The Girls of 3 Ring go 30miles for Best Buddies!

For those of you who checked out my recent "Girls Riding Weekend" album of pics of my super~cycling favorite girl Sidney and myself having a great weekend cycling, it WAS an amazing weekend in so many ways. We started the weekend on Friday heading to Half Moon Bay...literally...my GPS lady had us in the middle of the bay ~ just a small detour! We continued down Hwy 1(despite Brad telling me to turn around), and enjoyed great views. A short stop in Monterey to refuel car and bodies, then off to Carmel to check in for our next day's ride! We arrived at the Quail Lodge Resort which should have given me my first clue as to what kind of upscale event we were getting into. 10 Audi A8's passed us on the way in complete with Best Buddies logos ~ obviously event cars. The resort was setup with a full stage and tents greeting riders signing in(also the start of the 100 mile ride). About 15 more A8's were parked around this venue. Music was pumping and there was a definite buzz. We registered, got our schwag bags(the first ones), then hopped back in the car to do the 2 hour drive down hwy 1 to San Simeon, the start of our ride. As we drove I realized that I forgotten just how hilly and steep hwy 1 was...my nerves were in for a real shock when we got to the 30 mile marker where our ride was to start...all uphill...for miles...it wasn't until a ways into the 15mile that things flattened out a bit. I asked Sidney if she wanted to switch to the 15...nope. We arrived in San Simeon about 7:30pm and headed out for some grub. Found a cute Mexican joint that came complete with live entertainment...bats. Surprisingly neither of us landed in our burritos during a fly by. Back at the hotel I got the bikes prepped and set out to get Sidney trained on clipless(a daunting thing for mom to be doing in the dark knowing what kind of terrain was ahead in the a.m.). The gods were with me as I realized that whoops, I put the wrong cleats on her shoes!! A disappointed Sid, a VERY relieved me. I had the forethought to bring a spare set of flat pedals just in case(intuition?!)BUT do you think I could get the other pedals off?? Nope!(Daddy is a fair bit stronger than I!). Knowing mechanics were on course next day I gave up before I broke anything. Needless to say I got no sleep(the 5 star Days Inn bed/slab o something didn't help I'm sure. A few times more I asked if we should do the 15...Nope. ugh. Alarm off at 6:30am and we are up and out, bikes loaded, gear packed, hydrated and petrified(still just me worrying how we're going to do those hills). Oh and btw I'm on a brand new shiny Bianchi Infinito that has literally only been riding around the block in flip flops. We drove to the Hearst Castle parking lot where shuttles take our bikes and selves 30 miles back north to start our ride...me thinking "I'm already at the finish line, can't I just stay here??". Nope. We met up with some fellow teammates and I was somewhat relieved to see the caliber of some other bikes and riders...it just made me feel a whole lot better to see crappy hybrids, flat pedals and very non-bike looking folks climbing aboard(the non-judgemental angel on my right shoulder slapped me a few times for that). The bus was eerily quiet as we drove the 45 minute trek to the start...I did my best to be chatty and witty but just wasn't feeling it. Arrival: 9:35am. Bikes unloaded, team gathered, geared up and ready to ride. I got a bit star struck when I saw Lauren Potter who plays Becky in Glee(coincidentally my favorite show). I had Sidney pose with her and chatted with her mom...Lauren, 21 who has Down's Syndrome, was very upset though as her Dad was riding the 62 miles and she was really worried about him and almost in tears. Her Mom was awesome and was so gracious to even talk to us. I have to admit that although this ride is devoted to raising money specifically for kids with Intellectual Disabilities this was one of my first encounters(of many that day as well), speaking to someone like this. I quickly put my sunglasses on to hide my own human reaction watching Lauren's stress at her father's absence. As the ride group gathered several speakers got up on another fully decked out stage setup. Maria Shriver glowed as she addressed the crowd, followed by 3 amazing young men with ILD ~ all incredibly charismatic and unbelievebaly funny. In my panic of our impending doom I neglected to commit their names to memory but one fellow sang a bang up version of the Star Spangle Banner like I've never heard ~ vibrato et al! Amazing! These kids are quickly capturing hearts! Gavin Newsom was highlighted in the crowd of lycra sporting a ride that someone should have known better than to put him on(he was one of the crappy hybrid, non-bike looking folk...right shoulder angel slap ~ ouch!). Only a few moments later would he come careening into me as the group departed...I think he should stick to politics?! Countdown on and we're off...my first thought taking off on my new bike is "I really should have looked at what gearing is on this thing...dang my lowest gear is REALLy hard...oh wait, it's Shimano...I'm used to SRAM...levers go THAT way...whew, that was a bit frightening!" Ok NOW we're off...Gavin, get the hell outta my way! Climbing, Climbing and more Climbing...oh look we get to climb some more! Sidney is already showing her stuff and we are passing lots of people. I do remind her that we still have 29 miles to go! Surprisingly, and pleasantly so, the climbs are long but not as steep as appear by car. We set a good pace and spin comfortably as I discuss with her the importance of cadence and pace...a very attentive student I must say. Finally a descent which she takes off handles like a pro. I catch up to her(finally) after noticing a wobble in her bike as she stands. A quick lesson in descending corrects that and she's off even faster(and no wobble). As we ride pretty much everyone comments on her age and ability ~ another quick lesson in gratitude and she's responding with "thanks" instead of keeping head down! I have to remind her that what she is doing is pretty amazing(I'm still wondering if we are really going to do this...bad mommy, I should have more faith in my determined and talented child. My favorite ascending moment occurred on THE steepest hill of the climb, about mile 10 into the ride...we are on Hwy 1 and I look over an opposite curve to see a large group of very fast riders coming up followed by very flashy cars...that can only mean one thing...the pros are approaching. I race to the top of our ascent in preparation for the moment they overtake Sid for a great photo op. I get that and much more. The pack all addressed Sidney as they climbed by with lots of encouragement and are obviously impressed. Great timing as it really pushed her harder to try to hang onto them...hmm a sign of a future racer?! We continued on with a few wardrobe adjustments, nutrition stops, potential pee breaks(not much hiding happening on those mountains!)and finally the 15 mile stop is in our site! 1/2 way there!! We arrive to find a few of our team UBS mates there finishing up. Our friend, Karyn, driving the route has graciously held back to see if Sid is in need of a ride. Nope! Sidney asks me if she can have a Mountain Dew to which I replied "Sweetheart ~ today is the