SpeedMoore Racing

on to Cordoba

2012-01-28T19:29:00.000-08:00

After Patagonia we flew back to BsAs and then onto Cordoba, in the center of Argentina. Of course it wasn't that easy. There was a huge storm in BsAs so our flight was cancelled and we spent the night in the airport because it was already late and our flight left early in the morning. Cousin Billy came and visited us (I was asleep) in the airport, which was nice. The kids actually slept quite well, the rest of us... not so much. From Cordoba we drove about 30min to Carlos Paz, a small tourist town based around a beautiful lake. This is where Ana's cousin lives and runs a small inn. Lots of the family joined us there for Christmas. We must have been near a dozen in total.

One day we went up into the Sierra just out of town. There is a nature reserve that is famous for condors, maybe the only population not in the Andes themselves. Here are some pics from that day, in no particular order.

We did see a couple of condors, here is one!

For me this is a more spectacular bird, the elusive rufous-collared sparrow!
Amalia and Camilo sitting on a rock.
He must see something.
Amalia found a condor... but not flying.
Lots of thistles, and this one was being visited by a big bee.
Nice pic by Lisa.
Camilo decided that Kris didn't have enough work carrying Viviana so she should hold his hand too.
Who is taller?
Trying to pose for a pic, the moms with offspring.
Trying again, this one was alright.
Lisa and the thistles.
There was a little picnic area that was full of birds, and they were super tame. They would even eat from your hands!
Camilo decided a pastry as in order.
Amalia feeding a sparrow.
Again. I have literally caught thousands of these in my career and never seen anything like this. I was amazed!
This is how we usually walked, all spread out along the trail.
There were leaf cutter ants and the kids loved playing with them. They are some of my favorite beasts.
a little bit closer.
Another family portrait.
Ana walks like its a race and someone just said 'go!'. The girls followed her.
Here is where we were.

Last of Patagonia

2012-01-23T17:56:00.000-08:00

Hi folks,

Here are some of the last pics from Patagonia. After these we have pics from Cordoba.

So here we have some last gems from the coast.

Here are Amalia and Anacelia taking a nap. Anyone who says you can't sleep in a Land Rover hasn't seen these girls in a coil sprung LR.

Here are Amalia and Camilo getting ready to head out to see the penguins.
Camilo learned that he can eat the vegetation that grows along the edge of the ocean. Its some kind of salt water tolerant plant... and he loved it.
The girls looking for a penguin nesting under the bushes.
There it is!
Here is one of the Land Rovers than drove us around Patagonia. Its a 110 Defender with the TDi engine. A total beast.
Tom and Gabe surveying the terrain.
Gabe carrying Anacelia on his shoulders. In fact, Amalia and Anacelia were great hiking, often doing as many as 3 miles on a hike, not bad at all.
Amalia and her sea lion femur.
Steamer ducks! There were lots of them around. These can't fly and are endemic to the province of Chubut.
Here is where the femur was found.
And here is a sea lion skull we found! We also found a whale skeleton but forgot to take pics.
Amalia and her friend Yosi.

Patagonia 3- the petrified forest

2012-01-15T05:39:00.000-08:00

One of our days in Patagonia we drove about 40km to what was named the petrified forest. Most the drive was on gravel roads but the last 5km or so was on a pretty rough road. We even had to drop down the low range at one point. The kids loved the rough road while Ana was not too thrilled. Anyway, we all went to the forest with low expectations but it ended up being one of the best parts of the whole trip. Simply amazing but the pics don't give it justice.

On the drive out we saw this herd of guanacos, the southern cousin of the llamas, that are up in the Andes. It hard to get near them as the gauchos hunt them. In fact, we ate them at the station in empanandas and such. Quite good! Which reminds me, the cook there was fantastic. Very simple but healthy and delicious.

Petrified wood.

another piece.

This piece looks like a log and was probably a foot in diameter.

Lisa enjoying the view.

This log was probably 3m long. Apparently this forest was 60 million years old and was covered in ash from a volcanic explosion.

We found lots of these lizards. Pretty little guys. We caught this one.

Camilo and Anacelia doing some geology.

Another attempt at a family portrait. Looks barren but Amalia is sitting on a giant petrified log.

This is an unassociated pics of a beach made entirely of sea shells. Not pleasant to walk barefoot on but very pretty.

more Patagonia

2012-01-12T18:05:00.000-08:00

Been busy the last few weeks. After getting back from Argentina, we were back in Blacksburg for a week before I left for a conference in South Carolina.

So here are some more pics from Patagonia.

Camilo hanging out on some rock:

Contemplating the rocks:
Family portrait and no tears!

Camilo and Anacelia were great friends.

I like this pic of the cousins.
Cousin Sophia on the rocks.
Amalia caught a walking stick!
And found a nice feather.
Lisa and Amalia on the beach. The water was COLD! But we all went in at least once.
Lisa on the rocks.
Kris with her daughters.
Ana on the beach.
Tom teaching Camilo how to avoid too much sun.
Lisa and her kids on the rocks.
Nice sunset!
Kris and Anacelia on the boat ride. Not how nice Anacelia is. We don't have such a pic of Camilo because he wouldn't sit still or wear his life vest.
Sea Lions!

Patagonia

2012-01-02T17:31:00.000-08:00

After a few days in Varela we boarded another plane and flew to Comodoro Rivadavia, on the coast of Patagonia. From there we boarded a private bus and drove up the coast 2.5 hours to Bahia Bustamante. Our group included all the Moores along with Gabby, Ignacio Pita, Sophi Mandirola and her mom. It was a fun group and everyone got along great.

The area is very barren as it was the summer and dry season.The wildlife is amazing! The idea to visit this area was an article about the place last summer in the NY Times. I suggested we visit and my mother made all the arrangements. It was a great visit. Here are some pics, in no particular order.

We were a bit tired after a day of travel, and hungry as well. As such, we were more than happy to see this in the restaurant when we went for dinner. Lamb was delicious!

Just when we arrived the kids wanted to go swimming, and then they got their toes wet...COLD! Amalia also met Yossi, another visitor and a year older than Amalia. They got along great and were best of friends almost immediately. Yossi lives with her parents in D.C. so maybe we can visit them sometime.
This old Ford tractor was a great piece of yard art. It was originally used to harvest seaweed, the main business in the area.

A massive family of lesser rheas. The males care for the young and you can see two age classes of young in this pic.
The typical view of Camilo, running away.
The kids loved playing with two puppies.
This is an island of cormorants, very cool.
Sea lions! Guess who the beach master is?
Female sea lion out for a swim.
What you looking at???
She actually loved the penguins!
And there were many of them to love.
Out for a swim.
We have dozens of pics of them.
Wide angle, up close, telephoto... lots of pics.

Varela 2

2011-12-31T18:36:00.000-08:00

One of our days in Varela we spent at the finca of Ana's school friend Patricia. She graciously hosted us for the day. It was only a few miles out of town so we were able to take the bus. The kids loved it as they had a chance to play with Patricia's grandkids who were of similar ages. Also, Patricia made a wonderful asado to feed us. Finally, across from her finca is the Museo Guillermo Hudson. This guy was a famous naturalist back in the day and they have preserved his home and made a nice natural area around it.

Camilo doing trail work. Later he decided to eat the dirt!

