The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!

Sorry. I am sure seeing that photo as my blog opens is a bit of a shock. Think of what I go through every morning walking up to that! My burden to bear I guess. But I digress.

The photo was taken by my wife upon returning home from my Monday night ride. During which I was stung "inside" my lip by a wasp! Head down, cruising along the shoulder of one of my favorite routes and WHAM. It hurt like a be-ouch at that moment and thank god there were no cars flanking me at that time. I was flailing away, trying to extract the bastard and weaving all over the road. Within 2 minutes, I could feel my inside lip starting to swell and as I went along, it progressively got worse. Another few miles down the road it was apparent to me that I needed to call it a Ride and head for home. Of course, that was 10 miles away (shortest route). When I walked in the door, I said to Rene (mumbled actually!) "notice anything different about me?" At first it didn't hit her and then she said "OMG! You are a cartoon character!" And she was right. My cheek had swelled and the lower lip was Hollywood collagen-injection-gone-mad size. She grabbed for the Benedryl and ice and by the end of the evening, I could drink a beer without drooling. Crisis averted I guess. Of course, in the morning, it was still "pronounced" and I had a meeting with contractors on a job site! Thankfully, I escaped that with my ego intact.



Last nights ride was a bit more uneventful. I ventured out onto the road again and pedaled up to Grattan Raceway for the Wednesday Night Training Races. Good to finally get up there as it was my first time this summer. Enjoyed watching the "professionals" battle it out from the safety of the sideline grass.

Heading home I came to a regular crossing near my house and was happy to find that they are extending the proposed rail trail into town. This has been in the works for years, but apparently, some stimulus money is finally being spent for something worthwhile! To me anyway.

Last weeks ride was my first time discovering the project in the works. It will be an excellent route not only for the proximity to my house, but also for the very nice, tree lined sites along the way. It should extend from nearly Lowell to Belding MI which would be a round trip of about 30 miles.

I have been absent from here quite a bit more of late and all I can say is, life is just busy right now. Sorry to be so distant, but there never seems to be enough time to blog.
Hope you can understand!

P.S. A shout out to my good friends Morgan and Lauren for their very kind package surprise this week. Rene and I really appreciate the t-shirts from Downieville and will wear them with pride! The book is already in process and I am enjoying it immensely. Be on the lookout. You may be find a package in your mailbox one of these days too!

Come Back Home

Since returning from Tahoe, life is finally getting back to normal. Sort of. The first few days were long at work catching up on e-mails, project issues and all the things I blew off prior to leaving. And it rained. A lot for the first couple days. So, no riding until Thursday.
I was able to get out for a very windy, slightly cool road ride that night and it was a work out. About 30 miles in against the wind. But it would be my only chance for a couple days, so I made it work.

Along the way, I came across a flock of turkey vultures sitting on a fence and was able to take a picture of one of these ugly guys before he flew off.

On Friday, our friends from Chicago came to town to stay with us for the 4th holiday weekend. We had a blast hosting Amy, Jason, their two daughters and their dog Spike. He and our dogs played well together all weekend which was a relief for all of us.

Saturday afternoon was a Party Barge cruise of the river with our neighbors and our friends. We had a great time and spent quite a bit of time out on the water. We all came back to our house in the evening before sunset to continue the party until dark. That is when the next door neighbors low-budget fireworks show started. The kids enjoyed the display, but the dogs did not.

Sunday afternoon, our friends packed up and hit the road for home. Rene and I did a little light clean up, took the boyz for a walk, had some dinner and crashed. The weekend was over!

Needless to say, I was jonsin for a ride so Monday, I dragged out the single-speed and hit the gravel. Some of the roads are starting to get dusty due to a lack of rain, but it was a great night for a ride.

I stopped to visit with some furry creatures along the way!

Wednesday night's ride was my first at Luton Park since last fall. They have added a new loop (the red line) and it is fun and twisty. I love this trail and need to get out there more. The trail was busy that night but you would never have known it.

On Friday afternoon, Kristy, Jeff and Charlie Moser came to visit us at the end of their visit to West Michigan. They have been in the area all week visiting with family and enjoying the lakeshore. We had a short half a day to spend with them, but it was action packed. All of us hiked over to the park where their son Charlie proceeded to play in the creek with our dog Dewey. Pretty funny to watch and yet no pictures. I forgot the camera! After hiking back to the house and cleaning up, we headed to downtown Grand Rapids for dinner and a tour. All enjoyed a pasta dinner at Bistro Bella Vita (and a couple Founder's Dirty Bastards!) and then it was time to see the sights. Highlights of the tour included Founder's Brewery, The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, the YMCA (one of my projects), the 6th Street Bridge, the DeVos Convention Center, Rosa Park Circle and the Art Museum, the Frank Lloyd Wright Meyer May House, Wealthy Street Theater and finally, Gas Light Village and Reeds Lake. And once again, not a single photo! I don't know what I was thinking. Hopefully, Jeff managed to record some of our visit, so check out his site at http://www.bikecarson.com/ .

