quote of the week

"Divide and rule, a sound motto. Unite and lead, a better one." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1794 - 1832)

“excuses are the tools of the incompetent” - ?

How Not to Destroy a Cell Phone

Step 1 - Don't give it to Eric
Step 2 - If you do, make sure it never leaves his handy belt holder
Step 3 - If that fails make sure he doesn't put it on top of his car
Step 4 - If he does, try to stop him from driving off with the phone still on his roof
Step 5 - If all this fails, grab a chair and watch for the Mini-Van to run it over in the street and have a good laugh.

Driever has showed us that cell phones aren't able to stop moving vehicles.

- Brian and Joey

Mr. Fix It

I thought it might be nice to share some helpful hints on how to remodel and update your home. These pics are some of my proudest moments as a do-it-yourself Mr. Fix it. I would be happy to share more or you can wait for my first published 'how to' book on around the house handy work entitled "This is Why My House Burned Down."

- Eric D.

The Ellusive Paddon Spotted

Rarely seen in the wild, the Paddon was spotted around 16th and J in Midtown a few weeks ago. Remarkably I caught him during the 14 minutes he was NOT actually riding his bike during the month of May. Funny thing about this picture... I was sitting in a restaurant across the street, snapped a photo with the flash and everyone looked outside as if there was some celebrity out there. Looks like Jack is even more of a local celebrity now.

-Brian

May is Bike Month - Finale

I see there were a lot of miles logged over the weekend. Great Job! We so far have been able to hold off the competition but not by much. They are a little more than 200 miles behind us. The web page will allow logging of miles that were completed during may for a few more days. If you rode during may and did not log your miles please do so.
W+P has 6 people over 500 miles and to even think about getting into the top 10 you need to have ridden at least 200 miles. That is amazing! Great job all around this year W+P. Below is a list of all those who rode at least 100 miles. Thank you to all who rode and made it a successful event. You are all healthier because of it.

Here are a few very honorable mentions. This is our 500 club

Jack, 857 miles? WOW! And you were gone for a week? I am thinking 1000 next year.
Mark, You damn near made it to 700. Awesome!! How are your knees?
Jaggers, You edged out Robi who I know was gunning for you!
Robi, Absolutely no shame in 526. That is more than I have ever done. I am simply stunned!
Terry, You edged out the monster Robert who tried to catch you by simply riding a Century Friday. In the heat no doubt.
And Robert this is the first year you made it to 500 and your first Century. Amazing! Great Job!

Not so far behind are our 300 Mile members

Tom… His first outing for us and Rookie of the year!
And Jim, Wow 300 miles? Top Notch! I am in for your announcement that “June is Golf Month”.

Mark and Robi's Ride

Jim Williams sporting a Rolling Stones Jersey
The gang waiting for Mark to finsh grilling the burgers and dogs...

Ahhh...finally they're done!

A tired and full bunch of riders.

Finally, Jack's bike got a rest.

Well Saturday morning was a beautiful day to ride and that is just what we did. We had 11 riders show up at Mark and Robi's house. At 9:30 we were off for a 20 mile bike ride through the Rocklin and Lincoln countryside. Thanks to the following riders for showing up: Jack, Terry, JTW, Dianne Williams, Linda Green, Ryan Culver-Engler, Justin Engler, James, Tom, Robi and Mark . We even brought our next door neighbor, Ronnie along with us. Terry road to our house from his Mom's and put in an extra 20 miles before we started. Jack road from Newcastle and also had 20 miles in for the day before we started. After the ride and lunch Jack put back on his riding gear and once again headed off on his bike......we think he stopped riding some time on Monday. :)
Together we logged over 200 miles for Team W + P. Way to go!

-Robi

Oakmont H.S. Wins Architectural Design Competition

A few months back 3 young aspiring architects from Oakmont High School stopped by for some help on a design competition they entered. They were a little nervous at first. Really...who wouldn't be nervous in the presence of such a 3D graphical genius as Jeff? The competition was a Re-Use of an existing building (old pump station between I-80 and the river near Old Town) turning it into an Aquarium. They had the design figured out (which included a green roof and solar panels) they just needed help making it come to life on the computer. We gave them some insider information, special cheat codes and gave them the secret handshake and sent them on their way. Well, just got an update. They won 1st place out 12+ schools!

-Brian, Jeff, and Paul

IIDA Habitat for Humanity Day

This was the 5th Habitat for Humanity work day I've organized in recent years and was the toughest yet. It only lasted 3 hours but the back breaking work of busting up concrete was enough for all of us. Thanks to all who showed up! I'd like to say it was fun but lets face it...it was hard work!...but it was for a good cause and that's what counts.

-Andrea

SABLMNDR

Ready to Ride!

Jack and Nancy in flying by...

At the top of Beal's Point. Major kudos to Dianne Williams who climbed the hill on her first ride on her new bike!

