Recital Weekend and a New Ride

It was dance recital weekend for Rachel this past weekend. Tammy's folks came into town as they always do to watch her. Every year I think it will be the last year her father will make the trip but every year he surprises me and finds his way here. The recital was great. Rachel is so poised and beautiful on stage. She continues to grow as a dancer and her love for it is as stong as ever.

This was the first year I took part in the Dads' Dance and now I'm left wondering why I took so long to get involved. There were 20 of us dads and we had a blast out there dancing to Puttin' on the Ritz. We had our top hats, tuxedo shirts, black pants and black canes. We actually put in several class sessions to get the moves down and I think everyone put in some time on their own, too.I know I did. I wasn't sure how I'd react to being on stage. I was somewhat worried that I'd freak and forget the moves but that didn't happen. I had a blast! The only time I messed up was when I caught Rachel out of the corner of my eye as she stood off stage watching me. For just a moment I lost my train of thought and missed a transition. I quickly recovered but was a bit disappointed with myself. Hey, it's the dads' dance—we're expected to mess up.

I went down to Flanders Brothers Cycles in Minneapolis over the weekend and got fitted for a new Serotta. My current Serotta is 8 years old and doing fine but I was having some issues with neck pain. Scott made some adjustments to my position on the bike as I've been fiddling with it over the years and it's gotten out of whack. We lowered the seat 1.8 cm and I can already tell that it's the fix I needed. I had the seat extended too far to the point where I had a dead spot in my pedaling. I'd pretty much made up my mind before the adjustments that I was going to invest in a new bike. I suppose that maybe I could get by with my current ride for years to come and I'm a bit torn about having purchased the new bike. Tammy and Rachel were both encouraging me to get it. Buyer's remorse for sure. The new frame will be what's called a sloper or a compact design with a top tube which slopes downward 5cm from the head tube to the seat tube. I'll be going with Dura Ace 10 speed components.



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