Tag: The Bridge

  • Marshmallow Gives Great Head

    Six of RVA’s finest piled into M-Snake’s minivan and headed out west for a beatdown for the ages.  The men of the Bridge were thrilled to join us after a 20-minute impromptu Broga session.

    COP (IC)

    • Don Quixotes
    • Helicopters
    • Copperhead Squats
    • Hairy Rockettes
    • Arm Circles
    • Overhead Claps
    • Seal Claps
    • Merkins
    • Freddie Mercurys
    • LBCs

    Mosey to the end of the blacktop

    6 Cone Déjà vu Escalator– (10 reps each stop)

    • Merkins, Run Back
    • Merkins, Jump Squats, Merkins, Run Back
    • Merkins, Jump Squats, Carolina Dry Docks, Jump Squats, Merkins, Run Back
    • Merkins, Jump Squats, Carolina Dry Docks, 2ct Lunges, Carolina Dry Docks, Jump Squats, Merkins, Run Back
    • Merkins, Jump Squats, Carolina Dry Docks, 2ct Lunges, Monkey Humpers, 2ct Lunges, Carolina Dry Docks, Jump Squats, Merkins, Run Back
    • Merkins, Jump Squats, Carolina Dry Docks, 2ct Lunges, Monkey Humpers, 2ct Flutter Kicks, Monkey Humpers, 2ct Lunges, Carolina Dry Docks, Jump Squats, Merkins, Run Back

    Mosey to the center of the blacktop

    Eye of the Storm w Partner – Booyah Merkins x 5 at the Eye

    • WWIs x 20
    • WWIIs x 20
    • Mountain Climbers x 20 2ct
    • SSHs x 40

    Modified 4 Corners

    • C1 – SSHs x 40, return to start
    • C1 and C2 – SSHs x 40, Imperial Squats x 30
    • C1, C2, and C3 – SSHs x 40, Imperial Squats x 30, Hand Release Merkins x 20
    • C2, C3, and C4 – Imperial Squats x 30, Hand Release Merkins x 20, Burpees x 10

    Mary

    • American Hammers

    Numberama, Nameorama, COT

    MOLESKIN

    On brand, a PAX led by YHC is going to be early to secure the AO.  We were early enough to have Mudslide show us a few moves not on Last Call’s menu before the men of the Bridge were released to the AO.  The Bridge’s friendly greeter affectionately known as Marshmallow was happy to take part.  At one stop during the Escalator Mudslide had the remaining remnants of his peanut butter shampoo licked away by Marshmallow.  Not sure who enjoyed it more.    Cumberland Restaurant hit the spot as usual, mumblechatter was top notch, and Senor Frog wants to know if your portfolio is strong to quite strong?  He says go all in on Crypto.  Whitesnake has the best taste in music of anyone YHC knows.  1st, 2nd, and 3rd F were all experienced on this day.

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

    Next F3 RVA trip to the Bridge 12/27

  • Anyone seen the bridge?

    Ten men emerged from the early morning mist ready to push themselves and each other to be better than they were the day before. According to the curious woodland creatures hiding just out of sight in the tree line, this is what unfolded.

    Per request the AO was kept to the asphalt . Start off with a warmup lap counting each of the corners returning to the top of the hill for COP.

    COP: SSH, Helicopters, DQ, IW, Copperhead Squats, Merkins, LBC, APD, Planks, all IC

    To start of the morning YHC had strategically placed cones at 25/50/75 % of the asphalt for perennial favorite – The Beast: 6 rounds of 6 exercises performed 6 times at each cone down the “field” and again on the return trip to the top of the hill. The exercises: Merkins, Jump Squats, Carolina Dry Docks, LBCs, Arm Circles.

    After slaying the Beast it was time to revisit the corners which had been counted earlier, first corner 10 merkins and plank for the six, mosey to the second corner for twenty LBCs and hug a tree for the six, shuffle over to corner three for thirty jump squats and hug another tree and on to the fourth corner for 40 SSHs.

    From there it was time to touch some trees ( or objects of similar shape) – partner up and do three rounds of tree touching, 5 different each time – Exercises: LBCs, monkey humpers, burpees.

    Finish up with Mary, stretches and savasana – listening to and taking in the beauty of the world around us for a short time.

    Numbers and names. OBT took time to share his story with the group and reinforce for all the residents of The Bridge that once they get a name they are part of F3 and always will be. OBT took us out.

