Matt was our first newbie and showed up in workboots. There was also a miscommunication with one of the steerers, and he smacked his nose on the trunk starting his run but STILL managed to pull out a 2nd place club record in the men's sprint at 25.00. There was a secret vote after he left, that next time, we also tie a small engine around his neck to make things somewhat even.
Matt getting low
I didn't get pictures of JD or Tim tonight but JD set a personal best sprint time of 25.7 and Tim trudged to a club record 1st in distance, making it all the way to the 2nd road to the right before falling into a quivering mass of humanity.
Scott posted his personal best on his first run at 27.5. His second run might have been even better, but he blew right by the finish line without hitting the trunk to end his time. I think he would have kept going until he passed out, but someone ruined the fun and spoke up. His official excuse was "I didn't see the light pole" This is a bit disturbing, as, being a light pole, it's fairly visible. It's not like he was looking for his car keys in a field. It's even more disturbing when you consider the fact that Scott is an airline pilot. You can do whatever you want, but the next time I fly somewhere I'm going to peek in the cabin, just to make sure Captain Scott isn't hanging about.
Scott is a good friend, so I can say that without getting a visit from Club Tercel's enforcer(see club rules, previous post). He's actually is a really good pilot, except for the fact he's apparently blind as a bat.
Joking aside, I feel lucky to count him as a friend and his safety record is impeccable.
Seriously though - how do you miss a light pole, especially when you know it's coming?
My good friend, No Peripheral Vision Man (see if you can spot a light pole)
In order to keep Club Tercel on the cutting edge, I unveiled my latest idea today. The longboard tow sprint is the exciting new event that we offer. Most of the adults were focused on bettering their current times/events, but promised to try it next time. I like that focus people.
You can always count on kids to jump on something new though, and I like that too.
Rosie getting set to pull Addie for the inaugural run
Rosie reported that this was "too easy" so we loaded up more people
They took turns on a few more runs, came back and set a new kids team car sprint record at 33.6. Impressive, ladies!(photocredit Heidi)
I clocked in my own personal best today of 26.1 on the car sprint, then loaded up JD on the longboard and towed him around. You get further with the longboard tow than with the car sprint, but you get just as wiped out on both. Sweet.(photocredit Heidi)
My buddy Neil heard about the club and made a deal with me. He'd come push a car, if Scott and I would come and ride bikes behind his house today. He bought a fixer upper and decided that the backyard could use some changes as well.
Now Neil is a bang up carpenter, but I made him go first because his lead in ramp doesn't appear built to code and wasn't exactly inspiring confidence. I had to put my helmet on just to watch him climb up that thing.
The freakiest part is climbing that ramp, followed by the uneasy feeling of sway and creak beneath you as you ride down. Then you're so relieved that you survived, you forget there's a jump at the end of it. It's not really that bad...... come join us!
He held up his part of the deal.
Neil.
If you'd like to push without fanfare, that is an option you get. However, we are more than happy to boost you along with words of encouragement. JD is a marine though, so you want to get past him as soon as humanly possible and you definitely don't want to appear to him as if you aren't giving it everything you've got
Robin, one of our favorite, regular ladies. With cheering.
I'm pleased as punch to report that my sweet sweet wife's first push resulted in a ladies sprint record of 33.5.
Daniel had a rough day, banged his elbow in a car door and spent most of the evening sitting quietly playing in the dirt and petting the dogs. It's hard not to catch the fever though, and when we were wrapping up, he charged up and said he wanted to push by himself NO HELP. Nobody thought he'd be able to get the car rolling by himself, but he proved everybody wrong and proved an inspiration to us all.
Daniel and his support crew.
I want to take this time to thank Maddie, Rosie and Addie. As well as pushing cars themselves and pulling eachother on the longboard, they run along with every pusher, and as a team, push the car back to it's starting location. Every time. We owe those girls.
We ended the night as we always do, with a team push. JD, Matt, Neil and myself set a new record of 17.1(photocredit Heidi)
Or thought we ended it... Becky came motoring down the road, last minute because she works hard, but hasn't missed a push yet. A long day at work, then straight to pushing cars down the road. That's dedication and we love her for it.
Push on Comrades, push on.
