Sunday, June 17, 2012

Happy Father's Day

After a legburner Saturday club ride on the new pavement of Waverley Road with a squad of solid BPCC riders and singlehandedly consuming almost an entire 1.5 litres of red wine yesterday my Father's Day Sunday began with this..........


Gotta love the java at 7AM! The coffee wiped clean the cerebral cobwebs and got me too thinking. To quote Pinky....."what are we gonna do today Brain?"

On past Father's Days I have been racing at the Riverport road race held on the scenic Lahave river outside of Lunenburg but have opted out of competition this year. The weather looks prime so it's looks like they will have optimal conditions. Good luck to any BPCCers who are testing their mettle on the 28km loop. In lieu of bike racing I headed to the woods and my archery range.


Been itching to test out my latest batch of bamboo arrows I purchased from Asia via Ebay. They look similar to my previous ones but with one difference - the field point actually has a small mekugi style pin supporting the glued on arrow point.


One of my issues with my previous arrows was losing the field point when trying to remove the arrow from a deep impact so today was a chance to see how the new arrows would perform. My range target is basically an old salvaged orange wooden traffic sign (caution - men at work) I found in the woods. In is then placed behind a frame draped with a blanket and a piece of carpet with a spray painted target.


I loosed plenty of arrows this morning using my American hickory longbow and both the bamboo arrows and I did quite well.


 I was consistently hitting the bullseye from 15 - 20 yards but will need to expand my range with some landscaping to increase the shooting distance. Despite the carpet and blanket absorbing some of the impact forces the field points were biting deep into the 3/4 inch thick wooden sign. The little Mekugi pins worked great - not one lost field point.


Lovely morning in the woods playing with the long bow. Even the bugs were managable and I just happened to find a cold beer in my vest pocket afterwards. How did that get there(wink)? Home for more coffee and my Father's Day gift from my son.


My son is graduating high school this month and since he wants to pursue a law enforcement/military career he is taking a year off until he turns nineteen years of age. I had no issues with that as long as he gets a job and takes some courses that may assist in his acceptance into policing or military; firearm safety, first aid etc. He finally found part time work at a pharmacy starting out as a cashier and has done very well considering it is his first job. In fact he has seen an increase in his shifts only after a month and has apparently become the "go to" guy when others call in sick or do not show up to work. I am very proud of him.

I expect nothing on Father's Day other than the freedom to just do "my thing" but my son was adamant that he get me something now that he is earning a wage. Looks like he conspired with his mother to pick me up a bottle of wine and a card to which he graciously added his sister's name. No small feat considering how much they annoy each other. Siblings! It is much appreciated and today might be another wine day on the deck enjoying the sunshine and the final round of the US Open.

Wait! Belay that last comment. Seems our goalie is unable to play in tonight's ECBHL game so I am getting the call to play goal against the same team I lost 11 - 8 too a couple weeks ago. They are a solid squad and we will be short two other players as well as our goalie so it could be a challenging evening between the pipes. I'm looking at a used set of Senior pads on Kijiji to replace my smaller Intermediate ones so I'm hoping to get them today before game time.

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