    NMS: It was great to see some familiar faces from our trip to The Bridge in August and welcome FNG Green Thumb who seems to have worked everywhere in and around Charlottesville, including a stint taking care of a greenhouse for the booking manager for Dave Matthews Band (not sure the exact connection to DMB but there was definitely a green house involved). Welcome Green Thumb!

  • Shakedown EH’s the Guard

    Nine, yeah nine, guys from 3 regions rendezvoused with their collective destiny at today’s version of The Bridge. Temperatures remained 70 and sunny. According to Marshmellow, the dog, the following demonstration of excellence might have happened:

    Introductions…men meeting men. Nothing finer than introducing yourself to another man of purpose.

    Quick mosey around the blacktop, road, and back to the blacktop.

    COP:

    25 SSHs
    Dead Man Hang
    Fudd’s Wife (the names were change to comply with local custom)
    Right leg high
    Left leg high
    Pigeon left / right
    WWIIs
    Flutter kicks (YHC can affirm that he witnessed Vinny doing at least one actual flutter kick, rather than the traditional Freddy Mercury)
    Freddy Mercuries
    Squats

    Mosey to the other end of the black top for Touch a Tree
    10, 8, 6, 4, and 2
    Rounds included WWIIs + merkins, gas pumps + dry docks, yadda, yadda, and burpees + burpees

    Mosey to the asphalt pile. The Bridge installed an asphalt parking area last year. There is a left over pile of asphalt (aka, a playground for us). Triple check was called. Dealer’s Choice decline or incline merkins on the picnic table bench, WWIIs, and bear crawl the asphalt pile.

    Mosey to something that is distinctly not a corner for 4 corners.
    10 merkins. Then, 10 merkins plus 20 WWIIs. Then 10+20+30 squats. Then 10+20+30+40 SSHs. OR, dealer’s choice…just do 40 burpees. No takers finished the burpees, though Links made a push.

    Numbers, names, and Twenty-Eight took us out.

    Annoucements:

    Great to see Vinny, meet Sysco, and meet the four new interns at The Bridge. Way to push!

    Prayer requests for Sysco’s family, people working to heal themselves, and so forth. Apologies if YHC missed anyone.

    NMS: Shakedown chatted with the guard today. He’s our kind of guy. After discussing F3 and the basics of who we are, he said,”That’s this. This type of good work. The book says that “Faith without good works is dead.” Bam. A guy who spends his time allowing the rest of us to workout has done his own workout. We should have named him.

    Welcome to Cheesesteak and 28 (or Twenty Eight). Cheesesteak is an Eagles fan, so while we like him and welcome him, he’s clearly on the road to becoming a better man (but will be limited by his support of the Eagles). By contrast, 28 is a lifelong ‘Skins fan, Darryl Green fan, and generally a top level human working to be better day by day. Welcome, gentlemen!

  • 19 on the 19th at the Bridge

    17 from the greater Richmond area spent their morning at the Bridge with 2 residents. Thank you everyone for the big numbers!

    According to the two dogs who took part in almost every exercise, we did the following:

    Warmups: SSH, Jazzercise, IW, Ukrainian Walkers, Helicopters, Copperhead Squats, LBCs, American Hammers, Flutters, Merkins and finished with 5 burpees.

    Double Quarter Pounder, splitting the blacktop in 1/4ths. First round: 25 Merkins, 50 LBCs, 75 one-count Mountain Climbers, 100 SSH: Bernie back between each exercise. Second round: 25 HRM, 50 Reverse Crunches, 75 Squats, 100 SSH: Bernie back between each.

    Triple check time with timer running to the end of the blacktop while partners rotate through flutters and hammers.

    Partner up for 5 bro-burpees. Some good form, some eye rolling. Keep your partner for three rounds of 20 partner leg tosses.

    Finish with a Beast, warm down style. Exercises includes, 6 helicopters (36 total), 6 two-count jazzercise (30 total), 6 squats (24 total), 6 arm circles forward and backwards (18 each), 6 WW2 (12 total), 6 Merkins.

    Circled up with one minute left on our six for holding feet six inches off the ground (really only 45 seconds worth).

    All followed by bad coffee and good fellowship at the Bridge, and almost everything good at the Cumberland Diner. The food and service was great.

    I was super proud of the Gridiron participation today until we spent an extra 20 minutes at Cumberland waiting for four knuckleheads trying to divide their check in four. The Diner’s NetZero dial-up did not help matters but that was not the main issue. Lesson learned…

    You are all now trained to lead the Bridge. Congrats. Pick a Saturday later this year and get Upchuck to hold it for you. If I can get 17, I promise you won’t be alone.