Amalia tree climbing.
This is the tree she loved climbing. Its the national tree of Argentina (I think) and quite common and amazing.

Here is the tree from a wider angle, note the kids climbing.
Walking over to the park.
Camilo showing his speed.
Cousin Viviana.
Amalia in another tree.
Cousin Anacelia playing on a swing.
Amalia playing futbol with Patricio. He was more skilled, and almost 3 years older, but she was nearly as fast.
Camilo being cute.
More Futbol!
More Viviana.
LUNCH!!!
Having fun on a rope swing... and making Lisa very nervous.
Hold on tight.
Trying to play another version of futbol but a little too short.

Varela

2011-12-29T11:41:00.001-08:00

The first few days of our trip were spent in Florencio Varela. After a long flight it was nice to relax there. This is the hometown of my mother and my birthplace. We stayed in the Mandirola house, which was originally built by my mother's sister. In fact, the family owns much of the block. Varela is a town of roughly 500,000 people and is pretty lower class in general. That said it is home and has lots of family and good memories for all.

This is the backyard of the house. My parents were married here.

Amalia with the family dogs, Juanita and Lola. They certainly loved getting attention from the kids.

The kids in the house. From L-R: Amalia, Viviana, Camilo, and Anacelia.
Abuelo Tom reading a story to Camilo as they both get ready for nap time.
Breakfast included pasteries, the most popular were stuffed with Dulce de Leche. Lisa and Amalia ate a boat load of these.
There is a playground a few blocks from the house and it included this little merry-go-round that the kids (Camilo, Anacelia, and Amalia) rode.
Amalia even grabbed the ring (not in this pic) and got a free ride.
more to follow.

travel recount- the Smithsonian.

2011-12-27T18:26:00.000-08:00

We spent the last two weeks on a trip around Argentina. But to start with we spent a few hours at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport in Washington DC. Quick recount, we flew from ROA-IAD and had a long layover before flying to Argentina. The kids and I took the opportunity to visit the museum which is a quick bus ride from the airport. Its the BEST way to spend a few hours near the airport. Lisa decided to stay behind in the airport and guard the baggage. There are oner 100 planes and such in this hangar and it is amazing. Here are a few quick pics. There are too many great planes to show them all but seeing a P51, the Enola Gay, the Concord, and countless strange small planes is too cool.

The kids in front of the space shuttle. The space shuttle is huge and amazing!

These two pics put things in perspective.

The SR71 Blackbird is simply imposing and scary looking... and fast!
Hard to beat a Corsair! This is one of the first planes you see when you enter.

bike ride for Amalia

2011-11-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

The kids and I have been riding the huckleberry trail all summer. Typically, Amalia rides her bike and Camilo rides in the stroller. Usually I push him but sometimes Lisa comes with us and pulls Camilo behind her bike. Today I put the GPS on Amalia so we could see how fast and far she rode. Here is her track.

Amalia's soccer season

2011-11-04T18:53:00.000-07:00

This fall Amalia played in the Under-6 soccer league. Her team, the Green Gators, were great and they had a lot of fun. I finally remembered to bring the camera to her last game, which was tonight. Here are some pics, in no particular order.

Awards after the game... including green cupcakes!

Camilo didn't want his pic taken.
Amalia scores a goal!
So fast she blurs in pics.
And scores again!
OK, I like watching sometimes.
Practicing kicking goals.
Fast!
Which way should I go?
Nice pass.
Practicing dribbling.

pic update

2011-10-28T11:01:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics from the fall to go along with the update above.

First some pics from Ecuador.

Inca Jay

Blue-gray tanager
Leaf-cutter ants

Sunrise above the jungle

Silver beaked tanager

Turqoise necked tanager

Amalia getting ready for the first day of school!

Finger painting fun!

a little update

2011-10-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

This has been a crazy fall and I haven't updated as planned. I was gone to Ecuador for two weeks. Then Lisa was in Panama for a week and now she is in D.C. for a week. Then she goes to Phoenix for a week. So lots of traveling and general hectic life. But its all good. Amalia is doing great in school and loves her dance class on saturday mornings and soccer on friday evenings. I got to be a substitute coach a couple of times and that was fun. Camilo plays in the dirt while Amalia plays... he seems to think construction trucks are more fun than watching his sister play soccer.

Amalia in school

2011-10-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

Amalia has been getting some VIP story readers recently.

You can see her about 5sec into this video.

2011-08-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

Here is Camilo on his running bike.

video 1

video 2

so you think you can ride a bike?

2011-08-16T07:53:00.001-07:00

Camping and trains in WV

2011-08-15T18:12:00.001-07:00

We spent the weekend camping in West Virginia. This was the first official camping trip as a family and it went pretty well. Why WV? Because of the trains! The state of WV was pretty much clear cut to build the east coast cities and these trains were a large part of that. Not only that, but they burn coal, and WV means coal!

Camilo doesn't like to hike so much as sit between trees.

Amalia likes to walk on logs and scare her mom.
The whole family, minus the dogs (they didn't come on this trip). We slept in the van which was good, especially the second night as it rained all night.
The train ride was the goal of the trip. Here are the kids with Lisa after boarding the car. Amalia was yelling at me to get on the train quick.
Here is the old mill. Its seen better days and probably seen lots of board feet in its day.
Here is old number 4! They had ~5 operational locomotives that they use, all from the early 1900s. They are really neat.
Our train was 'pushed' up the mountain by the locomotive. Here is the pressure gauge that our brakeman was supposed to keep an eye on.
Looking down the hill at our locomotive pushing us up the hill. The mix of coal dust, steam, and smoke was amazing!
At the top of the mountain we stopped for a rest. The ride was about an hour each way. The fireman got out and greased the bearings. I was the only person who watched and talked to the guy. I learned a lot and thought it was neat to hear his story.
This locomotive, #11, is quite a beast!
That night Amalia roasted her first marshmellows. Camilo didn't like them.
Hiking at Beartown State park. Amazing geology that isn't really captured in pics.
The whole area is covered with boardwalks which the kids loved.
Anyway, it was a great trip and lots of fun.

cousins come to visit

2011-07-22T18:06:00.001-07:00

My brother and his family came to visit for a few days. This was the first time that the 4 cousins got to spend time together. Amalia and Anacelia had a great time together. Camilo had fun too but he is a brute and a boy. Here are some pics from their trip. They aren't in order as they were taken from different cameras.

We went hiking up at Mt. Lake. Its at 4000ft so much cooler than down in Blacksburg. We did a 3 mile hike and the kids did great. Amalia hiked the whole way and Anacelia did most. The others were carried mostly.

The girls chased each other around.
Viviana isn't walking yet, so she mostly watched.
Walking down to the lake.
With Uncle Gabe.
Man down! Camilo gets tired and just decided to take a nap on the trail.
Looking for salamanders. We found lots of them. Anacelia hadn't seen them before so Amalia showed her how to find them.
Taking the older girls on a short bike ride.
Viviana overdosed on BBQ ribs.
Amalia likes her flowers.
Drawing pictures together.
Eating popsicles that they made earlier.
Camilo likes BBQ ribs too!
Reading books.
Playing with toys.
Having fun.

