It's NOT that cold!!!

Many people did not ride today because it was too cold. Some other people, like Brendan and I, did, and you know, we had a great time. I was even warm enough to fully unzip my wind breaker, although, not so warm as the fellow I saw running in shorts. I guess he also failed to realize it was too cold.

Maybe some of us are just insensitive. Maybe our beards have grown too thick and we have to play at mountain men. Or, maybe it was a just another beautiful day to ride a bike outside. Brendan and I started by the river in East Hartford and manage to find some new-to-us water crossings to access new-to-us fields and trails and a skeet shooting range. We also learned that boardwalks, like bridges on the highway, freeze before everything else, although, those who join the Eel on Sunday can learn that first hand. Don't worry, they are still fun. And oh yes, Brendan learned that performance go karts can be hard to turn, but I suppose that was before we started riding. I highly doubt we would have learned any of these lessons on an indoor bike trainer.

So next time you think it is too cold to ride, here are some tips to help you outside:
1) Grow a beard; they are not just for mountain men anymore. No excused ladies.
2) Switch to flat pedals and non-cycling shoes. The plastic used to make cycling soles stiffs has another trait: it is a good thermal (cold) conductor.
3) Just keep pedaling and go straight when you hit the ice.
4) Forget cycling gear; loose clothing will always insulate better than anything tight, and will also be more comfortable if it gets wet.
5) Newspaper makes a great wind block under a shirt or in shoes.
6) You can ride a bike with mittens, really.
7) Fender, fender, fenders, and I don't mean those cute little clip-ons.
8) Just remember, you like riding a bike, outside.
9) Smile.
10) This isn't a top ten list.

Go ride your bike.

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Race times

When I switched from Cat 3 (Beginner) to Cat 2 (Sport) in mountain biking this year, I was happy that I didn't have to wake up so early for races. Cat 3 races are usually at 9am and 2's are at 2pm. 'Cross races vary in terms of who goes off when. It seems, to me, that some times they put the crappy racers, like me, later in the day, so that the A's get the course when it's loosened up a bit, but isn't yet a mud put. Although, sometimes, the C race is in the early morning, elites are midday and B's are at the end. Anyway, I bring this up because there's an interesting article in the Times today about time of day and athletic performance (regrettably, this column is called "Personal Best").

“Most components (strength, power, speed) of athletic performance are worst in the early hours of the morning,” he [Dr. Greg Atkinson of Liverpool John Moores University] wrote in an e-mail message. “Ratings of perceived exertion during exercise have generally been found to be highest in the early morning.”

With that in mind, I signed up for that Beer Cross race on Saturday morning and it's a 9am start time (for crappy, Brendan-caliber racers). I look forward to doing poorly. While it looks to be a much larger field than what's in Dayville, that Ice Weasel race is too far away.

In all its non-competitive glory, the Eel 4 is set to start at 11am. Everyone should be good and warmed up by then. Read more!

Shifts

So, with rare mechanical skill, I installed some Deore XT Dual Control lever/shifters on my Stumpjumper and ran new cables. I didn't think I could do it, because I can't do much, and there were some hiccups along the way, but it's done and working. However, I'm not so sure I like these levers. Using the brake lever to shift on a mountain bike? I dunno... Maybe I should have put those thumbshifters on instead.


Anyway, on to the weather that's been occuring. I'm not sure what all this snow is going to do, so Eel #4 might have to be truncated or something. Stay tuned.


This isn't really the best blog post ever. Sorry.

Update: here's some truncating. Read more!

First Snow

If you live around here, you probably noticed that it snowed. Not very much, just a 1" dusting at most it appears, but there's always that slight magic to the first snow. So, since this is a bike blog, I'm not going to write about memories, sleds, Santa (though, I did buy a Christmas trees yesterday), yuletide, muletide or hot chocolate.

Dario and I rode down to Constitution Plaza this morning to meet with Peter & Salem. On Ledyard St, I got a sizable nail in my tire, which is presently booted with Peter's granola bar wrapper. From, there, we went to the Wethersfield meadows. People split on the way back. Dario and Peter had some cryptic business; Salem and I briefly rode together, but he had to go purchase an ancient Volvo and I wanted to grab another tube, because I was so close to chez moi. I got the tube and decided to eat my left overs (which were this very interesting winter cabbage & dried tofu dish from China Pan). I decided since it was only 1:30, there was that I could explore today, so I rode out to the reservoir and eventually to Terry Plain Road. Things were pretty:


Then I turned around and came home. The Terry Plain Road connection had become a creek and was rather difficult to ride.

