Long Shadows

Fall is my favorite season to ride!

Winter is closing in quickly.  This week we got a lot of rain, a pretty decent snow storm, and virtually non-stop wind.  I thought that was going to be the end of mountain biking.  It is a courtesy not to ride when the trails are really muddy.  It tears up the trails and who wants to wash all of that Mississippi mud (I am convinced it could marketed as a really good adhesive) out of all of the nooks and crannies of a dual suspension mountain bike.  Today was a special treat, BOB (big orange ball) was out and it was a balmy 60 degrees even though the wind was whipping.  I am not so concerned about the wind with mountain biking because I rarely have to fight a head wind for long.

I normally try not to do anything that takes effort on Sunday (physically or mentally) but I could not resist.  I added some air to the tires of my Anthem X 29er, loaded it into my Trooper and moved out.

When I arrived at Sunderbruch Park the sun was starting to dip a little and the shadows were long.  BOB is already riding a little low and I noticed as I rode along a ridge that my shadow was tracing my path on the other side of the draw.

 Not so long shadow near the middle

    It was nice to have company on a ride for a change

Speaking of company, when I got home I had plenty.

 I am not sure how that is comfortable, but he didn't want to get down?

I am not sure if Thomson Stems or Salsa designed the 2008 El Mariachi or for this.  Of course I am parent of the year based on the fact no one has a helmet on!

Selling You Stuff You Don't Need: Thanks Camel Bak

A while ago I wrote about companies trying to sell you stuff you really don't need.  While shopping for cheap parts for a new bike I will be assembling over the winter I came across this.

Seriously?!?!?

Admittedly, I buy stuff that I don't need.  After all, I am about to buy a frame and build another bike when I have four in my basement.  I like hydration packs, I have had a couple in my day, it has never occurred to me that I need something to tell me how much water I have left.  If you are concerned about how much water to carry, fill it to maximum capacity, so what if you carry a little extra weight.  I have run out of water on hot days, a device telling me I have 0 ounces of water left wouldn't fix the problem in the middle of nowhere.  I certainly have never needed a device to let me know that I am thirsty (hydration goal feature).  I am not sure why someone would even want to spend $20 on a device that requires yet another battery.

I think a good product would be a "gunk" meter to tell me when that nice layer of algae is growing on the inside of the reservoir or in the hose.        

I want to do something great

I am stuck in a rut. I suppose that is life. There are a lot of people out in the world doing amazing things. I did some great things on a few occasions.  I don't think I have ever done amazing things.  It seems as though I am past that though.

I get up early and go to work. I usually spend 10+ hours staring at a screen. I work in the middle of the building and some days 4 or more hours go by before I realize I haven't looked outside. I change the font, add a cloud or a gear shaped text box, push print and hope that someone will say "wow that is a really pretty power point slide."

Then I go home. Exhausted! I quickly get ready for the next day and entertain children. About 7:30 or 8:00 p.m. I can squeeze in an hour for myself. But let's face it, by then I can barely get the motivation breath, let alone think about going out and doing something great.

I guess I am like most people, I just want to do something great. Maybe even amazing (at least to my standard as I am not sponsored by RedbulI). I just lack the time thanks to the amount of effort it takes to be mediocre at work.

I have decided that this winter I am going to build a bike that represents my desire to do something great. I want to build a Surly Ogre, a touring bike capable of going places most touring bikes can't go. I will call it the "Dream" or something like that. I will pull out the thesaurus.

At a minimum it will be set up to face the challenge of Davenport and the Government bridge to the island.