Reflections Along the Way

Geez, today was one of those days at Lake Crabtree…Steve and I met at 3:45.  It all started when I stepped out of the car into the middle of August (not sure why I hadn’t noticed earlier how freakin’ hot it was today!)   When Steve got out of the car, he discovered that his rear tire was flatter than a pancake.  We both kind of gave each other a groaning look, and moved his bike into the shade, so that he could change the tube with the crappy emergency pump that he carries on the frame of his bike (we still don’t know why it got flat, but are assuming the heat?).  By 4:00, we were ready to roll, and only slightly annoyed about the tire and the fact that we had forgotten to refill our Camel-Bak’s from the last ride, so we were low on water.

It definitely wasn’t as humid as it is in mid-August, and there was a nice breeze, and of course, lots of shade in the woods on the trails.  At one point while stopping to catch our breath a bit, I remember Steve asking me how my bike felt, b/c I had been having problems with my chain going slack whenever I back-pedalled, causing the gears to lock up.  I commented that it was okay, but felt a little weird, like I didn’t quite trust my bike.  It turns out that that was pretty good foreshadowing.  Evidently, the screw that holds my  ”Lower Pulley Unit”  together (this toothy gear thing  is responsible for keeping the tension in the chain) had slowly but surely over the past few rides been working itself looser and looser.  After 25 minutes on the trails today, it decided to fall apart…in pieces.  My gears started doing this weird grinding thing, and after a minute or so, I realized that something had gone horribly wrong.  Turns out, over the past half mile or so, the little screws, nuts, and washers had one by one been popping off unbeknownst to me, until I went over a log that catapulted the entire pulley unit right off the bike.  Now, Lake Crabtree is not a big park, but hiking out with two mountain bikes, already a little peeved, keeping my eyes peeled for other bikers so I can jump out of the way, didn’t seem like the most fun option.  We decided to look for the pieces, and after about 10 minutes or so, lo and behold, found all FIVE pieces that went with the  pulley unit.  Steve worked on it for a good 10 minutes, while I fought off the mosquitoes and ticks.  He then pronounced it fixed.  We got back on the bikes, and after about 30 seconds, we realized it most definitely was NOT fixed.  Deja vu with aforementioned mosquitoes and ticks, and probably more like 20 minutes this time, with several more failed attempts, Steve thankfully was finally able to not only get the piece back on the bike, but also convince it to do its job. 

While Steve was turning into a greasy pool of sweat working on my bike the second time around, I began to get a little irritated.  Not at Steve, mind you, but at the whole situation.  All I wanted to do was let off some end-of-the-school-year steam in the woods on my mountain  bike, not too much to ask for, right?  At this point we had spent more time searching for and tweaking with microsopic bike parts in the woods than we had spent riding.  The 457 (probably not quite that many ) other bikers that zoomed gleefully by us, oblivious to our plight did not help the situation. 

It was around then that I was struck with the magnitude of my selfishness and crappy attitude…with all the unjustice, sickness, poverty, and violence going on in the world RIGHT THIS MINUTE, I felt the need to piss and moan that my afternoon bike ride got messed up?  Really?  Even if I de-globalize for a moment and keep it local – there are a million and one reasons far worse as to why my afternoon bike ride could have been messed up.  One of us could have gotten into a car wreck on the way over.  One of us could have wrecked our bike into a tree or another rider.  The Lower Pulley Unit falling off my bike could have caused me to wreck, all of these things at the very LEAST would probably ruin the trip we have planned in 2 weeks to Montana and Utah, and very likely, ruin even more.  And I want to complain b/c we had a pump to fix Steve’s tire, enabling us to still ride?  I’d like to feel sorry for myself, b/c 5 tiny parts exploded off my bike over the course of a half mile, and we FOUND them all?  Or maybe I’d rather brood about how my wonderful husband who is by no means a bike mechanic was able to fix my bike so that I could ride out good as new, instead of hike out in the dark…

I guess its all in the way you look at things.  Sometimes its a blessing just to make it out on two wheels.  And on those days, all you can do is shake your head and laugh.

Steve and I had a blast today, and it was the most random day I’ve had in a long time, so I thought it was worth noting. In preparation for the upcoming family trip to Yellowstone, I decided I wanted Steve to teach me how to fly fish. Since his experience has been limited to the annual “guy’s trip” with his brothers and dad, Steve felt like he might need a refresher himself, and certainly didn’t know the good spots to go to in Raleigh. So we met up with our friends the Touseys, Tim and Jenn, and their two kids, Sam and Charlotte. Tim is an avid fisherman, and had been wanting to try out a new spot his friend had told him about in the middle of Umstead Park.
We had agreed to meet at 9:00, however, we got sidetracked by a situation that required my immediate attention. There in the middle of the road, at the corner of Lynn and Leesville Rd, sat a HUGE Snapping Turtle! Now, as some of you may know, I have had some run-ins with rescuing turtles in the middle of roads before. This turtle, however, was BIG and PISSED!!! I got out of the car and some other lady had stopped also. She tried to pick him up from the front as his mouth was wide open and he was hissing (hmmm, perhaps not the smartest move?). The turtle literally jumped at her, and the lady screamed…so I picked him up from behind (he was HEAVY!) and carted him off across the road to safety, with him scratching and clawing the whole way. He was kind enough to pose for one picture with his mouth closed.

So with all that excitement out of the way, we met the Tousey’s and hiked down to the lake. Its kind of off the beaten path, and there was not another soul in sight. The weather could not have been more perfect. Tim proceeded to give me a wonderful lesson on the basics of casting, while Steve brushed up on his tying on techniques. While Sam was attempting to “catch a dolphin” from the docks, Steve and I found a nice little nook in the lake in the shade. Throughout the morning Steve caught 4 fish, and I caught 3! I think my favorite part was putting them back in the water and watching them swim away After lolling the morning away, dreaming of backpacking/fishing expeditions we could take, we were starting to get hungry, so we headed over to Lake Crabtree with our bikes for a nice picnic lunch by the lake. With the nice breeze coming off the lake, and our nice spot in the shade, it didn’t even seem to matter that we had no hand sanitizer to wash the fish slime off our hands before we ate We ended our afternoon with a lazy, laidback ride thru the mountain bike trails at Crabtree, but NOT before we came across another small box turtle in the middle of the bike trail. He was a scaredy cat, but we saved him anyway.

 So that was my day. Just goes to show that you don’t have to travel to some mystical, remote place to enjoy the outdoors. Keep your eyes open, and you just might surprise yourself with all the fun you can have in the little corner of Creation that you call home!