The Cannondale

'Twas brillig, and the slippery slopes

Did gyre and gimble in my wake.

All mimsy were the spandexed legs you know,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

Beware the Cannondale, my Father!

The wheels that rip, the frame that mashes!

Beware the pedestrian, and shun

The frumious motorcycle!

* * * * *

Best birthday card yet, from my 13 year old daughter.

Monty Python and Lewis Caroll fans should be impressed. I was!

Breakfast Ride

Breakfast was delicious.

We started with a MTB road ride on the Struble. The trail into town was clear but still as flat as ever, so we decided to tack on a climb to the top of Skelp Level. It had the desired effect and by the time we were back to the bottom, we had worked up a pretty good
thirst
appetite and well, Chelsea's was open and it was almost noon in Halifax Nova Scotia, so we decided to duck in to drink eat some breakfast.

Half an hour later, fueled and rejuvinated, we headed back out into the spring-like weather for some more riding. We weren't the only ones enjoying the mild weather. We saw a couple of foxes during our ride - a reddish one streaking across an open field by the lake, and a blondish one sniffing around down near the creek. The second one might be rabid as it was showing a distinct interest in our lead rider, so be careful out there.

Chris

"Bikes, babes, and beer. Whenever life gets you down, return to the fundamentals."

-- anonymous

Unplanned Trip to the Hardware Store

Oh

...my

......God

Mountain bike log crossing that went badly. Looks like Bill will catch up on his reading this winter. I think I will just crawl into the fetal position now.

Chris

Make the Quarry Climb Legal

There is a petition circulating to enlarge Marsh Creek State Park by purchasing the parcel of private land abutting the northwest corner of the park. Known to local mountain bikers "the quarry" this is at least 100 acres of land and includes some timeless (and currently illegal) trails like the Quarry Climb and O Positive.

As far as I know this effort does not carry the political baggage of the recent Shyrock unpleasantness (which incidentally did end in a positive outcome for users of the park and a tidy sum for the developer).

You can sign the petition via email.

Chris

I Tried I Really Did

I tried. I really did. But 24" of fresh powder was too much (four hours of shoveling might have been a contributing factor).

More snow on Tuesday. The Rig may be gathering dust for a while.

Chris

Still Streaking at 17

Not much light hearted banter at the beginning of this morning's ride. Just that little voice in my head wishing my dang fingers would hurry up and go numb so I could relax and enjoy the ride.

Which they eventually did...about 15 minutes in. Maybe next time I will wear thinner gloves so that my fingers will go numb quicker.

But in the end, we kept the streak alive. You know, that streak of consecutive rides in inhospitable conditions where you start off pretty dubious but by the end of the ride you are totally glad that you did it. We are 100% on this multi-year streak, and we have ridden in some pretty gnarly stuff. Like today when we started at 17° ambient. When you factor in a cold metal handlebar, 15mph of wind chill, and a perfectly good pair of slippers sitting at home, I think that puts the "real feel" pretty close to 0° Kelvin. But yet, by mid-ride we were perfectly comfortable, yucking it up, and -- yes -- glad we did it.

And boy this couch feels about 400x better now than it did this morning!

Chris

"Just remember, when you’re over the hill, you begin to pick up speed." — Charles Schultz

Pick Up a Twig

It happens.

You're riding along and a leaf or twig gets swept up into one of your wheels, lodges somewhere in the frame, and that "ping-ping-ping" sound shatters the great karma you had flowing a few short seconds ago. If you're lucky it ejects by itself, or you are able to clear it out by hand without stopping...and without crashing.

But on tonight's ride the twig was about three inches in diameter, and instead of a playful "ping-ping-ping" sound, Jim's front wheel froze instantly and he endo'd, almost. Great stuff.

But best of all was that after wrenching that sucker out (it took some work), that $50 Loco wheel was as true as the day it was machine-built somewhere in Taiwan. Pretty impressive. Not sure a $1,000 American Classic would have fared as well. Maybe yes, but maybe no.

We rode the west side including the new Root Trail bypass -- dubbed the "Re-Root Trail" (thanks Mike). Surface frozen with soft ground underneath. Someone said sort of like riding on moss...or like riding with two flat tires. Strange sensation, great workout.

Chris