--------------

To help Salem out, here's a picture from the ride on Friday:

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A dishonest day's work

A blog entry without pictures is like a day without sunshine, but it's dark with precipitation right now, so I'm going for it.

In preparation for today's wintry mix, I spent some quality time with a couple of my bikes and a couple less of my friends on Friday. The day started with a mountain bike ride in the highlands of Glastonbury led by Al T. and joined by his brother Joe, well, at least until we lost Joe at an intersection. I was playing middle man, trying to balance seeing where Al went while keeping in sight of Joe, and while I saw the later at the intersection in question, it seems he did not see me. One friend down. Al and I searched and called in vain until I had to give up and head home, but we still rode around in the woods a bit trying to find the increasingly-long lost brother.

A bit of lunch in my stomach, I switched to the cross/road/everything bike and headed for West Hartford to look at a rusty Volvo wagon project that it seems will be my return to car ownership. I'm planning (as little as possible) an exploration of this country next year and am not resolute enough to do it by bike. At least, even with my penchant for bottom feeder bikes, this vehicle will in most cases allow me to pass the test of a true biker: the-bike-inside-is-worth-more-than-the-car.

Now, it having been Friday, that meant afternoon snails riding club, and while Peter poo-pooed pm playing, Brendan, Dario, and I agreed to meet after my car shopping at the Noah Webster LIBRARY, except that in actuality, Dario had agreed to meet at the Noah Webster HOUSE while skimming his email. Losing two friends in one day, at this rate, I better work on being a nicer person.

So after wandering with Brendan through a place with a big cross, an interchange that will remain nameless, a quad track, a dead-end with an expansive view of Westfarms Mall (we didn't see the farms), the wrong way in Newington, the right way in Newington, a hospital with our lights off, another view with a lot of their lights on, and along side a big cemetery that wasn't spooky at all, I turned my wheels for home, making it there with a solid eight hours of riding for the day. For lack of somthing better, I must use the cliche, time flies....
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The Eel 4: Nobody Wins

So, how does this sound for Eel #4?


Sunday, Dec. 13 at 11am we meet in Bushnell Park. We follow this route. It won't be a race, but points will be awarded for style. It'll also be free. It'll conclude with either going to a bar or having some kind of pot luck. There's a logical bailout point, if you only want to ride 30 or miles. Does that sound like fun? It'll pretty much incorporate all of the dirt in Hartford and adjacent areas. Recommended bicycles are mountain bikes and 'cross bikes. However, it's pretty much all rideable on whatever you like. Horrifically adverse weather'll cancel. Anybody wanna come?

Look! I can grow something.

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I moved to Maine. I live in a town where I, come to think of it, haven't seen very many people riding bikes.

I went in to a bike shop and the dude working there said, "mountain biking is king around here."

Riding bicycles in Hartford is in. It's on the way up and the sky isn't the limit. Keep up the good work. Thanks for making me a part of it.

I am retiring from the beatbikeblog. I hope some bicycle riding women riding around Hartford

join the beatbikeblog.

See ya lata. Read more!

Critical Turkey Mass. Hartford, Nov 2009.

The motley crew as an uptight rent-a-cop was trying to kick us out of Constitution Plaza!

Well, thanks to the cold and the earlier rain, we went old school; you remember those rides of yonder with 5 or 6 maybe 7 people. no so much a mass. not so critical. but still a good time, although this was a freakin' cold one! brrr.... We had a total of 5 people, one dog, one mini-boom box attempting to keep us warm with tropical tunes and an empty spot on a tandem. Big up to everyone who came.

We had a brief encounter with the holiday lights up on Constitution Plaza before heading across the river and along the East Hartford Riverfront. The beavers have been extraordinarily busy between the boat ramp and the Charter Oak Bridge. They are taking down some big river trees. It's crazy and worthy of its own post and photos from a daytime visit.


Scruffy very much enjoyed his special seating on the top tube.


Riding under giant horses is always fun.

Thank you MaryLynn for the photos. my camera kinda died this night. Read more!

