gives. But if you listen closely, the voice you hear singing "Folies Bergère" is that of my lovely wife;
So in between being a stage husband and taking care of the kids, we managed to take advantage of the weather and have some fun outside. We really couldn't travel anywhere due to Amy's schedule but the kids and I took some bike rides, I fixed up Sarah's "new" road bike for the cross country, and I did manage to log 105 miles this week - my first "Century" of the year!!!! My fitness level seems to be in good form for this time of year and I'm looking forward to trying to build on it. Of course, who knows what will happen once we're actually going cross country but for now I'm highly optimistic!!!!
February 27 - March 4
This week saw us all getting back into "the groove" as we all went back to school. I spent much of my time at school as we had so much left to do on Beauty and the Beast. It wasn't really practical for me to ride home since we were staying later at rehearsals and Friday was the Syosset High School Sports Night. Stacey Kerley and the kids in Peer Helpers worked to raise close to $700 and Sam Daniels and Steph Grayson worked on their own section to do even more fundraising! It brings us just a bit closer to our goal. I myself had the chance to only participate in the teacher challenge version of dodge ball. My team lost and I was the next to last on my team to be knocked out - ohhhhh, it brought back so many memories of middle school. Of course, all I had running in my head was this scene;
Primarily because in middle school (where I was all of about 4'6"), I was basically considered "target practice" because I was small and quick. They figured if they could hit me, they could hit anyone. Well, I almost lasted to the end at Sports Night.
And despite all of the the lack of riding I managed to log 55 miles in 4 rides - basically riding to school and back two days that week. Not much but better than nothing.
March 5 - March 11
This week really caught me by surprise. The weather sort of sucked and between that and long hours at school I didn't really ride. I logged 54 miles in 3 rides and drove a lot in order to get home in time to watch the kids as this was Amy's last week in Nine. I am so proud of her and the job she did in that show. She truly is talented and she showed how its supposed to be done. Since I know she never reads my blog and won't read these words I can gush all I want about her. She really is a phenomenal performer (even if she'll never admit it - I guess we're both alike in that regard) and the more I see her perform the more I wish we could figure out a way for her to go back and do it professionally. She really is in her element on stage, particularly in performance and I'm so proud to be her husband.
Oh, and this Friday also saw our annual 10 out of 12 rehearsal in which we have an entire day set aside to rehearse with the orchestra and try to get the technical elements working in the show. It wasn't easy, especially as the costumes came in and the kids just wanted to play with their costumes. It took an hour just to get the Wardrobe costume put together and fitted properly. We have SEVEN racks of costumes!!!!! We've never had this many ever. Sunday couldn't come soon enough as we all needed a break. We had a family movie night and watched Miyazaki's Porco Rosso - if you don't know its sort of an Anime retelling of Beauty and the Beast - we thought it appropriate! Here's a trailer for it - fast forward to :58 to see Porco Rosso;
If you haven't seen this movie - do yourself a favor and rent it today!!!!!
March - 12 - 18
This week was only devoted to the show. We opened on Thursday to a great house but not as full as we would have hoped - only 450! But the audience loved it and everyone was just enthralled with the work the kids did. The kids got a standing ovation!!!!! They truly deserved it for all their hard work.
By Friday the word had gotten out what an incredible show the kids were doing and we sold out five minutes before curtain. What a high for the kids to have going into that performance. It was also the night they filmed the production and the kids were phenomenal!!!!! When the kids finished performing "Be Our Guest" the audience applauded for 45 seconds - literally stopping the show. It was a first for Syosset High School theatre and the kids were in a tizzy not sure what to do. But troupers that they are they smiled and kept going!
Saturday was St. Patrick's Day and although we didn't sell out, we came within 30 of selling out and that in itself was pretty phenomenal. The kids weren't as sharp (darn those full days off!) but they still put on a great show and this time the audience gave them a standing ovation that lasted a full minute after "Be Our Guest"! That was amazing and I hope the kids will remember that always and remember just how rare that is. Here is a clip of our version of the song;
On Sunday the kids were totally pumped up about the show and rightly so - they sold out yet again!!!!! We all felt bad because that meant that a few little ones wouldnt' get th echance to see the show but they had an amazing time and they got so much deserved praise. It truly was sad to see it go.
WE had an amazing continuation of tradition in our "Act Three" Parody followed by a great cast party hosted by the Treidel family - Cara is the last one so its the end of an era!!!!! And the cast bought us all "Connor's Army" baseball caps which the boys did not take off at all - even when they went to sleep!
And of course with all of the craziness entailed in the show I only rode 12 miles this week! March 19 - 25
This week started out with one last hurrah! The annual Board of Education performance in which we take snippets of the musical and perform them at the board meeting. We put together "Gaston", "Beauty and the Beast" and "Home". It was a great experience and it was really nice for the kids to get the accolades they so richly deserved yet one more time! This isn't a clip from that night but it IS a clip of our version of "Gaston" from the production;
It took Amy and I (okay, mostly Amy - and once again may I say I have the most amazing wife!!!) two days to pack up the 14 boxes of costumes from the show and we finally got them out on Tuesday. I thought the guys on the loading dock were going to ban me for life!!!!
And then it was on to Shakespeare!!! We held our auditions on Wednesday for All's Well That Ends Well. There were fewer who auditioned than I had hoped and I fear its becuase we've taken on too many student directed shows which are now pulling away the talent of the pool. We'll have to do something about that for next year but for now we have a really good (if somewhat young) cast that I think will help me find a great interpretation of Shakespeare's "Problem" play.
And the good news is that I managed to log 88 miles at an average speed of 17.72 mph!!!! If I can just keep building on this shape I'll be ready in no time.
This week
And that brings me to this week. I have logged 42 miles so far in the two days that I've ridden and I'm really trying to push myself to ride almost every day unless there are particular extenuating circumstances. The wind has really been torturous but I have to get used to that. One of the down sides of cycling in Kansas is that althought its flat (a good thing) there is nothing to stop the wind from "sweeping" down the plain and barrelling right into you!!!!!! So, I just tuck my head and pedal harder and all the time hope that I'll be able to keep building my fitness level up so that I'll be ready in 87 days when we leave San Diego!!!!!
Thanks for reading, thanks for supporting us at Connor's Army, thanks for helping us help the kids at Sunrise, and EXPECT more frequent blog posts now!
Stay well and I'll See You on the Road (numerous times if I can help it!!!)!
