The talking heads on tv say 6",
but with neighbor's run off,
I've got more than that!
Over the berms,
through the ditch,
and over the back deck.
Then...
a nice 6" deep stream past the house,
onto the driveway... away it goes.
Worth the moving dirt this weekend.
Except...
for the water that went around the
other side,
and into the basement.
Not flooded out,
just wet floors....
Time to open some windows
and start cleaning up.
Years ago we took the dogs out to
the preserve,
and came back covered with ticks.
Something I never experienced while
living out west. The fact that most of
the land in the northeast is private and
posted really killed my motivation for
mountain biking. So it was back to the
20", a couple times. A short go at the
road bike - but I don't take myself too
serious. Mix in commuting, and the
perfect weapon was the 'cross bike.
But today was fun. Sandy & packed
rolling trails, totally doable on a 'cross
bike. And no tick issues today. Looks
like I'll be heading back for more trail
time as the kids head back to school.
And I think I'll try to squeeze another
day in with the not-so-mini-me.
As I planned on my vacation with the
larger mini-me...
total man time of pizza, ice cream,
movies, sleeping in,
and some biking...
I pulled the trigger and ordered some
DIRT.
A dump truck full.
Sitting in my driveway.
But it's not for a pump track in the
backyard. Or jumps.
I spent this evening berming
.... my house.
This hurricane is turning out to be the
fun sucker of our vacation.
We'll see if this house is gonna float
or sink on Sunday.
Still gonna grab mini-me to hit the
trails tomorrow morning, before I
finish our storm prep.
Gotta work those legs,
and lungs.
'Cross season is soon upon us.
And the commitment level
is the same as the preparedness.
Low.
The kind you hear as you trail at the
end of a group ride. Casually rolling
along, making small talk.
"So this lady at my work,
her husband won his choice of ANY
bike. Up to $5000. And he doesn't
ride! So he wants to unload it."
"Whats IT?" you ask.
Well, any bike they make...
Carbon frame with Dura Ace?
Or,
a carbon frame hardtail mountain bike,
or,
a full suspension cross country rig.
Or...?
Except this time,
it's not me listening to some
unbelievable story.
So I told him to order my size.
See if you can sell it,
and when it gets to hard to unload,
give me a call....
But I still don't know what to tell him
to order. If that company made a
$5000 cross bike, there'ld be NO
question. I'm psyched on my SRAM
stuff, and cross bikes...
so a carbon/Dura Ace bike is just
as appealing as a SRAM f/s rig.
Don't know what to choose....
Or, if I'll even get a chance to.
The pissed where you think back
to the movie "Falling Down", and
say to yourself "I can fucking relate".
The back story:
Before summer starts we ask the kids
what do you REALLY want to do?
Skipping the replies of "being lazy
pigs & sleep in & eat ice cream all day".
They want to ride bikes.
So this year I have the Tag-a-long
for the little guy.
And we've been trying to make every
thing a biking adventure.
And I've been trying to instill them with
some street smarts and rules.
Passing in the left, right of ways, etc.
Now as much as motorists bitch about
cyclists. Drivers where I live are not
doing themselves any favors. The
other week my son almost got clipped
by a guy in a pickup hanging a hard
and fast right onto our street. Luckily
both of them stopped quick as I
screamed.
Can't really teach him right of way
when drivers don't yield. So that
became a lesson in watching for
blinkers and judging speed. A hard
thing to teach a ten year old with Lego
and Star Wars on the brain.
Today our bikeavan pushed off. Again
with looking all directions, cross at
cross walks, etc. Often times he rides
ahead of me while my daughter rides
behind. At this particular crosswalk, we
waited for the light, with plans of a
water stop after we cross.
Teach him to watch the signals.
Now check for the crosswalk signal.
Is anyone turning right that might hit
you? No.
Okay let's go.
I roll halfway through & stop so no one
makes a right & hits my girl that moves
at a turtles pace. Just as my son is passing me, I spot a car coming
towards us, and it's NOT slowing!
I quickly grab him and continually scream stop! Twenty feet and closing,
suddenly the screech of tires as it
skids through the crosswalk. Right
where my son would have been.
Fucking hell!
"Asshole!!!"
"What the hell!?"
"You fucking idiot! You're gonna kill
somebody out here!"
"The hell is your problem?!"
"You see him? You could've killed him!
FUCKING IDIOT!"
The whole time the light was red
I stood at her bumper and proceeded
to unload on her. She would look at
me. No apology. No eye contact.
Just looking straight ahead, waiting
for the light to change. Waiting.
And that was it.
Had I not assumed drivers are idiots.
Not looked at cars with a skeptical
and jaded view, expecting the worse.
Then my kid would be in the hospital,
if we were lucky. And that fucking
idiot would still be driving, just with a
higher cost of insurance.
It would be labelled an "accident" so
the driver could continue on in life
with less remorse. Cause no one
actually does time or looses a license
due to being too fucking stupid to
operate a motor vehicle.
I apologized to the kids.
Those were not words we use....
Harder though was reality setting in
on my son.
"So she wasn't going to stop?"
"nope"
"Why? It was a red light!"
"yep. Some people are just stupid."
And not apologetic about it either.
So I guess I need to teach him to
assume the worse in drivers. They'll
run red lights, turn without signaling,
swerve towards you, even run you
over without stopping.
Sorry son, assume all drivers are
stupid assholes that are out to get you.
Is that what I need to say to make him
a little safer out there?
Had it been just me I probably would
have kicked her car and rode off. Or
pulled my valve stem remover and
yanked the core while she ignored me.
"What are you gonna do? Call the
police after you nearly killed some
one?"
So you can argue about clueless
cyclists. I'ld rather get hit by 200 lbs
of clueless going 15 mph then 3000
lbs of stupidity going 40 mph.
Simple physics.
I vow next time,
I will physically remove them from their
car.
They WILL be scared.
They WILL learn.
Assert yourself,
and safe pedaling!
