More Fan than Side

I was deathly sick yesterday and as such skipped my Monday post. So as a constellation prize here is a substitute Tuesday post and the board game edition of our game "Bee-Loggin" so you can play along at home.

Saturday was another ride on Riverside. We are at twelve or thirteen now for 2008, I am starting to lose track. The weather was cool, but not cold and the clouds wanted to rain in the worst way, but held off. I arrived at Grant's place in the fan a hair after 8:30 am and we were two wheels rolling (TWR) by 9 am. Wanting to take it easy we decided to roll on the side instead of another trip to Fort Harrison. The ride to the river was bone dry, but the trip across it was just the opposite.

The remnants of a weeks worth of rain were present once we splashed our way on to Belle Isle. The trails were a muddy mess which made staying clean and steering clear of poop jokes rather difficult. The lower trail we usually take was washed out and the upper trail was an obstacle course of slippery rocks and slick roots.

Flooded Lower Trail

By the time we exited James River Park we I (my fenders are in the mail) looked like I had been in a chocolate sauce fight. Riverside was dry again and gave us a chance to roll quick again.

Back across the river on the nickel bridge and we went east from Windsor Farms towards Pibby's so Grant could pick up some pedals he had ordered and look for tape. I took the opportunity to round out my tool roll further and picked up a new chain tool. I snapped a picture of the shop too. Pibby's only had cork handlebar tape so we decided to ride out to Rowlett's. He found navy cloth tape and I sat outside watching the bikes and breathing in crispy creams. Grant convinced me that we needed a harder meal than donuts so we crossed the street to Panera and ate at the cafe tables outside.

We decided after brunch that completing our ride down Monument was tantamount to crossing the United States to dip our toes in the Pacific. So we reached its end, dipped our toes and went back to Grant's on Patterson. It was roughly a 24.5 mile ride, that is the biggest extension of our Riverside loop to date. Oh and I took more pictures which can be found here.