Thursday, July 5, 2012

America's Saturday (Continued)


Brendan properly celebrates America's Saturday by bailing before the good parts of a fixed gear century (or so).  I'll finish the story for him.  Salem and I found a new rail bridge at the end of the Airline Trail in East Hampton, and there was some unexpected graffiti.  Salem's routine throughout the day was, "You should put this (25 mile out street art) on the next graffiti tour."  Eye roll.



On our way back in we decided to cut through the Portland Meadows rather than ride the boring and somewhat hilly Route 17.  This is a known mudhole / quad haven, but on past trips I've only seen a couple straggling rednecks.  We ran across what appeared to be every redneck in CT having a bear soaked, mud slinging party.  Salem and I found ourselves practicing our drawl, just in case we had the need to interact.  Unfortunately no photos.  We didn't know if the natives would appreciate the gesture.

After leaving the Mad Maxx excitement we were puttering along idyllic Tryon street in South Glastonbury and were nearly run off the road by an aggressive Jeep pulling a jet ski.  After being told to "get off the road" we were informally challenged to a duel.  Fortunately we were able to wave the jerk on his pissed off way and were surprised to be yelled at again by his girlfriend who had been in the next car back.  We took this opportunity to call the police who were quite responsive.  We took a break and waited for the patrol car to take a statement.

There was some swimming, although I only waded.  You'll notice that Salem wore shorts.  It was an excellent ride, although the premise was questionable.  I was really surprised that Salem had four people take him up on the idea.

9 comments:

Interstatement said...

A bear-soaked party sounds disturbingly awful.

I can't think of any bear-sourced liquid that would be appropriate at a party.

Brendan said...

You're jealous you didn't get to ride those new switchbacks on the Manchester bike path along 384. They're nuts! I can't imagine who thought those things would be safe for your average bike path pedaller.

Interstatement said...

I did them on the Yuba with the trailer-- Schleppi hung back and gave me a wide berth in case I had a fiery crash.

Actually, I'm jealous because I can't afford the exotic bottom bracket I need to make my fixed-gear project bike rideable.

Brendan said...

Use a less elaborate bottom?

Brendan said...

bracket

Interstatement said...

It's a 67mm wide non-threaded press-fit cartridge BB shell on a lugged 1972ish Lambert frame. I tried a Velo Orange threadless BB (which seem to fit the later fillet-brazed Lambert frames) but it didn't work. That leaves Phil Wood parts-- very nice, but spendy.

Schleppi Longstocking said...

Polar or Brown?

Tony C said...

Drunk bear. The most gregarious, but also the most dangerous.

Tony C said...

Drunk bear. The most gregarious, but also the most dangerous.