Aaron's Graduation

Big day in the Isch household - Aaron graduated from Salve Regina yesterday!

I remember telling my parents that I wasn't going to walk to get my diploma, to this day I'm not sure if they didn't think it was a big deal or if they just hid their disappointment. In any case the end of my college career was more of a relief than any kind of celebration and came immediately after I took that last final.

This weekend's events were quite a bit different than that. I'm not one for big celebrations, but I have to admit this was a lot of fun and I can clearly see how participating in the events really brings a definitive and positive closure to the whole thing.

Salve had a huge tent set up right on the Cliff Walk, impressive tent and views, though it was a bit weird seeing the people on the Walk right behind the tent, seemingly oblivious to what was going on inside.

Before Aaron decided to go Salve we talked to a few people who graduated from there (mostly people who graduated a long time ago) and after all those years, they still got teared up when they described their college experience.  I really enjoyed college, but it doesn't bring up those emotions in me.

Aaron clearly will have that same response about his four (+1) years at Salve. To watch him interact with his peers and walk confidently through the streets of Newport is really something, it shows not only how comfortable he is there, but also how much he has grown since high school. We walked to dinner on Saturday night, Newport was bustling with people, it seemed like every time we turned a corner there was someone who knew Aaron and was excited to see him.

On Saturday they held an honors ceremony, compared to Sunday's commencement it was a pretty intimate affair, there were 100 or so students who were recognized for some kind of honor. Aaron was awared Cum Laude, he missed Magna Cum Laude by only 0.03.

Emily and Aaron waiting for Aaron to get called up for the honors program:

Emily trying to keep the wait interesting:

Aaron with us and his white cords indicating Cum Laude:

As expected graduation day was pretty insane, the tent was full and they even had seats outside the tent for people who didn't have tickets. I'll admit to tearing up a few times, its such a "point in life" kind of thing. I'll also admit that 95% of the ceremony was pretty boring, calling people up one at a time, with nearly 700 names that took quite a while. The normally quiet Isch clan did Aaron proud with a very loud cheer when his name was called. We paid for a picture of his handshake, so more on that later, but I wish I could have gotten a picture of Aaron as he was on stage waiting to make the walk, the smile on his face was priceless.

I did catch this picture after he walked on stage and he was heading back to his seat, he looks pretty dang happy:

Like every one else there we took some pictures after the ceremony. One of his roommates family had a really nice camera and we'll get copies later - these are the scratch ones from my phone.

Aaron will miss these guys terribly (Jake, the fifth roommate is missing): 

Aaron and his girlfriend Heather - terrible picture, but a great couple:

Aaron with my parents:

The family:

No matter where you walk on the Salve campus you can't help feeling a little bit like Harry Potter is going to step out from behind a building at some point:

All in all a really great weekend, beautiful weather, easy logistics and smooth sailing throughout, you can't beat that. So its on to the next chapter in life for Aaron, which for the short term means another year at Salve to get his MBA. He's such a great kid, we can't wait to see how his life continues to unfold.

Nice cruise ride

I wasn't overly energized for a ride this morning, but really felt like I needed to get out, I had planned on getting out on Friday, and I probably could have squeezed a ride in, but I didn't want to rush (what a lame excuse).

I took it really easy and had an excellent ride. Tolland is such a great place to road ride, not much traffic, plenty of hills, though I guess the condition of some of the roads aren't all that great. I really only pushed on one downhill segment, which seemed to have disappeared from Strava. I recreated one, and I'm the KOM now, but I don't even see the person who was the KOM on the old segment, so I don't know if that's legal or not. Anyway, new top speed on the road bike at 49.4 mph. I'm still striving to break that 50mph barrier - I don't think Grant Hill is the place to do that, its just not long enough.

Probably heading out for a MTB ride in the AM, we'll see.

Strong start, petered out

I had a hard ride on Tuesday night and didn't ride last night, I had limited time today so I did a shorter route for my lunch ride. I was pretty stiff in the beginning of the ride, but I loosened up pretty quickly. By the middle of the ride I was feeling pretty damn good and pedaling hard.

