Spokes On The Water

It was a dream come true. Ever since Chris got a canoe last year he's been trying to devise a way to combined the upper body work out of paddling with the leg workout of biking. Now I'm up for just about anything so Chris knew I'd be in for whatever he came up with. This past Saturday evening it all came to pass.

I worked last Saturday until 5:00 and when I got out I headed for casa del Flaherty to see what the plan was. Chris had his bike loaded up and the canoe was on top of the car. As he finished tying it down we decided that it might be best if I took my bike in my car to the launch site as well.

In hind sight it would have made sense to take the precaution of leaving one car at the launch site and the other at the finish (canoeing) site but being the sporting pioneers that we were we threw caution to the wind. The plan was to load the bikes in the canoe and then paddle a couple miles down the reservoir, lock up the canoe and ride the bikes back to the car. Simple, right?

This is not a venture you want to take on without fuel so we picked up some fried chicken and bread on the way and planned to eat while on the water. I already had a cold 12 pack of canned beer in the cooler (cans to keep the weight down) so we loaded everything in the boat and pushed off around 7:00pm. From all the maps and charts and satellite photos Chris figured about an hour or so paddling and about the same to peddle back.

The first minor obstacle was eating in the boat. The paddles worked well in passing the food and beer back and forth between the bikes but we didn't plan on the chicken being so greasy. Greasy fingers made it hard to hold onto my beer (my kingdom for a can coosie!) We persevered with little loss of beer. The park around the reservoir forbade alcoholic beverages but I figured we were in international waters so what the hell.

We made pretty good time and although neither one of us had ever been in the reservoir before (above the dam)without much trouble we found the site where we would dock the canoe for the second leg of our journey. We did get a few funny looks from the people on shore when we grounded the boat and got out the bikes. I told people we were looking for the Tour De France and only got blank stares.

The only other obstacle was what to do with the cooler (which we weren't even supposed to have) while we rode the bikes back to the car. Of course there was a cop car sitting in the lot when we landed, but he took off as we were preparing to ride. Chris was going to carry the leftover beer back in his backpack but after the cop was gone we decided to just hide the cooler under the canoe with the life vests and paddles and hope for the best.

We were starting to lose light and Chris had a problem with the gear shifter on his bike but the actual ride back to the cars went off with out a hitch. These are some narrow roads with next to no shoulders but thankfully traffic was light. There was one hill where even my granny gear couldn't help me and I had to walk the last bit, then it was down hill to the car. We drove both cars back to the canoe pick up point and we each remarked that it felt like the drive took longer than the bike ride. Weird.

Now that we have completed the first biathlon of it's kind it's time to raise the bar. We need to add one more event to turn this into a triathlon. We're opened to suggestions but I'm leaning towards either skeet shooting (from the canoe of course) or maybe setting up a beer pong course between the bikes on the canoe. Ping pong balls float, right?

Temper Fi

Fred and Bill are in town for a visit and it's becoming a tradition on these visits that we make a pilgrimage to our local watering hole,  Bamboo Bernie's.   Bernie's has a nice patio bar which has become a favorite place for them to cool their heels and get their drink on.

We (Fred Bill and Myself) went there last night to have a cocktail and enjoy the local flavor.  Because it was a Sunday night it wasn't crowded so we were able to bellie up to the bar with no problem.  The outside bar is a rectangle with stools around three of the 4 sides and friendly young bartendress (her name escapes all of us, Fred insists it's Pam).

We were enjoying our first drink as the evening air cooled and started to chat with the older man on the short side of the bar where he was having one of that days many Budweiser long necks.  I don't know how it came up but he told us he'd been a marine in his younger days and had been discharged after serving 9 months because he'd ben shot.  We all gave him an atta boy and returned to flirting with Pam.

The subject of marines perked up the ears of a younger guy who was sitting across the bar and he came over to talk with his comrade because he to had served and was discharged after 12 years.  It must have been about 2 Buds later (the younger guy was drinking Corona with a splash of grenadine??) when the older ex marine said something in our direction about how he bet we'd never be willing to get shot for our country.  Fred, being Fred and loving a good argument, flatly said that no, he wouldn't fight and/of die for his country.

This was not the right answer.  Aside from being a drunken marine, this guy was also a redneck and he instantly took offense that we we're willing to die for the greatest country on earth.  Now I've known Fred a long time  and I can honestly say that I would sleep a lot better knowing that he was not out there fighting because I can tell you from past experience that he would only make things worse.  Case in point, he was pressing the buttons of sergeant psycho just to be contrary.

Luckily for us, as the older marine was getting more and more pissed, his younger comrade deftly moved the empty  beer bottle out of his reach.  I firmly believe that had he not done so, that bottle would have shortly made its way to our side of the bar.  I'm betting he would not have been able to strike his intended target (Fred) because he was too drunk, but I sure there would have been collateral damage (Bill or myself who were sitting on either side of Fred).

Things settled down shortly there after and we told the guys that we did truly did appreciate their service and sacrifice.  More beer was consumed and toasts were made to the greatest country on earth.  It turned out the the younger marine had served as part of a sniper team and was also discharged after being shot.  The day he was shot he also had his best friend die in his arms.  He's a carpenter now like his new role model Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the peace keepers.