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Over the last three months Sarah and I have endowed some nicknames upon Kyan, depending on the circumstances. This is nothing new, as our dogs have many different names, such as “Megatron”, “Fahrvergnugen Morgan Freeman”, “Spaz”, “Roxy-dog, Roxy-dog (sung like Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan)“, etc.

Here’s just a short list of what we’ve used for Kyan so far:

• Toots McGee/Toots McGillicutty: The boy farts more than a lactose intolerant man on a milk and cheese diet. Loud ones too.
• Senior Fussy-Pants: He’s a pretty easy going kid overall, but sometimes he gets in a mood.
• Senior Squishy-Pants: Pretty obvious what’s going on here.
• Kybot: Kyan has three robot outfits, so when he’s wearing one he’s the Kybot.
• Fidget Monster (or Fidgi-mon for short): He’s always shuffling something. Restless little dude, just like his dad.
• Chippy Champers: I have no idea where this came from, it just showed up one morning. I don’t even like it, but I keep saying it for some reason. It should probably go away soon.
• Little Dude: The original nickname. Goes back to the initial blog posts about him once we learned he was a he
• K-Jam (or K-Jammers): His basketball or DJ name, currently used when he’s in cool jammies

I’m sure there will be many more to come as his personality really starts showing. We’re pretty lucky so far though, as we get many compliments from daycare on how happy and easy he is. That’s my boy!

The little dude grew up a lot in August. He went from imitating Yoda mid-wardrobe change…

Ky-Yoda

To negotiating in the board room…

"What's your best and final offer?"

To full on belly laughing and being very vocal…

He has strong legs, and can support his own weight, but his arms are still a work in progress. He has conquered the mini-push up, but still kind of dislikes the tummy time once his arms get tired. He has gone from just cooing to including more difficult sounds like the “b” sound, and stringing together 3 or 4 different vowels in one “word”.

Key Milestones:

8/10 – Started laughing

8/16 – Had first nightmare

8/20 – First ear infection

8/23 – “Talks” to the TV when cartoons are on

8/24 – Started sleeping through the night for 4 nights straight

8/25 – First mini push up

8/29 – Discovered his feet, and likes to try and pull them to his head. This causes him to roll to his side when he’s lying on his back.

Well, I actually finished over a month ago but am just now getting around to writing about it. I had planned to write updates every evening during the ride, but honestly after working that hard each day I just didn’t feel like it. So I’ll just sum it all up in one long, belated post.

We finished! My brother-in-law and I rode (almost) every mile of California coastline South of the Golden Gate, camping seven of the eight nights, with my father-in-law providing support along the way.

The nutshell: It was a lot of fun, and worth every bit of the effort. But I have no desire to do it again.

Why is that? Mostly because even though I got this intimate up close view of my home state, I never really got to fully explore the nooks and crannies. I’m not bummed about that. It’s still there waiting. I’m just pointing out that I was usually too tired to venture out, or we were short on time getting through the next leg in time to set up camp before sundown. But when I consider all we accomplished, and all that we did see, it was pretty dang amazing.

Point is, after day one I realized that my notion of riding as a means to find adventure needed to change. The riding was the adventure.

So the next time I do something like this, it’s from a motorcycle or an RV, with 2-3 full weeks to stop and take in the cool little towns, the awesome wine tasting, the pristine beaches, the touristy castles, and the side trips to hike or mountain bike an unspoiled redwood trail. And most importantly, time and energy to surf a few breaks that don’t have the congestion found at most San Diego beaches.

The total ride was just shy of 600 miles. Here’s the daily breakdown: [Read the rest of this entry...]

Well, my preparation plans got seriously derailed by a botched iPhone iOS4 update, requiring 15 hours of my time to obsessively work on getting it back to life in time for the trip. Turns out a defense mechanism Apple implemented if the download is corrupt actually is more of an offensive mechanism. It bricks your iPhone completely, requiring the use of a Mac and some hacking software to fix it. Nice work Apple!

Using all my time to fix my phone caused me to stupidly wait until 7:30 last night to test out the tune-up job I had done on Monday. Um… I’ve only adjusted derailleurs once and I did a better job than the shop I used. Oh well, no time to get it fixed or get a refund, so I’ll be spending Friday morning on the streets in SF tweaking out my derailleur.

I got all packed last night, and it appears that Sarah and Kyan are going to have to mount some seats on the rear bumper, because the car is full! Luckily Sarah spotted a great deal on a roof bag at Sears, so I’m going to run over and grab that during lunch. Then it’s a quick load up and go when I get home.

Typically it’s a 5 hour trip to Clovis without traffic, and around 7 with traffic. But now with Kyan on board, I’m curious to see how long it takes. I’m in a serious sleep deficit right now, which crushes performance; so I’m hoping to squeeze out a full 8 before riding. But that’s probably wishful thinking since I still have to grocery shop tonight in Clovis or in the morning in SF.

Ok, enough bitching. How many new Dads get to ride a bike 670 miles less than a month after having a kid? And down the California coastline too! Some of the best views in the world, and the longest days of the year to fully experience it. And with a support vehicle to boot! I’m only riding with about 10 lbs of gear, and in a pinch I could take that down to 5 and still have all I need. The extras weight is just my camera, a netbook, and a cable for my bike lock.

Hoping for a safe, injury free trip, and a new appreciation for our beautiful state.

For those who don’t know, I am about to embark on a 9-day journey from San Francisco to San Diego, biking and camping the whole way. I will be joined by my bro-in-law Evan on bike, and my pa-in-law Dennis in the support car.

It is an unorganized tour, in that we just planned the whole thing ourselves. We’re not riding for a cause (although we’re open to that if someone needs some press for their cause), and we’re not riding with a formal group. It’s just two dudes and one dad making our way down the California coastline, seeing the sights in one of the most intimate ways possible.

We’ll be averaging about 65-70 miles a day, with a century ride (104 miles) the final day. We finish up at my house in San Diego on July 3rd, just in time for some grilling and fireworks. And I personally couldn’t be happier that the 5th is a work holiday, because I will need a day to soak in this adventure before I tie myself back up to a desk.

I’ll update basic stats on this blog, and maybe Facebook each day if I have an Internet connection. I probably won’t be posting route maps since I’ll be saving my iPhone juice for tunes, pics, and posting, but if you just look at Google maps, search on Hwy 1, CA, you’ll get the gist. [Read the rest of this entry...]