The Blaſphemous Bicycler

I was going to ride the Stony Creek trail today, but I was getting a little bit bored with it, so I opted for the Rattling Run Trail, which leaves from the same parking lot. It kind of runs parallel to the SCRT, except that it’s on top of the mountain and not in the valley.

The obvious flaw in my plan was that I was going to have to get to the top of the mountain, which is no small feat given my general lack of conditioning.

But, I rocked the granny gear and, truth be told, did more pushing than riding at first, but I finally made it to the top. I was hoping for a nice panoramic view to take a picture of, but all I saw was haze.

So I turned around and got a very quick refresher course on descending on a mountain bike.

I was flying down the trail when I saw a medium sized log up ahead. Odd, I didn’t see that on the way up.

I figured with the 2.1″ nanoraptors, I’d be able to just roll over it anyhow.

I didn’t get the chance, the “log” slithered off the trail just before I would have hit it. I stopped the bike for a photo opp.

It’s our old friend, Mr. Rattlesnake. I guess this is his trail, seems like they named it after him.

I tried to talk to him for a bit, but he wasn’t much of a conversationalist. Mostly, he just shook his tail and took up threatening postures while I took his picture.

He was a big fucker, too. As big around in the middle as my forearm. Look how big his rattle is!

Today: 10 miles
July: 133 miles
2007: 742 miles

I went for a ride in the countryside near Newville today.

I met a goat.

When he saw I was going to take his picture, he posed for me.

There were sunflowers in some gardens.

This what most of the roads are like out there.

There are a lot of Amish people out here, but you aren’t supposed to take their pictures. It steals their souls or whatever.

Today: 20 miles
July: 123 miles
2007: 732 miles

I thought it would be nice to eat my lunch in the woods today, so I packed a sandwich, and headed out to Stony Creek. I rode about 10 miles into the woods.

When I found a nice spot, I stopped, got out my Z-seat, plopped my butt down, ate my lunch, and kind of stared off into space for a bit.

While I was having deep thoughts about the woods, two white tail fawns walked out onto the trail, gave me a queer look, and bounced back into the bushes.

It was a nice lunch.

Today: 20 miles
July: 103 miles
2007: 712 miles

It’s System Administrator Appreciation Day!

Now where in the hell are my presents?!

I planned to just do a quick (5 mile) ride tonight, but I decided to check out an interesting looking dirt road through a corn field and ended up getting lost outside Boiling Springs.

I was starting to worry that the battery in my headlight might die before I made it home. I think there may be a dynohub in my future,

Today: 19 miles
July: 83 miles
2007: 692 miles