Charity Ride, grumble, grumble, FUN!

April 28, 2013

It might be a stretch to say that I enjoyed seeing many other bicyclers out at the Bike for Sight event that I participated in yesterday.

No reflection on the event.  It was good.  I may be getting more cantankerous, but being around a bunch of fellow bicyclers on a big one-day event (I think the MC said 450 bicyclists or so) just wasn't that exhilarating to me this time.  It probably doesn't help that my friends and family that participated are equally antisocial, cantankerous, and/or unpleasantly obnoxious and none of us rode together for more than a few minutes.  Kind of like a bunch of lonely, angry moonshiners shooting at each other if anyone approaches their stills.  Just like I think probably happens in Hatfields and McCoys, although I haven't seen it yet.  This ride has a pretty enjoyable route that was very similar to the route we used for the ride last year.  I thought the route marking was a little easier to follow this time, but I think I may have still been off route for part of the returning side of the loop.  Here's the photo of the map I took but did not look at at all during the event.

My favorite part of the ride was looking at some of the scenery and mostly not taking photos because I was either going fastly downhill or else there wasn't an easy place to pull off the road or I was just lazy.  I saw what I believe were alpacas or sheep of a very long-necked species.  I saw many horses.

Here are some young bulls.

Also, kids, here is what actually happened to Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel.

I passed a historical marker for the old Shipley Cemetary.  Like everything else in the general vicinity of Hummel Park it is very likely haunted.  Also this marker by the entrance to Hummel Park that informs the literate viewer about Camp Lisa.

After the ride I stretched out and enjoyed a saxaphonist playing some tunes along with a recording that sounded very good and jazzy.

Yeah dude, saxaphones rock!  I wonder if I stand around talking to you about it long enough the sax man might let me play along with my uke.  It's in my backpack.  Huhh, hunnh!  I said MY UKE IS IN MY BACKPACK!

Then I went to get a beer.  The Nebraska Brewing Company representative said that'll be $5 and I fled in cheaply terror!  I was hoping to get a free beer, but I wasn't about to shell out money for beer or food when I had a Teen Snot and Baby Snot back at home to help feed!  The food may have been free, I don't know.  I've got my priorities dammit!