Embarassing

We thought we might challenge the record with ten riders today but some pre-ride attrition slashed the group down to six. However it was a great opportunity to catch up with a couple of guys who have been out of circulation for a while:

• One was instructed by his wife to downsize the love-handles. Slightly embarassing.


• The other one has been road riding. Moderately embarassing.

We expect to see more of these two guys in the coming weeks and months. But I have to mention that two of our no-shows were reported to be playing volleyball or kickball or some such nonsense instead of riding. That is off-the-charts embarassing.

So anyway, our group of six was just one of many riding groups enjoying the brilliant sunshine and spectacular mid-40s weather. The trails were soft but perfectly ridable, and we even found a new section of singletrack that someone laid out by the Bonus-Bonus Loop (it starts at the hairpin turn). It is expertly done, with a bridge, a small rock garden, some nice rollers, and a couple of small stream crossings.

There is talk of a ride on Thanksgiving morning so we can eat turkey and drink wine and then eat pie and then lay on the couch for a guilt-free afternoon. I think this is a swell idea.

Chris

"Better to wear out than to rust out"

-- unknown

Note: photograph shamelessly misappropriated from somewhere on the Internet.

November Surprise

It is November 15th in SEPA. It has been wet, overcast, and cold for almost three weeks now...

...but today the mountain biking Gods took pity on us and treated us to brilliant blue skies, a blazing sun, a gentle breeze, and 70 degree temps.

I had already moth-balled my short sleeve jerseys and fingerless gloves, but gladly dug them out for today's ride along with Silver (who hadn't been in the dirt since spring). And the trails were in surprisingly decent shape (better shame than I was anyway).

It was fabulous.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Chris

P.S. Thank you.

Life's Not Fair

"Let's ride."

Wishful thinking...because it has been raining since Friday, there is standing water everywhere, and today's Fair Hill Mountain Bike Jamboree is basically washed out.

Oh and to add insult, the forecast is bone dry for the next 10 days - which, coincidentally is the start of a travelling work week of hotel food and air conditioned meeting rooms.

I might have to suck it up and ride the skinny tires today, just to take the edge off.

Chris

"Life's Not Fair"

-- Scar (from Lion King)

Sitting on a Bucket

I don't get it.

I do get hunting. It's what carnivores do (sorry Jamie). Most of us prefer to have someone else do the dirty work so we can buy our meat shrink-wrapped in serving-size portions from a grocery store, but in the end it's the same thing. And frankly from the victim's perspective, I'd rather be shot by a high power rifle while peacefully grazing than to "buy it" in an industrial slaughter house. So I am totally fine with hunting.

But I digress.

What I don't get is why we allow hunting in a suburban multi-use park like MCSP? I mean hikers, bikers, and horseback riders peacefully co-exist every day without fear of killing each other. But once the hunters take to the woods, the rest of us have to stay home or risk taking a frickin' bullet. It just doesn't feel so "multi-use" anymore.

Today I ran into three hunters in less than one hour. One was sitting on a bucket in the middle of a trail about 100 yards from the parking lot. I had to swerve off the trail to get around him. He had the gun, so I just said "hi" and got the hell out of there.

My opinion - flying bullets just don't mix well with hikers and bikers.

Chris

Hitler Wants to Ride his Mountain Bike

It is 36 degrees It has been raining non-stop since yesterday afternoon. The forecast is rain for the next three days. This is the sort of thing that drove me to spend some perfectly good money on a road bike. This video is hilarious and sums it up pretty well. Thanks to Mountain Biking by 198 for the tip.

Field of Dreams

I am visiting family in Maryland this weekend so I took the opportunity to check out the nearby Schaeffer Farm Trails. The trails have a reputation for being crowded, but I was the only car on the lot at 7:00 this morning - 40 degrees and dark may have something to do with it. I had the trails all to myself (and a few deer, chipmunks, and a lone fox).

The trails are wicked fast with awesome flow, especially out on the yellow loop. This is a single-speed wonderland. One particularly fun stretch was sweeping through a corn field on some twisty singletrack for a few hundred yards as the sun was coming up. I was half expecting to run into Shoeless Joe Jackson as I railed one of the many blind turns at full speed.

This is all SWEETNESS!

Chris

Reality is Biting Me, Don't Let it Bite You

Just watching this trailer got me totally jacked. I can't imagine seeing the actual movie which is too bad since imagining it is my only option since I will be on business travel on the only day the movie is playing nation wide. I guess I'll have to settle for watching the trailer until the movie comes out on DVD in a year or so. This just really bites the big one.