Art Basel Miami Beach

So, perhaps is this of interest to my Grandma, because she's in Pompano Beach. I won't be able to make it down over the weekend.

You're invited to ride an installation from freak bike culture. Experience Doyle's three part bike exhibition featuring the Hell-a-Copter, the Regurgitator and Tall Bike Jousting at Art Basel Miami Beach, December 3 - 6, 2009.

Squishy Universe Gallery
150 NW 24th Street
Miami, FL 33127

Check bikeclubgames.com for all details on daily LIVE web streaming events from Art Basel Miami and get all the information about
TALL BIKE JOUST iPhone app available 01.01.10.

Ryan Doyle on Art Basel and the new Tall Bike Joust iPhone app: Check out the interview by Bike Blog NYC!

Could you please post this information to your blog? I'm trying to get the word out.
Thanks! -Keith

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The best commute

Johanna is looking at cars in East Windsor where all the used cars and auctions are. This morning, I joined her for some test driving. We parted ways and I rode back along route 5 and then Main Street in South Windsor and it dawned on me that this is probably the best place to live if you want a pleasant downtown commute. Main Street is super scenic, then you ride the ATV trail at the Lions' Club, cross the train trestle, ride through Riverside Park and the Riverfront stuff, get on to Constitution Plaza and you're at work. What could be better than minimal cars, a little bit of doubletrack and a mildly dangerous bridge? It's also a good length, between three and eight miles. This is the route.

This guy has a pretty good commute, too. Read more!

Thanksgiving, etc.

Sometimes I feel like the things I write about in the beat bike blog are just boring rundowns of my week. I don't really have insights or sprinklings of profundity. So, here's another entry.

I thankfully got a mountain bike ride in on Thursday morning. It was slippery. I didn't take any pictures of it, but you can imagine me riding at the Reservoir. I didn't have much time, because my parents were coming to pick me up for Thanksgiving at my uncle's house in Boston, a trip which used the below-pictured bridge.



I had to work on Friday. No one else had to work and thusly Papa's Pizza was the only place open. They were friendly and made me a fish sandwich. I attempted to return from work the cool way, through the flood control, but I got there just as the guy was locking the gate. I pondered my options and decided that I should try to find a secret way around Wethersfield Cove. Lacking a canoe, I was unable to get very far. I decided those woods, or as google calls them, The Folly Brook Natural Area, are by the spookiest in Hartford (or that could be Wethersfield). When I got home, I was moody, slightly muddy and didn't have any desire to go to Critical Mass.


On Saturday, I discovered on a limb on Chandler Street with Salem & Peter.


On Sunday, Dario, Peter and I tried to go to Collinsville, but a twig ate Dario's old NR derailleur. I watched it happen, quite disturbing.

With some daylight to spare, Johanna and I took a quick romantic jaunt up to Hublein Tower via the Avon Land Trust trail. Then we went to Ichiban.


On a sad note, our friend who's a scary bunny has vacated her apartment and is officially down in New York. The Hartford glitterati is no more. :( Dan and Lex were around for some moody festivities. Read more!

Critical Turkey Mass, this friday!

[please imagine a witty flyer of some sort is this here space. perhaps a street full of turkeys riding bicycles and drinking tropical drinks...

i really thought i'd find time before arriving back in the 'beat to make a snazzy flyer, or at least one of my usual bootleg ones, but its hard to do that while traveling sometimes. especially if staying with the ECT pedicab peeps in Columbus where sleep and sobriety were not options!]

!!Critical Turkey!! It has seemed like a great idea to me for months as I looked forward to returning to Hartford for a few weeks and doing the ride with a boom box blasting tropical tunes. And then i arrived to grey skies and rain. blahhhhh!!!!

Sooo..... critical mass? maybe? The weather forecast as of 6pm Thursday calls for a Friday 6pm temp of 42 and rainy and feelin' like its 33. fuckshitdamn! that prolly ain't gonna work. perhaps we'll get a break from mother nature and if not, perhaps the ride will be very short and simply make a break for the nearest bar?
who knows? but as long as it ain't coming down too hard, i hope too see a motley crew of stubborn bike riders! Read more!

