After a crap week of riding, it felt amazingly good to get out for a second day in a row on the Boone. Slightly warmer temps, less wind, and remembering to actually wear the appropriate base layer helped me go a few miles further than yesterday and get in a ball hair under 30 very unimpressive miles. Yeah, my hip/back still hurt a bit, but screw it, I was riding my bike when I should have been home packing, updating the shop’s website, the soccer club’s site, getting a flyer finished, packing, doing laundry, painting the basement, grocery shopping, and cooking dinner.
I headed south again, and hit a few of the crap, low traffic paved roads I like to ride, as well as some dirt roads I hadn’t been on in a few months. As you can see in the photo above, some of the roads had a wee bit of soft dirt and sand on them.
Saved it!
As I got to a bottom of a hill, I spied a pic I wanted to try to get and absent-mindedly grabbed handful of brake, the next thing I knew I had the Boone dirt surfing and fishtailing until coming to a stop. Thankfully I kept it upright… not that I could have got hurt in that soft dirt mind you, I was more worried about all that soft dirt finding a way into my camera!
A very small section of the Pine River.
Today’s ride was odd in that when I was rolling on the pavement I thought to myself how I should have switched over to my narrower, lower profile Clement tires, and when I was on those soft dirt roads I found myself wishing I was on the prOcal or the Fatterson. I guess having a set of increasingly worn WTB Nano 40s was a good, middle of the road option.
So far, this week has been much better than the last week or so. Gone is the black dog, gone is the shit weather (for now), and gone is my want to just lay drunkenly in a pool of my own gelatinous suck. Even with the stress of our coming move, and my hip/back pain, I have kept my shit together, worked out Monday, and have now got out for two, albeit short, rides in a row. Don’t call it a comeback! Seriously, don’t, ’cause it could all go in the shitter tomorrow.
Creepy tricycle along the road.
Yeah, I could be feeling better physically, but fuck it, I’m riding. Conferred with Wifey tonight and it seems there should be no health insurance issues (issues meaning a shit ton of money needed from me) with getting a consult from an orthopedic. So, after we get our move over with next week, I’m gonna get an appointment set up to see what’s might be wrong.
Cow Portrait No. 1: ‘Sup dog?
On top of things starting to mentally fall into place, I’ve got a bit of my photo mojo back. I am by no means a “photographer,” but taking pics while riding sure has helped keep my creative mojo going the past few years since the mag’s demise and my inability to have a “real” job.
Cow Portrait No. 2
Plus if I didn’t take my camera, where would you get your cow portrait fix??
Stanley Hudson from The Office in cow form.
After the ride I felt like I did nothing but push pixels and run errands all day. I don’t know why I am even posting this dross, I promised myself I’d go to bed to read an hour ago.
Your Tauntaun will freeze before you reach the first marker.
Sorry, for the last shot, but sometimes I am a bit too intrigued by nature and what crows, buzzards and coyotes can do to deer that didn’t last through the Michigan winter. Well, that and it did remind me of a gutted Tauntaun from The Empire Strikes Back.
Later.