Tuesday Monkey Wrench - Ridin' the Storm Out...

Taco Hell -- Strike one for the night was the fall of MW's front wheel on Holmes Lake Dam. It was replaced and the ride resumed without incident, until we got back into town. Then the Gods unleashed their fury. Photo: Conrad

Big Bladder... Conrad catches me admiring this HUUUUUGE bladder we found on our way out of town.

Before the storm -- Rolling south out of Cheney. Woodman's off the front. EP and Clarke are the first group of two, while MW and Conrad are immediately in-front of me.

Last night's Tuesday night Monkey Wrench Ride sure had its share of calamity. It started right from the gun, when DK and MW got together on the way up the Holmes Lake Dam, and dub's front wheel got a one-way ticket to Taco Hell. After securing a replacement from Nate, we rolled south out of town through Cheney. Threatening skies (what else is new) and waning light caused us to cut our planned route to Hickman short however. As we made a bee line back into town via the Jamaica North trail, right as we got into Lincoln, all Hell Fire broke loose and we got clobbered by some gnarly rain and light hail. No, I didn't have any sort of rain jacket with me... Yeah, it was crazy. Total survival mode. In a way, it was kinda' sweet.

I took shelter at Antelope Park for a spell and ended up calling Laura to came down and pick me up. (Thank you sweetheart.) I realized my BlackBerry had gotten pretty wet, and I had gotten pretty cold, and me being the big 'ol softie I am, I figured those two factors combined were enough to call in the bailout option.

It's gonna' be a good weekend coming up. I'm headed up to Guitar Ted's Death Ride Invitational, and will be dropping Laura off in Des Moines at her sister's place on the way out. Bonsall and MW are headed out too, so that'll be fun. I'm looking forward to riding and hangin' out with good friends out there.