Dudley Done Right

"Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God." -Kurt Vonnegut


I've always been fond of both that quote and peculiar travel suggestions in general. This is why I was all ears when El Prez put forth the proposition that we should ride our bikes from Hartford to a bike show and swap meet in Dudley, Massachusetts this past Saturday. He mapped out a route that would take us through 50+ miles of northeastern CT and Massachusetts backroads to the Do-Right Flea Market in Dudley. Even if you are not in the best shape (like me, for instance), 50+ miles isn't that bad if you are taking your time and have a decent road bike, so naturally we set out on a trio of machines that were inherently ill-suited for distance touring.

Rich was astride his Breezer city bike (which actually wasn't that terrible a choice), El Prez on his 1960's Raleigh Twenty folding bike and me on a 50+ pound Yuba cargo bike with at least another 30 pounds of stuff lashed to it. I had wanted to try the cargo bike out for a loaded camping excursion in early October, but hadn't had the time, so I was curious to see how a loaded long haul would go. I hung my ginormous cargo bag on the right hand side for some clothes, tools and spares and installed my Tuscan Dairytech 2000 pannier on the left, where I stowed a cooler, lock and some spare clothes and drinking vessels I wanted semi-close at hand.


I should mention here that I am not a distance cyclist. I am not a distance anything. When I used to run, I was a short distance sprinter and nothing else. 100 and 200 meter dashes were my races. 400 meters might as well have been a marathon. The last time I rode a bicycle anything in the neighborhood of 50 miles in a day was a weekend I spent in the Catskills riding on my old Shogun Selectra when I was 16. Now I am more than double that age and the loaded Yuba weighs more than triple what the old steel road bike weighed. No biggie, though. The prescribed pace for the ride was relaxed; chill, even. I had it in writing, so off we went.


What a nice ride! Having grown up in the NYC area and its vast surrounding suburban sprawl, I still marvel at how quickly one can get from inner-city Hartford to a rural setting if you choose your route well. Traffic was almost nonexistent as we made our way through the North End and though the Windsors. We had room to ride three abreast and chat as we rode, the flat roads making for easy cadence. As it got hillier, I fell back a bit. There were frequent breaks, or rather, El Prez and Rich had frequent breaks waiting for me at the top of each hill. We had some group-wide stops to snack and hydrate and check out the occasional abandoned farm or racetrack. People have a lot of cool old tractors, wagons, sheds and quonset huts east of the river. I have long wanted a quonset hut of my very own to serve as my workshop, laboratory and studio. That would be the proverbial shit. There were sights aplenty - lots of farmland, the Yale forest, quaint New England towns and a magnificently badass 4X4 El Camino were among the natural and man-made wonders we observed.



There are a lot of hills between here and Dudley. As the hours wore on, my threshold for dropping into the lowest gear combination got progressively lower. As I climbed hill after hill, I became intimately acquainted with each of them, getting to know their unique characteristics; varied textures of tarmac, bits of debris, species and conditions of roadkill, and the living flora and fauna of this mostly rural route. I also began to develop a certain hatred for every climb. It was a low-level hatred, mind you, as I'd known what I was thrusting upon myself when I set off this morning on the heaviest bike I've ever owned. My hatred was pragmatic, tempered with reason. I did not despise these hills with every fiber of my being, no no, just the fibers of my being that begin about 10" below my knees and end about 10" above them. The remaining fibers that make up my being were having a perfectly great time looking about and enjoying the beautiful weather, independent of my churning, mutinous leg muscles.


Then came Dudley. We arrived a good deal later than the already late time we had predicted. By the time we got to the flea market building, the bike show and swap event had ended. There were a few vendors lingering about in the parking lot, so we got a healthy dose of old bike ogling just the same. I still got to check out some sweet old balloon-tire bikes and French and British Iron in the parking lot. I'm not really into muscle bikes, but some of them were so over-the-top they brought a smile to my face. The flea market was above and beyond any that I have been to before. In addition to the usual flea market selection of old furniture, books, memorabilia, and such there were at least three airplanes and several vintage biplane engines, plus a small helicopter, and this was all indoors!




As it happened, we found a small pickup truck outside of the flea market with the keys in it. We rejoiced in our good fortune, loaded up the bikes and folded ourselves into its tiny cab.





We stopped for some good Thai food at one of the few places in downtown Dudley that wasn't an empty storefront or a tattoo parlor before making the drive back to Hartford. I was sore as hell, but had a great day.
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Santa with a Gun

Today I joined the US Marine Corps sponsored Toys for Tots ride in Agawam, MA. Eventually, I will learn to post these events BEFORE I do them so as to encourage others to join, but for now, a recap must suffice. There's always next year--mark you calendars.