Amalia's dance

2011-06-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

DC

2011-05-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

We all went up to DC a few weeks ago. Lisa gave a talk on her research at the Smithsonian and the rest of us went along just for fun. We stayed in an apartment for the weekend that was literally right next to the zoo. So we spent a lot of time there. Also, Lisa's host got us special backstage passes at the zoo so we got to see how the zoo works and get a personal tour of many of the exhibits.We also visited the Natural History museum. The weather wasn't great but we had a lot of fun.

Amalia and Camilo at the statue for the panda bear exhibit. It was raining but that kept the crowds away, which was nice.

An eagle sculpture from some building in Philly was next to the bird exhibit.
The kids and back end of an emu.
Yup, we visited the zoo!
Very cool Lion sculpture at the entrance.
Panda bears were a hit.
Amalia got the distinct opportunity to feed them a treat! Literally no one gets to do this. Inside the bag was a 'popsicle' of apple juice with apple chunks. Amalia got to throw it over the fence and into the cage.
Don't open this door!
Lions are always popular.
Monkeys are too!
although someone doesn't seem too interested.
Washington monument wasn't nearly as much fun as the zoo.
Camilo though he saw the president.
Dinosaurs are always a hit at the natural history museum.
They also had a display set up to let kids handle bugs. The kids loved it but lots of parents were scared.

Amalia's birthday

2011-04-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

Amalia's birthday was a couple of weeks ago. 5 years old! Here are some highlights.

Her main gift was a new bike. This is a mountain bike with gears and real brakes. It was hidden in the van so this pic shows her discovering it.

A few adjustments.
Learning how to use the hand brakes.
And she is off! It took a couple of tries to learn the gears and the brakes but now she is going great. She can ride faster and further than ever before and most importantly she loves it.
And then we had a party for her. Amalia wanted to have a costume party so all her friends dressed up. She wore her bumble bee outfit.

Lisa made cupcakes, two kinds and different kinds of frosting. They were delicious and almost healthy.
and the kids loved them too.
The party was at the park with a giant playground. Camilo loved the playground, especially having us chase him around.
and the kids had a great time too!

my birthday

2011-04-10T19:09:00.001-07:00

I just turned 40. Seems old. Here are some pics from my birthday.

The kids are obviously excited!

Now Camilo is happy.
Because he gets to play with a bucket.
Amalia and Lisa made me a birthday cake. Chocolate with mint frosting!
Wrestling.
and still smiling... no one was hurt yet.

Asheville zoo

2011-03-05T19:06:00.000-08:00

So as part of our trip to NC, we stopped at the Asheville wildlife area. Its a small zoo that is focused on local wildlife. Its a nice little zoo and the kids enjoyed it a lot.

They had an indoor part with lots of herps. Here is Amalia checking out the hellbender salamander, you can see it in the upper right side of the aquarium.

She also like the snakes. Camilo was scared of the snakes, so no pics of him.

The outdoor section had lots of cool animals. Here are the otters. Unfortunately the bears were still hibernating.

Amalia loved the otters.

She also wanted to drive the old tractor.

Camilo finally found an animal that liked him as much as he liked them. The willy coyote went crazy for the kids and wanted to nip at the boy's shoes. Camilo thought it was hilarious.

He just couldn't get enough.

The coyote would also jump up when Lisa lifted the kids up.

Eventually Lisa got tired...

These grey wolves weren't nearly as exciting...

downhill urban riding

2011-03-02T18:31:00.001-08:00

This is just a cool video.

Untitled from changoman on Vimeo.

Mt. Mitchell Marathon

2011-02-27T19:13:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was the Mt. Mitchell Marathon down in NC. This is not a 'normal' marathon and instead runs up the highest mountain east of the Mississippi. I did it last year but fell apart like a cheap watch so was looking for some redemption. I trained harder this year. Overall I was real happy with my result, 8th place out of 183 finishers. Of course this is the JV race as the real guys do the 40 mile version. In any case, it was a good time. Here are some pics.

You can see my race profile, splits, etc. here.

Just before the early morning start. It was cold out so someone wasn't too thrilled to be outside.

But we finally got her to smile.
The start is at 7am and the cops lead us out of town.
You can see me here. I started slow.
While I was away running, the kids decided to play with an elephant in front of a Thai restaurant.
Then they went back to the house that Lisa rented. It was right near the finish so super convenient. Camilo decided to do some carbo loading.
Then they went to the park to see the finish. While waiting, Amalia decided to feed the ducks.
Here I am, finally, coming around the lake for the finish.
Just ready for it to be over.
There was another runner chasing me the last couple of miles so I finished much faster than I wanted to.
ughhh...
and collapse after the finish. The kids don't seem to know what to do with me.
All Camilo knows is that he needs a drink to go with his carbs.
Energy drink is good!
And thats that. Great day!

a few more winter pics

2011-01-26T18:24:00.001-08:00

The semester has started so all the fun times are over. At least the free time is over. Both Lisa and I are teaching multiple courses so its good times around here. Anyway, here are some pics.

Camilo loves to spend time outside, especially in the snow. Sometimes he will even wear his gloves.

Hiking at the park. It was cold but fun.

Lots of ice but it was slippery!

Camilo learning to do the splits. He would get to this point and then typically fall on his bum.

Using Uncle David's christmas present to decorate. These are washable crayons that work great on glass. Both the kids love them!

Our neighbors probably think its a bit weird but the kids like it.

Sometimes lunch is tiresome and nap time can't wait.

ice skating!

2011-01-01T18:52:00.000-08:00

For new years eve we went to Roanoke to go ice skating. Amalia and Lisa went out onto the ice while Camilo and I spectated. Amalia had the best time.

Camilo didn't find it all too exciting.

Neither Lisa nor Amalia has much experience ice skating, so they were limited to the beginners area.

But there were minimal falls.

And Amalia had a good time.
Lots of people to watch.

a few more Christmas pics

2010-12-30T20:25:00.000-08:00

The last few presents arrived from the Belden's in Nebraska so the kids got another chance to open presents!

Amalia loves her new apron than Grandma made her:

Camilo likes opening presents and tearing up the wrapping paper.
She can use the apron to make dog treats using this new dog treat baking kit.
The holidays are exhausting.
They can be exciting too!

Christmas in Bburg

2010-12-26T17:35:00.000-08:00

We woke up to a white Christmas here in Blacksburg. The big storm thats going up the east coast started around here. I think we got around 4 inches total. Anyway, that was the least to the kids' interests. Camilo didn't really know what was going on but he did know that Amalia was going crazy so something was going on. Here are some highlights. We tried to get pics of the kids opening the presents but it wasn't easy to keep them still enough. So here you go

First things first was going through the stockings. Amalia left some cookies for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer. They seemed to like them.

Here are some window crayons and a game from Tio David. Hopefully the crayons are only used on windows and not on furniture.
Camilo doesn't even know where to start:
Here are Camilo's fork and spoon made to look like construction equipment. There is also a bulldozer to push things like peas onto the spoon. Makes dinner more fun! Thanks to the Koepkes!
Here is a great book from Grandparents Belden. Grandma was able to record herself reading it so now the kids can have her 'read' them a book whenever they want.
Here is one of two new airplanes that Camilo got. This one is from Grandparents Tom and Ana and the best part is making it roll so the passengers fall out.
And what could be more fun than a dump truck, thanks Grandma and Grandpa Belden!
and a car carrier truck from the Koepkes.
Amalia is going to love her magnifying glass next spring when she can use it to study bugs. For now its being used around the house. Thanks Tom and Ana.
And thanks to the Koepkes, Amalia has a bunch on new recipes to try.
And Camilo is already building towers with the blocks from Tio David. Even more fun is putting them in the dump truck and moving them around the house.
but first he had to get them out of the net they came in.
Overall a great Christmas. Even the weather was relatively mild and the kids were able to get outside and play in the snow!