Saturday morning I took the Mosers to Gerald Ford International Airport and we said goodbye. I cried like a baby of course, but thank god Jeff didn't have his camera out at the time! So, it never happened.

The rest of the weekend was beautiful and time to relax. We have been on the go for awhile and it felt good to just chill, have a nice dinner on the deck and enjoy the day.

Of course, one last ride too. On Sunday afternoon, I was able to sneak out and get in my first 40+ miler of the summer. It was warm and very windy (again), but a good time in the saddle.

No big plans for the rest of the summer. Time to settle in and just enjoy it. Hope everyone else is having a good one too!

Have a great week!

Man on the Silver Mountain

Brent, Sandie and Morgan discussing good whiskey.

Lauren and Morgan at the top of the Rock.

Jeff showboating for Morgan's video camera.

Sandie, Lauren and Jeff at the top of the climb.

Rocks along the Flume, looking down on Lake Tahoe.

Virginia City hills, just before the bar fights start!

Jeff driving like a maniac down the mountain toward Carson City.

I’m a wheel, I’m a wheel
I can roll, I can feel
And you can’t stop me turning
cause I’m the sun, I’m the sun
I can move, I can run
But you’ll never stop me burning

This man has left the mountain. And the mountain has won again. To say the ride kicked my ass
is to disparage all good ass kicking. It handed me my hat, showed me the door and told me to go home and cry to my momma. And yet, it was one of the best days I have ever had in the saddle.
The back story to my back-side trouncing started last fall during our first Official Bloggers ride in the hills around Oakland. Jeff, Lauren, Smudgemo and I hatched the original ride when it was discovered that my wife Rene would be traveling for work to San Fran. We met up in Berkley and after a great breakfast, rode most of the day in Joaquin Miller Park. Afterwards, it was agreed we must meet again the following summer, this time, in Tahoe. Though sadly, Smudgemo could not make it to this years event, we did manage to find a big crew of riders. The group consisted of a number of Jeff’s friends from the local area as well as Lauren’s husband Morgan and two friends of Morgan’s from Oakland. 11 folks originally and as Sandie said, if we finish with 9.5, it was a successful ride!

Rene and I flew out on Thursday morning and arrived in Sacramento CA around noon. We decided to take a day there and see the city before heading up to Tahoe. It was a beautiful day and we visited the home of Goven-ator Arnold while taking a walking tour of town. That night we found a nice restaurant near the hotel with outside seating and enjoyed a great meal. We stayed up as late as we could that day to try to assimilate to West Coast time, eventually crashing after a long 22 hour day.

In the morning we grabbed a Starbuck’s and then headed for the hills. Jeff had mentioned the elevation around Tahoe but I actually thought he was kidding. Along the way out (about a 2 hour drive from Sacramento), I started to see elevation signs along the way which quickly shot up to 5,000 feet plus! It eventually topped out just over 7,000 feet in the town of Incline Village on the North western edge of Lake Tahoe. It is hard to describe how amazing the lake and the surrounding mountains are but it was impressive. We found the condo and quickly unpacked before heading out to meet up with Jeff and Kristy and Charlie for lunch. We stopped by the Flume Trail bike shop located in Spooner Lake Park, right at the foot of the trail system to check on my rental bike for the next day. And then it was off for a whirlwind tour of South Lake Tahoe with the Moser’s.

Jeff took us to a number of great places including the Emerald Bay State Park where we viewed the Vikingsholm and Tea House and the nature trails. Of course, we both just spent time taking pictures of each other!

And then it was off to the Kingsbury Grade and down into Nevada to visit Carson City.
After a quick spin through town, we headed over to the Moser Estate where Jeff showed off his sprawling gardens and even more impressive bike storage facility! To see the Yute in person is really not to be missed!

Jeff and Kristy and Charlie took us out to see the Bunny Ranch (they insisted we see it!) and then on to what appeared to be a Hollywood western movie set but was actually a town called Virginia City. There we had a great dinner at Del Rios (along with my first Black Butte Porter!) before heading back to Casa Moser. Along the way we were ambushed by some armed desperado's who took all of our silver and gold (and lupines!) before riding off into the surrounding black hills. Actually, we sat for over 20 minutes waiting for the local authorities to clean up after a biker crash.