My friend Steve, who strategically bought a house in Agawam along side Robinson State Park, runs this ride each year, where, for donating a new toy, you get a tour of some of the most twisty, buff, twisty, smooth, and twisty singletrack I've seen in New England. There was also a raffle and all the hot chocolate you could drink. Eyeball estimates for the event ranged from 50 to 200, which means a lot of plastic from China was donated. I'd say a good time was had by at least 20 to 2,000 people, although, after the ride, someone observed that the pace at any charity ride is harder than the average race one might do. This was likely an exaggeration, but I did get to make some good efforts chasing the group after repeatedly dropping the chain on my single speed until it dawned on me to tighten the qr skewer.

Lastly, when the conversation turned to the idea of a bike part swap meet, I mentioned the idea I've proffered to Brendan for the next Eel, once someone figures out where that should be. I suggest making the entry a new or used bike part with an estimated street value of $10+. We make a prize table, and people make a selection in order of finish, and any remaining parts get donated to the Hartford Bicycle Coalition. Ok, really I've just trying to figure out what to do with all the parts in my basement that I can't use, but are too good to toss? 165mm 600/Ultegra crank arms anyone?
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Hiking

Yesterday, I went down to Cheshire Park for the Cheshire CX. Last year, I was getting over a cold at this race and it was brutally cold and windy. I know that's not something you complain about in 'cross, but you can't help but take note of it. Such was not the case yesterday. It was a beautiful sunny day, with a temperature right around 60. I really enjoyed this course last year, because it has a long fast stretch of rolling double track through the woods. This year's course had a more developed artificially twisty section near the spectating and registration pavilion. I'm getting better at riding those things, so I kind of like it now.

In terms of my actual race, I had a good start and I thought I was maybe sixth or seventh into the first turn. I passed a couple of guys in the first and second lap and then maintained that position until well into the final (fourth) lap. There was this Cyclonauts guy, whom I passed earlier on, catching back up to me. I was pretty sure that I was going to be able to hold him off until the finish. And I would have, except that I tripped over the last barrier and landed on my face. It didn't hurt, but you aren't moving as fast sprawled out on the ground as you are when you remounted on your bike and pedaling again. I couldn't catch him.

It would seem my estimate of my position was quite inaccurate, because the Cyclonaut and I were actually contesting 2 & 3, not 5 & 6. So, in a big surprise, I ended up finishing third. Who'd have thought that I was riding in second for most of the race? Of course, this is still Cat 4...


Today, Johanna and I are going to Macedonia Brook State Park. I like that park a lot. It even has a large pile of rocks, acting as a physical challenge. It's not quite as cool as the physical challenge at People's State Forest, but I like it all the same. It's also not nearly as difficult as hiking down
the Flume Trail at Franconia.
That first picture is me trying to recreate one of those vintage cyclocross pictures that everyone is so into these days. In person, it really looked like that, especially because Salem and Dario wear a lot of wool and were riding fixed gears. Regrettably, my cell phone camera doesn't work very well in low light.

Oh, I also won some socks. Read more!

Stand!

I picked it up this morning. My very own pre-owned portable repair stand. Every young man's dream. I met up with the seller in Bristol and hung out in the rendezvous parking lot talking bikes for a bit before moving on. Moving on, I visited a scooter shop in Plainville, the owner of which is a longtime avid cyclist in addition to selling the self-propelled variety of two-wheelers. With everyone and their bandmates trying to rock a track bike these days, it was refreshing to hang out with someone who has actually raced them on tracks.

On the way home, I stopped off at Renaissance Cyclery in Plainville, where three well-traveled looking bikes were parked out front. They were pretty well loaded, with two out of the three towing trailers. Inside the shop I met the trio known as Team Bowditch, who are riding from Maine to California to raise money for breast cancer research. Nice folks. I wish them well.

Back in Hartford, I cleared a place of honor for the work stand in the room that some well-intentioned architect once intended for dining. I have every intention of this room being used once again someday for the consumption of meals, but for now it is a de facto workshop. The first thing I clamped into place was my ratty and beloved old Trek 720. The stand will make it much easier to tackle the long-postponed annoyance of replacing the bottom bracket on that particular frame. The right hand side retaining cup captures the bracket for the front derailleur, a mid-nineties practice that was geared toward ease of manufacture rather than serviceability.


