black friday

shea had left for work, which left me kicking around the house with the dogs. still somewhat full from the previous days binge i popped the cork on the half bottle of wine we still had. red and room temperature. i poured a small bit into a coffee mug and sipped.

the days activities had not been laid out for me, i was left to plan and decided and change my mind all i wanted. so, i sat on the back steps basking in the sun and sipping my wine. i contemplated taking the dogs out to the trails for a ride. or maybe going for a quick road ride and then coming home and doing some chores? i even briefly thought about just staying home and finishing off the wine and watching television, but really it was too nice outside for that idea to gain a real foot-hold in my brain. mable and sawyer waited patiently for me to devise a game plan.

then the dogs alerted me to a possible intruder. someone was at my front door. i gathered myself and got to the door just in time to see the mail carrier stepping back into his mail truck. or van. or whatever they are. mail vehicle just doesn't sound right.

most of what had been delivered was trash. wasted paper printed with wasted ink destined for nothing more than becoming something worthwhile after recycling, hopefully. i really just don't need coupons for checks with kittens and butterflies on them. amid the junk mail there was one thing. a diamond in the rough. my new copy of dirt rag.

i refilled my coffee mug with wine and took my new issue to the back stairs to have a drink, a smoke, and peruse. at first i was just excited, then i thought, "this is a sign. i should go ride the trails." i figured i would first finish flipping through the new issue and then go. maybe.

i got to their product review section of the magazine and my mind went into overload. it was a sign. two singlespeed reviews. the trek 69'er and a moots singlespeed. i felt like ace of base because i had seen the sign, and it opened up my eyes. or however that song goes.

i downed the rest of my wine, threw the magazine on the counter, and changed into some riding gear in what seemed like one motion. i loaded up my bike and the dogs and was off.

a little while later i arrived at the trails and got going. i have a fairly usual loop that i ride out there. but for some reason i neglected it and took a totally different route and rode some trails i had not ridden in quite some time. the trails were sticky from a recent rain and were in great shape. it was a blast. the dogs had a blast and didn't really want to come back home, neither did i really, but it was getting late and the sun had started drifting westward behind some trees.

i got home and made a promise to mabes and sawyer that we would go again on saturday, and we did. saturday's ride threw a couple mechanical issues at me, but who cares, my ride on black friday is what it was all about.

thanks dirt rag for giving me the kick in the pants that i needed to get up and go, even if it was fueled by half a bottle of leftover red wine.