We headed back to Incline Village and a good night’s sleep before the big ride on Saturday. Lauren and Morgan arrived around noon that day and after dropping their bags at the Condo, we headed out to meet the others at the trail head. Rene spent the day slaving over a hot stove preparing our post-ride Mexican feast! Just kidding; sort of. After a round of introductions and the securing of my rental bike, we were off to the trail. Trails here in Michigan do not feature much in the way of elevation change. Typically, it is a series of rollers, with a climb immediately followed by a decent. Not here. From the first wheel off the pavement, the trail started climbing. And climbing. And then, it continued up. For 4 miles. There, we took a break and at that point, I actually thought I could cut it. And then Morgan mentioned that the next section was a bit steeper. More climbing? Oh, yeah. Two more miles. Needless to say, I had to bail about half way and walk the last section. So, here we are at 6 miles in and I am walking already.

From that point, the trail ran back down for a mile until turning sharply into the reservoir and into the first section of the Flume Trail. This is section I loved the most. Flat or mostly flat it runs along the perimeter of the mountainside, directly above the west shoreline of Lake Tahoe. To say the views are awesome is an understatement! Needless to say, we stopped a number of times to take pictures and jaw a bit, but eventually, this section came to an end. There we re-grouped and then headed into the next section, the Tahoe Rim Trail. Again with the climbing. Another mile of up. And then, it went up again. Now on single track, the trail runs back and forth along the edge of the mountain, virtually always uphill. This is where my fun in the saddle came to an end. Not only was I starting to feel the effects of elevation, but I was also not keeping up on nutrition and water. Both conspired against me and I lost energy fast. That combined with a very tricky trail (sharp rocks!), I had to bail numerous times and walk. This section seemed to go on forever and it was frustrating to only ride a small portion.

The rim trail eventually leads out of the woods near the summit to an open field where the views are unbelievable. It feels like your on top of world and at 8,400+ feet, you are close to it. There we hung out for awhile enjoying the beauty, taking more pictures and even enjoying a shot of whiskey, courtesy of Morgan. After a final group picture (see Jeff’s photos on flickr) we started our decent. And stupid me, I had my front shock locked out! The trail was so steep, rocky and fast there was no taking your hands off the bar for a second. I found a small level section, switched it out and then proceeded with the bomber run. This downhill went on forever, eventually leading back to the location where we had crossed the reservoir before heading back up one more climb.

At this point, there was nothing left in the tank and after riding a small portion of the climb, I wussed out and walked the rest of the way. Others there offered me gels and gummy bears and bars but I was so surly from the lack of water and food, I just yelled at them to leave me alone and started sobbing! Okay, I’m kidding about yelling.

The last section was the same first 6 mile section we had climbed at the end of the day. Thank God! Almost all downhill back to the cars. Never loved gravity more than that moment. We eventually rolled into the parking lot and I hustled over to the bike shop to drop my rig before rejoining the group. They were all talking and laughing and sharing a beer but I was weaving around like Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking! Slurring words and staring off into space, the days 22+ miles were hitting me hard. We finally said our goodbyes and then jumped in the truck for the ride back to the Condo.

After some much needed water, a little scrubbing and couple taco chips, I was starting to return to semi-normal. Rene had just finished up an amazing pile of burritos and guacamole and we all dived in. That combined with a couple New Belgiums and I was finally back in my happy place! Jeff, Kristy, Lauren, Morgan, Rene and I had a great evening of conversation and food and drink and I did not want it to end. But the Moser’s had little ones to attend to back home (dogs), so Rene made them a goodie bag and sent them on their way. Lauren and Morgan were staying with us that night and we all tried desperately to stay up and continue our discussions. Needless to say, it was a losing battle!

The next morning, Morgan was slated to head out and meet up with some friends for more riding, but thanks to my sobbing and wailing, he was convinced to stay and hang out with us for the day! We finished off a pizza, a pie, a roast-beast sandwich (with horseradish) and numerous bottles of water while chatting the day away. It was finally time for them to head home and we were shortly behind them, heading back to Sacramento for the final night. We checked in about 6 in the afternoon and the heatwave in the valley had reached 114 degrees! Do not let anyone sell you on that b.s. about it being “a dry heat”. It was a freaking oven outside! I do not think I have ever been in hotter weather. To survive it, Rene and I ducked into the same restaurant we had visited the first night but this time, stayed inside for dinner. And a couple gin and tonics (they had Hendricks!).

The next day we left CA around noon and went from 108 degrees to 63 upon landing in GR! And the cool air actually felt good. I have to say, this was one of the best trips we have ever taken. Not only was Tahoe an amazing place and the trail riding unbelievable, but the best part was the people who shared the experience with us. Thank you for everything. I cannot wait to get out there again and enjoy another ride.
Or just a beer and good conversation.

In fact, if anyone wants to skip the ride next time and just enjoy the beer, I am good with that too. Have a great 4th of July!!