one day that you can drink Mountain dew and say Jesus"(as she did when a car passed a bit close for comfort!). A quick pitstop to refuel and we are off again, knowing that the worst is over, just a bit more climbing then just flat and cruisey! Yeehaw!!! Well flat and cruisey at mile 10 left to go turns into a scenic, butterfly chasing, chatty, unfocused venture that I quickly realize is fun but getting us nowhere fast! If only we had riding tunes...wait we do!! It won't be loud enough but in a pinch the iPhone turns into our motivational beat box and we pull out more moves than Jagger will ever have:) Smelly coastal sea lions and roadkill(including a cow on the wrong side of his fence:( )are also motivating to move out of that area quickly! The end in sight we sing our way towards the finish. Sidney of course cranks it as to arrive first and make me look bad:) ok by me! We are greeted by a red carpet and a crowd cheering us/her on and the announcer shouts out a "Wow ~ check out this 10 year old, Sidney McKenzie who just completed 30 MILES!!!" A huge cheer from the crowd. Why are my eyes watering?? Someone is asking me something but I can't hear what they are saying. All I can do is go over and hug my little girl and hope all the pride and admiration I'm feeling will seep into her soul. We have already signed up for next year's event...this time for the 62 miles...I'd better get training so I can keep up to her! Back to the event itself, at the finish we are treated to a glorious 15 minute massage, showers(if we wanted but we were too busy), an incredible spread of food that was enjoyed sitting beside the ocean. Turns out the event is sponsored by Patron Tequila...I earned a good margherita didn't I ~ turns out it was the best one I've ever had! We didn't have much time to hang around as we had to get cleaned up back at the hotel and get on a shuttle headed for the Hearst Ranch(this was on a "lower" section of the property). We did get to see Teri Hatcher(Desperate Housewives) pull in having done the 100 mile! Impressive! Poor girl, I think she was exhausted but all the men wanted pics with her! On to the Ranch, a shuttle picked up the clean up version of us from in front of our hotel. As we drove the windy road to the ranch I realized not a lot of people get to do this. An avenue of international flags graced the last mile of road to the ranch where an awesome sight greeted us. An even bigger version of all the concert stage setups we've seen that day, a gorgeously simple ranch buidling and a spread of food and cheer as I've never seen. Oh yes and the field of ALL the Audi's that we'd seen that day...I'm guessing close to 100??!! Not to be outdone by Audi, Patron was an ominous presence at the upper venue complete with a margherita bar where you "make your own" then get an engraved lime press. Of course that was my first stop. As we are in line a gentleman with obvious ILD approaches us and introduces himself. He's from Columbia so a bit hard to understand with the accent, but is very gentile and seems genuinely appreciative that we are there. Sidney has a chat with him and talks to him much more casually and openly than with any adult I've seen her talk to that day. I really need to get my eyes checked, this watering thing is really getting annoying...drat I left my sunglasses at the hotel! Onto get a bite to eat(though neither of us have much appetite after all the shot blox and gels consumed over the day!). I guess we looked official(or officially lost)as a hostess told us to sit at a table reserved for Government...well no one was sitting there so why not! It was front row after all and next to the Shriver's table! As we picked away a nice looking couple where ushered to sit next to us...ugh it was that guy who tried to run me off the road this morning. Ok Mr. Newsom, you can sit here but I'm NOT talking to you...I'll talk to your wife though, she seems nice. Turns out they've just had a second child so we have lots to talk about...funny I'm wonderiing if she might be enjoying talking to someone who has NO clue what is going on in their life. The speeches begin and Anthony Shriver, a founder of the event, takes the stage. He educates us all on the importance of what we have just done and why we have done it. Then Maria takes the stage. I think many of us thought in light of her past year's events she would step out of the public eye and hide...she did just the opposite. She came out in force, looking as striking as ever(perhaps moreso), and delivered a speech that I'm sure I'm not the only one it touched. She did address her year's events in a way that she was especially touched by a young man with ILD who spoke to her on a comforting raw human level that someone who didn't have ILD could never understand. She ended her talk on a VERY humorous note making light of her past year that left everyone laughing. I have such a new respect for her and all that she has done and will continue to do. The next speaker was a young fellow named Charles. Charles has ILD and is a beneficiary of the Best Buddies program. Wow if anything is ever going to prove the worthiness of the program, he's it. He spoke of his life struggling and dealing with the "R" word, which he also made us all pledge never to use. He spoke with conviction and eloquence that commanded a silence in the audience as no other speaker had done. Later that evening I had the opportunity to share a dance cube with Charles and he's just as good a dancer as he is a speaker. Smashmouth(a rock band from a few years ago for the older and much younger crowd)then came on to perform and brought things up considerably. They were awesome, fun and got all the "Buddies" up on stage to have the time of their lives. Finishing up with Allstar, the party was brought to a close and we wearily climbed aboard a shuttle to head back to the hotel. Sidney wasn't tired though and stayed up watching infomercials until I told her she HAD to go to sleep! Several months ago when my friend, and then UBS employee, Doug told me about this event I didn't think much of it. I offered to do the kits for the team, slap our shop logo on it and call it a day. When he said I should do the ride and raved(not enough!) about the workings of the event I lightly entertained it then set that thought aside. As we got closer I thought a girls weekend would be fun and Sidney was very open to the idea. We really didn't train much if at all so I wasn't feeling very prepared...in fact I even sold my road bike 2 weeks before the event! We pulled it together though and had an unforgettable weekend. I felt the need to write this in detail A. ~ so I don't forget! and B. ~ to impress upon others the world of ILD that is often forgotten but is a world of remarkable people who need a chance to be normal and accepted as anyone should be and C. ~ that this event in and of itself is a phenomal event to truly challenge yourself and be rewarded in ways that you never thought possible. I'm sure I haven't done it justice in words here so you'll just have to sign up for 2012 and find out for yourself:)...rumor has it I might even have a 3 Ring Cycles group signing up so join our team and get ready for the time of your life!!! To get more information go to: http://www.hcchallenge2011.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=437651

