Look who got caught beer-handed....

Put them on single speeds and see what happens.

Good Times in Fort Ord on a Monday.

Couldn't stand the weather

Sunday saw a break in the rain and a birthday party for D____ (a family friend) being held at home. Rather than stay in and be clucked at by a houseful of biddies, I rode out.

Up and away from the coast, the fog broke. Roads first, to get places and see things.





I was denied access to the trails I was hoping to ride not once, not twice, but thrice. So it ended up being a bushwack like you read about. After the 3rd denial I rode a different route and attempted one of those trails I've ridden once or twice and never repeated. I knew where it went, but (again) due to the undergrowth all being dropped and the leaf-litter/rain-debris ever lesser trail looks as takeable as any other. So I ended up climbing topo line style around swales until popping out in the parky spread oaks up top. Startled the heck out of a couple bucks and we eyeballed each other for a while. The "regular" trail was easy to find from there.

I decided to visit a beer stash and take stock of the day's options. Put in a call to J____ J______ to see if he felt like a ramble and we formulated a plan. It occurred to me that if I took the alternate trail down- why, then I wouldn't miss the turns and I'd refresh my memory in the bargain. This did not work out as I'd hoped, and it soon came to bushwacking again. Thick, denuded scrub forcing me to hold my bike over my head type bushwacking. At least it was heading down.

A quick trip through Cside(!) picked up J and some supplies and we set out for Ord. We stopped at the gate above Fitch School to pop-a-top. Then T___ rode up and geeked out with us at the 2 Lynskeys (his and J's). We had never met (or seen) T___ before. He sure had a Sweet Ride (no picture?!)- a custom 29er with a shiny red Rohloff hub, which was inneresting. My favorite part of his bike were the custom Ti Black Sheep Marylike/Albatrosslike handlebars. I'd have been more into hearing about the Rohloff, but it was clear he'd been on it for maybe 20 minutes total at that point; I want to know how it holds up, not how it looks out of the box. No beer for T___, as he works at REI and his son-in-law is threatening his fitness. So to speak. I think T___ was thrown more than a little off balance by our combination of pastimes and wanted to get away.

Then it was another beer and on to some trails we'd never been on before, following T___'s tracks(we guessed-they were pretty fresh). We saw this:

and linked back up with the East garrison stuff we all know and love. Speaking of which: the surveyors are getting serious out there. Trees are coming down in straight lines all over. Locals, RIDE THIS GOOD STUFF WHILE YOU HAVE IT! Because soon it will be a memory.

What is this man doing with these ingredients?

We talked about Rohloffs and their pros and cons. I'm very innerested in a reliable internally geared hub for the Big Dummy. Then J blew my mind with talk of the Nuvinci hub. I was not aware of that.

I left home on the bike at 11am and returned on the bike at 10pm. That's a Good Day.

Fruit flies like a banana

Our truck has been making a jingling(baby) sound. Almost as though it had sleigh bells ring-ting-tingling. I figgered it was bearings (hope not) or brakes. So Friday the 31st, Halloween, I dropped it off in Cside(!) at 9am after dropping J at his preschool out in the valley.

Then I rode my bike:



Stopped at Baldemiro's for a burrito to go.



Sneaky entrance...looking back at the penninsular ridge.


There are some trails over that way. {motions with eyes significantly}





I used the phot-op as an excuse not to jump it. Again. Sometimes I jump it and when I do, it is fun. I'm just not so good at the jumping, so I keeps it on the ground mostly.

After some time in the woods I came upon a fella out running with his dog, who both kindly waited off trail for me to come speeding by. I thanked him and gave the customary summary of who's behind me, "No more." After riding several other trails, I came out onto the road and there they were again, 20 minutes later. The dog was leading and as I went by he increased his pace to match me and I said to the guy, "He wants to go." The guy clearly wasn't innerested in chit-chat, so I left it at that and made to pull away. Only the dog started after me. So I poured it on, and the dog pulled up next to me and looked over at me as he paced me (speed increasing the whole while) as if to size me up. At that point I was way forward, attempting to sprint {no comments necessary from the coaching section} and that dog just held it, not even working. What could I do but laugh? The dog pulled up after 1/4mile or so and circled back to his guy. I circled back too, and when I came up on them the dog moved in to cut me off! I put out my hand, but he was having none of it. Then he followed his guy onto another trail. That was a Good Dog.

I used to have the quiet conviction that if it really came down to it I could get away from a _____________(insert predator here, but I always assumed Mountain Lion). Aaaah, you know you think the same too.

I do not have that opinion anymore.

Today was eye-opening in terms of all the trails being clearly visible. Even the little trafficked game trails seemed clear. The underbrush foliage has well and truly dropped.



I, uhhhhhh got confused, and took this freaky bone trail. It was bones and more bones. Some cow, then the deer you see, then more cow...

Including the pirate arrangement...


and ending here with this black helmet on a pole?! Never seen this trail before. Maybe it's only findable on All Hallows Eve.


I stopped for lunch.
Sometimes I am smart. Here I demonstrate the possible use of an unopened beer to work out Trigger Points in the base of Levator Scapula. Put that in your shuttlecock.


It is not TexMex, but it is Good anyway. Looks like lunch to me.

And so. Due to a combination of poor decisions which reveal far more about me than I care to share with you people, I had to ride back home to get my wallet.

On the way I spied a person on a (what appeared to be fixed) powder blue Pinarello. I assumed it was fixed because the person (I could not tell) was wearing very snug black pants and had only a front brake. Then there was coasting. What?! So I taught that damned gypster a very clear lesson about pretending. I did this by riding away from this person and not even looking at him/her. I feel certain that hit home.

Time flies like an arrow and all. Once home, I had to modify the plan further and swap bikes (from the Kampe Monkey to the LHT+trailerbike)
and ride out the valley for the boy. He liked that. I keep having the intention to take him out and back via bike, but it never seems appealing to ride Carmel Valley Road. And with good reason, this time of year- the vicious/ capricious head winds are back. But it was a Good Time anyway. And worthwhile. Let that be a lesson to me.

N called as we were riding. She had gotten a rare ride to school in the car this morning, and had been counting on catching a ride home with a friend/friend's mom. No such luck. So J and I swung by her school and loaded her up, too. Here she is sharing the trailerbike with J while wearing her baby costume. That rig handled very shiftily.

What? Huh? It was the brakes. Had the rotors resurfaced, new pads, new fluid. Car expenses are hard to swallow. Especially in this time.

Someday you may TAKE ME TO YOUR SUPERVISOR...

Ever year I want to donate some washers, nuts and bolts to the Trick or Treat bag people. Sadly, I lack the nerve. I wanted to feature the Coneheads segment that had them sliding a plate of runny fried eggs into kids' bags and following that up with a 6er. Good stuff. This was what I came up with, and it's high-larious. Watch and learn, it's Natural Style:

Happy Halloween

In honor of the day, here are some spooky sites worth checking.

Morbid Anatomy

Street Anatomy

Skull A Day



This picture is creepy/Haloweeny and reminds me of Paso Robles.



And these guys are riding...


just like you should be doing.

What the hell is the ________that passes for Country Music these days?

Today kicked Ass! You know, for me.

I had a 3 hour window to get to work, and I took it. Up a hill and through some trees. I wasn't sure how long it would take to ride this route, so I gave myself plenty of time...I thought. It takes me between 30 minutes (if I lie) and 50 minutes (you know, if I'm riding a slow bike) to ride straight to work via the road.

Sorry for y'all Midwest farmer's daughters, it was in the 70s today.



Here the Kampe Monkey in what I hope will be it's natural environment. Woodsy singletrack.


So I hugely overestimated the time, and was at work an hour and fifteen before required. Next time I'll hit a few more trails. Then there was work, and when I got out it was dark and chilly. 53degrees made my eyeballs water on the downhill. Now it's y'all's turn to laugh Midwest, East Coast.




We were out of beer. Hamm's is sold only in 24packs, and that won't fit. But look with your eyes at the 12 pack and the sweater vest and the paperback (it is "Trouble", and it is Trash) and the seatbag full of tube+tools+patchkit and the Moleskine and the camera (well, obviously you can't see that) and the phone and the arm warmers. There is also a light rain jacket and headlamp and taillight (the batteries died). That's all stuffed in this bag.




We are not out of beer anymore. It took buckling the extra straps into the regular closure straps to hold it all in, but this type of thing is what those are for, huh?

I'm hoisting one right now, hoping today was kickass for you, too.

Hey! Las Vegas,

To the person searching the internet for "sleazy old bicthes" (sic):

I am so glad you were directed here. I hope you found what you needed.