Tyler Durden said it. I don’t think that’s the exact quote but whatever he said it stuck with me because it’s true. The more stuff you accumulate the more time you spend on your stuff.
First the MTB Powertap started eating batteries so they sent me a new battery carriage which seems to have fixed the problem. Then my laptop died and after a couple hours on the phone with HP they sent me a box which I used to send it back to them which they used to send it back to me. Fixed.
So it seems my stuff is fixed again but I think I’m reaching my stuff threshold. During the time I spent mucking with this stuff I kept thinking about how much more simple my life would be without this stuff.
Like Tyler Durden. NOW PUNCH ME IN THE FACE!!!!
Sometimes I think land managers over manage the land. The Phipps property is a good example. They’ve been out there for over a month now grading, rolling and putting road base on some of the doubletrack. Then it rains and ruts it out. Then they come back and do it again. Some of that is for the horse junk but what they’re doing now isn’t for horses. Seems ridiculous. Maybe NWFWMD has money in the budget they need to burn off before the end of the year.
Wheelchair access?

Foster hosted a bike ride with rakes last Thursday to help out some of the sandy spots down there. It sucked to ride on right after we were done but it’ll be good down the road.

Just when I was getting relaxed and confident there were no snakes around today, BAM!!!!

That pygmy rattler will “kill the shit outta you”!
Bob and Foster had their catalytic converters cut out from under their trucks while we worked… err… rode… with rakes. I feel lucky they didn’t steal mine.
The park folks have taken down all the trespassing signs and removed the barricades. SWEET!

This is what some folks were doing on Sunday. Pretty nifty. It’s not so much a question of can you do it, but how fast can you do it.

They bush hogged some new trail in at Phipps. It’s not very long, it’s soft and it’s bush hogged… but lets look at the positive.
- It will be a nice alternative to riding that first gravel stretch heading toward the lake.
- Once a single line is worn in it could be fast, fast, fast! Like all trails, it needs to be ridden.
- When the plants start growing back, that one line will almost be singletrack! (Assuming they don’t keep bush hogging it)
- It makes the hill a little longer.
It’s right about where the red line is. The green line is the gravel down to the lake from the main Phipps entrance on Miller Landing.

I think everyone knows by now that the Cadillac trail has been turned into a loop. Looks like it will be fast and fun. The Boy and I went out Saturday morning to put in a couple hours lopping vines/roots and bench cutting. The Boy seemed to really enjoy it.
The Boy, with bamboo switch in hand, supervises Big Worm.

The Smith Posse watches Big Worm work.

It will be interesting to see how the armoring of the “hill of death” holds up. Having the (mis)fortune of living in 2 homes built on the sides of hills I know first hand the pain of Mother Natures tears. Once they get flowing they are so hard to control.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve crashed and thought, “I wish I had a picture/video of that”. Well thanks to the Tallahassee Democrat John Harvey is the winner of a 3 photo set.
I give it a 7 on the Digger Scale. If the feet had only gone above the head it would have been a 9 easy. Better luck next time John. I just hope the paparazi is there to catch it.

More photos at John Kalin’s site.
On Sunday I finally hooked up with the BP Crew and had a great ride. Dave D was there, we chatted about how sweet California life is gonna be. 50 miles from Lake Tahoe? Yeah, that’s sweet.
On our way over to Alford/Cadillac from Micco Greenway where Death Ray like stares of the trail workers burnt holes in our lycra.

That afternoon we went to the Tallahassee Museum where we saw the ultimate show of cockblocking. The two males kept cutting in front of each other and sticking their tales in each others faces. All for a piece of that lady turkey.

Then later Sunday I began digging the trench that will hold about 100 feet of corrugated pipe. That’s what I call blue collar weight training. I am sore.
At the Tallahassee SORBA chapter re-org meeting last night I learned some things.
The Good
The Not As Good
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It doesn’t look like there will ever be bike single track out at Phipps. That is hiker domain.
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It doesn’t look like there will ever be single track out at Alford Greenway. The county doesn’t seem interested, which is a crying shame. They don’t mind fertilizing the grass though. Yes, I’ve seen them do it. Crazy eh? They’ve fertilized Miccosukee Greenway too.
An Event
One topic that interests me, given my love of racing, is some sort of event. XC or Enduro was mentioned. My vote would be a time trail series similar to the popular Snake Creek TT’s that NWGA SORBA does. Two classes, money and non-money. You compete against the clock and your previous best. Simple and painful. Munson/Twilight Zone combo would be a sweet TT course.
Last Sunday I did a long ride in the National Forest with someone who is actively sorting out the trails between Crawfordville Highway and Springhill Rd. The reason I don’t mention his name is because these trails apparently aren’t open to bikes… or anyone for that matter. Which seems like a waste to me.
What I did sunday looks like this.

I need to get down there and ride Munson Hills proper and the new “Twilight Zone” trail. Judging by the map on John Kalin’s site a big ole loop could be hooked up.
Food Tip: Dump a bunch of peanuts in your mouth crunch em up a little (don’t swallow) and then take a big bite of a banana. Now chew. Dang that’s good!
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