So I've not "blogged" in a while...to be honest I'm still not sure what "blogging" is all about or who reads it considering the amount of literature we all consume in an average day between Facebook, Twitter, Google, Bling...whoops I mean Bing...and Justin Bieber...who'm I forgetting??? No idea.  Anyway, I'll take it this is my personal space to bleep about whatever the bleep I want that happened in my average day at the bike shop.   Bleeping sometimes seems to be all I do.  So let's have fun with it.  What do I like...puppies, bikes, wine and people that don't return things since they were smart enough to know what they wanted in the first place.  whoops was that bitter???  Having left retail in 1995 I SWORE I'd not return to it...look at me now.  I just have to learn to not take things so personally.  But I do.  I do care that people get exactly what they want as I've been disappointed on countless occassions of being misled and misinformed after purchasing something.  And it would really suck to be out on a long ride only to discover that the greed`meister of the shop misled me into thinking that this pump REALLy was a lifesaver.  Ya...that's not me.  or us.  I should stop saying ME just because I'm writing this blog....Brad is an integral part of this equation and we share similar morals.  He does default on some  but for the most part we are together.  We also have George whom, in my opinion, is a Russian version of me with a higher attention to detail! We've sort of adopted him(he's very fun at parties ladies!_).
Ok back to business...I've really spent a lot of time(and $$$)choosing some amazing lines this year.  I love my job...I love buying clothes...so I think I'm in my element.  I was running through the lines with a customer today and forgot half of what was coming!  I'm so sad that Dude Girl will not be joining us but I've already got some great Hincapie posted on the walls...Zoic still to come, Luna, YMK(I know you've not heard of it...neither had I but wow is this stuff amaZIng!...Yogi's take cover!)...Craft...see I've already forgotten what else.  Damn them for making us do Spring Pre Seasons in October.
Ok , enough business.
I need to transform myself into one of those Supermom's...who do it all ~ kids, business, volunteer, house duties,  take care of self....I've got the 1st 4 covered.  I'd love inspiration on #5.
Blog Out until next time!

