B.R.T

Saturday was bike riding day for the Inmon's. I left first for an hour spin around the Carolina countryside out Northeast of our neighborhood. The ride stats were pretty in line with last weeks debacle, a little shorter distance, but a little quicker average speed. Still at the speed of slow! But it felt really good to get out and enjoy the hot, humid day. I met a couple of guy's last week that were informing me of the number of race teams in Columbia, at least three teams that race and two to three more that are more in line with Springbike club. We have a Tuesday Night Worlds Crit ride, Wednesday "track" night, (come on down Pro Brad and show these guys a thing or two) numerous weekly night rides, a couple of 5:45 a.m. rides, the Friday night Beer ride. The Wednesday track ride takes place on a historic old NASCAR race track named the Old Columbia Speedway. Richard Petty got his first win here, names like Fireball Roberts, Ned Jarrett, Ralph Earnhardt, and Lee Petty all got there first taste of racing on this track. What I am eluding to is that there is enough riding around here to get your "daily" fix if time would allow. As soon as I get my lame ass in better shape I will jump into some of the group rides.

After I finished up my yard work Terri took Tanner and Charlee on a ride around the neighborhood. We have some great paved trails that run along all of the roads throughout Lake Carolina, just like the Greenway trails in Swingtown. Midway through their ride they pulled over for a little ice cream treat in the town Center before heading back home. Now that is the way to ride! Charlee Ann is going to be just like Terri, very head strong and competitive. At the bottom of this pretty big hill Terri was helping push Charlee up when suddenly Charlee yells "I can make this hill!" Adios baby, she powered off and left Terri and Tanner in her dust! Afterwards I asked her if she had a name for her bike, she said not yet but looked at her purple bike and proclaimed her "flower". Nice name, very good, what should I call my bike? She wasn't very sure, said she better take a look at it. After studying it for a few seconds it came to her...Big Rolling Turd! Now I don't know if she was really referring to me or the bike, but she loved it, couldn't stop laughing.

Now keep in mind we had just recently watched the movie RV where the kids in the show call the motor home a BRT, but pretty funny anyway. So I go from my previous Specialized bike aptly named "Old Blackey" to a "big rolling turd". There you have it sports fans! Enjoy the pics of the BRT, and the kids in action on their bikes. Off to blow up some fireworks with the kids.

Thanks for reading, Y'all tune in again soon.

The Ride

Well this was nothing like the notorious Wednesday night cleaner but I felt like I was dropped like a hot rock, and I rode by myself....Let me start by saying that Cale you were right about the weather except you were about a month off. I remember a post back in maybe December that I wrote while sitting out on my deck having a beer enjoying the 57 degree temps at night while back in MO you all were in the frozen tundra without power. Well welcome to the South. Sunday morning my ride greeted me with a temp of 70 degrees and only 90% humidity at 7:00 a.m. I would have been smart to leave then, however I wanted to have breakfast with the family, drink my coffee, read the paper, and by 11:00 actually threw my leg over the saddle and headed out. I did not bother to look at the temp or the humidity at that time, it didn't matter. Hell I worked up a huge sweat in the garage just pumping up the tires! The ride was actually a lot of fun, I rode at the speed of slow most of the time just enjoying the scenery. As you can tell by the pics it is a good thing I don't have a power meter like you big boy's, I'm not sure that anything would have registered on it...All in all I felt pretty good, especially my knee, and it is really weird to breathe through my nose now. I found myself breathing through my mouth most of the time just due to old habits. The worst thing was getting used to the saddle again, wow, that will take some time for my body to acclimate again. Probably doesn't help that I weight in now at the 200 mark. But I really love the Alliante, hope that they do not discontinue that model. I had to laugh at myself at one point in the ride, my legs felt like I had a twenty pound medicine ball attached to each foot. I just could not get into a rhythm. I even looked down to see if my rear brake was rubbing, then stopped and got off to make sure the wheel was in the dropouts correctly (it was). Ironically it was in front of this really cool stable of racing/jumping horses. Technical term there, not a horse guy, but this farm appears to have all the equestrian garb, track, barriers for jumping, etcetera. And they possess a hell of lot more horsepower than I can produce on the Trek. Which reminds me of a group ride we did a few years ago (when I rode all the time, for me) out towards Fair Grove in Pro Brads neck of the woods. There was this massive incline of a hill, albeit short, after a sketchy downhill due to country potholed roads where old Petey at A&B and another rider actually had to unclip and walk up it, but I made it! Small victories for me. At the top we all regrouped and started out again back toward Springfield. To our right there were probably 6-8 playful horses in a pasture. As we rode by they all took out with us running the fence line for what seemed like a half a mile. That was the coolest thing I have ever experienced on a ride. You could actually feel the beating of their hooves on the ground in your chest. All the while they where snorting, whinnying, and enjoying the race.

