Buck Day ride

A lot of party-minded fools gathered at Bucks Luv Shak yesterday at the coldest spot in MichSnaux (is this word trademarked?) to celebrate another year on Earth for our man, Buck. Many drove from afar, others sent treats in their stead.

Twas about 18 degrees, with a couple-three inches of snow and a fresh zipper crust. Loop ideas had been bandied back and forth for days, and those were instantly scrapped at the start so we could test out the conditions, and maybe, our motivations. When you put a large pot of chili and a keg of Troegs at the Shak, it's proving hard to stay out for the usual amount of ride time.

There were lots of bloggers in attendance, but cameras didn't seem to come out except for Chris, who got a couple shots. After the first uphill turned out to be a lot more work and effort than we'd hoped for, the loop was edited again to stay on the ridge top and avoid anymore of those anti-downhills. I don't think anyone could drink from their tubes for the entire ride, as hydro packs froze immediately after take off. We were able to take off the packs and get water right out of the bladders at our one mini-break.

Turned out that the rest of the ride in the snow wasn't as slow as we thought it'd be, so we were faced with an uncomfortable decision as we arrived back at the Shak after only 2 hours.

• grab some water
• chug some group beers
• head out for 3_mile Trail, Lewis Rocks, Rattlesnake, or another blazed trail

Or,

• retire to the Shak and commence eating, drinking, and talkin' story for an extra amount of socializing.

Funny how hard of a decision that is in a big group.
I thank Buck for having a birthday in January again, and for the extra story time.
Cheers