Feliz navidad!

christmas 2010

2010-12-21T18:16:00.000-08:00

We got our tree up a week or so ago and got it decorated. Most of our ornaments are things that Lisa and Amalia made, including lots of cut-out paper snowflakes. It looks great!

man i wish i could ride like this

2010-11-16T19:41:00.000-08:00

owls!

2010-11-14T19:01:00.000-08:00

I took Amalia out to the forest tonight to catch owls. A student here is studying them as part of a nation wide project studying their migration. These are Northern Saw-Whet Owls and they are currently migrating through on their way south for the winter. Apparently they are so thick here you can catch 20 in a night! So Amalia and I went out and caught a couple. Amalia wanted to take one home for a pet!

Halloween

2010-11-07T18:26:00.000-08:00

I am a bit behind but here are some pics from Halloween. As you can see, the kids were a couple of dinosaurs.

First thing was to eat dinner, a mix of beens and yogurt means its time for a bath.

Don't take my picture...
OK, I'll smile!
I like to build towers and make them balance.
T-rex!
grumpy dinosaur.
Two dinosaurs.
T-rex considering the jackolanterns.
Triceratops and T-rex.
Triceratops raking leaves.
Grumpy T-rex.
Time to go trick-or-treating.

Amalia's soccer season

2010-11-02T18:20:00.000-07:00

This fall Amalia had her first soccer season. She practiced most every evening and played on saturday mornings and was a member of the Green Gators. The team was dominated by two players, Amalia and Sammy. The rest of her teammates seemed only mildly interested in the game, while Amalia and Sammy ran around scoring goals. A typical game involved Amalia dominating on defense and still scored 2-4 goals while Sammy is a born striker and would score 4-6 goals. They were great teammates and had lots of fun together. The Green went undefeated!

Amalia and Sammy:

With the rest of the Green Gators:

Getting ready to go dribble around the opposition:

A cross between Mia Hamm and Lionel Messi!

Camilo

2010-10-08T18:30:00.001-07:00

Thought I would post a few pics that Lisa has taken recently. Camilo likes to make faces, especially when he is eating. Here are some examples"

Happy:

Excited:

Tense:

Not sure what this is:

And here is one of the kids with Grandma Belden when she was visiting while I was in Brasil. Lisa took dozens of pics in this setting and this is the only one in which all three are smiling, looking forward, not struggling, etc. Its a good one!

Brasil

2010-09-10T17:43:00.001-07:00

Been back from Brasil for a couple of weeks now. I was there for a bird conference and then took a few days to visit the Pantanal. The conference was in a place called Campos do Jordao which is a rich persons hideaway in the mountains outside of Sao Paulo. The town looks like a Swiss Challet and is similarly expensive. I didn't like it much. The Atlantic forest is amazing but little of it remains. After the conference I travelled with a friend, Leo Fusani, to the Pantanal. Lisa's mom came to visit while I was away to help take care of the kids. Her visit allowed me to take a few days and visit the Pantanal. The Pantanal is the largest wetlands in the world. Its an area the size of England and is 80% flooded in the wet season. We visited in the dry season. We flew from Sao Paolo to Campo Grande and then rode in a pick-up for 5 hours to the Fazenda Barra Mansa. We stayed there for 3 nights which really meant 2 full days. It was amazing. Below are some pics.

Here is a pic of Campos do Jordao. Looks like Switzerland but there are parrots flying around, just weird.

Driving to the Pantanal we spotted this giant anteater!

Check out the coati:

The banks of the Rio Negro were home to Capybara and Caimens:

Here I am with Leo and our guide, Antonio, is behind us in the boat:

I always like kingfishers:

Trogons are always a great bird to see:

Capybara everywhere!

Crab-eating fox!

Plush-crested jay:
Purplish jay:River otter!

As close as we came to seeing a tapir.

Or an ocelot:

But we did see this pigmy owl.

Caught a bunch of piranas. Check out the teeth!

Who is the boss now?

Wrangling a caiman. He was friendly!

Jabiru stork!
They are huge, about 4ft tall and 6ft wingspan.

How most people get to the fazendas. Much faster than driving.
Burrowing owl!
Southern caracara.
Red headed cardinal:
I'm on a horse, believe it or not!
Hyacinth macaws!
Big old tortoise!
Little bitty snake!
Pair of macaws!

vacation in the highlands

2010-08-18T16:50:00.001-07:00

Last week we went on vacation to the highlands of SW Virginia. We stayed in a town called Whitetop which is at the base of Whitetop mountain, the second highest peak in Virginia. The is only a few miles from Mt. Rogers, the highest peak, both are around 6000ft. There was lots of nice hiking in the area, including the Grayson Highlands State Park. Also, we were less than a mile from the Virginia Creeper Trail which is a rails-to-trails path. The trail is very smooth gravel and is around 33 miles long, and mostly downhill from our end. It used to serve as the train tracks to bring lumber out of the mountains. Now its a bike trail. We saw tons of wildlife including seeing bears in our front yard, twice! We also caught salamanders including the third biggest salamander in the world. Good trip!

Excited to hit the road!

Hiking in the Grayson Highlands. This was a 2 mile hike and Amalia did the whole thing.

Relaxing by the stream.

Riding the Virginia Creeper Trail. We did rides of 2, 5, 6, and 10 miles. Lisa would pull Camilo in the trailer while Amalia rode along side, or usually in front. Ignacio would drive ahead and park and backtrack up the trail, running, and then guide them back to the car.

Camilo seemed to like riding in the trailer but would probably prefer his own bike.

Its tiring riding and hiking all day.
Camilo was fascinated by the cows next door.
Amalia caught dozens of salamanders.
She did great on the hikes but sometimes needed to sit on a rock and rest.
Its not easy riding in the backpack. Sometimes Camilo needs to sit down on a rock and eat a bagel.
Tom and Ana (Ignacio's parents) came out for a couple of days. Amalia loved having them around to read to her and go hiking with her. Camilo won't sit still for anyone!
The best find was Ignacio catching a hellbender salamander in the Whitetop-Laural Creek. They are super rare and this one was walking along the bottom. They are super slimy so the shirt was used to hold it.
Probably about a foot long. Big salamander!
When we let him go he just walked/swam away.
I definitely recommend the area for a vacation. Nice a cool, especially in the hot summer months.

summer racing

2010-08-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I posted some prose. So here is some non-fiction. The second half of this summer has been dominated by racing of one form or another.

First, there was a big bike race in Roanoke for the 4th of July weekend. We went down there for the day. I did my race and rolled around a city block for an hour or so. Nothing to write about except that I had the biggest fan club! Amalia went crazy and cheered every time I came around. Its pretty cool having fans but all I could show her was how to be honorable in defeat. After my race was the kids race. Unfortunately, she was too young to do a full lap, that was for the big kids. So she did a 1/4 lap with a few other kids. Her bike is geared too low though. It helps on hills but her feet fly off when she starts pedaling really fast. Anyway, she finished and got a medal and a hotdog! Thats a good prize!

