Absentee...

Same story every year at this time (budget time); too busy at work and too short on time to post things. That's partly a lie because I have time to do other things in addition to work so i guess it comes down to a matter of prioritizing.
Anyway, things are gonna get even busier at work, starting on Monday, so let's get you caught up on what's occurred on this end recently.
The Riders have attended a few runs, and they went well and were good exposure for the group. We're still a small fish in a small pond but we're growing.
We ran the annual Shayne's run without issue, despite some unexpected surprises (by definition, are any surprises ever expected?). The one that puzzles me the most is who the fuck was the guy who was staged with us (the blockers) who pulled out of formation and into the roadway, stopped traffic and convinced the family bikes to pull out, causing the rest of the blockers to pull out? I kept hollering "No! No! No!" but they couldn't hear me. The cops weren't even ready for us to start so of course it caused a pretty big hiccup.
After the run, I tried to find out who the guy was but nobody claimed any knowledge. I guess we just have to chalk it up to one more thing to add to the list for next year. (Every year, ya think you've got every possible shithead move covered, but then some shithead comes along and throws a new wrench into the mix.)
What else...The bicycle I bought on line arrived safely. I figured; it's a bike, I used to work on them and rode them before, how hard can it be. Well, I didn't take into account that it's been about 39 years since I owned one (don't do the math, it's just depressing) and that all kinds of technological advances would be made in that amount of time.
After a couple weeks of trying to figure out how to assemble the stupid thing, I finally gave up. (It was the derailleur that ultimately beat me.)
I gave in and brought it to the local bike shop, the2 employees of which managed to politely keep their snickering to a minimum. I picked it up tonight and then spent the next 20 minutes riding around in my back yard, getting acclimated to it. (I dared not do it in public for fear of falling on my face.)
I suppose it shouldn't have been surprising; everything came back just like the saying says (just like riding a bike). It was exhilarating, and I can't wait to get out there again and really burn off some calories.
That's gonna have to wait a bit, though. I'm off to Bentley's tomorrow morning. Yep; despite being jammed at work, I managed to take a day off. (No offense, but I guess this is where "prioritizing" applies.)
It was originally 3 of us as definites, with 5 additional possibles. We made our reservations months ago, and then went on with our summers.
And now the time is near, and the forecasts haven't been kind. We've had weekend upon weekend upon weekend of fantastic weather but now that it's time to go camping, the much-needed rain has seemed intent on returning.
In turn, that has led to the dwindling of our attendees. What was once a potential 8, dropped to 7, then to 4, then to 3...and then at noon today, it dropped to 2. But it will drop no further. It's down to Greg and myself,  and we're gonna see it through.
Besides, tomorrow night is Angel Night at Bentley's. :-D
You don't know what Angel Night is?
Well, you need to come up to Bentley's with us next year...

I think this about catches you up on things. It may be a while before I post again, so until next time; get out there and get some miles on.

Daylight is getting shorter, temps are getting lower.

Don't waste the time we have left in the season.

Ride Hard, Take Chances