Adventures in Biking

Remember last Wednesday morning and how cold it was? Probably not as we sit here in now 30 degree-plus weather...Anyhow, I should have seen it as a sign when the back brakes on my bike were jammed when I headed out at 6:20 that morning. But no, I didn't woos out and take the bus (stupid me). I forged ahead, against the howling wind. The howling wind that kept me from feeling the drizzle that was falling. I did make it to work in one piece and with a bike lock this time, although it did take me almost an hour and a half to get there. Not to mention the fact that my hands were so numb, I could not unclasp my bike helmet. Let's just say the bike ride home that evening was much more pleasant.
Thursday morning was also much better. Tim drove me to work with my bike so I only had to do the trip one way that day.

And what about the weekend, you ask? After playing softball (and losing) on Friday evening, we headed to my parents' cottage on Saturday morning with Heidi in tow (or more like in VW following us.) In Chateaugay, New York we encountered strange people sporting t-shirts with hearts on them offering us a free car wash. We encountered another group of them upon entering Malone and these folks were even stranger. They were offering free car washes, free blood pressure tests and free hot dogs! Do you take the blood pressure test before or after having eaten the hot dog?!

Well, we got to the cottage hot dog-less, settled in and had some lunch then headed towards Saranac Lake to do some trail riding. If a tree falls in the forest and three people are there, you definitely hear it! Craaaaaaaaack!!! It was quite a bumpy ride with lots of tree roots to maneuver over but we had a blast and didn't have to fight the bugs off too badly.

Sunday was quite a different story. We went back to Hatch Brook where we had gone on Victoria day weekend but this time we took the trail to the left. The bugs were a little more pesky this time out but nothing we couldn't handle until about half an hour in. We must have hit lower boggier ground cos it was HELL I tell you! We couldn't stop for a second or we got swarmed. And I wasn't wearing dark colours. And I was covered in Skintastic AND Muskol. And then we missed the cutoff for the other loop back. Sooooo, we ended up at the end of the trail at Meacham Lake campground with no way back but INTO THE BUG WOODS FROM HELL!!! There was no way we were going back in there for another hour and a half's ride back. So I called my dad from the pay phone at the campground and 20 minutes later, he showed up in his pickup and we loaded up the bikes and crammed ourselves into the, ahem, king cab and headed back to Hatch Brook to get our car. Thank god for dads!!!

I would post some photos but someone's busy at the computer downstairs so you'll have to wait, sorry!