Thanks for reading, Y'all tune in again soon.

Guest photo's by Tanner

We bought Tanner a Nikon digital camera for his birthday just like his Granny Jan's. We figured that if she could master it surely he could as well. Just kidding Mom, I am very impressed with your newfound computer and camera abilities. Enjoy some of Tan's pictures.

Thanks for reading, Y'all tune in again soon.

First day in the pool

This weekend the family headed to the neighborhood pool for Jackson's first foray into the water. Well, he took to it like the proverbial fish. Just floated around with me talking up a storm.

As you can tell by the pics he was very seriously checking out big brother and sister splashing around, but once in he was great. Gotta love the swim suit! The first set of pictures are of bath time after the pool with help from Charlee Ann. Sorry about the picture order. Need to figure out this placement thing...

Thanks for reading, Y'all tune in again soon.

L.E. "Sonny" Inmon

Twenty eight years ago yesterday, 6/21/1979, my Dad lost his gallant four year battle with cancer and went to spend eternity with God. Dad was born 5/31/1940 and in his short life touched the lives of many people. He was first and foremost a husband and father, then a son, a brother, a friend, a builder, a developer, a race car driver, a fisherman, and forever my hero. You meant so much to so many, but not as much as this boy will ever let go in his heart. I wish you were here today to see your wonderful grandchildren, Kaiser, Tanner, Charlee Ann, and Jackson Patrick. And of course, my wife, Terri.

Dad, you will be forever missed. I still have your Simpson fire suit you raced in that I was wearing on your Chevy hot rod as a young boy, however I have out grown you! I am sure you have a smile on your face looking down from Heaven upon us. Here is to you Dad, this cold beer is for you! I love and will forever miss you!

Thanks for reading, Y'all tune in again soon.

Happy Fathers Day Men

A big wish goes out to all of my friends for a Happy Fathers Day. Klenke, Smitty, Hilgers, Yoak, Scotty, Hogan, Shane, Casey, Pat, Lankey, and you too Pettus, if your girl has made her arrival.

I hope you all had a fantastic day with your families like I did. I have included a few pictures to show you what today is really all about. How about the creativity of the card the kids made for me. Foot prints and finger prints of love. Makes you feel pretty incredible. Damn, life is good! Thanks for a great day Terri!

Thanks for reading, Y'all tune in again soon.

I can see clearly now the drugs are gone...

I'm back, back from the fresh effects of anesthesia and five days full of percocet. Man that stuff sucks! I really don't see how people get hooked on that drug. Just give me a nice frosty cold Delirium Tremmens, a little satellite radio, my wife on the back deck with me, and that is all I will ever need. Well today I met with the good Doc to have the "splints" removed from my nostrils. I wish now I would have thought ahead and taken the digi cam to show you what they looked like. Unbelievable...so let me tell you. I think I was more nervous about the removal than I was about the surgery. At least during surgery I was completely out, but for this little procedure, absolutely nothing. Just me gutting it out. So he gives me this pink dish and tells me to hold it under my nose while his nurse held the light saber leading the way into my nose. He tells me that this will really not be too bad, just a quick sharp pain and a slight pull. Hmmm, then why am I holding the pink drip dish? Shouldn't I be wearing a bib to cover my shirt and tie?