    Thanks again for showing up from North of the Wall, South of the Rivah and Westhoe and for all the drivers. My wife’s mini-van survived despite the six smelly pax and the giant speed bump that autographed the undercarriage.

    Buckets and Lynx were glad to see us and participate, and that is really all that mattered. Great work by everyone!

  • bridging the gap

    7 battle-hardened warriors met at wawa on a crisp spring morn…we headed out with a determination to serve along with a Relay hardywood donation of bangin foot support for the men in buckingham. The car-ride chatter was pleasing a fullfilling, the farts were displeasing and wretched. We rolled up early, did a practice mosey, nancy led us in bro-ga, and the 3 men we were there to see emerged ready for a beat down. YHC gave it his best.

    COP introductions, a short warmarama in the F3 way, then the

    THANG 1st up was Dojo Dan with instx on front kicks, lunging front kicks, punching techniques, and high blocks. Martial arts play time ended with a jump into the 11’s for a merkin set on one side and jump squats on the other. After a 20 count from lynx we got on to some BLIMPS with 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 burpees, lunges, imperial walkers, merkins, plank jacks, and ssh, respectively. 20 count from buckets brought us to a set of partner ex’s. BOOYA merks, PLTs 10 rep 3 rounds each, boxing cockroaches 15 reps 3 rounds each, DORA 100/200/300 merk/squat/ssh. Grabbed some coupons and hit a triple check to end it with lbc and curls for the girls. We hit about 55 min after stretching out with ghost, buckets and lynx leading us in cool downs.

    COT

    annc, prayer req, YHC brought us out. Coffee with the resident bridgers was good chatter and bonding. Connections were made and we were asked if we were returning. It was pointed out during coffee by lynx that we did not do number/namarama as YHC seems to have forgotten an important aspect of finishing a WO. We rolled out and hit Cumberland diner. We didn’t look out of place as much as our last visit as YHC wore his Buccee’s t-shirt to help us fit in with old men, flannels, camo, side arms and trucker hats.

    Hardywood’s donation will be much appreciated by the bridgers as YHC noticed the a few of the residents were not in good supportive athletic footwear.

    It was a pleasure, honor and privilege to lead such a fine group of gentlemen

  • Bridge Triad

    YHC was ready for a great morning with the Bridge residents to lead a workout and had two stops to pick up others from RVA for the ride out to Buckingham, VA. Here is what went down.

    Had a 5:15am pick up of Surf n Turf at Food Lion in DaVille, then a 5:45 pickup on Route 60/288 at the Wawa where Pucker jumped in for a ride. We waited until 6 am with no others showing up we were off. We arrived at the AO about 15 minutes early so we took some time to visit the recently completed great hall center complete with a full commercial kitchen. More in Moleskin below>

    COP

    Three were present from campus and we circled up for 20 ssh, 10 4ct helicopters, 10 DQ’s, 15 arm circles (10 small and 5 big), reverso, then 10 Imperial walkers, 20 LBC’s, 10 4ct american Hammers, 10 reverse scorpions and 20 merkins.

    THANG

    We started with Escalator with corner 1 10 merkins, corner 2 20 squats, Corner 3 30 lunges and corner 4 40 2 count flutter kicks, back to 30 lunges, 20 squats and 10 burpees.

    We started a triple check round where we each teamed up to have a workout teammate Pucker/Ghost, Surf n Turf – Bucket and YHC and links. Links and YHC started to run the lap as the timer, the other two stations were Plank and LBC’s.

    Cisco showed up and Joined Pucker’s team to keep this going.

    We did another triple check, running laps as the timer with the other stations were S2 – Squat and S3 – flutter kicks.

    We then moseyed to the shack and lunged to the gate and returned to the basked ball court.

    Staying in our paired teams, we did a 3rd triple check with station 1 – suicides on the bball court as the time, station 2 dips and station 3 step ups.

    Mosey back to the big lot and planked for a Ring of fire where each member stated F3 name and then performed 5 merkins.

    COT

    Numberama, namerama, Pucker took us out in prayer.

    Moleskin

    After our workout we shared some gatorade and coffee with everyone prior to leaving the campus. We stopped at the diner on Route 60 on the way back for a nice breakfast and some time to catch up.

    What a great morning and see the vision and mission below of the Bridge

    Vision – the vision of the bridge is to bring people of all different backgrounds, ethnicities, races and religions together to experience each others talents, ability, culture, and the gifts we have to serve those in need. From our service we fulfill a need within ourselves as we share our gifts and talents with each other.

