Sunday, January 23, 2011

happy dogs and happy greg

Last Thursday Mother Nature gave us a bit of a reprieve, actually she worked with us on both Wednesday and Thursday. I've been jonesing for a good trail ride but not really wanting to do damage to soft trails I opted to wait until Thursday to break out the bikes. Wednesday Fat Tony and I.M. Dillow were planning a run in Bristol so I laced up my running kicks and joined them for a change of scenery. I really needed to get a few miles in before next weekend's 10k race we're all participating in. Chris sparked my interest with this one on Facebox that you could register for a measly $6 if you got in under the deadline and skipped the usual worthless t-shirt. I've received a ton of these things in the past and I can only think of 2 that I wear. The rest usually find their way to the Goodwill, trashcan or shop rag bin. This is the first race I've seen that actually gave you the choice of pre-registering with out the t-shirt which I thought was very cool. I think I'll shoot the Crazy 8's organizers an email asking for the same choice as they always come through with the worst t-shirt designs ever, well actually they would take 2nd place behind the Tour De Possum Creek if it was still in existence.

Thursday I loaded up my AIR9 and headed to Bays Mtn. to get in some trail time. As I loaded up my bike the dogs gave me their best sad, "Please take us with you" faces. I sat down thought it out and came up with a plan. I told them that when I got back we would head over to Warriors where the trails are more "off the leash" dog friendly. I was really needing to give the JET a test run since I had installed the new cassette and made all the necessary adjustments myself so I thought what a better way to do so with a short ride with the dogs.



It's unusual for me to get in 2 rides at different places on 2 different bikes but I pulled it off well on Thursday. I was actually surprised at how good the conditions were at Warriors, of course there were some slick spots but it was better than I had expected.







There were tails wagging everywhere as we cruised through the woods. If I had a tail it would have been wagging as well. It seems as though my mech. skills are improving. The JET's drivetrain performed well and gave me no problems at all. The only thing that disappointed me was my fitness level, I could tell it has dropped some but I guess that is to be expected since it has truly been winter here in N.E. Tenn.



Wednesday I had a few errands that needed to be done in JC so while I was in town I dropped by one of my old favorite shops, Norris Bicycles. I took Brownie with me to get the low down from Dave as to what it might cost to really bring the old cruiser back to life and looking good. We talked for about 30-45 minutes about different possibilities, parts, styles and paint schemes. When I walked in the door I wasn't 100% sure I was going to leave it for a full restoration job but after talking with Dave and getting an estimate I went ahead and left Brownie in his hands. I don't expect to see any results in the next 2 months so I'm going to try and be patient. Dave has never been known to turn bikes around in a speedy time frame but his work is definitely worth the wait. Dave has restored an old Schwinn for Melinda and another bike for my youngest sister and both of those bikes were works of art. I am confident he will do an awesome job.

Yesterday while I was away at work Melinda traveled south to Asheville NC for some shopping with her Mom and Aunt. She has been on the hunt for a new rug for our living room for some time so I had already prepared myself to take a hit in the checking account for some time. When she returned home I was really surprised that the only $$$ that was spent was on me. I received 3 new bike mags and a 6 pack of New Belgium's 2 Below. I've been searching for 2 Below all winter and had heard a couple of weeks ago that this seasonal brew had made it's last batch. I had pretty much given up on finding any until she walked through the door with it. It was a glorious moment in our kitchen last night. Thank you sweetheart, your the best!

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