Title by my fiancee
Gotta love Memorial Day… the day off, the cook-outs, the trees jumping out in front of you… wait, maybe that’s just us.  Today began with more bike riding. It began with four of us attempting to tackle the same trail from last week. Its started off well… then we started riding. My friend who had steering issues last week make it about 200 yards farther than he did last week before his handle bars became loose again. I dont think his bike likes that trail. He decided to turn around because he decided he actually wanted to control where his bike went… good for him, because even with functional steering, our bikes still went places they were not supposed to go. And then there were three.

The three of us decided were were gonna try to ride with the big boys… mistake number one. Those up hill climbs showed us who was boss. Thank goodness I added that water bottle holder. I obviously didn’t learn from last week when I had my encounter with the tree. That’s what led to mistake nimber two… the trees just jump out in front of you. You cant trust them for a minute. The second you take your eyes off of them, they move. That’s obviously what happened, because otherwise why would I have had an “encounter” with a tree again?

Unfortunately, one of us, now known as Tree Hugger, didn’t learn from my mistake last week either. He underestimated the trees. we were headed down a new path, and it was pretty fast. Fun, but fast. I almost had a second encounter with a tree on this segment, but fortunately, I saw it move, so I was able to avoid it. Tree Hugger was not so lucky. I had just crossed a creek and stopped to wait for the other two. I turned around to see where everyone was just in time to hear tree hugger coming around the bend and see him headed straight for a tree. I heard a yell, crash, and then silence.

I ran over to see if he was alright, but of course, he was. After all, last week he won he tough guy award for his resilience after his spill. He was no less brave today. He quickly rebounded, brushed himself off, and got ready to continue riding. His bike has other plans. It was not as tough as its rider. He noticed the rear wheel was not spinning as freely as it should. We noticed it was slightly bent. We adjusted the brake a bit to allow it to spin only to run into another problem. His front tire. That one was not slightly bent, but severely bent. It had obviously lost the battle with the sneaky tree. It kinda looked like a tortilla chip.

The only option was to either toss the bike in the woods and cut his losses, or carry it back. He decided to carry it. The other two of us rode back to the cars and picked him at at a crossing mid way in the trail. Once we met back up with him, I think he wished he had chosen the first option.

In the words of Ice Cube, “Today was a good day.” I went mountain biking, and my fiancee joined… she even jumped a few logs and crossed a few creeks. I had my mom over for a small cookout (I love grilling). And I spoke to both my dad and my sister. Food, family, and fun… doesn’t get better than that.

I decided that one of my friends gets the tough guy award for today. The biking started out a bit shaky. First, the trail was difficult to find… we ended up going the wrong way. But that did allow is to go down a monster hill. Then when we found the trail, the first hill was down hill, and it was all rocks. I don’t mean pebbles, not even stones… ROCKS! The smallest ones were the size of baseballs and softballs. I was the first to take the hill, and it was great. It was steep and bumpy. When I started, I thought, “Oh, I can handle this.” Then I got about a quarter the way down and thought, “Maybe I should have thought this through more… I am going kinda fast.” Then about halfway I thought “Ah well, I am halfway down, if I try to brake, I will probably lock the wheels up, do a superman over the handle bars and die, so I might as well go for it. No sense in trying to dodge the rocks, they are everywhere. Just try to go as straight as possible. Wow, this is so bumpy, I cant even focus… its like I am in Star Trek, and I am going warp 8.” Then I made it to the bottom. I was safe, I didnt die, I didn’t eat it, and I didn’t crap myself, so I did well.

Unfortunately, one of us was not as lucky with the hill. The warp 8 bumps knocked his handlebars loose, and his wheel started turning when he wasn’t. He decided he was done for the day, and cut his losses. Smart move. No sense in anyone risking their safety any more than we already were be being out there.

The tough guy award… Another friend was leading the now trio down a path. I was talking to my fiancee, and heard a yell and then a crash. I looked up to see my friend’s bike laying on the ground, and he a bit passed it. He was kinda laid out with arms and legs outstretched when I saw him. He then got up, brushed himself off, and was ready to go. I thought that was the end of our day, hell, after that, I know I would have been ready to go home, but he insisted we go on. His hands were a bit bloody, and I am sure his pride may have been a bit bruised, but he took it like a champ.

