Hang Time

Firstly, just got back from seeing Food, Inc. As with King Corn, I feel this is a must see for most food consumers. Food, Inc. kind of leaves you feeling powerless to some of the greedy corps of the world, but what good documentary doesn't? Best point to take away is that we vote with our dollars and those dollars go farther at places like Wal-Mart (one of the only corporations to speak in the film and not through lawyers). Wal-Mart said their introduction to organic products came directly from the wants of the customers. That's a huge amount of money going to organic farmers to supply Wal-Mart and interesting in how we can change the big corporations by what we pass over the checkout scanner. Anyway, my thing is to eat healthier, be more informed/involved, get some exercise, and try to take responsibility/accountability for your decisions/actions. Above all, get out and try to enjoy life, we only get one spin.

Now, on to getting out and enjoying life: Officer 8Ball and I got up early and headed out to the land of Dunn (Kentucky) to rip a few laps of the roller coaster pumptrack fun park called The Canal Loop at LBL. I haven't ridden this trail in close to a year, if not longer. It was torn up by ice storms this past winter and required 600+ man hours to clear it (thanks Steve).


Temps were cool in the morning, 64ish when I got up and our first lap was nice and refreshing after the recent spate of hot humid days. The sun warmed things up, but the breeze off the lake and the shade of the trees kept us cool. I'd forgotten how fast this track is, and how rooty/choppy it's gotten. I let some psi out for the 3rd time out, something I should have done sooner. Oof.

Oh Cananada!

8Ball illustrating why he shoots bullets and not photos. Me off the log skinny drop.

I think he was just taking these hoping to see me fall.

The second trailside EBB fix.

The third trailside EBB fix.

The fourth trailside EBB fix.

After getting our laps in we high tailed it back to TN so we could prepare for the upcoming "Unload the Trailer" party being thrown by the hippies at the farmmune. We had a thousand lbs (that's a lot of Kilos) of wood that we hauled off from the fat tire fest still inside the horse trailer. I started to unload what I could while the girls finished the barn chores before the guests started arriving.

Wendy was the first, there to haul off poop, and brought us these gorgeous flowers from her garden (along with some incredibly tastey blueberries and fruit).

A friend of Jeffy's was stuck to the flowers.

Reed and Kim showed up with their future Moots trials star Cason showing off his teeter on top of a skinny trick. Hey Cason, no one likes a showoff.

Headless Reed up the not really sturdy (or together) elevated skinny

8Ball showing off his skills. Shuffle steer, shuffle steer.

What's the weight limit on this 4x4?

Me taking the connector up.

Coming back down.

Reed decided we needed to build a jump and have a hang time competition. New Montanian KRS-1 dominated the event leading Reed to repeatedly state "I hate this stupid game" after each run. This was the point in the party where the girls made us put helmets on. To be honest, we were just about to pull them out since the cameras started appearing and that is generally when the wrecks begin. Never off camera it seems.

The Flying Marsupial

Pre-helmet hunchback Reedles

The flying splinter, krs-1 heading for the fence.

Marking our landing spots with an over confident 8ball about to take his first run.

And there ya have it.

Thanks to everyone who came out and played. Thanks again for manning the grill Joe. And Hannah the cobbler was delicious. H. good call on the beer selection and the idea for the get together. No worries fellas that we spent all the time playing and didn't get anything built. The girls and I got several jumps built today with plans for more tomorrow. H. wasted no time jumping Ian over the new creations (I got it on video for you Reed).

Neglected

Work, obligations, household chores, errands, commitments, business meetings, friends' needs, Miami Vice re-runs on Hulu, etc... have been havoc on my time lately. It's what Summer is all about right? A week or so before H.'s birthday I decided to make some minor changes. I wash dishes when they are dirty and not wait for the sink to fill up and I fold the laundry when it is finished rather than letting it sit in the dryer until the next load. I water the willow when I rinse out the water buckets and I wheel the wheel barrow back to the wash stall after I empty it's contents into the compost pile. Small steps to develop habits of not putting off later what I can get done right now. Although putting away dishes from the drying rack hasn't seemed to make a blip on my radar, yet.


The victims of my recent habits have been the bike room and my bikes. I used to at least clean the drive train after a ride or, if time allowed, wipe down the frame and fork. Most of my tools and gear were packed and at the ready. Now they are kind of strewn about. In an effort to make other portions of my day more efficient, my bikes have become neglected. Though they don't seem to mind too much. The road bike has seen 80+ miles in 104degreeF temps this week and the Rigor has been to 3 separate trail systems with another trip to come tomorrow. He who got the dirtiest had the most fun, right?

After sweating off 3 dress sizes riding outside in the extreme heat and humidity, I'm looking forward to the mid 80 degree temps forecast for the rest of this week. Mucking the barn tonight almost felt cold compared to the swealtering mug box the last 2 nights have been. Felt like trying to breath underwater the air was so thick and heavy. Tomorrow should be an ideal day to be out on the dirt with Officer Mike. It's been a long time since we've gotten to ride mountain bikes together. Don't tell Hannah (she has a paper to write), but we're headed to LBL and the Canal Loop.

With the summer heat and humidity we've had lately, solid foods haven't sounded so tantalizing. I think I'm still digesting Rotiers from Thursday night. Either that or my liver is swelling up again. H. bought some fresh fruit and I've taken advantage of her night shift to get more than my fair share of fresh fruit smoothies. Mmm.

