Last night I felt energetic and capable on the river ride, a frenetic training ride that has taught Sacramento cyclists to be tough for more than 50 years. I moved slowly but undauntingly to the front of the pack, just a few miles before the final sprint where I would prove myself. If the four-inch deep pothole that nearly knocked my hands off of my bars didn’t cause my flat, then one of the next two that I hit within 10 seconds certainly did. I rode home with my head hung low. I was depressed when I got home until I ran into this video.

Do you remember the first time you learned how to ride a bike? I know I do, and I’m pretty sure it felt something like this kid.

Patrick at Circus Circus in Reno.

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Sent from Steve’s iPhone
This dude made his own!

We saw near-record snowfall this year, including a HUGE storm in March. This shot was taken from the top of the snow drifts across the street from our three-story cabin. I tied an orange ribbon around the tree on the right to show how high the snow was.

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Patrick takes some last-minute tips from coach and dad, Steve before his first roller race at Hot Italian.

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Now there’s an easy way to add a post to McClellandfamily.com: Sara and Wes hand out the birth announcements for their new baby boy, Hunter, and I scan it and slap it up. Hunter William Norman tipped the scales at 8 lbs, 8 oz. and 21 inches. [Read more →]

I took advantage of the New Year’s holiday to take a ride with long-time friend, Todd Schaffer. We hit the hills and had a great 45-mile ride with snappy cold weather. Out-of-shape Todd hung in like a champion on a 40-mile ride in the local foot-hills. (That’s crisper than crisp weather.) [Read more →]

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Sent from Steve’s iPhone

Filed under things we don’t want to forget that Emily said is this little gem…Daddy: “How was school today, Emily?” Emily: “Good. We made babies in science class today.”

And…here are a couple of gems that I found recently…

After waking up from anesthesia from oral surgery in August of 2011: “I think like a normal person, but when I talk it comes out weird…I know x+y=z in math, so I’m smart, but there’s blood in my mouth.” And then she sobs uncontrollably.

Moments later: “I want to see if gravity is back.” Looks out car door, then, “Yep, it looks normal again.”

And finally, “I’m not going to talk about unicorns because even though they have pretty colors on the rings of their horns, they’re actually mean because they’re really rhinos in disguise.”

Lisa and Emily take a break from skating.