I went by the LBS and got links added to my chain for the Kona S/S. I knew the risks going in that the chain might just pop on the first real climb annnnd it did. Which was all fine and good you gamble sometimes you win sometimes you lose. I lost this time with no serious bodily injury resulting from it. After the initial "Ahh shit" I laughed about it and then got miffed with myself for a few reasons.
In my excitement of knowing that temps were going to be in the mid 70's on Wednesday I loaded up the Kona without putting my seat bag onto it. Which contains my Surly Jethro Tule this prevented me from flipping my wheel over and continuing my ride. I had to run the chain over the 20t freewheel with the tensioner run up onto the chainstay and grind back to the truck so I could flip it all over. It all got fixed. Because I forgot my seat bag I had to cram everything into jersey pockets which really annoys me. I don't mind cramming a beer into a jersey pocket, when I cram a tube, tire levers and a oversized old alien multi tool into jersey pockets it's downright laughable.
I got back to the truck flipped the wheel and headed back out for a very pleasant ride. Yes riding single speed hurts, it was just a damn fine day. Just windy enough to keep the new mosquito population down yet warm enough for shorts and a short sleeve jersey. During my ride I ran across the B man. Bman and I go back a bit here in Georgia he showed me around the trails at TAB and then I got sucked into the vortex of nursing pre-reqs and nursing school and we fell out of touch. I heard from another rider that Bman had a nasty spill that sent him to the hospital. Naturally I was concerned I just had no way of getting in touch with the dude. Well we had a quick conversation trail side and he was doing fine cause his spill was last summer. He said he was knocked out for a undetermined amount of time and other riders found him. He had a classic head injury.
Scary. It brings up a couple of points one is wear a damn helmet (Bman was wearing his) the other is educate yourself on wilderness first aid in the very least. I'm big on this because you truly never know what is going to happen out on the trail or what you're going to run across. I'm still an EMT with many many years of experience there is nothing worse than bystanders with no education in the basics of first aid and CPR. They often do more harm than good without the proper training on what to do and what NOT to do. Take a class and help a fellow outdoorsy type out sometime. Hold on a second as I crawl down from my soap box.
The rain has come along with the warm weather and spring break has started, no classes until 3/16. Doing laundry tops the list as usual with rainy day projects then after that comes getting gear organized. I was able to get my last two action packers. I will go through the trouble of labeling them Climb, Hike, Bike and Eat. I like the action packers because they are durable you can lock them if you like, stackable AND waterproof. I also braved the Atlanta IKEA for a Moshult futon mattress. I got it because although I love my crash pad it's just tough to sleep on it's too firm I figure a nice foam futon mattress would be alright. It's foldable as of now I can sleep in the truck in relative comfort which brings up visions of road trips:
can’t find a room, where I’m all
alone
can’t find the words to write about
can’t find a place, where I won’t
be found.
I’m longing for the road
I’m longing for a road sweet road
I’m
longing for a road
my road sweet road.
Can’t find a sign, which warns me on
time
can’t find a stop, that will push the rewind
can’t find the lights, that
will keep me slow
can’t find any help, while my engine is running low.
I’m
longing for the road
I’m longing for a road sweet road
I’m longing for a
road
my road sweet road.
An anthem for us dirtbags out there. With that I'll end here and start on laundry and going through my gear. Thanks for reading.
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