Welcome back Doubters! I do hope your newt year will be filled with some rides, wonder and wondering about rides. Last time around, we got into the bikey-ness real thick like. I felt sort of bad for a few milliseconds, but fortunately then I remembered that I threw down the gauntlet right out of the gate. Opinionated bike crap. Punk rock is not having to say you’re sorry so I’m alright!
This is despite recently having hooked my bars on a sapling going down a high-speed turn which sent me rapidly onto my tuchus. A rider who I guess1 was wheel sucking nearly ran over me as I came to a dusty stop. When he asked if I was okay, I said yeah, just pissed. I had in fact contused my right index finger pretty good and somehow the top of my right thigh. However, I was fine. My armor (knees, wrists, shoes) had some notable dirt scuffs, but otherwise I could have just as well keep going and likely would have had I been with anyone. Yet I was on my own and had only been out for barely more than ten minutes. As this was the first ride I had undertaken in a week after having some icky sinusitis, I opted to fold and play another hand next time.
1 I did not hear him as I was enjoying the mash up of my tires crunching down the pebble-strewn trail and this lovely piece of blackened Norwegian death metal.
These instances got me thinking about injury. Harming oneself and maybe others is always in play when riding and it is obviously a risk we’ve opted in on. That said, I abide by the mantra that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I think it was Zap (who among others needs some help) who said long ago “dress for the crash”. I took heed at that point and without fail have worn an array of protective gear every ride ever since. This includes a helmet with extended neck coverage (trail/enduro), full fingered armored gloves, Triple 8 wrist guards, abrasion-resistant baggy shorts, glasses, knee pads and armored flat pedal shoes. These accoutrements have saved my bacon countless times, yet I rarely see riders wearing much beyond a lid and some basic gloves. When questioned 2 as to why I am wearing all this stuff, I initially go the self-deprecation route and just say that it is because I am not that good. I am pretty okay, but realistically I appreciate the added confidence having said gear on gives me and in the dirty south I’d prefer being hot and sweaty (a given), but not also beat up.
2 This is rare as most never say anything to me beyond a cordial greeting. I tend to be kind of mean-looking and always have been. Many people who’ve become close friends of mine thought I was going to be a jerk or kick their ass.
Music Selections: Oblivians: Popular Favorites Around the same time that grunge became a signifier for a music genre, I became obsessed with the adjacent sounds of garage punk. Garage punk grew straight out of the 60s garage rock sounds ala Nuggets and beyond with a big helping of primordial punk. While garage punk did not embrace the metal sounds grunge folded in, it had all the fury. Memphis’ Oblivians are the apex of this for me. They were unapologetically loud and chaotic playing on super basic (cheap) gear a brew of deceptively simple songs that were super catchy. I caught them a few times in the way back and they always destroyed. However, seeing them on their first 2009 reunion shows in Memphis with The Gories rank up there with the greatest shows I’ve ever seen.
Homemade Speed: Faster Is Better I referenced Void in the very first of these diatribes. Their spirit is alive and well with these sickos. Bonus points for them being on my hometown record label.
Dirty birds: Moving on, I think about animals often. Critters and children have always found me entertaining, but we’ll discuss kids some other time. My environs allow for year-round riding and among my favorite things about this place is the plethora of anything and everything that flies, swims, slithers, crawls or ambles that is not a human. Robot noted being a bird noticer in a recent column and I’d agree with that characterization and more for myself. I see all kinds of critters on every ride. Recently I encountered the guys in the masthead picture enjoying lunch at local trailhead. Like most animals in these places, they did not give AF about me or much of anyone else beyond hopping out of the way of cars coming and going. Buzzards are omnipresent and I just find their utterly nonplussed ways rather endearing.
Hawks in contrast are a bit higher strung. Nevertheless, they are all over the place and I get to see them snatching mice and other ground dwelling itty bittys routinely. Additionally, on occasion I’ve come across assorted owls. Their silence is eerie, and they come off like mob enforcers that have little to say, but you know they go hard when necessary.
Speaking of omnipresent, it’s weird if you do not see deer while in any wooded area around here. Normally you will not see the bucks during the day, but I have seen more of them out as time passes. You will run into entire deer herds if you head out for a night ride with dozens of their glowing eyes staring back at you as you come around corners. We tell the kids on our GCA team to be mindful of their presence as it is easy to come up on them quickly and while it is exceedingly rare for them to harm anyone it’s best not to find out if they are having a bad day.
Other encounters I’ve had include raccoons, chipmunks, coyotes, groundhogs, beavers, tons of snakes, rabbits, eagles, wild turkeys, skunks, foxes and bears. Those last two generally are rare sights, but they are out there. I feel lucky when I see any critters as I feel like it’s their home that we are rolling through. I always say hello and/or ring my bell. That just seems like the polite thing to do.
Here in Canada’s next door neighbor, the woods are covered in deepish snow. The tracks of deer, fox and the tunnels of the small rodents make for fun trail interpretation.
@albanybenn: I have not been to upstate New York* many times, but it is picturesque in the winter. It’s a fascinating treat to see what the critters are up to in that kind of environment. A wee bit trickier to ride bikes in, but it can be done. Enjoying some winter sports activities are of course totes fun too.
*Albany, NY I’m guessing from your handle and not Albany, GA down this way. 😀