After a week off from hiking, I headed back into the woods on Thursday to finally get some miles in. Or at least that was the plan.
What actually happened was that I rode the Hammer on Monday and Tuesday and was feeling fit as fuck (or at least as fit as someone like me can be), and then took Wednesday completely off to rest my knee.
As I descended the stairs from the O.G. Mindbender’s office on Wednesday afternoon, I was feeling good and looking forward to a return to hiking on Thursday. Sadly, come morning, my knee had other ideas, and in less than a mile, I was back in my car, holding back all the emotions that come with a body part telling you that after nearly 2,000 miles of hiking, it’s shutting shit down. Gahdamn.
Once home, I commiserated with Wifey for a bit before changing into nut huggers and a jersey and hopping on the trainer for a quick virtual half-hour spin through some random country in the Middle East with absolutely no knee pain whatsoever.
Obviously, it wasn’t the lumber that I had planned, but I was able to salvage something and burn a few calories.
After a shower, I headed down to the shop to get Stan’s jiz in my tires, talk to Chris and Rod, see a record THREE vintage Cannondale Flying V bikes in for repairs, and soak up the fact that not one of the customers in the shop was any responsibility of mine.
I’m not sure if/when I’ll actually get the Stache out for a real, honest-to-goodness outdoor bike ride, but my excuses are getting fewer.
Funny thing about the Stache: I’ve owned it since 2021, but only put 100 miles on it and never had to remove the rear wheel. I completely forgot about the clutch switch on the derailleur and spent 5 minutes thinking I had lost my mind and could no longer mount a rear wheel on a bike! Then, one little flick of the switch (not that one), and I was good to go.
No photos because I only hiked .97 miles and only saw some geese doing geese shit in the same stretch of river as my last goose photo. I did take a photo of the Guinness collage I made while cooking dinner and vibing last night so you can bask in that creative masterpiece.
Later.