Past "About Us" Pages(or Abooot Us for those who care to antagonize my roots!)

Brad and Lindsay culminate 55+ years of experience in the cycling industry including all venues from retail, racing, pro tech support, marketing, management, we have chosen to come back to the retail level to share our knowledge and passion of this sport.

OUR SHOP!

	Brad McKenzie ~ The Original Cog

Welcome to our shop and thanks for taking the time to read a little about who we are and why we love what we do!

Growing up in Mill Valley California during the 70's and 80's, fueled my passion for the sport of cycling! It allowed me the unique opportunity to be involved with cycling and the birth of mountain biking from its infancy on the then legal trails and fire roads of Mount Tamalpais and Marin county. During this early time I worked through high school part time at the only bike shop in town, building and repairing bikes of all types from Schwinn Varsity's to early Trail Master mountain bikes

At the time my yellow Peugeot U08 served my road bike adventures around the back roads of Marin, even the occational forays onto dirt roads and trails. Eventually, I scraped enough cash to buy a new Schwinn King Sting mountian bike with all gold anodized components that were really BMX parts on a BMX cruiser style frame. Not long after I had local frame builder Steve Potts braze on cable guides, waterbottle boses and cantiever studs and finished with a Dupont Imron custom paint job. Local USCF road and criterium racing was also happening for me with my new Trek Renolds 531 lugged road bike. 

For the next 10 years and through out my college years I continued to manage at local bike shops earning my USCF mechanic certification at the US Olymipic training center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Then in late 1993 I was recurited by Team Volvo Cannondale to come work for them as a team mechanic. Over the next two years I traveled the globe working race venues with the new team menbers, Tinker Juarez, Missy Giove, Myles Rockwell, Alison Sydor, Mark Gullickson, Frank Roman, Sara Ellis and trials master Libor Karas. It was the culmination of all my cycling mechanic skills put into practice and getting paid too!

After my experience as a professional mechanic I settled in Park City Utah for short while planning my next adventure that would take me back to California where I worked for Bell Sports USA. Since 1998, I relocated to Wisconsin for two years and then to Indiana where I worked as technical support director for Sun/Ringle. It was during this time that I met my soon-to-be wife who, ironically, was the Bell Sports Canadian sales manager-eh! Soon I was packed-up and going back to California. Within 6 months we were married and relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota where we both worked for a cycling parts distributor for over two years. 

Having spent most of my life in west coast weather, we decided that we needed to be where the cycling was evolving and setting the standards for innovation and technology. We also wanted to put our combined years of experince to use and share it with you! This is our life long passion and not just a bandwagon that we recently jumped on; it is a lifestyle that is healty and sustainable that everyone can benefit from no matter what age.  We hope you enjoy what we have to offer and feel free to contact us for any reason. We provide the best in customer support and the best in service period!

Thanks for reading!                

