Girls Happy Hour

I gave it a 50% chance. I was wrong.

We decided to try a happy hour ride with the girls. For Sydney it would be the second, and perhaps last, attempt. Searlait and Zoey are both accomplished bikers. We hoped the dynamics of the pack would be too much for Sydney to resist.

And we were right.

We rode the Lakeside, the Sole, and the little stretch out to the mill. She was on my rear wheel the entire time, muddy feet, and tongue wagging, diving into the lake or the creek whenever the opportunity presented itself. She finally bonked a few hundred yards from the boat landing.

I am thrilled beyond words, a new riding buddy! Never out of town on business, never stuck doing yard work. Always eager to ride!

Rob's Eye View of the Lakeside Trail

This is the first video posting for the blog.  It's a great 10 minute diversion from the grind and will definitely get you itching to ride. You'll also get to see something that you don't often see - Rob taking a spill (the ride occured after our recent ice storm). Sorry I had to compress the crap out of the video file so the quality suffers quite a bit (the original is smooth and crystal clear).

BTW it was a great ride last night. We had fresh powder on top of the old crust which made for lots of fish tailing, spinouts, and some grueling uphill grinds but it was really spectacular scenery and gave me an excuse to eat a big honkin' bowl of ice cream before I went to bed.  

Keep it SImple, Stupid

By the way I wanted to say thanks to Rob for reminding of Henry David Thoreau's timeless words "As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler." I had eagerly taken on a bike wrenching project for a friend (we'll call him Mike Young) who had mangled his drivetrain in that insane stretch of bridges, logs, rickety causeways, 4x6 handlebar grabbing posts, mud and brambles that is the price of admission to the new Lakeside Trail.

The job was not complicated - straightening of a couple of chainrings. I had begun working on disassembly of the crank and discovered that this bike did not use slotted nuts on the inside (as I had seen on every other bike I have tinkered with over the last 47 years). I was now imagining this quickie 20 minute job morphing into a 2hr PITA when Rob happened by. Being one who could never pass an unfamiliar bike without a cursory inspection, he quickly assessed the situation and suggested I employ the crude but effective prybar approach. Which I did. About 6 minutes later the job was complete, the bike fully functional, and I had gained 14 minutes and hopefully the enduring admiration of my friend with the once-mangled drivetrain.

Now this is not to suggest that all bike problems can be solved with a prybar (some call for a hammer) or that I am completely devoid of any imagination or mechanical ability. But it does serve to remind that with bikes simpler is better and that having a neighbor who knows a thing or two about bikes and who walks his dog in the morning is invaluable.

KISS

Hibernia Vibes

Solid ride tonight, trails are steadily improving. Ride did include some drama - high speed impact with some local wildlife. No harm done - rider and owl are both doing fine.

Hibernia is shaping up nicely with lots of positive vibes from the gang (see below). We even have a couple of family-relay entrants (great way to get out of the running part of the event). You still have almost 6 weeks to work up to a 2x2 mile jog in the woods (the bike part is easy - it's basically a Sunday ride with a sense of urgency). So snap yourself out of that winter funk, plunk that money down, and show your kids that the old codger still has some game. Current status:

Positive vibes, money plunked, officially have some game:

• JimT - first in class last year, obviously needs some more competition
• Chris - trying to set a good example

Positive vibes but money not yet plunked, TBD if they have game:

• MikeR - relay with wife Kristin (Kristin is marathoner)
• Andy - relay with daughter Megan (Megan is fired up)
• Steve - bought new bike for the event, so has skin in the game
• JimA - scheduling conflict, feverishly working on it
• MikeY - ready to jump in, just needs a push (or pull)
• Sebastian - ready to jump in, just needs a pull (or push)
• Bob - said it "sounds good" which I think means "all in"
• Jamie - says he is game, impressive since I don't think he has his bike yet

No vibes, no money, may be on life support:

• DaveC - it's time my warm weather friend...
• Matt - hello, anybody there? Where is that golf-outing game-face?
• DaveM - dude, do the relay with Kelly...
• Rob - time to rebound from the double-flat last year and show off those USTs
• Chris Dougherty - the perfect brother-in-law bonding experience
• Sean - didn't rule it out, but didn't rule it in either

No vibes, no money, no game -or- has a pretty good excuse:

• Kirk - family commitment (Sean's first communion)

click me now ==> registration <== click me now

Ride Schedule - I am traveling Saturday-Wednesday but I'll throw it out there: Sunday depart Upper @ 10am. Standard weekday ride schedule next week is Tuesday 8:30pm Upper** (**change) and Thursday 8:30pm Upper. Anyone feel free to amend (i.e., take Andy up on his Hibernia race course tour offer).

MO7S: Finally if you'd need to relive the fun of the past couple of years or read the banter from the last few races, I have archived some of our old emails in the form of a blog at http://mo7s.blogspot.com/. The first person to figure out "MO7S" wins a free pat on the back. Sebastian to review and judge all entries.

Chris

Rides with Scissors

Another awesome sloppy ride today, there is no substitute for playing outside in the mud with your buddies! Fenders would have been nice in some of the soupy but fast sections where we wound up wearing the trail on our chins and faces. And in the end an hour+ of riding left us fairly cooked, since every turn of the cranks resulted in as much spinning as as it did forward propulsion.

Rob may have earned a new nickname. Everyone knows one of those guys who "RUNS with scissors." Well now you also know someone who "RIDES with scissors" -- that guys who just runs has NOTHING on Rob...

As much fun as the mud is, looking forward to dropping temps to speed up the trails and lower the laundry bills. Standard ride schedule this week:
* Tuesday 8:30pm Lower
* Thursday 8:30pm Upper

P.S. A few of you truants (you know who you are) need to get your heads back into the game, play in the mud, get a little banged up. No more excuses!

Chris

MRDBS Strikes Again

MRDBS strikes again! But first, a quick recap from tonight's ride.

Nine riders! Not too shabby for a weekday night ride. The team of Rob&Bob kept the pace lively (and yes they were on single speeds). One mechanical (fatal) inbound on the Sole - down to 8 riders. Nice night for a walk home though, and a bed check at 10:30 confirmed that he (or at least his bike) made it home ok.

Ok so back to MRDBS, which provided a suspension fork to one of oiur riders this last week. Even installed it for him! Except the dang thing blew up outbound on the Sole. Yes, oil spraying out, bits of metal flopping around, klunking sounds, your basic total breakdown. Did I mention that MRDBS provided this fork? And MRDBS installed it as well? As if that's not enough, MRDBS also returned a loaner light to one of the riders for tonight's ride. Did the light have the helmet mount? No. Did the light have an adequate charge? Ask the owner. Apparently MRDBS has plenty of beer (we already know that), but maybe a shortage of electricity? At any rate, MRDBS was not available tonight to take this punishment in person, so it has to be a public flogging via email. Not sure if we should blame the "R" or the "D" in MRDBS, but the legend is alive and well...

Sunday ride 10am Upper Lyndenwood.

Chris

Treacherous Trestle

Good ride today to burn off the fog from Saturday night festivities. For those of you who missed it, the highlight was crossing a very high, somewhat dilapidated railroad trestle in high gusting winds (I think DC would have particulary enjoyed it). Close second was Jim burying the front half of his ride in some quicksand.

Lots of logs on this ride, and correspondingly large number of spills left more bruises and blood than usual but as Rob said, "pain is temporary, and glory is forever."