riding with dogs

I was heading into Johnson City a little early yesterday and I had some time to kill so I hit the bike shop, no not "The Bike Shop" (creative name) I stopped by Norris Bicycles to check on project restoration Melinda. I meant to snap a few pics of the bike, a Schwinn Breeze before they started on it but I missed the boat on that one. I did have my camera yesterday but they had already stripped the bike of it's parts so I went ahead and took a pic of the frame and the kid's seat, soon to be luggage rack. I don't think we'll be having a kid anytime soon. Dave said he plans to take the frame home this weekend to strip the old paint and begin the painting process. Melinda has chosen pale yellow for the color. He says this project will take about 2 weeks but I'll be surprised if it's done in 3, we'll see.



It looked something like this complete.



This is the kids seat that was attached to the bike, soon to be a luggage rack. Looks comfy.

After leaving the bike shop I headed over to the ETSU trails to meet up with Melinda for a short hike before she had to go back to work and me to the TNR ride. The trails were in pretty good condition I kinda wished I had brought our mtn bikes for a quick ride but a good hike was nice.

TNR, Thursday Night Ride, or the Buck's ride. I've ridden the route once but I'd never actually attended one of the organized rides. What originally started by a few friends as a leisurely Thursday afternoon ride has turned into a pretty huge gathering. When I showed up last night I was surprised to see so many riders gearing up. There were probably 20 - 25 riders and I was told that this was a small group. Wow! The route is great and the pace depends on which group you head out with. Fast or not so fast, I chose the not so fast. I don't consider myself as a strong road rider so I figured I would be better off making my debut in the not so fast group. Near the end of the ride is a pretty nice climb up Buffalo mountain which I was kinda dreading but I actually felt pretty good when I got to the top.

After the ride most people walk over to Buck's pizza for a few beers and pizza. They had Depot Street's Maple Pecan Porter on tap! SWEET! A really good porter from our local brewer. I like to support the local guy he really makes some good beer.

After leaving Buck's I was driving home and I starting thinking where did I put my sunglasses? I couldn't remember, they weren't in the sunglass console and after feeling around in my riding bag no luck either. Then it hit me as I was cruising down the hwy at 60mph. I hung them on one of the brakes cables on my bike after the ride. Oh crap! I pulled off the road, jumped out of my truck and ran around to the back to find them still there but barely hanging on. Whew! That would have sucked, those aren't cheapos from Wal-Mart.

Later