Well, I gotta tell ya. I was more than a little honored that Jack named a ride after me. I'm just glad that last year didn't kill me and that I could actually participate this year. The Second Annual Brian Lefholz Memorial Near Death Ride (SABLMNDR) started the same as the last one did...on the hottest day of the year! With temps rising fast into the triple digits we took off down the trail to climb Beals Point first. The group included Crazy Jack Paddon and Nancy, Jim and Diane Williams, Terry, Mark and Robi. It was a fun ride for the short time I was with the group. You see, This year I was smart and headed back early. Jack, well, Jack was Jack and pedaled 100 miles! Really glad I headed back early because knowing me and knowing Jack we would have kept riding until one of us fell off the bike from exhaustion. Not to bad for a 50 something...good job!

-Brian L.

Congrats to Bill!

Bill Larson of Point 2 Structural Engineers and Blazing Saddles Team Member just completed the Davis Double. What an effort to complete 200 miles in Saturday’s heat!! I did 100 miles on the American River Bike trail and thought I was going to die…guess I’m just a wimp. Congratulations and thanks for the ‘Blazing Saddles’ miles!

- Jack

Sierra Adoption Garage Sale

The sale of the century!!!
Cashier Kim

Go ahead...you deserve a break!

Lots, and Lots, and Lots of clothes

Furniture anyone?

Major kudos to Kim Settle, Amber and Andrea for organizing the Sierra Adoption charity garage sale. While many of us got a good reason to clean out our garages, they did an incredible amount of work to pull this off. They all put in above and beyond to make this successful.

And thanks to Paul and Trish who both came out today too to unload/display/sell/load...in the 100 degree heat.

And thanks to Tom for bringing out the jumbo pop up tent for some shade.

And thanks to Joe for helping us set up in the morning and letting us borrow his tarps.

And a BIG thanks to Jodie who stuck with us all day and was one heck of a saleswoman!

And thanks to Terry & Linda Green and Brett & family… the LONE W+P folks to come out and BUY something!!!

And finally…..Thanks to everyone who contributed merchandise to our (sierra adoption) garage sale! We couldn’t have raised $1600 without your loot! Please give our sincere thanks to friends, family members and business associates who contributed, or braved the heat to come & shop. It was HARD work (and damn HOT!)…. But overall, we managed to raise over $1600 for the children!!! WOO HOO!!!

- Andrea, Amber and Kim

Tricycle Races Part Deux

Thanks to Eric D. for the grub and grilling
Our favorite former graphic designer Tye Brown returned as grand marshal of the event

Eric, Tye, Zach (tye's son and expert tricycle racer) and Jack

Jack with the pedal down

Terry spins out Robi to take the lead and the victory

Andrea, Sarah, and Amber were all smiles before the race

In the finale...Sarah takes on the boys and wins going away!

Eric soaked with a cooler of ice water after finishing last...

It was a great day at the track. For the second straight year WP held it's annual Tricycle races on the famed blacktop of the parking lot. Eric and I fired up the grill for hot dogs and sausage links ready for the eager participants at noon. Tye Brown showed up to Grand Marshal the event direct from the rolling hills of Indiana. We set up a course of little orange cones which turned out to be more for decoration than actual marking of the course. A series of 3 person heats lead to the finale, and what a finale it was. Sarah lined up on the inside of Terry and Paul. She broke late form the line but it didn't matter...Terry and Paul took each other out at the far turn and Sarah accelerated by and took the checkered flag. Way to go Sarah! It was another great 1/2 day Friday activity. Thanks to everyone who came out and had a little fun!

- Eric and Brian

Bike Month Competition Heats Up

We all know Mark is competitive. A quiet type by nature but throw a competition and chance of winning into the mix and he comes alive. The following is a word for word message Mark called in, while riding (hence the 'breathing').

Hey Eric it’s mark (breathing)
Hey, I’m riding (breathing) in this morning
I had to run some errands so, (breathing) I’m not in yet
And so, (breathing) I haven’t logged my miles
So (breathing) don’t do the (breathing) summary (breathing) thing for the end of the week
If you could (breathing) till I get there and log in my miles (breathing)
So I can get every (breathing) possible (breathing) mile (breathing) in versus Andrea
Talk to you later :) (breathing) bye.

Funny thing is, while Mark was riding to beat Andrea...Jack leapfrogged the both of them to take over first place.

- Eric D. and Brian L.

May is Bike Month - Week 2

Well as you prepare for the 2nd annual death ride and recover from the 2nd Annual Trike Races I will leave you this week with the following:
With a valiant effort by Mark Posnick to take over the number one spot Mr. Paddon takes the number one spot with Andrea falling to third for our second full week of rides.
I will say that for the husband wife teams Mark and Robi are leading the pack with the Paddon crew a not so distant second.

What’s that you say? Chris Jaggers is riding for someone else this year? No, say it isn’t true!

Some other spousal teams include
The Navarros
The Williams
The Walshes
The Greens
The Gheorghius….Oh wait that is just Dorel and himself.

Stay tuned for the exciting events coming up this week.