This morning Charlie and I went to the
Hampshire Bicycle Exchange and picked out a new
bike for his birthday. We got a last year's version of the Fuji Boulevard
It seems like a great bike. I would have preferred the model without the
front suspension, but it will
probably make for more comfortable riding and is likely to last
as long as is needed.
The fellow at the bike store was very helpful. We looked at a bike with a 24" wheel and it looked a bit small, but they didn't have of the larger ones put together, so he grabbed one and put it together in minutes so that Charlie could see it and sit on it. It was important to Charlie to try it out, so he finished adjusting it while we waited so that he could give it a test ride. Charlie just rode around the building, but was very pleased.
I decided to trade in my old road bike. There was enough corrosion and rust on the frame and wheels that they said it wasn't really safe and there wasn't much salvageable, except the racks (good Blackburn racks) and the seat (a relatively new Avocet). They only gave me $15, but it was something and the wreck isn't taking up space in the garage anymore. :-)
Tonight was the first of the Chipettes performances. We arrived about 6 and, after some confusion, they found a place to take the kids to practice. Around the time the game started, they brought the kids up so that parents could put on the skates. At the end of the first period, they had the kids go out and perform their routine. The crowd loved it. They cheered and applauded louder and louder at each of the moves: when they formed a circle, when they performed a turn and continued the circle backwards -- the intersection, when two lines of skaters would pass through each other, was a knockout. The team gets better and better with each run through. After they got their skates off, they could rejoin their families to watch the rest of the game.
UMass lost the game, unfortunately, but at least it was close -- they were down by three and came back to lose by only one point. I haven't attended many sporting events at UMass and I'm not likely go again any time soon. I didn't like the atmosphere. The crowd was hostile to the opposing team and the referees: booing, hissing, and shouting obscenities almost constantly. I guess people would say I'm out of touch with the times, but I wasn't brought up to think that that kind of behavior was appropriate. It seems to me that even the opposing team is due respect and honor. I certainly didn't appreciate my children hearing four-letter words constantly being shouted all around me.