I had arranged my thoughts and got my brain all ready to sit down and peck out another diatribe for the three of you, and my focus was completely taken away. The image in front of me scattered my collection of recollections and tossed them to the floor as if to be batted around by the cat. The sheer volume of input coming from my optic nerves could be felt, literally, as it passed into my brain and settled like liquid mercury on a piece of glass. It was impossible to look away even though my eyes teared and I almost wept. The nervousness moved to my hands from my spine which trembled as a cold shiver clawed it's way down, gripping each vertibra within a metallic grasp. As I tried to digest just what had happened, my jaw fell open with the crash of a thousand doors slamming.
I was all but catatonic.
Beside my self.
It took effort to break the clutches of this vision.
...and all I can say is, if you ever thought it would be cool if your girlfriend had boobs on her back so you could grab them when you hugged her...
... just head out the door to Save Money and Live Better.
Monday night that is. With the rain it seemed like it might not be all that great, but what a blast. Sharpie and I rolled to Mass-hole's for a few beers, play the drums, and rap along with rap..., well, he has all these things.
Sure it was a wet ride, and I did prepare, so we crossed town and back with no worries and I still got home by midnight.
This morning however, between sunday with Derf and monday with Sharp, today was the perfect day to just ride to work and back. I felt like a day off. Why not?
So, does the girl have the cat trained to eat from chopsticks, or the cat have the girl trained to feed it with chopsticks? I wonder about these things. I do. How many times have you seen a "pet" look like it was calling the shots sometimes. "Yeah, like the dog is so stupid that every time you throw the (insert toy here), he runs after it just to bring it back." Sure, that's right, you are in complete control of the animal. I wonder if a dog - watching another dog - learns to catch a Frisbee so quickly because the dog he wants to please his master... or... is telling himself, "Dude, that looks like SOOO much fun! I want some of that shit!" I think you know what I think.
Have a good wednesday, for me, it's potluck night. I made government mack and cheeze for everyone... cuz that's the kinda guy I am. Straight up classy.
That's the top of the bluff that you ride to. It over looks the lake at 200ft, if not more. The colors were insane. The greens of the conifers still bright from recent rain held the backdrop for the golds, browns and reds of the hardwoods. We were a happy cloud away from a Bob Ross painting, yeah...that close, and we were riding our mountain bikes right into that happy little tree's paradise.
The (un-named trail) was built of long bench-cut climbs and descents up a hillside where even on my single speed I could keep the legs spinning no matter what direction. The hard part was the last mile or so to the overlook. I made it with only one dab, but it was one of the hardest climbs I can remember since Snake Creek Gap, though not as long. The last hurray came after we got back on our bikes and started the roll back to the truck, and it was 90% downhill for at least 2 miles. Remember this is middle Tennessee, there are no mountain sides, so this was one hell of a treat. 12 or so miles total as we arrived back at the truck. I had a few Coor's tan cans that had been packed in ice since this morning and we strolled while sipping blue mountain goodness in the cool temps and sunshine.
I wish you were all here to see it, as the image still sits on the forefront of my memory. The other memory I have is an anonymous quote from right before we rolled to the trail head from the parking lot; "the universe begins on your left."
For the first time in quite some time, I hitched a ride to Hamilton Creek - as apposed to riding there. Bryan wanted to shoot some photos while the leaves were turning, and I wanted to ride my bike in the woods. Perfect. Anj, Sharp and Done joined us for a wonderful time.
Sharp, Done and I rode while Anj and Bryan set up the shots. Two small wrecks and I got a flat later, we were having our pics taken at a fun log crossing.
Bryan got some good pics off in the end, and I can't wait to see them on something other than the LCD screen on the back of the camera.
Back to the Eastside, we jump on our bikes to pick up Sharp's daughter at school with a stop off for beer and barfood on the way back. I had fried macaroni and cheese. Yes, that is correct. They were wedges of real macaroni and cheese that were frozen and breaded. Then they deep fry them. I think that is what heaven tastes like.
Back home I have pizza with the wife and head to the Tillman compound to finish out the night at a firepit sippin' beers and laughing.
The whole day was everything you do on a mountain bike trip, just that I'll be sleeping in my bed.
I could get used to this.
Enjoy a film by Jam Danver about Hamilton Creek. The log crossing in it is the one we were shooting at.
"I wouldn't be standing here if I wasn't." That's what the cop said to me.
...which is the same cop that hammered down a dead end street that ends at the greenway to catch me while I was riding my bike home from work... to the greenway... at 6:15pm today (wednesday). No shit, I was looking behind me, all sketched out ,because some car is flying up at me on a dead end street... and that ain't scary at all. Really. First off, thank you for that one. Was it fun for you? Yeah, I knew it was.
Yeah, it's dark at 5pm here. D-A-R-K. It starts to get dark around 4:30, and when the greenway closes at dark, which kinda makes things hard if it closes at dark (you see what I'm saying?). The cop told me he could write me a ticket for $140 for riding my bike on the greenway after dark. Lemmie rephrase that...
IT IS ILLEGAL TO USE THE GREENWAY FOR TRANSPORTATION PURPOSES AFTER DARK!!!
I guess I am a big enough threat to warrant a police officer to completely dismiss the safety of others on a dead end street by driving a squad car at least 40mph in order to catch a white male, mid thirty's, with a thick red beard, riding a very well illuminated bicycle. Suspect is wearing an orange long-sleeve shirt, a white reflective helmet, and glasses. The suspect seems to be bobbing his head rhythmically as if he was listening to good music. Vehicle is a red bicycle with shiny metal fenders and racks. Officers be advised.
Are you kidding me? I just kinda think there are more important things to worry about... like people getting shot just on the other side of Gallatin Road! FUCK!
Yeah, just thought you would want to know. If you have any questions, you can find me entering the greenway around 6:15pm on weekdays. I'll be on my way home from work and listening to music. Just wave, I'll stop.
yeah... ...so...
Last night I joined Derf and L. to the 5Spot to see Derek Hoke. I built a bike for this dude cuz he is a friend of my good buddy Jen Duke. (I love me some Jen Duke). Now Derek is a friend. I like how that works. Well kids, Derek rocks. He absolutely rocks. His music is like old country, real country. You now, not pop-tastic-shitty-top 40-country. You can download "Good bye Rock N Roll" right here. ...and I would suggest you do it.
What a great time. I had enjoyed watching Jen play bluegrass at parties and such, but never on stage really throwing her heart into it. Wonderful; and I'll say the same for Derek, though I never saw him play before last night. Not to mention, he does ride a pretty cool Surly Karate Monkey. Got him a Nitto M-12 front rack, which makes him double cool.
Thursday is my day off, which is today or tomorrow or yesterday depending on when you read this, then again, it could be months from now, so whatever. I'll go with tomorrow. Tomorrow, I hope to have a repeat of sunday, minus Derf and his DNF's. Yeah, I said it... just like that.