Then it hit.

About half way through the ride I could suddenly feel pain from the Tuesday night ride. I pretty much sat and spun the rest of the way home. It wasn't painful, it just felt like I needed to take it easy. Surprisingly that was my third fastest time on the Valley View climb, I was really relaxing on that climb. I think I'll see gains from road riding this summer, but its not like some miracle, its still work and you have to work hard to see the gains. I think the biggest thing I could do to improve things is to drop 5 or 10 pounds, another thing I need to work on more.

Crandalls with the Bikerag guys

Due to work travel and band commitments I haven't ridden with the Bikerag guys in a while. I took them on a tour of Crandalls last night. I started off thinking I needed to go fast and keep them entertained. That lasted for the first short loop, then the climbing started and I had to relent. Those guys just hammered for the 2 hours we were out there, I felt good when I could keep them in sight, but that wasn't often.

It was a good reminder that no matter how fast you think you are, there is always someone faster. I guess by the end of the ride I was hanging ok, but it was a tough night of riding, in a good way. I saw all my KOMs at Crandalls drop, something to aim for I guess.

Five days in a row

I rode my bike for five days in a row through Sunday. My legs are so tight right now, I might need to crank a few miles out just to loosen them up - sitting at a desk for 8 hours today wasn't great. I stood up a few minutes ago and almost keeled over.

Yesterday's ride was up in Union, CT. Great riding on nearly deserted, mountain bike specific trails. Some very nice trails with a lot of twists, turns and plenty of hills. Its hard to believe that's only 11 miles, it was a killer workout.

Nooner

I was coerced into a noon time ride today (ok it wasn't that hard to convince me). The Weather was spectacular, 60's, bright sun and blue skies. Truly a perfect day. We did about 8 miles cranking around Crandalls. That place is really a fun place to ride, there are no buts any more, its just a great place to ride. I hope we get some rain soon though, trails could use a little tamping down, they are pretty dusty.

I was feeling great, so far this mixture of road and mountain biking is treating me pretty well. I need to get out with some fast riders and see where I stand, I suspect they are all pushing hard too. I should be able to do an after work ride with the Bikerag crew this week - a week with no travel!

Busy weekend

Monday again... these seem to happen way too often.

Busy weekend with a 20 mile road ride on Saturday morning to run some errands. There's something really satisfying about doing errands by bike, it gives the ride a little extra purpose. I probably could have accomplished the errands in 8 miles of riding, but I took the long way around. I can't say I focused on Segments at all on this ride, with the exception of the Grant Hill descent. I really tried to go as fast as I could, I think I need to start pedaling hard earlier so I hit the start of it going faster, that said 47mph on a road bike is a rush.


In the late afternoon we were walking the dog and one of our neighbors told us that they had made a trail in the open space in the neighborhood. Dawn and I had a mile long loop back there for years, but we kind of let it go. It amazing how quickly a trail gets reclaimed if you don't maintain or use it. Anyway, these guys had cleared out a 5 foot wide trail that, more or less, followed our original trail. We got the bikes out and did four or five laps around the trails - not great by any stretch, but its close by and there are some really good obstacles out there. Doing laps creates interesting GPS splotches.

We had the big Lease Signing Event at Sacred Heart yesterday afternoon so I had to do my mountain bike early and get back. Its amazing how different things are between my son and daughter. My son emails us the documents, we sign and fax them to the realtor, we never see the place, never meet anyone. On the other hand yesterday we met all the parents of the girls that will be living with Emily next year, discussed every aspect of the rental. Both approaches have merit, its just funny how different they are. Anyway, I rode Middlesex, which along with Bigelow and Nathan Hale make up my top three favorite riding spots in CT. I'm always amazed that its only 9 miles of riding. The climbing is relentless with steep rocks around every turn. You couldn't ask for better weather and we had a pretty evenly matched group out there.