Then suddenly a quick prick and a pull and it is out of my nose and before I have time to flinch he has the other side out.

Upon further review, these things were about as long as my little finger, slightly curved, about the width of my little finger with a tube running down one side to promote air flow. Good Lord, no wonder I had a splitting headache the whole time. But wow, I can really breathe. After next Tuesday I can go back to normal activities. Should be 100% in about four weeks.

For those of you who may need this surgery, go ahead and have it done, I highly recommend it.

On a baby note, our boy Jackson is now up to 13 pounds. Enjoy a few pictures of him. Really enjoys his new walker just not quite tall enough yet to reach the ground, check out the thighs of a future sprinter. And he has found his tongue.

Thanks for reading. Y'all tune in again soon.

Surgery

Septoplasty, Turbinectomy, and Nasal Vestibular Stenosis, to be exact. Had the pleasure of experiencing this procedure last Tuesday. Doc said that the surgery went very well. Said the left side of my nose was shaped like an S. Not very conducive to breathing. But all should be good to go in about three weeks. The only real visible indication of having the surgery is the blood you see around the end of my nose and slight swelling. Have been pretty miserable most of the week. I have had a splitting headache that is due to the splints that they have shoved into both sinus cavities. Percocet seems to numb the pain but it keeps me awake at night. I really don't like this stuff, don't see what the big deal is, just makes me goofy and out of sorts. Not fun! I can already breathe through the left nostril, something I have not done in forever. The doc said that this will be a "Wow" surgery, meaning once this is healed you will go wow, I can really breathe, I hope he is right.

Not much else to report here in Cola, it has been in the high nineties all week, Jackson is getting bigger (check out his fat little legs). Pretty cool now that he smiles all the time, makes little noises, blows bubbles, sticks out his tongue, and is just the cutest little boy ever!

Thanks for reading, Y'all tune in again soon.

Sunday ramblings

Ahhh the sweet smell of rain, finally. We have been in a drought situation for the entire month of May. Conditions became so bad that the entire Northeast section of Richland County was put on water rationing and a boil order. Not because of lack of water, but because of poor water pressure. Seems that the County and the developers have been moving way too fast and did not quite plan well enough for the demand that "they" created. Now officials are scrambling to put in new 48 inch water lines and a pumping station that can actually handle the demand. Little backasswards don't you think? And while we are on the topic of development, I attended my first public officials forum this week to discuss the traffic issue with the main artery that leads to our neighborhood. Again...developers and the County building homes, and apartments for families but not quite THINKING through the whole process of ingress and egress for the thousands of families that live out here and have to use the TWO lane road without shoulders! But I digress.

Big thanks go out to my Mom, Jan, for coming out to visit us in our new home. It took us moving half way across the country to get her out of the house but this is hopefully a trend we will see continue. I promise you more time in Charleston next visit as well as a little beach time! We had a great visit, the kids could not wait to see Granny Jan and she did her level best to spoil Jackson Patrick. I would have to say she succeeded.

Interesting supplement in The State (local newspaper) today. The official 2007 South Carolina Hurricane Guide...must say that is a first for me. At least we can prepare for these unlike the tornado's back in MO. Apparently the rain we have had this weekend it from the tropical depression off the coast. Should be interesting...

Our boy is now up to about 11.5 pounds according to my bathroom scale. Enjoy the latest pictures of him and Granny Jan when she came to visit. Tanner and Charlee had a blast making her sign.

Thanks for reading, Y'all tune in again soon.

Quick Pics

Just a few pictures from my Mom when she was down South. Now that she is so very computer savvy and proficient with her new digi cam she has sent a few of my favorite nephew and sister, Kaiser and Stacey. The bridge in the pic is very impressive, located in Charleston. Let's hope that the Chiefs season turns out to be better than the diaper he was wearing in the outfit my sister gave him...or it could be a very crappy year!