a day late

Well as I sit at work and watch the 70 degree, sunny weather go by I can't help but reminisce on our urban jaunt around Nashville yesterday when it was 40 degrees and raining. At least we all aren't normal and we still enjoyed our wet ride.

A group of idiot cyclist met up at the Yazoo tap room at 11am with plans to ride through Nashville to Percy Warner park and meet up with some more idiot cyclist. The ride started slightly late as we (J5, MeanJoe, KRS1 and myself) all took our time getting dressed and prepared for the inclement weather. Thad and I worked out our route as we rode with only about 1 street ahead planned out. The main goal was to avoid West End Ave yet not vear too far off course since we were already running late. We enjoyed riding through many a quaint neighborhood before finally giving up and braving West End/Harding for the last mile to Belle Meade Blvd. Here we were good cyclists and rode single file, paceline style to try to get to the park entrance as soon as we could to not keep our future riding partners waiting too much longer.
site note: these type of rides teach you quickly the importance of wearing glasses and keeping your mouth closed while riding close behind the rider in front of you, even if they are using a fender.


We didn't dilly dally long after meeting up with Mr. Clean and Bikeme. I did trade Crosschecks with MeanJoe and gave his fixie a go. As the group started to enter the park I look down and see my rear tire is flat! auuhh I'd been "Joed"! We yelled and screamed and got a response from the group though we were still left to wallow in their wet dust as I changed my first flat of the day. Bikeme rolled back and pulled MeanJoe and me back to the group, who about ran us into the holler. When you think someone is lost, do you stay where you are or do you backtrack your path at full speed, riding 3 abreast in a park with blind corners? Thankfully our group of 3 didn't plant their face into any of the other group of 3 riding towards us; even if MeanJoe did lose some cartilage stopping his fixie on a dime.

This first loop took us quite a while to finish as I had another flat where everyone offered everything they could to help, including a shriveled tube, a pump that barely worked, and a pump that worked your arms into jello. I somehow lived through with a CO2 to use another day. KRS1 tested Stan's pressure ratings and lost in an explosion of white goop. Thankfully he was climbing slowly at the time of the shooting and he was able to recover and stay out of the ditch. After we finally finished the first loop we were all wanting more since we'd finally got a groove going, but at the same time the stop and go of the first lap wore us out. We went back in for a short 1/2 loop and then parted ways with Mr. Clean and decided on some lunch at 5 Guys.

I only saw 2 guys there but the burger and cajun fries were great and hit the spot for some wet, tired cyclists. We all made our attempts to finish the generous helping of fries and loaded up back to head back to our cars and more importantly, some refreshments at the tap room. I wasn't able to stick around long as I have many house projects to finish before my parents come visit for the holidays but I made time to sample the two newer brews, Hop Project 9 and the Wassail. It hurt to leave so early, but I had to go and finish my bathroom project, those rooms are kind of important with guests in town.

On the house front, we are all moved in, almost settled and working out the kinks of an old house, more room than we've ever had, and trying to stay warm and cheery through the crap weather we've been having. We've been knocking out little projects right and left and I just finished up the most recent project in the downstairs bath. Long story short: someone at some point needed access to the pipes behind the sink and cut a huge 12"x25" hole in the drywall. Not a huge deal if you're living where it's always 70 degrees outside. When it was 30 outside there was a very cold breeze blowing into the house from this hole. I cut some drywall to fill the hole and temporary put it up with tape with plans to truly fix it later. With my parents coming to town for Xmas, later became now. But to do it right I needed to remove the sink and vanity (again) to gain access to the entire hole. Out came the drywall mud, tape and putty knives and 3 days later it's all put back and working, no leaks or nothin. One other thing I got to fix was that when the painters got around to the bathroom, the sink had already been put back so they couldn't paint behind it. We still had some visible blue paint on the sides and inside the vanity to deal with. I just went a head and painted it when I had the vanity and sink removed so now it looks super nice and professional. Feel free to check out my Flickr photos at the link to the right if you're interested in more photos. I know this isn't the biggest project ever, but for a new homeowner it feels rewarding to tackle and conquer any project.

We also have a new addition to our not-quite-totally-empty dining room. Fred was very generous, not only in helping me with my new bike build but also with supplying us with a hand-me-down double bike stand. If our dining room isn't going to have any dining room furniture in it, it might as well have some cool bikes! Thanks Fred!