    Mission – The Bridge works to transform the lives of individuals by providing mentoring, vocational skills, education and the relationships they need to bridge the gap to productive community and family life. We accomplish this through the love of people, love of community, love of country, standing together in faith, trusting God and each other.

    Hope to see you in the gloom soon gents…you missed a good one!

    Have a great weekend … Cheers …CB!

  • The Bridge is Back – Be a High Impact Man

    The Bridge is Back – Be a High Impact Man

    The Bridge is back. Time to make an impact.

    F3 RVA joins forces with F3 Charlottesville to help support The Bridge Ministry. This is a facility in Buckingham where men in crisis (meaning: men transitioning from the prison system or trying to stay out of prison)learn the skills needed to integrate back into society. HVAC, plumbing, vehicle repairs, electrical, carpentry, construction, and so forth. These crafts all offer methods of building men who can make a strong, positive impact in their communities.

    F3 RVA (and Amelia) has 6 sets of guys ready to lead (and we are always open to more). At any time, reach out to Heist, Hardywood, TYA, Whitesnake, Corned Beef, TYA, or UpChuck for details on how to join and when. And, we are always interested in expanding – if you are looking to build your leadership skills and make a tangible impact, let us know. We’d be happy to have another dedicated man join this team of leaders.

    Here are the upcoming dates:

    April 26 Corned Beef has the Q.

    May 10 Hermes has the Q.

    In the course of one short morning, you’ll hit all 3 F’s, and you’ll make some friends in the process.

    Transportation is OYO, with a heavy emphasis on Clown Cars. The Bridge starts at 7:30 a.m. sharp in Buckingham, so figure about an hour car ride. Beat down is 7:30 to 8:15 a.m. Coffeeteria is on-site until about 8:45/9:00. The ride back often includes a stop for breakfast with arrival back around 10:30 / 11 a.m. Boom!

    So, pick a date, reach out to the Q, make a commitment to attend, and make an impact (on someone else).

    Let’s do this!

  • Baccalaureate

    Baccalaureate

    Nineteen, nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh, nineteen, nineteen warriors of The Gloom stepped forth onto the frozen blacktop of Buckingham in the latest edition of The Bridge. Conditions remained steady at 70 and sunny. According to Mr. Yoder’s extended situational observation report, the following might have happened:

    07:29: pre-game introductions and re-introductions.

    07:30: Let’s mosey, or, as some do, mossy.

    07:31: COP

    Circle up. Disclaimer, mangled. Purpose, mangled. First exercise, SSHs, in cadence, full-throated, no mangling. X52, 4-count.

    Dead man hang. Fudd’s Wife. Right leg high. Left leg high. Wilson’s wife. Fudd’s wife. Pigeon right. Fudd’s wife. Pigeon left. (Don’t say it…don’t say it…ok, we did Fudd’s wife three times in the first 5 minutes. Had to say it.)

    LBCs x52 4-count. Someone has a birthday coming up. Flutter kicks, x20, 4-count. Reverse crunches / gas pumps, x10, 4 count. Rosalita’s, x 10, 4-count. Flip it over.

    HRM’s, x15. Stand up!

    Copperhead squats x10. Monkey humpers, x20.

    Let’s mossy, er, mosey. 1 lap.

    Touch-a-Tree. Rounds of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. Exercises were WWIIs, WWIs, squats, something else, and burpees. “Governor Bush, give me one word that describes your campaign at this point? Strategery.” IYKYK.

    In between rounds, karaoke right, karaoke left for the six / to stave off freezing.

    Let’s mosey. 1 lap.

    Triple Check, Bridge Style. The Bridge is a living construction site in places. Partner 1 did hello dolly. Partner 2 did decline merkins. Partner 3 bear crawled along the spine of the asphalt heap. As Paul Simon sang, “Slip sliding away. Slip sliiidin’ away-yeaah.” Push yourself, don’t hurt yourself.

    In the words of Chum Bucket (not present), “Let’s mosey over here.” If you can, partner up with someone from your region (Charlottesville, The Bridge, Amelia, and RVA). Line up along opposite sides of the rope. Tug-of-War. Us against Them. It’s Our Guys against Those Guys. Round 1: Our Guys. Round 2: Those Guys. Round 3: Those Guys. Final score: Those Guys 2, Our Guys 1. Bonds were built.

    Let’s mosey. 1 lap.

