Two Days And Counting

What a wild morning on the greenway! About 3 miles into my ride, I ran over a squirrel. I know, crazy, right? On a bicycle!?! Stupid fucker. Ever notice that the squirrels who get run over in the street always run one way to escape, then change their minds at the edge of the road and try to run all the way back across? Of course, they never make it. This little dumbass went one way, then the other, then the other, then he did this stupid little stutter-step dance trying to make up his feeble little mind, and then he leapt directly into my path.

I popped his silly self pretty good, first with the front tire, then with my left pedal and foot. All of this happened pretty quickly, with only about 2 seconds time elapsing from us spotting each other to me knocking the crap out of him. I was gettin' it, going about 20mpg downhill on one of the boardwalk areas near Capital Blvd. No way I was gonna slam on my brakes and take a tumble for that little long-tailed rat. Don't know if he survived his injuries or not. After I managed to stop, I looked back just in time to see his tail go over the edge.

I took off again, and thirty seconds later I hear "bzzzz, thwack" as I get whacked in the head by what felt like a marble. It was some kind of bug, and he cracked like an egg on my thick skull. I reached up to check and came back with a couple of fingers of bug goo. Nice.

Reminded me of this joke:

Q: What's the last thing to go through a bug's mind when he hits your windshield?
A: His ass.

Saw several chipmunks today, too, including a few fat boys. They're adorable, but they're pretty skittish and run away far too fast to get photos of.

I did manage to get a photo of this fellow a few miles later:

After I introduced myself, I spotted his friend smirking at me some 15 feet away, so I introduced myself to him, too. Once they both got to know me, they took a nap together.
By that, I mean a dirt nap.

A few miles later, I came across a Mexican fellow taking a siesta in the grass by the trail. Wonder what he was sleeping off…

Today, I finally got caught up with my required pacing to make the Thousand-Mile Summer a success. Now, I just gotta stay on top of it.

Today's mileage = 26.80

Summer total = 349.12

Target mileage = +8

Oh, yeah, the Camelbak – it's awesome. To hell with water bottles, the Camelbak is the way to go.

Went and got my new driver's license this afternoon. Forty-four minutes in and out, which for a North Carolina DMV office is pretty damn good. Had to take a quickie vision test, followed by a sign recognition test. Aced all 12 of those bad boys, which should be a requirement. If you don't know every single road sign by shape, you probably shouldn't be driving. Still, I'm glad I don't have to renew this baby for another 8 years.

Spent an hour online, trying to find a place to rent a tent for the party Saturday night. Found just the right place, and I'm meeting with the guy tomorrow onsite to do a walk-through. It may not rain that night, but I'd rather be safe than sorry, especially with the way we've been getting all these late afternoon/early evening thunderboomers…