I'm replacing the worn 24-32-38 crankset with a shiny new 22-32-42 one, which means the derailleur needs to be higher, which means the aforementioned stupid bracket needs to go to make way for one of the more reasonable clamp-on variety. Unfortunately, years of northeastern rain and snow exposure has oxidized that stubborn little cup firmly in place beyond the magical powers of PB Blaster, breaker bar or an impact wrench, and some precision hacksaw action is called for. It's still going to be an obnoxious job, but the stand should make it less vexing by leaps and bounds. I've had sort of a mental block about overhauling this particular bike, but it needs to be ridden again. More on that another time...
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Sinkhole

Not sure if any of you heard about the sink hole yesterday, but that right's where the Hockanum Trail is that I've talked about lately. Read more!

The Next Eel?

Last Sunday, Salem & Peter Waite organized a ride off into the hinterland off towards Lake Pocotopaug. It was fun, friendly and ended with a pot luck (and it was quite wet). Maybe that's what the next Eel should be like. Or maybe not. Competitive is cool, too. However, the problem I'm having figuring out to do a competitive Eel is that people may get lost with what I'd to do.

A view from the Keney tennis courts.

I've prattled on about "mountain biking" or at the least the dirt to ride in Hartford and closely adjacent places. It'd be really cool to make a race of it, but like, everyone would get lost or at least they'd be focusing on a map a lot. It'd also be cool to just do a group ride with a pot luck. Which is preferable? What do you think? Is racing actually fun? At the first Eel, it was pretty tough to keep everyone going the right way, thus I rode the first lap with everyone. Even then, I think I recall Josh ending up on the railroad bridge. Also, it's hard to disperse prizes if participants aren't time. Maybe there's another way to judge: ride this route and come back with the coolest photograph or object? Best story?

Another view from the Keney tennis courts

I think you can do like a 30 mile loop. Or, maybe a 50 miler if you head all the way down to the ferry in Rocky Hill. So, does anyone want to do this. Can it be done as race? Does anyone care? Does anyone want to help me? I think there was something cool about the first Eel, I'd like to keep that going.

Crazy maple trees!

West Coasters were able to follow this map, though.

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The Tortoiclist and the Hare

Riding up Main Street in East Hartford today it seemed I had unintentionally engaged in an fabulous race with a transit bus (which I'm pleased to say clearly advertised the new three foot car/bike passing rule). True to the tale, the bus would zip by me, but then tire and need to rest while unloading and loading passengers. The lead changed hands five or six times, but Aesop would be proud: the tortoise won the day, or at least I turned off for the Charter Oak bridge before the bus could retake the lead.

Maybe Hartford Transit should start a promotion like Denny's used to do with their 10 minute breakfasts: "Faster than a bike or it's free!"


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Postcard from Glenwood Canyon in Colorado

Interstate 70 finds a way through the west side of the mighty Rockies via Glenwood Canyon, a beautiful drive many of us have prolly made driving cross country. This time, I noticed the multi-use path along the river and decided to check it out since I had my bike with me. Wow! This thing is a feat of engineering in which the builders really worked hard to preserve trees and the canyon and not just blast though....and it shows! If you ever find yourself driving through here and want a fantastic break, bust out yer bike or walking shoes and go exploring. I think there's about a dozen or so miles of path.
It's super fresh to see the tunnels for cars while gallivanting under the dang road! The road noise varies depending where the trail is in relation to the cars and trucks.


The trail moves from the sides of the Interstate, to under, to next to and all over again as the roads and trails meander through the steep, twisty canyon. Its sometimes awkward and noisy with speeding cars a few meters away, sometimes strangely peaceful and quiet, but always surreal. so very urban in many ways, but in a huge natural canyon.


You usually don't share a path with paddlers carrying boats in Hartford!


But then again, the Hog River doesn't have much great white water to paddle! Not that there aren't some great adventures to be had paddling in Hartford, or for that matter, under Hartford!


There's some artwork along the way including this memorial which was enjoyable and musical

more pics...

I wasn't the only cyclist enjoying watching the paddlers bob up and down through the rapids.


The scenery and break from driving made me quite happy!


so did an avocado after the ride!

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