Lindsay McKenzie ~ The Grease

Hi I'm Lindsay, the one who keeps it all together here!  After 19 years in the cycling industry I'm excited to be undertaking this "adventure" of opening our own bike shop...never thought it would happen(ok I always said I'd never go back to retail!). But here we are, and wow is it...a dream come true.
A bit about me...born and raised in Ontario, Canada(please don't tease me about "eh" and "aboot"...I've heard it one too many times! I grew up in a small town with little to do but explore. While all my city friends were reading Tiger Beat and hanging out at the mall I was cruising around on my brother's oversized Sekine road bike(I'm sure most American cyclists have never heard of that Canadian Tire brand!). Pretty soon my parents realized this was more than a passing phase and forked out $300(Canadian) for a well sized Miele Alpha. It only went downhill from there. By age 14 I was the only gal I knew shopping for the $1200 bikes...Dad was a good sport and gave in to the purchase of my Concorde Astore.
In 1987 at the age of 17 I was working my first bike shop job to support my habit. Ironically enough it was only seasonal and in between it allowed me to go to University and get a degree that, well, looks good on the office wall! I worked retail until 1996 when I made the journey out to Calgary, Alberta to work for Cycletech, a rapidly growing Canadian distributor.  My forte was in the Rock Shox tech center which allowed me to maintain and hone skills aside from sitting on the phones all day!  Soonafter we became Bell Sports Canada and moved to Granby, Quebec. I too was moving up in the world as I soon became the Inside Sales Manager, overseeing 6 CS agents, 13 often cranky sales reps and reporting to some pretty demanding upper management.  Yet another move was to follow as we were relocated to San Jose, California where I heard about this guy who had a LOT of bike parts!  I had actually decided to marry Brad before I even met him as he sent me free bike parts from his workplace in Indiana.... His cycling resume was impressive(as you've read)and we shared common goals as far as life priorities and bikes! He quickly moved back to California, passed the final "table manners test" and the rest is history. We married 7 months later and moved to Bloomington, Minnesota to work for Quality Bicycle Products. 2 years and 1 child later the cry of the California trails could no longer be ignored and we had to come back.  Unemployed and sunstruck, we endured a year of many trials getting new careers up and running and now here we are finally, excited to share our many years of knowledge, experience and passion for this sport with you so you may realize all the joys of cycling that we have over the years!

Sidney McKenzie ~ the Fearless Flyer!

Hi I'm Sidney, the big sister, the firstborn, the speed freak.  I'm 8 years old and can hang with the best of them on the bike.  I had my first real "dh" experience a short while ago as I sped furiously out of control down the steep section of local fireroad.  My parents stood frozen and dumbfounded as I careened left and right on the descent, finally coming to a teetering halt only as a result of grinding my feet hard into the rocks.  I was about to cry(simply out of habit)but the reality took hold and I let out a "yeehaw" worthy of the adventure!  We went to the local racetrack shortly thereafter and I couldn't keep my eyes off the fast cars...this is just a sign of things to come to be sure.  I've already had 4 stitches in my lip and handled it like a pro.  Pain is not an issue for me!

My first bike was a Kettler Jumbo trike(only the best for me!), but my Uncle Joe bought me a cool Norco with training wheels so it's kinda hard to decide which to ride first!  I'm now riding my own cruiser and have already done some bike racing.  I raced against boys on 20" wheels and came 4th(placed 1st for girls).  I also love karate and am moving up quickly in belts!

Grayson McKenzie ~ The Rookie!

Born July 14, 2004, I take after the rest of my family on wheels.  I love to ride fast.  I love downhill(especially when no brakes are involved).  I've had some nasty falls but always get back on my bike.  Usually I'm cruising around behind Mom on her Surly 1*1 Xtracycle...but that's not going to last long.  I'm currently riding a Stolen Nipper 16" bmx. 

UPDATE to the BIO'S ~ 07/06:

When we first sat down to write our histories we did it more for affirmation to ourselves that we had what it took to make it in this industry on our own.  Little did we know how many folks out there get a kick out of reading it so we'll try to keep them updated and entertaining! 

Most recently we have achieved an INCREDIBLE goal/dream of relocating to Marin, California where we are in the process of getting our new 1200 sq ft location set up.  Brad's settled nicely back into his old stomping grounds and Lindsay can't get over the "wow" factor of it all having come from small farm town Ontario!!   It seems our hard work has paid off and we are finally "home".  We still have a tonne of work to do but our commitment to service is more important to us than having a "pretty" shop.  It will happen though!  Our move happened incredibly quickly(I think some neighbors still don't know we're gone!).  We spontaneously threw up a For Sale sign on the front lawn and within a few weeks were in contract.  With 20 days to get out we diligently monitered the listings in Marin.  Finally with only 15 days to spare we found "the one".  The weekend we were moving in was also spent searching for retail space which we finally secured that quickly as well! 

