Republican Neglect

The sun was out and the sky cloud free, so I cleaned the garage work bench. Sephie and I managed to while away the morning and early afternoon relaxing and playing with neighbors. Guess who did which. Once I'd made up my mind to do MOTAB I arranged child care for Sephie. She spent the afternoon and evening with Kenisha's family having a great time.

With Seph occupied I had one thing on my agenda- a real ride. So I loaded up the Rig and went to Quarry Ridge Park. When I arrived there were 3 cars and only two riders on the trail. Where the hell is everyone, the Kettles? With the trail wide open I started burning laps. I don't know who is maintaining the trail but I need to volunteer some weed whacker time. The weeds are almost grip high on my bike and the lines on the lower side of the trail are pretty limited. As I was running the 32x22 from Lake Geneva I thought I'd just work on the sandstone climb and the descent switchbacks on the final part of the loop. 2 hours later I was getting bored turning 9 minute laps. I'm pretty sure I have every rock, root and tree memorized on that trail. Also, a 34x18 is a better gearing for that loop.

On the way back I stopped into Mickey's for the MOTAB pre-lube. DJ John, Elizabeth, Lyle, Zack, Kelly, 9, Tim and P-lip all helped kill 4 pitchers of Shiner Bock. Maybe it's just me but Shiner tastes significantly better from a keg than from a bottle. Or maybe it's because it was before a ride. At zero hour I went back to the house and grabbed the Tanknium for the "race." There were many others in attendance, CF Guru & neighbor Paul, Revolution Jeff and maybe 15 others. Beer varied from PBR to a mini keg of Oberon. Bikes were piled and Kittens gave us the start... I'm getting ahead of myself. Dial back the Way-back Machine to Mickey's. Kittens had a mysterious silver box with "DFL" spray painted on the lid. He told us we lacked the clearance for him to reveal the contents, but told us we'd see when the DFL was awarded later. Mr Peabody has returned us to the start of the "race." Once the bikes were un-piled we started doing counterclockwise loops around the building. Ramps were erected with cinder blocks on both sides and jumping occured. 9 was regularly ghost-riding his bike under the tubular gate. In the end a winner was declared and I started to trackstand at the finish hoping to discover what was contained within the DFL "football". I gave it my best shot but I put my foot down a fraction of a second before Lyle crossed earning him the DFL. At ceremonies Kittens revealed that the contents of the box, F&R quick releases and a chainstay protector, were stripped from the POTUS Trek Fuel which had been warrantied for a second time. It seems W doesn't know how to maintain the shock so it leaks pressure during normal use. Eventually it lacks any air so it effectively becomes a hardtail, but the shock mount embedded in the carbonfiber of the frame can't handle the stress of a neglected shock so it cracks the frame. So Trek warrantied his frame twice. The option of repainting the frame without repairing it was shot down as they thought the paint would crack before the end of his administration. Maybe I should submit my resume and hope for an appointment the post of "White House Bike Mechanic." I'd probably get fired for constantly forgetting to put a seat on the bike.