I almost forgot that the day before this race there was a 5k in Shawsville. Amalia did the 1 mile fun run with Lisa and Camilo. Unfortunately, she crashed in warm-ups and bloodied her knees. She still toughed it out and made us proud! I did the 5K and did a personal best of 17:13 which means I averaged 5:33/mile for 3.1 miles. I was pretty pleased.

Then there was the Blacksburg Bicycle Classic. Unfortunately there was no kids race, just adults. So Lisa decided to do her first road race, well actually a criterium. It was right near our home so we all rode over to watch. Unfortunately with women's racing there aren't too many participants so they combine categories. So Lisa, as a beginner, got to race with women who are one step away from being pro (whatever that means in the US bicycle racing scene). In any case, what it meant for Lisa was pain. She hung with the group for a couple of laps and then got gapped off the back. But she didn't quit and rode hard all the way to the end. I think she had a good time. Amalia and I had made her a sign and once again Amalia was the biggest fan at the race and cheered like crazy. The best part was that we were positioned at the base of the climb so for a couple of laps Amalia got to run along side Lisa, just like at the Tour de France! Next time we might have to go out the night before and paint 'SpeedMoore Racing' on the road! Lisa ended up 5th out of 7, not bad for a first race. The next day was the road race out in Maggie, Virginia, about 20 miles away. My race was about 50 miles and ended on a 2.5 mile climb that averaged 8% grade. Needless to say, it hurt. I ended up 4th out of probably 40. Both days were stupid hot with temperatures over 90 and very humid. This has been the hottest summer since we moved here.

The most recent race was just this friday, the Draper mile associated with the Steppin' Out street fair. Its a straight 1 mile race that is downhill and ends in the middle of the fair. Its pretty cool because there are tons of people watching and cheering. Amalia did the kids race with 2 of her friends. Apparently she was super fast and no one could keep up with her. She had a great time! I did the elite race and did a 4:54. Every year I do about the same. This year I am in better shape but have had a cold all week. I felt it too. I was looking for a rest station in a 1 mile race!

We still aren't done racing though. Lisa has a triathlon coming up and then starts cyclocross season. I love 'cross and Lisa has mentioned wanting to do a race or two as well. Hopefully there will be kids races too. Pretty soon Camilo will be racing too.

SpeedMoore Racing!

motorcycle racing

2010-07-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

This looks like fun. Rossi is one of the best ever and has won in every class.

just a few pics of the kids

2010-07-12T07:30:00.001-07:00

Just some pics of the kids being kids.

5K

2010-07-03T16:58:00.000-07:00

Untitled by itspeedmoore at Garmin Connect - Details

Here are the results from the Shawsville 5k I did this morning. Kind of cool to see the results this way.

Camilo walking

2010-06-21T17:13:00.000-07:00

Camilo is learning to walk! He can take a few steps on his own but he prefers to use this walker that his Great Tio David gave Amalia and he has inherited. The gators snap when its pushed and make and infernal racket. Note that Camilo is chasing the dogs and going around corners.

Summer Solstice 5k by itspeedmoore at Garmin Connect - Details

2010-06-21T05:45:00.000-07:00

Summer Solstice 5k by itspeedmoore at Garmin Connect - Details

Pretty happy overall. 5th Place out of ~150 or so and won my age group. The top 3 are/were collegiate runners. The best part was having Amalia cheer for me as we went by our house. Lisa and Amalia also set up a sprinkler so the runners could run through it and cool off. Many appreciated the water as it was hot!

Amalia's first ride!

2010-06-06T17:26:00.000-07:00

Today was Amalia's first ride on her pedal bike on the bike path. Naturally, she dominated it! She had a great time with no crashes. She can start, stop, turn and hold her line perfectly. She likes to race everyone and won't listen to Lisa when she is told to slow down, thats my girl!

Camilo's birthday

2010-05-17T19:09:00.000-07:00

Only a couple of weeks late. The boy keeps growing. He is still 97% percentile length and like 75% percentile in weight. So a big boy! He had a good day... now if he would just sleep.

Opening presents with his sister

Eating birthday banana cake

Delicious!

Big birthday hug from mommy!

and another hug from big sister! She like to tickle me.

She is so silly.

But is serious some time.

first criterium in years

2010-05-13T12:25:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I did my first criterium in years. It was a little local race and I did the men's category 3/4 race which went around and around in a 0.5 mile circle for 70 minutes. It was super windy and I swear I thought I was getting dizzy after a while. It was not a particularly special race except for one thing, Amalia cheering. She cheered for me every lap! At one point I started a breakaway and she got really excited. So I decided to leave my two breakaway companions and go solo. I was out there alone for ~5laps and Amalia was going crazy. It probably wasn't my best race tactic to go solo but Amalia loved it so I stuck it out. Eventually the pack caught me. I ended up around 5th place out of probably 15 starters. Not bad but not great. But I had the best cheering section!

Amalia's birthday

2010-05-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

I am way behind on updates. The end of the semester has been crazy, especially with Lisa and I both teaching two courses. Here are some pics from Amalia's birthday. Her grandparents from Nebraska came to visit for a long weekend and we had her party at the local community center.

Porch sitting with the grandparents

Playing in the bubble machine at the party
Lots of friends came to Amalia's party
But she still liked playing with her brother the best
What you can't see is Amalia pulling him by the leg from behind
Camilo likes to sit in bean bags
more than on bouncy balls
These are fun to throw around
Super girl!
Amalia and her birthday cupcakes!

Pegoretti

2010-05-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

Each of my bikes is designed and built by one man using his idea about what a bike should be. One of my bikes is a Pegoretti. This video captures the essence of what it is to ride a bike built by an artisan, in this case Dario Pegoretti. Enjoy!

day of rememberence

2010-04-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

Today, 16 April, is a sad day for VT. Three years ago we lost 32 friends, students and colleagues. Today the university had a run in rememberance, 3.2 miles for the 32. 7000 people participated! Lisa did the run and Amalia joined her for the last 1/2 mile of so. Check out the video and you can see them around 2:14.

Easter etc.

2010-04-04T18:52:00.001-07:00

Been an eventful few weeks. My parents visited last week and Amalia LOVED having them around here. Today was Easter so Amalia spent lots of time finding and hiding eggs. The weather has been great so we spent lots of time outside. It was also time for Camilo's first haircut. I tried scissors and then just went ahead and got out the clippers and went to work, much easier.

Reading books with Tom and Ana:

Collecting Easter eggs:

Before haircut:

After haircut!

Camilo

2010-03-18T19:19:00.000-07:00

Tio David pointed out that I have been negligent on posting pics of the boy, so here is Camilo in all his glory. Beautiful spring day to crawl around naked in the backyard.

Tall guy:

Funny guy:

Devilish guy:

Ticklish guy:

mountain biking

2010-03-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

Kicks ass! I miss riding in the PNW.

Blacksburg Classic

2010-03-06T18:47:00.001-08:00

Today was the Blacksburg Classic, the local big running race. I am injured (more later) so we went for Amalia to run the 1mile fun run. Lisa ran with Amalia. Amalia ran or walked the whole way and her finishing time was around 10minutes. Below are a few pics I took as the came close to the finish.