We ended up riding out until we didn’t know where to go anymore, and then headed back. It was a great ride, and a great ride followed by grilled food makes for a great day. i hope your Sunday was as enjoyable, but I doubt it was… mine is pretty hard to beat. :-)

Are you serious? Some Aussie created a game based on the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech. There is nothing good that can be said about this. The subject totally inappropriate and insensitive. Don’t get me wrong, I am not an opponent of violent video games, I love the GTA series (Grand Theft Auto for those of you who are out of touch), but this is different. Its based on a real life tragedy.

And if your morals will not prevent you from playing the game, maybe the fact that it looks as if it sucks will. In an era of free game engines and 3D graphics, this guy chooses to make his game look like something from 1983. Its like double dragon for the first Gameboy. Its not worth the free download.

On top of it all, he refuses to remove the game unless he recieves $2,000 in “donations.” He also says he will apologize for another $1,000. The audacity of this guy. His argument is not even freedom of speech, its motivated by money. As I said, there is nothing good to be said about this game, or this guy.

He has taken up enough of my thoughts. On to something better, like “Lost.”

I have discovered a new recreational activity… you guessed it, mountain biking. Its great, and until I get my motorcycle (no, I have not given up on my dream of owning a motorcycle), this will have to be my outlet for two-wheeled adventure. My fiance and I recently got mountain bikes, and its great. its great exercise, and its a great way for us to spend time together. While she has no desire to venture off of the safer trails to the “fun” stuff, this is fine. We live in the suburbs, and there are plenty of bike trails in and around our neighborhood. There are also many trails in the area that are either paved, or have some kind of rock or stone ground cover that would be fun for a relaxing ride.

Today I went riding with two friends, and had a blast. It was like the other side of biking. While most of the ride was on a dirt and stone trail, we also ventured off into the woods and had some fun. We found a trail that had lots of turns a few dips, and plenty of tree roots and logs to climb over. That section made the day completely worth it. It also gave me an opportunity to get my bike dirty and get some street cred… lol.

Now, doubt I will become some kind of obsessed biker, nor am I about to run out and spend thousands of dollars on a bike, but I am going to look for more places for me to have fun on my little Schwinn. Its great rediscovering something you enjoyed as a kid… but still acceptable for adults to enjoy. Hopefully the next trail we take on had some creek crossings… I have already found a few that do.

Until then, I will enjoy the gentler trails with my fiance. Maybe, just maybe, I will be able to get her out there to jump a log one day… maybe.

There is a specific road that I take a lot, both to and from work, and on weekends. This particular road is only two lanes, one in each direction. In addition, its has some sections that are quite twisty, and you can experience some great ups and downs. In short, this is a great road to drive when there is not anyone in front of you, and you are in a car with great suspension that you know intimately.

The worst is either when I want to “have fun” or have somewhere to be, and there is someone in front of me who obviously either does not know this road, or is just afraid of it. There are countless times I have just wanted to enjoy driving, only to be impeded by someone out for a Sunday stroll. Now, I can understand some people wanting to take their time in the mostly straight and flat sections, because there are some absolutely amazing houses in those areas. Multi-million dollar estates. What really gets under my skin is when people are driving in the curvy (fun) areas going 15 miles an hour. There is nothing to see but trees. Keep you eyes on the road and your foot on the gas. If you are afraid to drive, get off of the road.

I am sure there are roads like this all over, and I am sure many people have similar experiences to mine. Just know tht you are not alone, and that feeling of wanting to turbo boost (Knight Rider reference) past the slow poke is natural. I am sure many of you actually have much more vivid, imaginative (and violent) things you would like to do to those people, but I refuse to condone violence on my blog… no how fun rolling over them in a monster truck would be.

I am sending this post from my Treo because the cable internet connection is so slow, it would only frustrate me more that I can’t complain about it fast enough. All I want to do is watch last night’s episode of Heroes… I don’t think that’s too much to ask. Right now it loads for like two minutes and play for like two seconds. What is this… 1992? What happened to broadband? FiOS, where are you? Save us from cable!