Sport – Bon Vivant VA

Kentucky Derby ’17

Fri, 05 May 2017 18:06:55 +0000

Drink

Read

Bet – I’ve used both. Twinspires has the best signup bonus right now.

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Upland ’16

Thu, 29 Dec 2016 19:28:13 +0000

When my daughter was born, I promised myself I’d do what I could to get the guys out at least once a year on a bird hunt. The last couple years I had better success with bigger groups and/or multiple hunts, but this year I still could count on Colin and RP. A great time was had by all.

Video:

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Myrtle Trip ’16

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 19:01:56 +0000

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Eastern Shore Bike Trip ’16, RIIDE EBike Review

Fri, 26 Aug 2016 18:52:40 +0000

About thirty years ago, my family started doing a thirty mile bike ride on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Now that EF is big enough, we decided to take her out on the trip. I’m not nearly as in good of shape as my dad was when he was my age, and EF’s bike trailer is not fun to haul with a bike. Pair that with the heat and humidity we’ve been having, and it doesn’t make for a very enticing trip. I was researching ebikes for my Mom, and came across Riide. Riide is an ebike that does about twenty mph, charges in three hours, has a range of about twenty-five miles, and only weights about forty pounds. When I found out they do three day demos, I had an idea… I booked two Riide ebikes for Thursday afternoon-Sunday morning, picked them up in DC, and headed straight for Oxford, MD. During the demo, we covered over twenty miles in MD, and then when we got home, we rode about another twenty. The short story is that the bikes were awesome, but I have a more detailed review after the gallery.

Our traditional Eastern Shore ride is from Easton through Oxford, over the ferry, to St. Michaels for crabs, and then back to Easton. Its about a thirty mile loop, and a long day trip. Not knowing how EF would sleep in the trailer, we decided to spend the night in Oxford, go to get crabs in St. Michaels, and then retrace our steps, riding about fifteen miles. The riide ebikes did great. The say the have about about a twenty-five mile range, but thats obviously not while pulling a baby trailer loaded down with a baby and accoutrement. We did the fifteen miles no problem, and then tooled around Oxford about another five after the ride. The bikes still felt strong and zippy at the end of the ride. At this point, I was about sold.

When we got home from Maryland, all three of us really wanted to take the bikes back out. I charged them (it only takes about three hours for a full charge), and we went out on the W&OD trail, and hit up some parks. We biked to dinner and brunch. While we had the bikes, we enjoyed being outside constantly, and the bikes really made it easy and fun to get out there. In one day, we had brunch at Caboose Brewing right on the trail, and then rode back, hit up a park near our house, and then rode out to El Tio for dinner. On the way to dinner the bike pulling the trailer died. It had been fully charged and we had only traveled about ten miles, but all the hills and the trailer took their toll on the battery. Earlier I had marveled at how I was passing serious road bikers wearing all spandex while in casual clothes and pulling a baby trailer. Now I was stuck pumping a fixie with a heavy trailer behind it. Once we made it to the restaurant, I took the other riide (stilll charged because it was not pulling a trailer) and rode it home to get the truck. The bottom line is that these ebikes can pull a trailer twenty-five miles when its flat, but max out at about ten when its hilly. My wifes bike did about fifteen with hills not pulling a trailer, which is still pretty impressive. In Maryland I was sold on the riide, but now I was thinking I should test ride some electronically assisted bikes (you pedal and the bike adds supplementary power) before deciding on the riide (Which is more like a moped with pedals. You can twist the throttle, or you can pedal, but you really can’t do both except while going up steep hills.) I haven’t had the chance to test ride another ebike yet, but I still do really like riide and may end up with one. If I didn’t have to haul a baby trailer, I would own one by now. I definitely think its worth doing a free demo if you’re interested in an ebike.

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The Boys in the Boat book review, The Boys of ’36 on PBS, The Olympics: Rowing in Rio

Mon, 01 Aug 2016 20:30:41 +0000

Lets start with a quick book review. I read The Boys in the Boat earlier this summer and thought it was one of the best books I’ve ever read. I’m sure I particularly enjoyed it because I rowed crew, but my dad, who did not row, recommended it to me and it was on the best sellers list. I definitely can see how anyone could appreciate the story of some average Americans coming together to achieve something spectacular. Its a great book for anyone to read at anytime, but with the Olympics in Rio on the horizon, what better time than now? PBS is doing a special on the story of the Olympic crew from 1936, which aires Tuesday August 2nd at 9pm. If you’ve never followed US rowing, the book and PBS special might just peak your interest. I watched some of the Royal Henley this year, and the use of drones to film rowing has really changed the game for spectators. Now is a great time to read the book, watch the PBS special, and enjoy US Olympic rowing.

Preview for the PBS Special:

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The Woods, golf in the snow

Mon, 25 Jul 2016 17:11:56 +0000

This post is very late. We haven’t been to The Woods since February, but hopefully this will inspire us to return soon, in better weather.

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Myrtle ’16

Fri, 29 Apr 2016 18:09:16 +0000

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The fair-well Kobe show

Mon, 21 Dec 2015 14:36:31 +0000

FJ and I went to see the Wizards earlier this month. It was the first game after Kobe announced his retirement. Save for losing and all the LA fans, it was a lot of fun. To pregame, we had a couple glasses of wine and a charcuterie and cheese plate a proof. It was a great time, and I really enjoyed getting out to my first Wiz game since EF was born. After the game we even got to put the top down despite it being December in DC.

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Rowing, rowing, rowing on the river

Tue, 15 Sep 2015 15:13:48 +0000

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EF’s first Nats game, taking a baby to Nationals Park

Thu, 23 Jul 2015 21:01:07 +0000

EF has been wanting to go see the Nats for about eight months now. Since her bedtime is about an hour after a 7:05 opening pitch, we took her to a day game. As it turns out, taking a baby to see the Nats is pretty convenient. The stroller parking worked out great, and we got EF a neat First Game Certificate at Guest Services after the game.

I got a beer and a hog dog, and EF got a new lil girl lil girl hat.

As it turns out, EF is good luck; The Nats came back to win. I think Big F might have had more fun than lil.

Unfortunately, EF’s mojo couldn’t do anything for the USMNT, who got whooped by Jamaica. We cried on our beef patties, jerk, etc. from Caribbean Plate.

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