Amalia sees the finish and starts her kick.

But has to slow down to let Lisa catch up!

"Don't worry mommy, I'll help you make it to the finish"

"We can finish together!" But Amalia still outkicked Lisa across the line.

black mountain marathon

2010-02-28T18:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the day I have been training for the past 4 months or so, the Black Mountain Marathon in NC. There are actually two races, the marathon (26 miles) and the challenge (40 miles). I did the marathon as the challenge is limited to past participants.

The weather has been horrible all winter and Black Mountain has been no different. They are certain to get record snow fall for the season as they are almost there already. The race promoter had kept us informed in recent weeks of the condition and plans for the race. Cold, snowy, and icy. They had to close some trails due to blown down trees and shorten the courses a bit but the race was on. The marathon was 23 miles and the challenge 35 miles.

Race day dawned cold and windy. At the start it was 22 degrees and it was 6 degrees on top of the mountain with 30mph winds. Luckily my race turned around before we were totally exposed to the conditions. We started easy with a run through the town of Black Mountain before hitting a ridiculous steep section that must have been 15-20% grade. So steep we couldn't even run down in at the finish! That section was about a mile or so and then we started a gradual climb up the mountain. At mile 4 was our first support station and I took the time to put on my ice cleats. From that point on there was no support until the turn around about mile 11.5. It was a long way with rutted trails filled with packed snow and ice. I was able to run all this section and felt pretty good. As I neared the turn around, I noticed only 3 runners were on their way down. So I was in 4th at the turn around, awesome! There was one guy right behind me so we ran together for a bit. Then I started to feel a twinge in my calve, and I slowly came apart. Bad cramps all over my legs. I would have to stop and stretch repeatedly the rest of the way. I kept getting passed too, which was demoralizing. But I kept at it and eventually finished 10th overall and 9th among the men (one woman beat me). Pretty good out of over 100 finishers. That said, the big dogs all did the challenge, my race was like the JV race. So today I am sore and have some decent blisters but am fine overall.

I would be remiss not to mention my training and racing partner, Scotland Leman. He thought he would get some new shoes and socks the week before the race. At the turn-around he took off his shoes to see giant open blisters on the arch of each foot, ughh. Luckily the support people has vaseline and saved his day. He ended up 27th or so and has a great story to tell.

So should I try and improve on my marathon place next year or try the challenge????

Proudest I have ever been

2010-02-21T09:42:00.000-08:00

Amalia has dominated the two wheel motion.

And it makes her hungry for banana bread.

And her brother thinks she is cool.

Mt. Mitchell Marathon

2010-02-10T07:20:00.000-08:00

Here is what I have to look forward to in a couple of weeks.

me against the ice

2010-02-09T19:07:00.001-08:00

In case you haven't noticed, its been snowy and icy here. Its been rediculous with three storms that each dumped around a foot of snow. Well I am over it. I am also tired to running on ice. It is scary and sucks, especially with the dogs as they pull and I slide. So I have taken matters into my own hands. Witness the answer.

Oh yes Mr. Ice, you will not keep me from running. I win.

another 10 inches of snow

2010-02-07T04:11:00.001-08:00

The latest storm, dubbed snowamegeddon, dumped another 10 inches on us. That puts us at 45 inches of snow this winter. Thats a huge amount. Last winter I never had to use a snow shovel! February is usually our heaviest snow month, so this could be a record winter of snow for us. Not the kind of record I am happy setting. No pics as I am tired to snow.

The snow has changed my training for the Black Mountain Marathon. I have done a couple of long runs but mostly been doing slogs through the snow. Makes for long days but the mileage isn't too high. Hopefully it all works out on race day.

Riding bicycles and helping poor kids

2010-02-05T03:40:00.000-08:00

greatest car movie ever

2010-02-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

C'était un Rendez-Vous from Thom Graves on Vimeo.

more snow

2010-01-31T17:05:00.000-08:00

No pics today. Just wanted to let the world know that we got more snow this weekend. I think the official amount was around a foot. Thats the second major snow storm of the winter, each of which is probably the largest snowfalls since we moved here in 2004.

I am about ready for winter to be over. I have been running pretty hard all winter and running in the cold is getting old. Its hard to plan because once you start running you heat up, but then you sweat and get chilled if its windy. Today was beautifully sunny and I went running in shorts despite the snow. Anyway, bring on the spring...

Pat Robertson and Haiti

2010-01-17T18:59:00.000-08:00

This letter to the newspaper is simply brilliant and shows how crazy Pat Robertson is.

Dear Pat Robertson, I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I'm all over that action. But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating. I may be evil incarnate, but I'm no welcher. The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished. Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth -- glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven't you seen "Crossroads"? Or "Damn Yankees"? If I had a thing going with Haiti, there'd be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox -- that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against it -- I'm just saying: Not how I roll. You're doing great work, Pat, and I don't want to clip your wings -- just, come on, you're making me look bad. And not the good kind of bad. Keep blaming God. That's working. But leave me out of it, please. Or we may need to renegotiate your own contract. Best, Satan

sledding

2010-01-13T05:06:00.000-08:00

The snow here has been perfect for sledding since it froze hard on top. Our old style runner sled doesn't work well in the powder but goes like crazy on the ice. That sled is maybe my best dumpster diving find yet!

I decided that we need to wear helmets as we are easily going 20+ mph. We bounce prety good over the ruts. Amalia loves it!

for the Nebraska fans

2010-01-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

This guy is probably the best defensive player I have seen in college, at least as a lineman.

Christmas

2010-01-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

This was the first Christmas that Amalia really understood what was going on. So she was very excited! We didn't go anywhere but had lots of gifts from family to open. We also went on a hike the day after Christmas, kind of a tradition. Still lots of snow and it was icy.

I eat fingers!
Hiking in the snow, all bundled up.
Someone insists on walking Norton by herself.
Then gets tired and rides in the backpack.
I get windburn on my cheeks but thats alright because it makes me look tough.
See!
I can crawl now... sorta.. more like scoot.
I open presents with my teeth.
I love my new doll from Argentina!
Not sure if he really meant it.
Look at my new dollhouse that Daddy gets to assemble. Luckily my daddy was able to put it together even better than it was supposed to be assembled.
Amalia opens everyone's presents.
Look, a new blanket to drool on.
Our snow lizard, Sauromalus nieves, is slowly melting.

Big snow

2009-12-20T17:34:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics of the big snow storm that hit the east coast this weekend. We 'only' got around a foot, not as bad as other places but the most in a decade in Blacksburg. For us it was no big deal but lots of fun to be had.

Guess I should have installed some snow cleats on the upper roof section. You can see the ones on the lower sections. Avalanche!

Giant snow lizard, Sauromalus nieves.
Conquering the giant lizard!

Sledding on campus. Downhills are fun.