    Circle up. 52, 4-count SSHs, in The Cadence.

    Numbers, names, and OBT took us out with a reminder of what F3 has done for him and for each of us. “Your nickname is your passport” to a world of 100,000 friendships and supporters. Incredible what this group has done for each of us. Thank you, my friend.

    Thank you to Mr. Davis for making the best Folger’s coffee in a styrofoam cup that any human can make. Thank you to Mr. Yoder for literally allowing himself to freeze so the rest of us could exercise together.

    Announcements:

    The Bridge holds graduation tomorrow. May the wind be at the backs of each man who is moving forward on his journey. Keep us and hold us. Find your group, stick together, help each other along. As YHC’s favorite sign says, “Choose to Carry More.”

    NMS:

    Incredible group of men today at The Bridge. YHC was moved by the outpouring of support from F3 Charlottesville, F3 Amelia, and F3RVA. 14 men from those regions joined 5 from The Bridge to make 19 in total…incredible. YHC notes that we missed the record for The Bridge by 1 or 2. November 30 had 15 RVA guys; this week we had 14 from all supporting regions. Let no man say the PAX does not overwhelmingly support this AO. Not for nothing…unless Gridiron comes out of nowhere, and it might, this is the second time in 3 weeks the The Bridge is the biggest Saturday AO! Time to get on board, fellas!

    If you have not yet made it to The Bridge, or if you are looking to run it back, we’ll have another group coming out soon. Look on Slack for details. LG!

    Also, great to catch up for some home cooking, hot coffee, and Halloween 2025 tattoo ideas at The Cumberland, home to the World Famous Bologna Burger. It’s worth the stop.

    UpChuck spits the bit.

  • Long road to the Bday Bridge

    a strong group of dedicated men showed up at WAWA ready to get it on. About 15 min into the trip to Buckingham a trash truck on fire blocked the entire road – dead in the water for a min. We made several attempts to get a path around but to no avail. Rudy lead the charge, got us through and we were back on our way. Coming in hot, Cookie was there and got the go ahead that we could work the men out regardless of being late for the desired length of abuse time. I was ready to dole it out.

    COP

    we warmed up w a mosey and the typical ssh, merkin, helo’s, etc after YHC butchered the disclaimer and creedo.

    THANG

    started w a DOJO Dan and the made made my heart happy with their strong KIA’s (japanese for unification of energy). Then we ran a build a beast w merkins (180 not 90), WW2, squat, dry dock, ssh, drop all exerc and 3 burpee at each stop up and back. partner up for PLTs and then a ROF.

    COT

    number/namarama where YHC was reminded that as of today he’s no longer 47, welcome to FNG Sully brought to us by Cookie, announcements, YHC brought us out with prayers for the upcoming bridge graduates in their next steps of this journey of life. I am thankful to be able to lead such a fine group of gentlemen. The fellowship to and from the bridge was a highlight, thank you corned beef and hutton for put up with my minivan driving skills. The fellowship continued with a bday breaky and cake at the cumberland diner. What a morning and powerful way to start a saturday. Thank you Heist for making it all possible. THank you men.

    Big Herm

  • Bridge – 9/14/24

    12 dudes got it done this morning!

    Warmorama:
    We kicked things off with a few warm-up laps around the blacktop, followed by:

    •   Side Straddle Hops (SSH)
•   Copperhead Squats
•   Deadman Hangs
•   Merkins
•   LBCs
•   Stretches

    The Thang:
    Grabbed our Cindys and moseyed over to the basketball court.

    Round 1:
    5 rounds of Cindy work:

    •   Swings
•   Presses
•   Rows
•   Curls
•   Triceps Extensions

    Then, we ran a lap.

    Round 2:
    Passed the baton to Purple Rain, who led another 5 rounds:

    •   Thrusters
•   Block Merkins
•   Reverse Lunges
•   Skull Crushers

    Heist jumped in with a surprise set of 11s: Burpees and Squats. Things got spicy!

    Round 3:
    Wrapped up with some more Cindy work.

    Triple Check:
    Swoop led a quick triple check of Merkins and LBCs.

    Finished up by putting the blocks away, then a little Broga to cool down. Time!

    COT:
    We circled up for Numbers/Names. Big Herm took us out with a strong prayer, especially lifting up Tank as he prepares for the next chapter in 80 days.

    Moleskin:
    Grateful to all the guys who came out for a solid beatdown. Enjoyed some much-needed 2nd F at the Cumberland Restaurant afterward!

    IronSharpensIron