Biked, Need names, HBD

Yesterday the mountain bike we ordered for Cindy showed up.  I would have gladly put it together for her but Cindy is quite handy and was eager to do it herself.  The full suspension bike was fully assembled by the time I got home and looked sharp.  We are both looking forward to giving our bikes a real world test at the swamp sometime this weekend.

Last night when I got home I drug one of the rubber timing mats into the dining room and attached it to a timing box.  The upcoming half marathon is the most complicated event I time each year.  The extra distance and high profile adds extra pieces to the puzzle.  One of those pieces is an announcer mat.

As the runners approach the finish line I have a dedicated timing box and line of mats set up.  They are connected to a laptop that is placed in front of the finish line announcer.  As runners cross over the mats it pops their name on the laptop so their names can be announced before they cross the finish line, a nice perk for participants.

Since this is the first year I have timed the half marathon with anything besides Ipico timing equipment I needed to test out what I needed to do to duplicate this scenario with MyLaps gear.  I got the announcer mat working.  It requires a few additional steps compared to what I used to do with Ipico but it should work fine.

Today is Cindy’s daughter Katie’s birthday today.  She is 22.  In some ways Katie’s situation reminds me of myself at her age, in the midst of trying to figure out what exactly I wanted to do with my life.  She is a very talented, smart girl with a funny personality so I think she has a bright future ahead of her, whatever direction she chooses.  To celebrate we are all going out to dinner tonight.  Whenever Cindy and Katie get together both of them turn up the energy level in each other. I’m sure there will be lots of smiles and laughter to go around.