Uphills are not so much fun, at least for me.
Amalia loves playing with the dogs in the snow.
Romeo loves playing in the snow too.
Making snow angels.
Our house, covered in the snow.

what really happened

2009-12-03T17:13:00.000-08:00

this captures my life

2009-12-03T17:10:00.000-08:00

cyclocross season

2009-11-19T19:31:00.000-08:00

My cyclocross season this year is really just the local race weekend this year. Between the trip to the Dominican, kids, job, etc. it just limits my ability or desire to train and travel to races. Thats alright because we have practice races here every Wednesday evening and a few weeks ago we had our race weekend. The race weekend involved a saturday evening full of racing followed by races all day sunday. Last year the weather was horrible, so it was a nice change for it to be beautiful this year. I did the 35+ races and officiated the other races. The saturday evening race, I started slow and the leaders took off. I finally got into it but the gap was made and I couldn't close it and ended up 5th out of like 15. Sunday went better as I got a better start. Actually my start was about the same but the guy who won the day before decided to crash out after racing for about 30 seconds. Anyway, eventually John McKenna (a local buddy of mine) and I pulled away from everyone else. The McKenna opened up a gap on me and it looked like the finish order was set... until he flatted with half a lap to go. I felt sorry for a brief second but still caught him and won. The best part was having Amalia and Lisa cheering for me during both races. I think Amalia was more excited about my win than I was! Camilo was there too but still is too young to figure out what's up. My win is mostly attributable to my tires. I can go around corners faster than most my competitors and that helps make up for my lack of fitness.

So anyway, my cross season is probably over and I will concentrate on running over the winter.

control

2009-10-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

I wish I could control anything like this guy can control his car. Fast forward to 36:00.

Top Gear Season 13 - Episode 3 FULL EPISODE

back from the D.R.

2009-10-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

We've been back from our trip to the Dominican Republic for a week or so now. We were in Punta Cana as part of the Virginia Tech in the Caribbean program. The students are there for a full semester and we were there teaching ecology and evolution for two weeks. It was lots of fun! Lisa's mom came for the whole trip and my folks came down for about 5 days. Amalia loved the trip, especially the beach, turtles, swimming pool, cheese pizza, etc. Here are some random pics.

Amalia and a hispaniolan boa one of the students caught.

Amalia and her favorite Dominican, Nicolas.
Grandma Belden with the kids.
The beach.
Amalia with grandparents Tom and Ana under the waterfall at the pool.

Amalia with the baby boa.
Tom, Amalia and me sailing in the Caribbean. We did this a few times. Amalia loved it and we took Grandma Belden with us too.
Amalia walking on the beach with Tom.
Doing intertidal ecology with mom.

Big scary tarantula!
Camilo and grandma Belden on the beach!
Rough life...
Every morning at dawn, I would take the kids to the freshwater lagoons to look at the turtles.

sunday race

2009-09-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday evening was the Summer Sizzle 5K and 1mile fun run. The race is to raise money for the Blacksburg High School cross country team which is the #1 ranked team in the state. So Amalia and I decided to give it a go and Lisa and Camilo came to watch.

Here we are lining up for the 1 mile run. Amalia was ready to go! Notice that she was one of the youngest kids, maybe the youngest.

The starting whistle went off and Amalia took off.

Unfortunately, this was soon followed by tears when the big ran faster than she did. Thats alright, we worked through it and ran a fast as she could. I had to carry her a bit but she probably ran 3/4 of a mile. She would sprint catch people and then have to rest before sprinting again.

Post-race cupcake!

Then it was time for the 5k. Reid and I had a bet. If he won, I would pay his entry. If I won he would admit my superiority on the web. Luckily, we were the only people with a cheering section. Thanks Cora and Andrew!

In a complete amateur move we ran over towards Lisa and Amalia to get high-fives! Somehow though we ended up at the front of the race... whoops.

Somehow we ended up staying up front. Two guys ran away from us but we stayed together through 2 miles. Then I was able to pull away a bit from Reid. He had me hurting.

One kid caught Reid. I ended up third overall at 19:08 and Reid was 4th about 30sec back. Not bad for an old guy and a cyclist.

The best was the post-race hug!

coaching

2009-09-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

Lots of athletes (cyclists and runners) around here have coaches. I don't. But I need one and I think I found the perfect one.

the shot

2009-09-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

Federer may have lost the US Open but he had the shot of the tournament.

getting bigger all the time

2009-09-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

Camilo just had his 4 month check-up a week or so ago. I can't remember the actual numbers but the kid is a giant. He is 95% for weight and literally off the chart for length. He is so long the doctor thought the nurse messed up in measuring him, but Lisa watched and said the nurse did it fine. So he is a giant. I am guessing his size comes from Lisa's side of the family, because no one on my said has his kind of size. We'll see if he stays on this growth curve for a long time or settles down into a more normal growth rate.

why shave your legs?

2009-09-07T03:58:00.000-07:00

I discovered a new reason that cyclists should shave their legs yesterday. Unfortunately, I learned it the hard way. The traditional reasons are 1) its easier to clean up after a crash and 2) its easier to get a massage. Well, I don't race so (hopefully) don't crash and I certainly don't get massages. So I don't shave my legs these days. But today I learned my lesson. While descending Ellet a bumblebee landed on my knee, held onto my leg hair, and stung me. So consider bee protection next time you debate whether to shave your legs.

childhood emotions

2009-09-04T18:12:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics of the kids. Most were taken by Lisa. Pretty good displays of emotions.

fun in Knoxville

2009-08-23T19:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we were in Knoxville, KY. Lisa was attending a parasite conference and I was on kid duty. It was super hot but we still went out a lot. Here are some highlights.

Great fountains to play in. These are the small ones, the big ones go up probably 30ft.

Playing in the kid fort.
Good climbing.
Visiting the zoo and sitting in the Land Rover.
These kind of look like Land Rovers too.
Camilo liked the trip too. He likes to watch his sister play.

good friday

2009-08-07T19:01:00.000-07:00

We had a great day today. We went to pick raspberries this morning. Well, Lisa and I picked, Amalia ate and Camilo napped.

Then this evening we went to run the Draper mile as part of the Steppin' Out street fair. I didn't run this year, instead I went with Amalia and her friend Mateo for the kids' fun run.

Here they are going to the start:
Good form!
She better slow down or the wind in her face might give her a concussion!

opinions on cookies

2009-08-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

Here are Amalia's thoughts (sorry its rotated, I can't fix it):

coolest invention ever

2009-08-02T17:50:00.000-07:00

This is the type of invention that makes america great.

too funny

2009-07-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

I finally figured out how to understand a Sarah Pallin speech.

TdF pics

2009-07-24T18:10:00.000-07:00

These are some really great pics and capture some of what's amazing about bicycle racing.

bikes versus motorcycles

2009-07-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

I thought these pics from today's TdF stage were pretty cool. The pics were obviously taken at the same corner and the motorcycle is throwing sparks going through the corner. Obviously we don't know the relative speeds but typically the motorcycles are either leading or following the cyclists and going roughly the same speeds. I wish they would play more sound during the races because its cool to hear the cars squealing their tires to follow the bicycles down the mountains.

Crash at the TdF

2009-07-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

Worst crash I have seen in a long time. Reportedly they were doing 70kph. Looks like he hit a dip in the road that caused him to lose control of his bike. Hope Jens is alright.

working out

2009-07-14T19:32:00.001-07:00

Some days you have to do your push-ups:

Other days you have to wear your goggles so you can hula-hoop in the rain:

couple of cool videos

2009-07-14T17:36:00.000-07:00

How to go downhill fast? Try and follow Fabio Cancellara!

