cheerier subjects (-ish)

A weekend past, of cabins, friends, bikes... pie. A trip up northward to Mackinaw. Sure, it was two weeks ago, but it was delicious nevertheless, and I'll reminisce if I feel like it.

So yeah... umm.... pie. Emily and Amanda made this awesome 1 of a 2 pie series with some apples from the farmstand up in the neighborhood. That rocked. Take some Euchre, add some Bourbon... let the trash talkin' flow as the cards slap down... And in the morning, the leftover pie makes a pretty awesome breakfast. Heck, what we need here is the apple (or peach... yeah, peach would be good too) equivalent to the calzone. A handheld pocket of goodness. Yesh. but I digress...

Bikes were rode. On the road and otherwise. On the way back, we stopped off at a trail and found that the Shingle Mill Pathway is a good place. No crazy rock gardens or anything, just nice trail, pretty forest, etc. etc. Definitely a place where camping and MTBing go together. Heck, if you're into fishing and such, it's probably for you too, what with the Pigeon River in the neighborhood.

Note to self - spend more time there. When it comes to camping these days, I find I can't tolerate the RVs and whatnot - the people who want their wilderness to be close to the Starbucks, where wood for the fire is bought instead of collected. What I want when I look for the forest is birds tweeting and leaves rustling - no cars, no hootin' and hollerin' - just leaves rustling and brooks a-babblin'. So USFS, you are the people for me.

But then, in the nicest possible way, the badness happened. If I'm going to have spoke pull out the rim and make the wheel almost unrideable, I'm glad that it happened on the last trail of the trip, on the way back to the trailhead, within 1 mile of the parking lot.

It was pretty awesome riding, but alas, it'll be the last mile for that wheel. That, and after I got home, I... uhm... proceeded with a bent derailleur hanger re-straightening technique that turned into a hanger breaking technique. So that bike is good and broke for the moment. Bummer. If absolutely necessary, I can make a singlespeed, but maybe it's just time to put that bike down. Heck, it's 20 years old. A good run, but it might be over.