Aggie Catholics: Prayers for Finals

I know that I've been out of school for a while, but I still have school age kids. God willing, my oldest will be at A&M in a little over a year. For him then,

Aggie Catholics: Prayers for Finals: Remember - as long as there are tests, there will be prayer in schools. Here are some prayers for students who have finals coming up....

Riding with the Next Racer in the family

So now my second son, Jacob, is interested in riding bicycles. He just turned 11 and he is very internally motivated. He actually will pull out his bike and put it on the trainer and pedal without anyone telling him to do so. I bought him a used Specialized Hotrock and he will tool around on that all afternoon long, just going around the cul-de-sac. He's also inherited his older brother's road bike. And we have actually done two, count 'em, two rallies this year. Yep, t-shirt rides. I so enjoy riding with him. This past Friday, the weekend forecast was so beautiful that I had to guilt my wife into letting us ride (sorry honey). Lows below 50, nearing 60 at the start of the ride, never getting above 75 and the wind was light. Positively perfect. We went out to Aledo and did their Ride for Heroes. Actually, Jacob has ridden it before, four years ago. Wow, I had forgotten how long ago it was. He was a little bit faster this time. And until he took a spill in the gravel he was having quite a time. It was about 10 or 15 miles from the finish. Fortunately he wasn't going that fast. So he still has some spiffy scars to show off but no road rash. There was barbed wire on the side of the road and I guess if he had been really trucking he could have gone full Hoogerland but fortunately Jacob is only 11 so he doesn't get going up to TdF speeds quite yet. Here's the damage:

From then to the finish he didn't really whine at all. He was definitely in pain though. More of a low level moan. But this was taken at the finish. And when offered the chance to stop at a rest stop six miles from the finish, he said, nah, let's just get this over with. Not bad, Jakie, not bad. I think we'll be riding again tonight and maybe take in a little racing action on Wednesday.