We have lots of plans for the shop in the coming years and are excited to have made it to this point where we can start really making things happen.

So here we sit, thanks to the loyal patronage of so many incredible people.  The best part of our job is truly the customers we have have had the pleasure of meeting and sharing our passion, all through the power of the bike!

ROCKY MOUNTAIN DEMO TOUR ~ Sat. May 15th!

The Rocky Mountain Demo tour is coming to 3 Ring Cycles ~ 538 San Anselmo Ave, San Anselmo, CA. this Sat, May 15th from 9am - 4pm.


We will have the following bikes available to demo:


2011 Slayer 18" ~ Altitude 50 16.5, 18, 19, 20.5 ~ Altitude 70 19 ~ Flatline Pro and WC both 18" ~ Flow DJ med ~ Altitude 29'er 18, 19 ~ Vertex 29 19"


We will also be doing a raffle for some fun prizes, and be providing drinks(maybe from a local brewery;)) and snacks! Rides are on a first come first serve basis and you are able to take the bikes out for about 1.5hrs!
Hope to see you on Saturday!

Whew, lots going on around here...Interbike was a whirlwind that proved very successful for us. We'd questioned our attendance this year due to economic reasons but also realized that it was good "getaway from kids" time...and we always have fun:}.
We were astounded at this years Bianchi lineup and quickly bee-lined for the local rep's attention. Patty was great from the get go and we knew that not only were the bike's great but the rep was too! The Infinito particularily caught our attention with a sleek design and incredibly well spec'd with Athena, Veloce or Ultregra putting the bike in $2500 ~ $4500 price range. Sweet for a full carbon bike! The Mono~Q at the same pricing offers a bit of a stiffer ride, shorter wheel base for the more sprint oriented cyclist.
We do have a few of the 2010 bikes in stock and awaiting more as they arrive!
Also Pivot Cycles will fill in our mtb quiver, www.pivotcycles.com , check them out...SWEET is an operative word to describe these(I personally can't wait to sport the Mach 5...hmm pink or blue?!). We will also be providing BH bikes in conjunction with the Pivot.
Currently we are blowing out our bike/frame inventory so if you need anything...;}
Our website, www.3ringcycles.com will be going through an overhaul over the next couple of months so keep checking in!

It may not come as a surprise to many of you to find that we are a proud sponsor of a race team that is also affiliated with beer...good beer...even a bear drinks it. Thirsty Bear/CVC/Barlata/3 Ring Cycles is the 2009 title for this great group based out of San Francisco.
Thirsty Bear is actually a Spanish Tapas restaurant on Howard St. in San Francisco and Barlata will be an affiliate restaurant opening soon in Berkely. Part owner will be the famed Astana rider Jose Rubiera who, after this years TdF, has been heard to say he would like to spend more time in Cali and wait tables in his own restaurant.
The team currently consists of 52 members and growing fast! For more information about the team, how to join etc. contact Hans Gouwens at hans@headsuprehab.com.
And stay tuned for more info on our website at www.3ringcycles.com

3 Ring Cycles launches Junior team(informally...any kid who wants to ride!)

At 3 Ring Cycles we get them started young! This is one of our up and coming riders, Jack Wyatt, who loves to tear it up on the mountain! Jack is 7 and rides frequently with his dad, Whitney ~ dad is having to deal with the advantage of youth and his comment along with this pic was "Here is my last pic of anything to do with bikes. I kove golf!..."(we're thinking the Kove part is a typo but for purposes of literal quotations needed to keep that in there). Though we're still not 100% exactly what this means, we hope he's not serious.

With 2 younglings of our own we are huge promoters of kids on bikes(and kids on bikes safety). Lindsay, who has a lot of FREE time apparently, has been the Team Lead at Sidney's elementary school for Safe Routes to School for the past 2 years. It's encouraging to see kids get excited about riding their bikes!(and even better when they do it with Mom & Dad). My biggest pet peeve...seeing kids wearing helmets alongside adults who aren't. 22 years of fitting helmets and working for Bell helmets for 5 of those...I could tell you some stories people!...just curl up on the hearth next to granny here...