Laundry and a laugh

Chillaxin'. Listening to jazzradio.com and doing laundry.

Here's a laugh,

"blank"

...I'm not feeling it.

It's the start of the long holiday weekend. The first to kick off the summer. Memorial Day weekend. Planned on going to the Black Forest to mtb and chillax but...

I'm just not feeling it.

Damn nettles

I took another route into work on a trail I hadn't been on before. A connector trail was narrow and had knee high stinging nettles on either side. I only brushed my left shin along them as I rode by so the irritation was just confined in one spot. It's not bad like poison ivy or oak but it still a minor physical annoyance. Kinda feels like a low electrical buzz/burning sensation. My shin is covered with red welts. Last time I ride that way.

Goin' commando

There's only a a thin barrier of cottom chino material between my junk and the world today.

Somehow, the pair of boxers I picked from the clean pile of clothes didn't make it into my backpack.

Feels OK so far.

Have I posted this already?

Whether I did or didn't, this vid is worthy of another look,

Perfect cycling weather

Today's forecast: Sunny, low 70s.

Ride forecast: hella awesome with a side of fun. Gonna go ride through the forest, then find me a place to get a bite to eat and wash it down with a tall beer.

Ride to Heidelberg

This past weekend I rode up to Heidelberg with the SLACR group. Something over 100miles for the weekend with 50 something miles per day. Saturday was a chilly overcast start and the sun hid from view the whole day. The route was along the winding Neckar river which was pretty scenic. Lots of steep river canyon walls with hanging vineyards carved into the rock. There were also a couple of coal, petrol and salt factories along the river. Bunch of fishermen camped along the river banks casting a line or two.

Just as we were coming up on Heilbronn, I was involved in a three bike pileup. A 10 yo kid was leading a mini paceline. Kid, some guy from Rammstein then me. I think the kid was a little tired and drifted into the tall grass lining the bike path. I saw this and knew a pileup was sure to follow. Other guy crashes into kid and I follow into the pair. We all get up, dust ourselves off, no seeming injuries or mechanicals. The rest of the groups was 300 meters up the trail where we re-grouped. Just as other guy rolls up, he shifts his rear derailleur which promptly wraps around the cassette towards the rear and explodes. He gets off, takes stock and says his ride was done. That sucks but luckily we were in Heilbronn proper so he and his buddy could hike it to the bahnhof to retreat back home.

The sun greeted us Sunday morning, still around the high 50s for most of the ride but only vest and warmers needed. The route started to change as the river and bikes flowed towards our ultimate destination. Either side of the river became mountainous and scenic. Scenic German towns with their old churches, stone walls and the occasional castle perched high on the tops of the rocky cliffs provided interesting scenery. Most of the time the group (all on road bikes) seemed to blast down the trail while no taking in the scenery. Being on a mountain bike, I was a little more upright and going a bit slower than the roadies so I took advantage of my seemingly handicap to take in the scenery.

The whole group was on road bikes while I opted for my Killer V commuter shod with semi-slicks. I didn't want to carry my change of clothes on my back so I brought a pannier. Yeah, I would've kept up with the group if I had taken my Bianchi but I wanted to ride comfortably. The surface variation of the trail and navigation made the ride to be taken in sections as we attempted to make the correct turns based on the trail intersection signage.

Once we arrived in Heidelberg, we took the obligatory group pics to include the bridge and castle. (hopefully to be posted here once I pinch them off FB or Yahoo groups). Then David and I split from the group to hightail it to the hauptbahnhof to return home. Overall, it was a fun ride with decent mileage each day and amazing scenery.

The time has come...

The date has arrived. I'm going up the river. Hope they have decent food and internet.