A Little Riding, A Little Work, A Good Day

I went riding at the King today. I met Ron and Joshua at I.C. King Park just after 11:00 this morning. What did you think I meant, Burger King?

Actually, I met Joshua at a little after 11:00 this morning. Ron was running a little later than I was, so he called and said we should go on and ride a short loop until he got there, and that he’d call my cell phone when he got to the parking lot.

Joshua had never been to the King before (having just moved here recently), so I decided to take him on the expert loop. Now don’t get the wrong idea and think that I was being mean by throwing him to the wolves, so to speak (even though they do have such nice shiny coats and such sharp, pretty teeth). ‘Expert’ at I.C. King Park doesn’t mean all that much. I really decided to go that way because I figured it wouldn’t be all that muddy.

And it wasn’t all that muddy. It was actually rather good riding, if somewhat rollercoaster-like. We got around to ‘The Center of the Universe’, which is where most trails north of the water converge (though not all), and decided to cut back along the low trail which most closely follows the shore back toward the parking lot. Ron called soon after we started that way, so heading back was a good choice.

The low trail, however, was not such a good choice. Even though it hasn’t rained in a good while, the trail was as muddy as, if not muddier than, I have ever seen it. My bike was covered with big hunks of gloppy muck by the time we slogged our way back out to Ron’s truck. While Ron finished getting ready, I spent the time clearing as much mud from my drivetrain as I could with my fingers.

With Ron ready we went back into the trail system, but we didn’t go far before we stopped at one particular new trail that someone had cut in a few years before as a hiking trail, though it was actually more likely used to hide out and pursue more nefarious activities. Today we used some folding saws we’d brought to remove some of the tight underbrush and make it a rideable connector between two other trails.

The saws came in handy later as well. After we’d ridden over to the south side and come back, we came upon a pine tree that had fallen across the lower trail between the bridge and ‘The Center of the Universe’ (that section being not so muddy). The tree was too big to move and too big to ride around, but not so big that Ron and I couldn’t brandish saws while Joshua hauled off what we cut away. Ten minutes later the trail was clear again except for one small bit that Joshua wanted to finish up. That's Joshua in the shot below using my saw to cut back one last branch.

We rode out satisfied that we’d done our good deeds for the day.

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Sign That Bicycles Could Help Cure Society’s Ills

As I left the parking lot to go home, I turned right just as another car was coming along in the other lane next to me (going the same direction. I was driving a ten year old pickup truck with a muddy mountain bike thrown in the back. The other guy was driving a shiny new Mercedes E320 with a $5,000+ bike attached to the roof rack. Old truck, new car. But we both raised our hands to wave at each other at exactly the same time with no hesitation.

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Silly Question

After I got home I found MG in the home office playing something or other on the computer. She couldn’t wait to tell me something that had happened today when she worked relief at the Vet Clinic. Preface: MG got some new earrings this week to celebrate a big company award she got at their recent company-wide meeting. They’re very nice. OK, on with the story.

Mrs. Guy: Mary Beth noticed my earrings today.
Big Guy: Yeah? What did she say.
MG: She really likes them. She wanted to let her husband know she wants some like them for Valentines.
BG: Yeah? Well, they might be a little hard to describe to him without him being able to see them.
MG: I know. Get this. She asked me to Xerox them.
BG: You … what? You Xeroxed your earrings so she can show him which ones to get?
MG: Yep. Blog-worthy?
BG: You have to ask?