Bike racing is all about my friends...

I love to ride my bike because it offers so much to my life. It gives me my health, my peace, my space, and best of all some of the best friends anyone could wish for. I returned to Maryland for a quick look at our home away from home. I got to see my close friends and I got to do a few bike races too. I saw so many wonderful faces and I was sad only because I could not talk at length with all the people whom I miss.

Racing bikes brings together people with great discipline and patience. Discipline for the huge amount of training it takes to be a successful racer and patience for the time it takes for the training to take hold. Everyone suffers in bike racing no matter how fit they are. Everyone has really strong days and equally bad days. Yet the seasoned racers continue to put in the time, the energy and the hope that one day the strong day will hit on a race day and success will finally be found. It is funny how when you suffer next to someone, respect comes in naturally to the friendship. I find myself looking forward to everyone else's success just as they would pat me on the back for any success I might find for myself. These are the friends that I miss the most. They fill my heart with happiness and laughter. They always make me smile no matter how tired I am from bike racing.

Fun friends...

Having good company makes any experience a fond memory. This was definitely the case during our trip to Prague. Daisy, Grant and Emma made our stay truly delightful. Emma found herself sandwiched between Alyssa and Nathan from the moment we arrived to the day we departed. The kids were so happy together it was contagious. Daisy and Grant were very gracious hosts. They took us to a weekend picnic where we got to meet their wonderful friends and enjoy fabulous food. We saw life outside the city of Prague in a beautiful neighborhood. In addition, Dale and I each got to take a bike ride with Grant. He showed us each the countryside in Prague which included a 14th century castle, open countryside complete with rocky hillsides covered in pine needles and the dachas (country homes and favorite summer retreat for the upper and middle classes of the Russian society) that were given out during the communist occupation of Czechoslovakia. When I saw the dachas, they looked like tool sheds but they were surrounded by immaculate gardens. Grant explained it is still tradition for people to empty out of the city on the weekends and they come out here and tend their gardens and stay in the dachas. It was evident that they spent a lot of time on their gardens as there was not a leaf out of place. You can see the dachas on Grant's blogsite. Grant has loads of great Prague pictures on his site. To get a real feel for biking in Prague, you must read it! You will notice that his blog I have referenced begins with a snail picture. We stopped twice so that Grant could rescue the snails off the trail. The first time he stopped so quickly I nearly rode over him! The wildlife in Prague will be protected while he is there.

The Czech language...

I have studied Russian, French and Latin (when I was in fifth grade and I did not know it was an extinct language), I know a little Spanish and I feel like I am catching on quickly to British phrases, but when I entered the little market near our flat in Prague I felt like I had never spent a minute in a foreign language class.

A visit to Prague...

One of the best advantages of living in the UK is that the cost to travel to Europe is very reasonable. We recently took advantage of the low fares and traveled to Prague. The city is absolutely incredible. Buildings throughout the city are intricately carved and decorated. From far away, it looked like the buildings had been painted, but when you moved closer you could seen that the designs were maid by scratchings on the stone. Today, we enjoyed walking around the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. We watched the changing of the guard and enjoyed walking through the magnificent cathedral. I am still amazed at the history and how far back it can be traced. When I saw the dates of service of this person, I joked to myself that they made up the dates! This piece of history is most amazing when one considers that Prague has been claimed by various kings and empires, survived occupation by the Nazis followed by the Communists, ending only with another revolution in 1989 and has only been part of the Czech Republic since 1993. As I walked through the streets of Prague, I tried to imagine what it was like living through the last 50 years of this city's life.

English football

The 2006-2007 English top league football season has come to an end and Manchester United is the league winner. There are no playoffs and no superbowl... the regular season winner is the league champion. The three bottom teams are removed from the top league and replaced by the top three teams from the lower league. Every year this provides a bit of drama. This year the last team was relegated based on the results of their final game of the season.
English top league teams also qualify for European Competitions based on their finishing place in the English league. The top 4 teams this year compete in next year's UEFA Champions league with the other European top league winners. Teams finishing in 5th, 6th and 7th place qualify for the less prestigious UEFA Cup.
English football teams are becoming very international. Nowadays, as many as half of the players on a top English team may be foreign born.

Stay tuned... I'm going to try and figure out Cricket next!!

-Dale

And now in the center ring...

Introducing our fabulous plate spinner!!!!! Nathan performs his amazing plate spinning technique at Hardwick Community Primary School's Circus Day.

My buddy "Phog"...

Have you ever heard a pheasant's song? It is actually closer to the sound of sqidding tires than any sound made by birds. It is also quite loud. It is loud enough to travel through shut windows to wake you up in the morning. So, I have attached a picture of "Phog the pheasant" that frequents our back garden. I am not sure it is him all the time as there are quite a few pheasant around us. However, that is what we call every pheasant the ventures into our yard. Phog is now my alarm clock in the morning. Somedays he slacks a bit and I don't get up quite as early as I need to, but most of the time he is very punctual.