Here's to you, Hodge!

Don't forget the unload the trailer grill and chill at the farm tomorrow.

Barn Time

Sometimes a ride to the barn just as a strong thunder-boomer is approaching cures what ails you. Rain spattering the tin roof, wind kicking up dust swatches like tumbleweeds through a ghost town, a dog and a bike, a little Toby Keith and King George on a crackly radio while you muck stalls. A mad sprint to the house soaking wet in a painful pelting downpour racing a 3 legged dog. It's good to finally be back out of the city.

Playin' Hooky

Old Hickory Lake as seen from the Lock4 Peninsula

We managed to get out in time to spend the day riding, relaxing, swimming, and chatting with friends at Lock 4 park. The trail is in excellent shape, the water perfect, and the times good. Being a weekday, we pretty much had the peninsula to ourselves, our own personal (free) resort getaway for the day. Not quite Colorado and definitely no Pisgah, but it's what we have available. We even managed to get back in time to head to town for some Yazoo Tap Room action followed up with burgers and shakes at Rotiers.

The Bikes hanging out at the newly opened up trail head

Aaron Bigger has been doing a spectacular job of maintaining the trail and clearing out the new trail head area (kiosks and benches to come). He was even out weed eating the trail while we were riding laps. Thanks for all your hard work Aaron. The trail is in fantastic shape.

Meanjoe and Jeffy in between hammering the trails

The H.Bomb Philosophizin'

The Gun Show and KRS1

KRS1 locking out the YBB because he can. (showoff)

The girls (minus Wendy)

The Mongoose

Hang Time: The Mongoose doing what he does best.

80's retro cool. Soon to be coveted by Sir Dicky.

After a few loops of the park, the tummies started rumbling and the lake was too inviting on the clear sunny hot summer day. We headed out to the peninsula for a picnic lunch and some swim time (no we didn't wait 45 minutes after we ate).

Lake side break

Jeffy and KRS1 (before Jeffy's super secret ninja hot laps on the road)

mmm... lunch

From now through August a swimming hole post ride is a requirement, luckily we have several trails offering such luxuries in the area.

Singlespeeds are Dead!

Dingle, the new single

Wiki-wiki is clicky clicky. Word has it Fuzzy was rocking the shifty bits at the Cowbell. Deejay has been photographed riding a geared Specialized. And SlOhio has been known to twiddle an internal. Yup, the singlespeed must be dead. Not to miss out on another trend (I totally missed out on the whole 29'er thing) I slapped some geary goodness onto the Rigor.

One for road and gravel.

One for the trail.

The Rigor is now equipped with 60.667 and 50.555 Gear Inches. Perfect for commuting, gravel grinding, and middle TN trail riding. I've got a few trips coming up where one bike is all I'll have and there'll be a mix of road, gravel, and trail riding available and I hate having to drive the car once I'm settled somewhere. I love the sliders on the Moots, they accommodate 19, 18, 17, 16, and 15 teeth cogs with a single chain length. I could even fit a 20 and a 14 tooth cog if I had them.

The single chain length has the rear wheel tucked up under for the trail gears, making it a nimble, flickable, climbing, wheelie machine. Then pulled out for the smaller gears giving the bike a longer wheel base better for weighted down and stable long haul trucker rides. Now if only I had a set of disc 700c wheels with cross tires.



Tomorrow's forecast looks perfect for a day of hooky. Plans to ride the trail in the morning followed by some lake swimming and a picnic lunch. Summer time, get out and enjoy some while it's here.

WTRMLWD

The Real Mark Lepper??

What The Real Mark Lepper Won't Do: buy me a set of Fifteen.g's to review for him that's what. Useless Canarndians. Emailing me up just to beg, borrow, and rub it in.

Speaking of useless Candydandians, since the 16t cod cog proves to be as elusive* as a TeamDicky diary on CyclingNews, I had to go with the O (Oregon that is).

Just in time for summer. This one goes to 15.

Fast shipping even, I just ordered it Friday and it was here yesterday for me to fondle in the dark. Yeah, the dark. Coming home from some errands yesterday H. and I watched a swatch of clouds roll overhead that cooled the air and kicked up some fierce winds. The scene reminded me of the late afternoon storms that kick in this time of year in Colorado. By the time we got home the clouds were all but gone.

H. went to the barn to ride and I went back to work only to look up and see creepy colors outside a few hours later.

Photo not enhanced nor de-hanced. Sky was greenish when I grabbed the camera, mauve-ish when I clicked it.

The storm rolled in so quickly the forecast hadn't even changed. A surprise storm. The wind kicked up, doors were banging, trash cans rolling, lightening crashing, then the power went out.

Lord Slum was upset about the power since both the A/C and the TV were out. I was upset because the oven required power in order to fire up, preventing me from baking my Monkey Bread (H. bought me a kit!).

Real live Monkey Bread Made By Vikings.

Vikings: Serving Fjear since the 790s.

Stupid power outage. One day I'll dine on Viking made Monkey Bread, one day...





*elusive: "note to all: you may order what you'd like. i reserve the right to send you what you need." Peter Keiller March 30, 2009 12:26 PM. Priceless.