Okay, so I don't LOOK like I am havin' fun . . . but, I really am! I always falter on this climb with my single speed and for once I make it clean and have Brie (and a video; see above) to prove it! Ya gotta love this S#@t!
Quick after-work ride today with Brie's mom who just picked up her new 2008 Trek Fuel EX 7 bike while her 2006 Specialized Stumpjumper Pro is being overhauled at Mt. Airy Bicycles! We got back to the cars just as the rain started to lightly fall so the timing was perfect, as was the ride.
So, I am thinking I will not replace my Trek Fuel EX8, once it finally gets bought, and will just stick with my two single speed bikes; I am probably insane, but, I am allowed to be eccentric at my age, right? That which does not kill us makes us stronger. We shall see!
The weekend was totally eventful....where to start....
Friday: Lovely sunset (which is coming all too early these days) ride from Hamburg Road which commenced with a black bear citing. Right there at the intersection of Hamburg and Fishing Creek Road what first appeared to be a funny looking black dog scampering across the road turned out to be a black bear. I know that it was way more scared of us then we were of it, but it was quite a privilege to catch a glimpse of such an amazing animal (the picture below is not ours, but, the bear was about this guy's size and looked just like him)!
Saturday: Double trouble. We went on two great rides. The first from Hamburg, down the yellow and back and then the second, right from the campsite up the red to the yellow, black, yellow, and back the yellow to the green straight to the campsite. We slept very very well that night.
Sunday: "Who's your mama?" We decided that we'd head down the blue but decided to take a pit stop at the Enchanted Forest where Mom drew quite the crowd! Ten men screaming/encouraging her up the hill was just what she needed. It worked! Then down Little Canaan up towards the "moonshiners cabin" and back up Buck Flats where a very, very cold beer awaited us.
The best news of all for Sunday was that the new and improved Smalley family returned back to their Waltham home where they will begin the most wonderful of all "rides" in life.
Photos: Dr. Don Newlin & Dr. Scot Magnotta, Montgomery College, Germantown, Maryland
Two of my colleagues at the college where I work took a hike on Sunday, August 24, 2008 to "look for" rattlesnakes! Hey, they are "science" guys, what can I say! Anywho, they spotted two females, quite pregnant & feisty, they noted, at around 9:02 AM near Salamander Rock. The also found a "Black Rat" (see picture of them holding it) on their hike.
They noted that there will soon be quite a few rattlers out in the Watershed as the mothers all deliver and large groups of snakes return to the area of their dens. The females apparently like to lay out in the sun a good bit as soon as the sun begins to hit the rocks. So, keep your eyes open out there . . . our group alone has come across four rattlers in the last couple months of riding at the shed!
Read all about Venomous Snakes in Maryland (Eugene Deems and Duane Pursley) by clicking the DNR link below!
Monday's ride was lots of fun! Yep, Monday! Brie and I both took off from work and camped an extra day! We also hit the "shed" for a nice ride that included finding some new stuff in the Enchanted Forest, as well as ridin' Little Canaan and taking a bunch of pics and videos (more on all this later)!
Ahh, Sunday's ride! Nobody got lost and the only thing I didn't like was "climbing" the Lawnmower Trail! Why do I continue to ride with Mountain Goats?
Saturday's "Where did everybody go?" ride! First there were six of us, then there were three, then there was just me . . . hmm, how did THAT happen?
Friday's ride was a quick one (well, the tortoise crossing the trail might have been quicker than me) since we had to set up camp before nightfall . . . Brie and I hit the "shed" and rode out of Hamburg Road (we were the only ones there) on the south side, did the Lawnmower Trail, then came back by way of the upper VW (Rusted Bug) Trail until . . .
. . . oops, I missed the mark going over some rock pile and did some ligament damage to my left pinkie as well as slammin' my right knee into a rock on the ground (nice hematoma, yep)! Needless to say, all the subsequent rides over the weekend were a wee bit painful . . . but, still a lot of fun! And, the beer helped ease the pain tremendously, of course!
Lost & Found on Hamburg Road? One (1) size 40 D Maidenform Bra!
