Knee Dragging with Uncle Gator

So this last weekend, I got to take an overnight camping trip with Uncle Gator (Mark Demma to his friends) for his first track experience on a high-performance Sportbike. We loaded up the truck, hooked his bike (2009 Honda CBR 600RR) into a friend's sweet racing trailer and headed north to Jennings, FL for a closed track day with the Daytona Sportbikes crew. In Jennings lies the Jennings GP, a motorcycle-only track of epic proportions - 13 turns in a 2 mile stretch.

Uncle Gator's first ride was a few escorted laps led by one of the 5 "expert" riders within the Daytona Sportbikes crew which he did well on (little slow compared to the other "rookies") focusing on his technique over speed (highly recommended BTW). After 2 sets of escorted laps, Uncle Gator was set loose on the track, to see what he was made of:

Notice how VERTICAL he his in this lap! By the end of the day however, Uncle got a little more comfortable on the track and bike, getting more and more aggressive into the turns. Check him out here:

All and all it was a great mini-trip (36 hours total) for both of us, well deserved since we are both expecting our first "Little Gators" this year (His Little Albert in Sept., My Little Alberta in Dec.). While many couples like to celebrate their final "alone" time prior to their weddings (bachlorette & bachelor parties come to mind), I find that all the guys I talk to that life doesn't get serious till your first child arrives. We took this trip together to take one last "fast lap" before we slow down, get serious and get on with "real" life.  Thanks Uncle Gator for a great weekend, I enjoyed seeing one of your dreams come true, and look forward to many more in the coming years! :) - Gator Daddy

Grandpa Gator's first baby present

So my father (Dr. Joseph LeCompte, DDS) has officially purchased his first Gator gear for the expectant Gator Great we have coming in December. Visiting Gainesville earlier this week for a Florida Gator football practice where he got to walk the sidelines and speak with both coaches and players, he stopped into the famous Florida Bookstore and grabbed these bad-ass little crocs:

I think he did great! What do you think?
Got any cool baby Gator gear that you wish to share pics of?
I need to get my little girl ready for some serious tailgating!
Thanks, GD

Welcome to GATOR DADDY

Thanks for coming! As you can read to the right, my name is Tyler and this is my "I am about to be a Gator Dad" blog.

I hope to make this a place where future/current Dads can come for easy-to-understand, funny, interesting and informative content about becoming (and being) a father, raising kids, building a strong family, rooting for the Florida Gators and enjoying life as it comes. I will try and share features about products, services, books, videos and other items as I use them over the coming days/months/years as well as tips from other Orange & Blue dads. If you think that sounds interesting, than please add me to subscribe to this blog or add me to your RSS.

Thanks again,
Tyler "Gator Daddy" LeCompte