This is the best Michael Jackson tribute. It was done at Toolic Lake in Northern Alaska. I did some work there a while back, and the mosquitos are that bad!

Le Rouleur

2009-07-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

Camilo had his 2 month check up this morning. He is doing great, but I think he will be a rouleur rather than a grimpeur (french cycling terms). He weighed in at 15 lbs, and was 25-1/4" long. That puts him in the 97th percentile for weight and the 98th percentile for height.

Ecuador/Galapagos etc.

2009-07-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

Hola,

Haven't posted for a while, been negligent. I will try to be better about this. Since the last post, lots of things have happened. I was granted tenure by Virginia Tech! I also spent the better part of a month in Ecuador/Galapagos with my study abroad class. I have since returned and am helping care for Camilo as best as I can. So far he seems to be easier to take care of than Amalia was, however it might just be that we have a bit more experience. Either way, its not easy as we wake up multiple times per night and change lots of diapers, etc. But its all good. Amalia is very happy and lots of fun to play with. She loves to run and may even end up being fast, we'll see. Lisa just heard she got a grant funded by the NSF! Thats a huge relief and means she can concentrate on doing research, not just proposing it, for the next few years.

Here are some random pics from Ecuador, things that I thought were interesting.

Here are pics from the Amazon basin.

Giant cicada:

Cool tree frog:

White-lined monkey frog (Phyllomedusa vaillanti)

Ornate snail eating snake (Dipsas catesbyi)

Cool frog:

Ruby poison frog (Epidedobates parvulus)

Mating cicadas

Giant caterpillar (~8cm long)

Big green walking stick

Sculpture of Darwin on the island of San Cristobal where he first landed on the Galapagos. It is worth noting that 2009 is his 200 birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of "On the Origin of Species".

Galapagos hawk harassing nesting pelicans

Land iguanas

more kid pics

2009-05-11T20:04:00.001-07:00

Well, Camilo is just over a week old now and doing well. Amalia is being a wonderful sister. Her favorite thing is to sing to him. Lisa and I are doing well, a bit tired but thats to be expected.

Amalia and Camilo

2009-05-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

Amalia really likes to sing to her brother to try and help him fall asleep. Its very cute and seems to work quite well... at least it puts me to sleep.

Introducing Camilo Tomás Moore

2009-05-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

Everyone is home and doing well.

Team Speeedmoore Racing grows by a member

2009-05-01T14:37:00.000-07:00

Early this morning at about 2:15 Lisa gave birth to a baby boy! 8lbs 13oz. No name yet but totally healthy. The labor was pretty quick (from my perspective), about 4 hours. Lisa did amazing, no pain killers or epidural. Here are some pics.

mur de huy

2009-04-22T18:24:00.000-07:00

Last summer I was in Belgium and rode down to Huy to ride up the Mur de Huy. This is one of the most famous climbs in bicycle racing. Its about 1300m and is as steep as 25% and averages around 9%. Its amazing. More amazing is watching the pros climb it today in the Fleche Wallone. Score one for the old guys as David Rebellin wins it at 37 years old.

my new job

2009-04-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

Now that I am tenured, I think I am going to ride my bike all day until I can do these kinds of stunts. Shouldn't take too long...

weird day

2009-04-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

First, I should have noted that last week was also Amalia's 3rd birthday. She had a party that included cupcakes and had a great time. Not sure how I forgot to mention that in the last post...

Today was an odd day. It is the 2nd anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting. The day started with 3.2 mile run to honor the 32 victims. It was pretty amazing as over 4000 people showed up and ran around campus. Pretty neat to see so many people. Of course it was weird that more than half the people had ipods which limits the social aspect of the run. The neat thing was all the non-runners who showed up for this community event. I ran with Amalia in the stroller. We went slow as it was too crowded to try and race. Also, I'm not sure racing was in the spirit of the day. In any case, it was fun and Amalia had a good time. I didn't go to the other events, not sure why but didn't feel like it. I don't want to forget what happened but I have my own ways of dealing with it, mostly while being alone on a run/ride.

Amalia's last week

2009-04-11T18:04:00.000-07:00

Amalia had a good and bad last week. She was sick and had to stay home all week. She had a high fever on monday and tuesday and then just wasn't too happy the rest of the week. So on that front she didn't have the best week.

On a better front, Amalia's room renovation is finally complete and she moved in this weekend. She really enjoyed seeing Jim every morning when he would show up to start working on her room. Here are some pics Lisa took of Amalia and Jim showing off the renovation. Amalia now has the nicest room in the house!

In the cave:

In the pit:

Showing off the floor, window, radiators and paint colors (that Lisa choose):
On another good note, the robins are nesting again so Amalia and I are monitoring their progress. So far we have a nest with 4 eggs. Amalia loves them!

life changes

2009-04-04T18:12:00.000-07:00

No pictures in this post but a few significant life changes have occurred recently, or will occur in the near future.

First, I turned 38. That means I am very close to 40. That seems like a substantial number for some reason. Kind of intimidating but there isn't much I can do about it. I refuse to grow up and hope to keep beating up on the kids around here on bike rides and runs. Of course right now my knee is messed up (IT band)...

Second, I just found out I was granted tenure here at VT. Functionally that means I can't be fired. Thats good. It also means we will most likely spend the rest of our days in Blacksburg. Certainly there are worse places to live.

Third, Lisa is about to pop. She is simply huge and is ready to be done being pregnant. She has 3-4 weeks to go. Amalia is excited to be a big sister. Its going to be another big change around here but we are excited. I'm sure it will be tough but it will be fun.

So it seems kind of like our lives are going to be on auto-pilot pretty soon here.

snow last weekend, hot this weekend

2009-03-08T19:27:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we finally got a substantial amount of snow, probably 4"-6". Amalia loved it as you can see from the pics. Then this weekend we had highs around 70 degrees. So needless to say, the weather is unpredictable. Amalia seems to like to spend lots of time outside regardless of the weather and thats good!

Cohiba is doing better. She is getting around well but still has some neurological deficits. We do therapy on her every day and talked to a professional dog therapists to make sure we are doing everything we can. She hates her kennels (one upstairs, one down) so I named them Gitmo and Abu Ghraib.

Blacksburg Classic

2009-02-24T17:30:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was the Classic, the biggest running race of the year here in Blacksburg. Its a good race and goes right by our house and onto the huckleberry trail which is where I usually run. I did alright, and did the 10 mile in 1:07:30 for a 6:45/mile average. I was about 3 minutes slower than last year but given that I haven't really been training I was happy. Some year I would like to really train for this race.

The amazing performance of the day was turned in by Ed Dickenson. He won in 58:16. The amazing thing is that Ed is 45 years old and has a kid. Got to love the old guys beating up on the college kids.

Cohiba recovering slowly

2009-02-20T18:34:00.000-08:00

Cohiba is getting better, but slowly The surgery went well and she is healing. She can walk but we have to use a sling to support her rear end as its wobbly. The big problem is that she needs to be crated all day for 4 weeks! She hates it but we can't risk her re-injuring herself. Here are some pics:

You can see they shaved a reverse mohawk into her:

Here is the scar, about 6 inches long and 12 staples:

Here are a couple of images from her CT scan. You can see the vertebra and the ribs. The lighter area in the middle, near the last ribs, are the ruptured discs. You don't have to be a doctor to see that she isn't right: