Old School New School

Old School: We brought Marcus's teeter totter out of retirement last night. We set it up in the driveway and took turns riding it while everyone was getting suited up. I'm not sure if it's still under warranty or not, but we managed to break one of the hinges. Still, fun to ride. We also rode the old logging road down to Lower Shore Drive just like the olden days so we could cruise over to Hugh's trail. The party light stayed on longer than it's been on in a long, long time (remember the WNR's when the party lasted till close to midnight?). We didn't make midnight last night, but we sure made it close to eleven standing around in the shop sipping on beers and talking about bikes.

New School: I recently completed a new short section of trail that debuted last night. The picture below shows the boys just about to shoot back out onto the driveway.



The "Loop" has been going through a bit of a transition this summer. Between the logging off the back end of my property and the utility work down by the creek we've lost a bit of singletrack. So last night we rode what I've been considering "The Loop" this season. SIngletrack behind the house/Up to the 95 acres/Sweet Downhill/Trail across from Sammy's driveway/Down to Lower Shore/Up 119 to Hugh's trail/Back home via Surfwood. It works out to right around 11 miles and takes just under an hour. It's a good loop.

In other New School news, Sarah and Cheryl had our first WNR wild animal encounter. I say "encounter" because we've had lots of "sightings" over the years. Deer, various birds, and even a bobcat have all been spotted while out riding in the woods round these parts. Last night the girls came upon an animal standing in the middle of the trail blocking their way. They couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it looked pretty scary. They grabbed some sticks for protection, and tried scaring the animal off by yelling and causing a ruckus. Nothing worked, it stood it's ground. Sarah and Cheryl were forced to retreat up the trail to Dan and Susan's house. Sarah told Susan sorry for cutting through but they had some "bike mechanicals" and needed a shortcut home. Susan asked if they'd seen Missy out on the trail. So the "wild animal" that scared them off the trail turned out to be a 12 year old, half blind cocker spaniel. Needless to say we all got quite the chuckle out of that.

So I was the only singlespeeder last night, and that kind of sucked on the road sections. My top speed is about 17 mph pedaling like a madman. The geared riders were able to drop me like a bad habit whenever our wheels touched pavement. As I was watching them pull away again on the way home I had a thought though. Actually I probably had lots of thoughts, but one in particular stuck with me. Why don't Benson, Racin Rob, and Charlie have road bikes? I guess I know why Benson doesn't have one but anyway, they clearly enjoy going fast, and I think we would all have a blast ripping up and down 119 in a double pace line all nice and quiet without the hum of knobbie tires. I mentioned this to Rob and Benson later in the evening, and both of them said they'd been thinking about acquiring one before next season. Sweet.

So next weeks WNR is @ Boyne. We might me able to squeak out one or two more weeks without lights, but fall is definitely in the air. And so I leave you with a rather blurry parting shot. Fu**ing iPhone camera. Thanks for reading.