Day late...

Yeah...sorry...I got busy yesterday.
FYI, there are NO school supplies left at Target. I bought them all. Honestly, it's ridiculous. I understand the need for "supplies" for my children, but 4 boxes of tissues? 32oz. of hand sanitizer?
#2's list said he should bring TEN boxes of pencils. The smallest box is a 12 count. The "normal" box was 24 count. 120-240 pencils for 180 days of school? I smell a little socialism in action.
Needless to say, he will not be taking 120+ pencils to school on the first day.
He's a box of 24 pal...keep 'em in your desk...

After the $200 Target school supplies run, I made po-boys for dinner. Crunchy, baked, wild caught Alaska pollock, topped w/homemade BBQ and homemade spicy remoulade. Yeah...it was good. Sorry you missed it.

THEN I got down to Service Course...

 It's nice that my < 6 month old RS81 rear wheel needed a new freehub body. Of course, Shimano said, "Take it to your Shimano dealer for warranty...".
Nope...no thanks. Not even putting on my blinker to turn down that road. More trouble than it's worth. Don't need to hear, "Well, you didn't buy it here..." nor, "Well, what did you do to it...".
I sourced the part (for cost), disassembled the rear hub, replaced the freehub (which requires a 14mm allen. Pretty sure they don't have one...), cleaned everything, smashed in new grease & balls, then re-assembled. 20 minutes and $40. Well worth the expense...for myriad reasons.
And let's remember, I AM a Certified Shimano Wheel Tech.
Spins (and freewheels) like a dream.
They'll go back on the bike today. Why not last night, you ask?
Well, a thunderstorm blew in, and between the rain, wind, and copious lightning, I decided an ungrounded building with a LOT of electrical line running through it wasn't the best place to ride it out.
About the time I got back into the house, lightning hit out front. And by out front, I mean RIGHT THE FUCK OUT FRONT. Junior Management scattered like rats.
It hit the crepe myrtle tree in my neighbor's yard. Looks like someone put a 1/2 stick of dynamite in the tree. Blown. To. Shit.

Rides:
Saturday was thin. No matter, we rolled out Bluff...and kept rolling out Bluff. Closed bridges you say? Well, sort of.
The first two were blocked with heavy machinery. We rode right through. Riding on a closed, yet somehow wide open road is quite brilliant.

Upon reaching the third bridge, we realized that continuing our trip down Bluff would have to stop. Bridge...gone. Damage is still visible from last year's floods. Lots o'water moved through there. LOTS.
We turned around, and had to choices. Fun...or long.
Thankfully, my ride compatriots are dirt road people, so we chose the fun option.

Two sections of big fun later, and we were back on the road. Both were easily passable on the road bikes.

A loop around, and a couple of roads that I hadn't been on for YEARS, and we were headed back in.
The morning ended w/90km, and a lot of fun.
Sorry you missed it...
The afternoon was spent running around w/The Boss, picking up stuff for birthdays. Big fun.
The Heathens were all out of town on Sunday, so I rolled solo. Holy dead legs, Batman!
The roll out 12th was baaaad. Things woke up about an hour into the ride. And right when I started feeling good...well...slightly above average, the road was blocked by a train. Thanks CSX!
CC and I talked about a little, hidden road on Saturday, and as the road was right next to the tracks, I went 'splorin'.

It's a frontage road that leads back into the woods. It ends, but it wouldn't be hard to hack a path through the woods. Maybe a project for this Winter...
By the time I'd turned around, the train was gone, and I rolled home. Easy 60km on a Sunday.
I got home, and cleaned the Ridley. Lots of dirt was traversed over the weekend, and it showed...

Then we celebrated #1's birthday. Where'd that 11 years go?
Oh, and BTW, those Clements I mounted on the CX bike last week are gooood. No loss of speed on the road, and they performed admirably on the dirt. 70psi is WAAAY to much though. Between the carbon wheels, and too much pressure, I may have lost a filling last Thursday night.
They'll work well in our #UndisclosedLocation.
Oh, and keep The Dean in your thoughts. He's decided to ride from Wisconsin, down into Iowa, then across to Kentucky, where he'll decide if he feels like crossing the mountains to get home. Did I mention he's doing this SOLO?
We mounted some 27mm Paves, and installed a randonneur rack on the Eriksen.
Nothing like a little light touring on your Ti bike w/race geos and carbon wheels.

Okay...I'm out. Enjoy your Tuesday!