Gettin' the bikes ready to head down to see Willie Strings & the Players (Pop, Rock and Reggae) at Alive @ Five along Carroll Creek! Had to put on the bigger Kenda Nevegal Stick-E 2.50 front tire (27 psi) to get it ready for ridin' at the "shed" and Gambrill this weekend . . . I need all the shock absorption I can get (2.35 is as wide as I can go with the rear)!
Beer makes us happy?
Hmm, I think I know this guy from somewhere; could it be . . . nah, he would be drinkin' a little somethin' from the keg if he was that guy! Cool bike though! I'll bet his picture looks something like this photo taken by another guy this guy looks just like! Confused by all this? I'm not!
This is a demo saddle from Tom at The Bicycle Escape so I decided to bring it into the bar rather than risk having it lifted and me owing about a buck 30! Love the saddle, by the way; but, I love my Guinness more!
Brie had to work late so I decided to take a little "photo" ride of the downtown area in search of locations with bikes standing about (also a much needed stop for a pint or two from Raf at Bushwaller's -- always the "perfect pour")! I ran into Joe (riderx) along 8th Street on my quest for more photos and we talked for a couple minutes about the Schwinn I just got from my neighbor . . . then it was on to Firestone's to see Jason for a pint before headin' home. Tomorrow, Brie & I will ride down to Alive @ Five along Carroll Creek for some music and brew! Good stuff, and it's almost F-ride-day!
Pouring a Guinness on tap is an art form in and of itself. We've all seen Guinness served in bars and if you've seen someone who actually knows how to pour Guinness correctly out of a tap (like Raf at Bushwaller's), it's a thing of beauty. Because the beer is run through a cooler to chill it to the required temperature, the nitrogen bubbles become agitated and as it pours it creates the creamy goodness that makes Guinness so famous. So pouring the "perfect pint" is a multi-step process that involves topping off the initial pour after it has settled for some time. Guinness says it takes 119.53 seconds to pour the perfect pint.
Really, Brie, I wasn't tilted . . . it's just the video that had too much to drink!
Music: "When New York Was Irish" by Celtic Thunder
Okay.... in the grand scheme of things, an absolutely wonderful weekend, however, it was not without its "trails", oh excuse, me I meant "trials and tribulations." Friday started out wonderfully, many extra hours from work earlier in the week allowed me (Brie) to duck out early and get a head-start on camping, and throw in a nice little ride from our Gambrill "site" out the Red to the Yellow and back on the Red to good ol' #31!
Saturday we planned to meet up with Shawn and Ken-Knee at Sand Flats where by chance we got to say hello to Julie and Co. before heading out on what proved to be a great ride down Salamander, up Super Sweet, back to Blue, up Blue, and finally back to our departure point at the Sand Flats parking lot.
We headed back to #31 (the campsite ["site"] of course) and relaxed for much of the remainder of the day. Saturday night, we spent hanging at the "site" with Phil and my new boyfriend Charlie -- little does he know, I prefer much older men-- :) We played Uno, "DOTs", and sprinted down the drag strip. Much to my dismay, he kicked my butt each and every time!! Mic enjoyed numerous fancy ("fan cee"-- beer besides Miller Lite) beers and we drifted off to sleep under the stars with our bellies full of fake chicken strips, spinach nuggets, cheese quesadillas, and marshmallows!
Sunday, bloody Sunday (no it wasn't really that bad!) we took our time getting ready to go for a ride. First stop, dropping Deco off at base camp (the house) and then up to Hamburg. We got outfitted for the ride-- CamelBaks, shoes, glasses and all-- and then realized that unfortunately the keys to the lock on my bike were nowhere to be found....mad dash to the site, nope, not there, down Rt 40 to the house to find the keys hidden under crap on the dinning room table. Back up Hamburg (about 11 miles from the house). Ahh...time to ride. Unfortunately "the foot" (the infected, sabacious growth on Mic's foot) was acting up. In some of our better judgment we decided that it was probably time to call it quits-- it didn't seem like it was meant to be.
Needless to say, the MORE picnic at Patapsco was off limits-- who knows what could have happened there. We played it safe, caught a catnap in the park, packed up and hit Brewer's for a beer before heading home.
Like, I said, in the grand scheme of things, it couldn't get any better...after all, we did get to ride.
