So Zane and I went hiking last weekend. We took the Dockery Lake Trail, just south of Suches, Ga, up to the Appalachian Trail, and then to Preaching Rock.

The hike started as most of our hikes have, with the rain coming shortly after getting on the trail. It wasn’t too bad though as we were under significant tree cover for most of it, and only felt drops occasionally. The trail was quite pretty with several rocky sections, a couple of groves of Mountain Laurel or Rhododendron, and a few pine forests with no undergrowth. The hike up the mountain wasn’t bad, and the camp site at Preaching Rock was certainly worth it. One way mileage was about 5 miles.

After making camp, we started a campfire (the burning ban wasn’t in effect for this part of the trail, we checked first), and broke out the rum. Zane bought a large bottle of Captain Morgan’s Silver on the way to the trail head, and poured some into a couple empty containers he’d brought. I got the 20oz Mountain Dew bottle… and drank the whole thing.

Stumbling around drunk on mountain rocks with a pretty large drop some 50 feet away is not the smartest thing in the world. I’ve got the severely bruised pinky toe to prove it! The funny thing is, I don’t actually remember when I decided to kick the granite and I only vaguely remember it hurting slightly that night. I sure as heck noticed it the next day however. Even still, the rum made sleeping on the ground very easy, and I woke up to a beautiful view.

The plan for the morning was to hike down the mountain a ways to fill up on water and then return to camp and cook sweet potato pancakes & sausage for breakfast. We got about a mile down the trail when I felt a pain on my leg. I looked down to see a yellow jacket stinging me….. and another 2 flying in for the kill. Even knowing that yellow jackets are attracted to movement, the instinct is to flee. So down the mountain we ran, and at one of the steepest points thus far on the trail. It wasn’t until finally getting away from the yellow devil bugs that we realized our stupidity. We ran the way we were moving, and that means we now have to go back through them. At some point in fleeing, Zane had also turned his ankle slightly. Way to ruin the day yellow jackets, thanks!

After slowly walking back past the attack site, and somehow not attracting a second attack squad, we decided to cut our losses and pack up and head back towards the car. We at least knew where the water was in that direction. The bad part about that decision was that I was completely out of water, and Zane was very low. The mild dehydration risk compounded by the 20 ounces of rum still in my gut and the nearly complete lack of food made for a less than pleasant return trip. By the time we finally made it to the car, my stomach was doing it’s best to punish me for the previous nights adventures, and it continued to do so all the way home until I finally was able to put some food in me.

So the 2 cent summary is, Preaching Rock is great, but too much rum and hiking is most certainly NOT!

Okay, so I’ve been lazy the last few days. I didn’t actually get up to ride. I did end up putting in 6 miles yesterday, but it was pretty lame and I’m not even going to log it as a real ride.

On Sunday I was taking Corey home and got a flat tire near his house. “No problem”, I thought. I’d been smart and checked that the jack, wrench and everything was in the car when I bought it. Unfortunately I neglected to check that the spare actually had air in it. To make matters worse, I found out that the lug wrench that came with the car doesn’t fit inside the lug nut holes of the aftermarket wheels that are on it. BAH! It all worked out eventually with some greatly appreciated help from Corey’s stepdad.

And so… yesterday morning I drove the car, with it’s teeny little spare, up to Kauffman Tire. I took the bike with me, and rode it back home. It’s just less than 3 miles, and mostly downhill. Yesterday afternoon, I rode the bike back - 3miles and mostly uphill. Meh. I need to do more.

On a completely unrelated note, I finally got fed up with the heat being an excuse for not getting outside. This weekend I AM going hiking, or camping. If it’s hiking then I also want to get back to a Wheelhopper Hash. It’s been about 3 years, and the last hash I was at was my naming, they probably think that’s what ran me off. I blame buying the motorcycle and general laziness.

And now a random picture that I saw on someone’s blog…

hint:  think of it as a Bug,  not a Beetle.  and it’s a geek joke,  so you may not understand it.

So I started getting up in the morning and cycling to get my daily cardio in. I’m also trying tracking my training log, though I don’t always have complete information on some days. See here if you want to check out the log.

Anyway… my goal is 230 lbs. When I reach it, I buy myself a new road bicycle. Probably a touring bike, like a Trek 520, Novara Randonee, or perhaps a Surly Long Haul Trucker. I haven’t decided yet, we’ll see when I hit 230.

Actually, it’s only a ‘daily’ workout in theory. So far I’ve done it twice last week and once this week so far. This is the route I take:

Well, sort of. I decided it was time to do something with the site again, so I’ve installed wordpress and a temporary theme. Eventually I’ll get to making my own theme, but don’t hold your breath.