Cold November Pain?

The weekend of my discontent.  Daylight Saving Time ends and so begins the after work commuter blues countdown until the big turn around.  I wanted to make the most of the last long day of Fall by riding in the mountains, but responsibility was calling.  A crew was assembling to do some more assploring for the 2016 Tour duh Charlotte.

Two single speed mountain bikes, two skinny-knobbed urban cross type bikes and one real deal disc cross machine.  Not one of them ideal for the entire adventure.  Some ducking under No Tresspassing signs, maybe poaching our way over a not yet completed bridge, a little pedaling on future rail road tracks.  And trail... some purpose built for mountain bikes, some forgotten remnants from days past, and perhaps some paths meant for game-type animals.

All I can say is that there will be a lot of riding around in this in March:

The woods.

There will also be some of this:

Stunts.

The route for 2016 might be on the ambitious side.  By the end of our long day of assploring even the concept of food seemed exhausting, foreign, amazing and thought provoking.

I don't know how long the actual race day will be in terms of hours or miles or burritos, but rest assured, race participants and spectating party pacers will get their money's worth... and then some.

On Sunday, I once again went to the Big Stampede swap meet... despite all previous year's declarations of never returning.  The only thing that I've taken away these past two years is the fact that I'm blessed.  I have what I want, don't feel the need for another rain coat or helmet... these things that I knew before I got on my bike and rode the few miles over to the Merchandise Mart in a light rain.  My only hope for next year is that they move it back out to the speedway, thus making it too far to ride to and by requiring the use a motor vehicle, quash any desire to go rummage through bins of slightly blemished socks and worn-out derailleurs.

Quite honestly, this is the time when I'm fully ready to properly entrench myself and prepare for the onslaught of boredom, darkness, beer, overeating, bad haircuts, new bike fantasies, and trying to focus on the light at the end of the tunnel... which hopefully isn't a train, but being that it very well could be a train, maybe practice my train avoidance skills in the meantime.

Since it might come in handy at next year's Tour duh Charlotte.