Signs...

You know it's probably going to be a good day when you roll up on a car and spot the wings.


You also know that even if it wasn't going so well, it'll start to get better when you spot one of these:


JutRut rolled (more like stormed) into town last night for a one day appearance with some of his new Asheville crew. Brew and dogs at the Red Door pre-Ween so we all could reminisce and plan for the Harvest (I'd better get to writing). That kid sure can surf the wave of life (the little bastard!).

What's wrong with tupperware?

July 9th, a day that will live in infamy. H. got her wish: furniture for the bedroom. I have her parents to thank for this invasion. :-) (I still don't know what's wrong with a mattress on the floor or why anyone would need anything other than a few tupperware totes to keep clothes in, but I do dig my new bedside table).


I also saw this Trek video today. It made me smile (though I feel the rider should have had a blinky light on).



I read this and felt inspired to adventure out even more. (Eric built my frame bag).

And this article. It made me want to try to get fellow cyclists to regularly meet up once during the work week for a bite, bike talk, and coffee at Bongo, since most of us can't get out to the trails during the work week. Not sure how many I can convince to get out that early though, or to ride instead of drive. The morning edition of the regular Thursday night Taproom ride.

Scat Storms?

Better pack your wellies before you leave the house tonight. You wouldn't want to walk into a Scat Storm unprepared.

The Dale Hollow Trip Photos

Starting out:
Gray Skies:
"Go back, it's not worth it" 8Ball climbing Seed Tick /Sycamore Creek:

8Ball heading up towards 76 to White House:
Old Man Jeff:
Crossing under 65, the sun came out:
Sunblock time:
Rural Graffiti:
Friendly (safe distance) Bovine:
Grinding up one of the many long rollers:
Looking back:
Storm clouds moving in. Westmoreland gas station stop:
Heading towards Hermitage Springs and Moss:
Putting the hammer down for Celina racing the storms:
8Ball on the bridge over the Obey River:
Jeff on the bridge:

Looking South on the Obey:
Looking North on the Obey:
Status call just outside Celina, nearing the Kentucky border:
On top of the 3 mile grunt hill on 53 out of Celina:
Where 8ball flatted:
Lil' Tommy Toughpants:

Note to self...

When loading up with 40-50lbs of extra gear, knock one tooth off the back, it'll be less of a grunt.

Iceball, Old Man Jeff, and I headed out under cloudy gray, humid skies just after the bottom stopped falling out Friday. Loaded down with our camping gear, bike tools/tubes, food, and change of clothes, we struggled to keep the pedals cranking up the first gut check climb, Sycamore Creek/Seed Tick road. Despite 8ball's "go back, it's not worth it" calls, we crawled our way to the top of the brutal bitch and began our journey North East to the Kentucky side of Dale Hollow Lake. New towns and roads to explore with only a short 15 minute map check/route plan before heading off. No wrong turns, even with a "on the fly" route change. Jeff earned "Bad Ass of the Day" by riding it after working a 12 hour night shift!

Lots and lots of sustained climbs, back to back, with bookends of killer hills on either side of the 115 mile slog. Some really cool towns (Hermitage Springs, Moss, Celina), some really littered with roadside trash roads (Hwy 76 N into New Deal), Funny sightings (Barky Beaver, what was he doing to that tree?), Most Fireworks debris and empty beer bottles/cans Award goes hands down to Hall Rd. We logged 230 for the weekend with a whole day devoted to playing in the lake swimming, tube rolling, surfing the slide, and lounging with a few frosty cold ones.

We cheated a little and sent our camping gear back with the Sexpot in the car. High of 91 degrees and sunny was the forecast and we were already sweating at 7am. Having shed the weight, we made much better time getting home, despite the headwind the entire way and the baking sun. The headwind was a least a cool dry wind, the high humidity having burned off in the torrential rains late Friday night.

My camera is with the Sexpot, so I'll update with photos when I get my stuff back. Just got back in from a trail ride with Crow and the girls. I'm tuckered and I've got to make sure the pizza doesn't burn this time.

Epically Designed Packing

I swapped saddles last night, as my old Selle Italia Octavia saddle is just too worn out for all day comfort. Put on my old XC Selle Italia and it rode much better on the way into work today. Mucho happier butto! I also got a head start on my packing for tomorrow's trek up to Kentucky and over to Dale Hollow Lake. I finally get to use my Epic Designs frame bag for it's ultimate design purpose: toting my tent poles, gear, and extra water bladder. This bag never ceases to amaze me. Not only does it hold the stakes and poles perfectly up, it does so without having to sacrifice valuable storage space or comfort. As an added bonus, it fits the Litespeed (it was built around the Surly measurements) perfectly. I tested the ride around the farm with the pups happily chasing me, seems like it's going to ride very nicely. Ka-chow!


Unruly tent poles:


Orderly, compact, and out of the way tent poles:


Cut out the maps needed for the journey:


All packed up. Tent, poles, gear, clothes:


Happy Independence Day Weekend everyone. Be safe.

Dad's Gonna Flip

I got a new camera last night. A sweet Nikon CoolpixS210. It's credit card sized and works similarly to my trusty Nikon 995 I've had for the last 6-7 years. I wish I would have found out about it in time for TransIowa and Kanza, but everything I looked at online was over $200. This one comes in at $170. Not too shabby.Iceball and I (and maybe old man Jeff if he doesn't let logic and reason give him cold feet) are riding out to Dale Hollow Lake up in Kentucky this weekend. Riding the Kanza SS setups and hauling the gear (Sexpot will be toting the warhead of Porter and the food for us; I know, real men would tote the warhead, but I want it to be ice cold when we get there). We'll ride 100+ miles Friday, camp and chill, spend Saturday exploring some trails, jet skiiing, and swimming in the lake, then ride back Sunday. Should be a 200+ mile adventure and I'm armed with a camera this time to capture the cool scenes to be had along the back country roads of TN and KY.

I got another su-prise (the best kind of prize) yesterday too, H. got my car detailed. Any of you who have ridden in my car know how bad it was. Chain grease on the ceiling, dog hair coating everything, several layers of dust, years of camping, mountain biking, and dusty gravel roads. Those of you that knew me back when I had a house and garage know it used to always be clean. Life has changed that, but now it's cleaner than clean. Even the grease is gone. So, to all of you who've had to suffer through the mess, tough. It's clean now so wipe yer feet! Papa Ted, hold on to your hat: