#I went for a different route with the fat camp. Hope you all enjoy it!

[meep9898]

19. fat camp AU setting for Minerva? It just sounds funny, sending such a bright techie to a boot camp filled to the brim with exercise cramps and dieting lmao

Stress-eating could be a dangerous slippery slope if left out of control. It starts with one nibbling on something, anything, in order to get their mind off the troublesome thoughts that plague it. Then, as the anxiety remains and one grows accustomed to those light bites, the mind and the system begin demanding more in order to bury the worries under countless calories. One treat turns into a small handful, that handful becomes a proper snack, the snack evolves into a proper meal, and soon, before one is aware of it, they may find themselves shoveling whatever their fridge might offer into their uneasy stomach in the middle of the night.

This was the slippery slope that Minerva Webber was currently on. A path that had turned the once svelte IT worker into a staright-up fatty that struggled to comfortably sit her rear on her tiny office chair. It was true that the brunette had always been a sedentary and stressful person, even after the incident that had left her stuck working at the same company for over seven years. However, it wasn't until her recent promotion that her workload and stress levels increased exponentially, reaching a point that had led Minerva towards partaking in the bad habit of stress-eating.

At first, only she could tell that a soft layer of flab had developed around her midsection, lightly straining her blouses and skirts, but it wouldn't be long until everyone at the office could tell she had packed on the pounds. It would be impossible not to do so! After all, nowadays, everything about her was fat! Minerva's face had grown rounder, now sporting softer atrributes, including puffier cheeks and a pair of chins that neatly coated over a third of her neck. Flab accumulated on her arms would wobble whenever the techie rushed to type something on her keyboard. The tire of fat that her belly had become flowed outwards whenever she was at her desk, gingerly resting atop an ample pair of thickened legs that were constantly fighting for space, chaffing against each other. Not to mention how her caked-up rear became the daily attraction whenever Minerva walked into the workplace.

If there ever would be any hope for Miss Webber to get back into shape, someone had to put a stop to her terrible eating habits. Of course, Minerva wouldn't do it herself, always finding an excuse, mostly thanks to her job, to avoid exercising or dieting. Luckily for the hefty woman, her coworkers cared enough about her wellbeing to force her into taking action by enrolling her in a fat camp. At least she thought so...

Much to her dread, embarassment, and irriation, Minerva was sent to the fat camp the very next day.

Once Minerva arrived at Camp Colossal Caboose, she was slightly relieved to discover that she somehow was the smallest participant at the place. Perhaps, if she truly gave it her all, there could be a chance for her to actually lose weight. Perhaps she could get back the thin figure she had outgrown long ago. Perhaps...

"Listen up, ya porkers! Looks like some of ya have been doin' a great job while ya were away from camp, while some of ya fatasses have been slacking off. Unnaceptable behavior! Here at Camp Colossal Caboose, we take things like this seriously. Understood? Ya will all be punished for this once today's activities begin, including ya!"

The boisterious woman pointed a swagger stick at Minerva.

"What's yer name, newcomer?"

"Minerva Webber. Minerva Webber, ma'am."

"Ma'am. Pfft. Ya hear the stickwoman? Hah! Looks like she doesn't know how things work 'round here yet. But don't worry, Minerva Webber...", she said her name in a mocking tone, "...ya'll grow used to Camp Colossal Caboose in no time. Give the bag of bones a triple ration when we get to the dinning hall. She needs to get some meat on that scrawny body!"

"WHAT?!"

Before Minerva could protest a pair of women, fatter than any she had ever seen before, dragged the brunnette away. Clearly, this wasn't the kind of Fat Camp she had envisioned and her waistline will suffer greatly for it...

[ask-rp-devra]

The night was short, the pair were able to sleep a good 8 hours before getting ready the next morning to set off towards the train station. The pair decided to come back through to pick up the Pokemon to bring back to the island before heading home, but for now they could stay behind with Devra’s mom, just for a little while longer. The only team members that went with them were coal, the little hybrid houndoomxarcanine pup, and Aliza, who had taken a shine to the ponyta gifted to Peach, they seemed to play well together, even Dreepy liked her. With bags gathered, goodbyes said, and tickets bought, the pair stepped onto the train, waving off Olivia who came to see her daughter go, and off they went, towards the new Galarian island, the Crown Tundra.

Devra settled into her seat, waving goodbye to her mom as Coal jumped up in the seat next to her. He was small enough to be on the train, but Aliza had to stay in her pokeball for the time being. She looked over at her friend and smiled. “I hope you slept alright. I always thought the guest room bed was too hard.”

“‘you saw me right? I was asleep in an aeroplane chair sitting up right, the bed was just fine. Much better than most of the places I sleep while away from the lab.” She recalled a few occasions being able to just about catch an hours rest while being trapped in a tree by aggressive Pokemon. “it was a warm, dry bed, with actual sheets and a roof over me haha. It was great.” She mindlessly petted Val, ordering a good coffee off the trolley that passed by, a sweet little wigglytuff in the train companies uniform asking for payment. She got her wallet out...or so she thought? Her hand reached into her bag, and hit something very cold and very smooth, reeling from the weird texture. Val sniggered to herself, shifting to the empty seat the bag sat on, to peer inside.

“I think we have a stow away.” Peach murmured, carefully opening the bag much wider than needed to get a good look. “‘Dreepy?” Inside was the little ghost type, she swore while waving to Devra’s mother at the station when they left, she had also spotted this Pokemon amongst others that had come to see the trainers off. He was wrapped up in one of Peach’s shirts, and seemed a little nervous about being caught in her stuff.

Devra looked over at Peach from her camera, having been looking th right some pictures. “Dreepy? He’s here? But I saw him with my mom. Here, I took a picture of the group when we left.” She held the camera so they could both look. “Oh....well. I thought he was in the picture.” She looked at the little Pokémon and sighed. “I guess he really wanted to come with you.”

“well, it’s fine with me, if he wants to come then I guess we’ve got a new team member.” She smiled a little at the Pokemon and let him and Val go and pick some snacks off the trolley before paying. She gave eyes at her steadfast fire type while Dreepy’s back was turned, asking without words for her to tone her usual disinterest down by like 20%, and she began chattering to the ghost Pokemon as she selected a strawberry filled dumpling thing in a wrapper. With the stern silence broken between the two, peach could relax a little, perhaps they two would be fine together for the trip.

“You’re right though, I swear I saw him on the platform too.” She glanced at the screen on the camera, seeing no signs of him. “‘how strange. You’re faster than you look hey bud?” Dreepy seemed quite proud of the compliment, and finally chose a chocolate-orange flavoured pastry twist before returning to the open bag to snack. “I’m buying, you and your team want anything?”

Devra nodded to Coal, who bounced over and happily started sniffing around until he found a pumpkin muffin. She then grabbed an apple cake and raspberry pastry for her other two team members before sitting back down. “I don’t need anything. Mom made sure I left full.” She laughed and opened Coal’s treat for him. “Tell Peach thank you young man.” The little pup barked happily as me bounced over to her for pets.

“she’s a good mom that one, I bet she’d enjoy a little holiday in johto, lots to see, I can hook you both up with some fun things to do for sure.” There was plenty of art galleries, heritage sites, and excellent restaurants throughout the region, not to mention live music, public gardens of great beauty, and a butt load of areas to sightsee in. Peach paid up and petted Coal, she was very glad to see him in capable hands, he took to Devra like a Ducklett to water, and she was confident he’d grow fast now he was out exploring with her. The Dreepy seemed to peep its eyes out at the hybrid Pokemon, still nibbling away on its snack.

Coal bounced back up next to Devra and started to munch on his treat. “I’m sure she’ll love the trip.” She looked out the window, watching the countryside roll by. “What’s the first thing you want to do once we get to the tundra?”

The professor sipped her hot drink, also enjoying the windows view. “hm, that’s a good question. I suppose I’d really like to find a place to stay, I’d normally not mind camping but I see the name ‘Crown TUNDRA’ and feel like I wouldn’t want to stay over night outside as much. What about you? You’ll be knees deep in herd Pokemon in no time I bet, anything else you’d want to check out?” The little Dreepy had snuck closer to the window to look out, still nibbling.

“Well, there is this big ruin building with a massive old dead tree that’s I’d love to see. But it’s at the top of one of the mountains here. So it might be tricky getting to.” She mindlessly pet Coal as she slowly started seeing snow. “And I think there’s a small town that we could ask about lodging at. Day trips to the tundra and back by dark?”

“‘oh I do love a tree, that sounds interesting, you could always try to find a Pokemon who could get you up that mountain a bit easier?” Peach had planned to do just that, the cold sneaking in, she could feel her bad knee aching ever so slightly already, and almost exactly after that thought crossed her mind, Val crept over to radiate heat, sitting in her lap, easing the dull pain.

“perhaps we can camp out some of the time, it’d be nice to see what happens at night, what Pokemon come out, just perhaps not in any heavy weather if it can be avoided. I did take a look online, the village there is usually pretty open to travellers, think I noticed a B&B or two with vacancies posted, I’m sure we’ll find somewhere to stay.” By this point, the views had turned pure white, in the fields you could see grazing Pokemon, a herd of wooloo who almost blending in with the surroundings.

Devra spotter the wooloo right away, fawning over one of her favorite Pokémon. Coal picked up on his trainer’s excitement, his tail wagging happily as she told him what snow was like. “Oh I can’t wait to see Aliza’s face when she sees her first snow!”

“thats right, she’s not even seen a December yet, or a snowy route. Good thing you got your camera then isn’t it, I’m sure mom and pop would like to see her first experience with it, you know Cole hasn’t seen snow either before. Bet he’s real excited about now.” The pup must have felt something, seeing all this white for the first time. “‘what about you Dreepy, you seen snow before?” The little ghost type looked back, didn’t turn its body at all, but bent it’s neck fully back to look at the Professor upside down, giving no clear answer, which to her seemed like a big fat no, but perhaps he was a little shy about answering right away. “no matter, we’ll soon be in the thick of it.”

She giggled at the sight of the little dreepy. “He’s seen some light snow before. I caught him in the wild area. The weather there is always so weird. But he hasn’t seen this much before. This is going to be a big busy day.” She snapped a quiet picture of dreepy being cute, then one of Coal barking at the snow through the window.

The train began to turn a final corner, the tannoy alerting passengers to the upcoming station, the only stop on the journey coming up very soon.

“looks like we’re nearly there, ready to get going?” The trip had been only short, but outside it looked like a completely different region, so much snow and ice everywhere, nothing but pine trees. The woman grabbed her bags, not before waiting for the little Dreepy to return to the inside where it wrapped up in the spare clothes to keep warm. Val took to her shoulder as she usually did.

Devra nodded, standing up to gather her things. She then picked up Coal, holding his stout body in her arms to keep him from running of into the snow. “We’re ready. I’m so excited to see this area. I’ve read about it but they took forever to get it safe enough for more visitors.”

Safe enough wasn’t always entirely foolproof, and Peach was quietly happy she packed a first aid kit. She had heard some murmurs it was a little risky here, a lot of tough Pokemon roamed about.

“I hope you’re right, I’m sure the locals wouldn’t put people at risk.” The pair stepped off the train once the doors pinged open, the brisk cold air swept past, pulling them all out onto the platform. People came and went, and before long they became aware of the exits and where to head to next.

Devra took a slight lead of the two, following signs towards the little town. “Well, they did give all of us coming here a safety talk too. I just hope trainers actually listen. You gotta be smart about this place.” She then set Coal down and let the little guy run circles around the two humans. “I think I’ll wait to let Aliza our until we’re settled.”

With the pup thoroughly enjoying the snow, the trainers paused to check their phones, a map was needed for a moment, before they began to hear some loud ruckus just outside to the right of the station, sounded like a man and a young woman, peach didn’t even register it much, turning her back to the noise almost instinctually, trying to figure out which way to go. Val however was being nosey and sat on her shoulder judging the people making all the noise pretty hard from the look on her face.

“I think you’re right, we should find somewhere to stay before we really go out on a wild adventure.”

She nodded, looking at her own map on her Rotom phone, thanking the Pokémon inside for his help. “It looks like we head on that way.” She pointed to the road as it took a slight left turn. “Shouldn’t be more than a 20 minute walk.”

“‘sounds good to me, wonder what Pokemon we might see on the way?” Pocketing the phone and hoisting her bag up a bit, Peach began to take a few steps, noticing the pair who were making such noise earlier, avoiding them entirely, they seemed to be having a dad-daughter tiff that was no ones business. Onward, to the first route of the Crown Tundra!

Devra took a glance at the arguing people and sighed, hoping the wouldn’t bother her or the Professor. Coal bounded ahead as they walked, but kept in his trainer’s sight. “It’s really pretty here. Just look at all the ice on these pine needles!” She crunched her way to a tree and found an angle to catch light in the ice.

[sillyfeathers]

Resident Tough Guy (Bellas x Reader)

Resident Tough Guy Prompt: (along the lines of) The reader gets stuck somewhere on the boot camp from PP2 and tickling ensues. Characters: Chloe Beale, Fat Amy, Beca Mitchell, Emily Junk, reader ft. all the Bellas basically (platonic) Summary: When you find yourself in a precarious position with only your troublesome friends to help you out, the stoic character you’ve made for yourself starts to break down. Warnings: fluff, slight profanity, the reader is partially restrained Words: 997

A/N: for @theambracer88​ !! This was such a cute prompt and I hope you enjoy it, I was hella excited to get a request for Pitch Perfect <3

You were officially in hell.

Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic, but when you’d joined a college acapella group, you definitely didn’t expect to be hanging 10 feet above ground entangled in a net.

It also didn’t help that you’d gone first, and now everyone was watching you try, and fail, to not plummet to your death.

Okay, so you were attached to a harness, but still.

“Ah — shit!” you screamed as your feet slipped off the net, and on instinct, your hands flailed to grab at the ropes, hoping to find some sort of grip. And, in a sense, you did. Technically, your wrists were somehow knotted among said ropes, but hey, you hadn’t fallen!

“Uh — I think I’m stuck,” you called back to your friends. You heard them chuckle, and you whined in protest. “It’s not funny! Please, just help me?”

It was no surprise that Chloe and Fat Amy were the ones to show the slightest bit of compassion and start towards you. Lucky for them, you hadn’t managed to get far, and they were soon positioned either side of you, brows furrowed. You were well aware of your vulnerable position and shifted uncomfortably.

“Alright. Aaaaallllright,” Fat Amy hummed. “I got this.” She stretched out and slapped at the ropes. All it did was jostle you further, and make you lose your footing yet again. 

“What the hell was that?” you grumbled, the words coming out a bit harsher than you intended. Real fear was starting to settle in, and you didn’t like that there was a group of girls watching it happen.

“Okay, alright, you’re gonna be fine,” Chloe said quickly, which didn’t instill any confidence in you.

“Just — okay, let me —” she grabbed onto your waist as she spoke, trying to get a feel for just how stuck you were, and you flinched.

“Whoa, mate,” Fat Amy chimed in, noticing your reaction. “You pull a muscle or something?” She grabbed at your other side, and you yelped, slipping off the ropes for the third time.

“Noho, I’m just sensitive,” you mumbled, glancing at Chloe for support — but she was wearing a suspiciously mischievous grin, poking you in the side to test her theory. You couldn’t help but splutter, your face going red. 

“Let me down!” you groaned, your voice a little shaky. But this time, Chloe’s fingers lingered, trailing down your side. You giggled, shaking your head as if that would deter her. At this point, however, Fat Amy had caught on, and she had started to pinch at your hip.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Beca called from her vantage point.

“She’s ticklish,” Chloe responded casually, her fingers scratching up your side and hovering under your arm. Your helpless giggles were the only form of protest she received, and they doubled in volume when Fat Amy added, “Extremely so.”

“Stohop,” you giggled breathlessly, but to your horror, you felt the net shift again with added weight. You glanced to the side to see Beca advancing towards you, and if the look on her face was anything to go by, it wasn’t to rescue you.

“You know, I’ve always thought she needs to be taken down a peg,” Chloe mused, now skittering her nails over your stomach. Amy decided to go the more aggressive route, rapidly tasering your side, and you shrieked.

“NOHO!” As if it could get any worse, your desperate tugging against the ropes only seemed to tighten them around your wrists. Beca was all too soon perched above Chloe, infuriatingly calm as she reached down and fluttered her nails along your neck. You cringed, bubbly giggles spilling out of your lips.

“I think she’s loosening up,” Beca commented.

“Really?” you managed to gasp, pulling against your restraints in hope. Beca laughed, her hand slipping under your arm. “I meant your personality, dumbass.”

If it wasn’t for the fact that you were now being tickled by three different people who were all apparently hell-bent on torturing you, you would’ve shot back with a witty reply of your own, but the best you could do was an indignant squeal.

“Let me try her back,” you heard Emily giggle.

“Whehen the hell did yohohou get here?” you managed to splutter. It turns out that was the last thing you would be able to get out, as Chloe deciding to claw at your ribs, Fat Amy’s unrelenting hip kneading, Beca’s darting fingers along your neck and under your arms, and now Emily tickling gently along your back — you were officially reduced to a giggling mess, squirming beneath their fingers.

Chloe had been right — you weren’t exactly the easiest person to talk to, so seeing you trapped like this, your head thrown back in laughter as they tickled you to tears — it was refreshing.

Still, as hiccups began to pepper your hysterical giggles, the participating Bellas showed mercy, drawing back, Beca unhooking your hands as she went. You yelled out in frustration, although it was hardly frightening coming out between laughter. You couldn’t scramble down fast enough, collapsing onto the ground and curling in on yourself. One by one, you heard your fellow Bellas join you, and you refused to meet their eyes as you stood up, your face flushed.

Instead, you met the eyes of a smirking Aubrey Posen. “You know, laughing too much can strain your voice,” she said. Your mouth dropped open, hearing snickers from behind you.

“That wasn’t my fault!” you scoffed, and before you could react Aubrey’s fingers were poking at your stomach.

“Laughing is also good for bonding with the choir’s resident tough guy,” she continued, and to your dismay, the rest of the Bellas were now looming over you as you slid to the ground.

“Nohoho, wahait.” You held your hands out in defence, but as affectionate smiles passed across their faces and their wiggling fingers hit their mark, you knew that your laughter wasn’t over by any means.

[minimonojoon]

night drive | ksj

g e n r e: just pure, unadulterated fluff, friends to lovers!au. p a i r i n g: groomsman!seokjin x bridesmaid!reader w o r d s: 3k+ words. s u m m a r y: coming back from your best friends’ wedding, the last thing you’d ever expect is seokjin confessing his love for you.  w a r n i n g s: it can cause cavities, but other than that, none. a / n: this is just 3k words but to me feels like they’ve been 6k and more, lol. Surprisingly, I kinda like the way it came out, so I’m pretty satisfied with it! I really hope you enjoy it, because I put all myself into it despite its shortness - well, it’s technically a long drabble.. but still. An huge, big, fat shout out to @kyut-tea for bearing with me and hyping me up so much these past days. She’s an angel and she deserves the world, truly. Go read her fics! <3 

This, so far, has been one of the best nights of your entire life.

As predictable as it might sound, the dearest memories you jealousy custody in your heart can be counted in just one hand, and your best friend’s wedding definitely gained a place right there. 

You couldn’t ask anything better for a night to end like this, the crisp air of the late night coming from the window of the black pick-up brushing your hair and kissing your warm skin. It’s like a damn movie scene, one from the comedies about life, love and transition phases, which philosophical quotes everyone on the internet post about and (guilty from hair to foot) you so dearly love.

The content smile on your face slowly surfaces as you outstretch your arm out, feeling the chilly air passing through your fingers and caressing the wind like you’d do with waves in the sea. Fighting the tiredness that threatens your eyelids to close, you recollect the memories of the evening with a soft chuckle, as the loud cheering and the embarrassing chants to celebrate the newly married birds you’ve sing till your voice croaked reverberates in your ears, the tingling of glasses whenever someone proposed a toast – which where many, much to your dismay for your current state of inebriation.

You stifle a laugh, remembering how Taehyung broke an entire bottle of champagne treating the main table where he and Jimin sat like a ship ready to sail. Brushing your morbid lilac dress still sticky with gold liquid, you can’t stop thinking how good you feel.

“Thought you were more the angry type of drunk person, not the crazy one,” Seokjin snorts with a quirk of his eyebrows, as he checks the route in rearview mirror before he overtakes one of the few cars you’ve encountered so far. His eyes are focused solely on the street, but you don’t miss the way his eyes tingles with mischievous amusement.

“I think throwing Friskies at people because they don’t agree with you can be classified as both angry and crazy drunk type of person,” you retort with a smirk on your face, your habits as a drunken person quite well illustrated as stories to embarrass you by your small group of friends. “But in this case, I was just thinking about Taehyung improvising himself some kind of authority ready to inaugurate some ship, like it’s 1912 or something,” you emulate his gesture of breaking the bottle with a very much crazy look in your face, teeth exposed in Taehyung’s typical wide, boxy smile.

“That little shit almost dirtied my clothes,” Seokjin tsks, “sometimes I think he likes to copy Namjoon too much.”

“Nah,” you retort, pointed finger up as an elementary teacher correcting his students, “he just follows whatever Jungkook does. And Jungkook loves imitating Namjoon.” Your laugh erupts inside the car, as well as Seokjin’s, thinking how the youngest of your group have unconsciously chosen the blondeish boy as his guru for life. What a dismay for him, but such a source of amusement for you.

“Can’t believe he’s married now,” Seokjin sighs, as you mold your body to the seat, searching for warmth and comfort. “With Jimin, of all the people,” you shake your head this time, sharing a knowing look with him.

“Could you ever imagine?” He jokes.

Jimin and Taehyung are like day and night. Opposite to each other, yet without the other time wouldn’t be the same, nor the sky would shine bright as it does now. They literally illuminate the whole room with their love whenever they’re around and not in a sicky lovey-dovey style. Although their bickering has always been both frustrating and exhilarating – more one than the other, to your opinion – the love and support they give each other is something that makes you both envious and ecstatic at the same time.  

Smiling bittersweetly, you mentally count all the times your relationships have miserably failed. Out of love, misunderstandings, different plans for the future were some of the reasons you knew, deep down, where just mere excuses for fleeing yourself from what ended up being just distractions whenever you realize the excitement of meeting a new person vanished like a camp fire.

You’ve never looked at one of your lovers with the same passion and adoration Taehyung does whenever he sees Jimin dancing on stage or in class, when he’s teaching new choreography to his students. That look has always been reserved to one person only and right now he’s sitting next to you, driving yourselves home.

Seokjin’s big dark eyes glint in the night, illuminated by the faints lights of the car’s controls in front of him, the first buttons of his white cottoned shirt loosen and his hair still damp from the previous dancing. You can’t help thinking about how effortlessly gorgeous he is and how you seem to be unable to pry your eyes from his form before he realizing you’re observing him.

Despite being friends since college years, having someone else handling with you the volcanoes that were Jimin and Taehyung was much of a relief, especially when the two of you formed a great team to balance your student, social and jimyung life (the nickname is cringy and creepy, yet Seokjin found it extremely amusing when he created it and you, always the soft heart, just let him pass with this one). Yes, to most of the people out there you might sound crazy, yet Taehyung has always been there for you and you know he will always be. And you’re no less, even if it means holding his hand while he’s crying because Jimin said he didn’t like fluorescent turquoise as their bathroom painting color, while Seokjin was comforting Jimin in the other room.

It’s a cycle that always repeats itself, really. You’re sure you wouldn’t survive this alone if Seokjin wasn’t there with you.

“Are you just admiring how the moonlight shine on my flawless handsome face?”

Your cheeks heat up immediately at his teasing, your heart thunders inside your chest because in his cocky and confident remark he’s right. You dismiss your current turmoil with a scoff, rolling your eyes to the ceiling. “I was just noticing how disgustingly sweaty you are,” it’s a big, damn lie yet your grimace seems prettily convincing with how Seokjin’s mouth opens, offended to the heart.

“I went to the bathroom before leaving!” he whines, pursing his lips as you try to hide the giggle that threatens to erupt from your mouth. As a revenge, his hand reaches your tight and squeezes the supple flesh right where your tight meets with your knee. He perfectly knows it’s one of your weak points, because it has you squeaking and jolting in your seat, hitting the dashboard of the pick-up. You flinch from the pain, while Seokjin’s booming and hiccupping laugh fills the although silent vehicle.

Now it’s your turn to be theatrically offended, as you massage the aching point.

“Don’t look at me like that! It’s not my fault karma’s a bitch,” he smirks, but his hand travels upon yours until he manages to be the one massaging your sore point with carefulness, gently pressuring your flesh until you melt into a puddle. You force yourself out of certain thoughts, diverting your gaze elsewhere as you let him do whatever he wants. You don’t realize you’re holding your breath until he moves his hand, searching for yours.

You’re puzzled, speechless when he squeezes your intertwined fingers and you look at him with your mouth opened, while a whirlwind of emotions is currently making your brain completely blank. You stay there, frozen as you follow him with your eyes when he delicately presses kisses on your skin, a faint smile on his features. You can feel his warm breath hitting the back of your hand, goosebumps appearing everywhere. The banter you two were having just seconds ago is now just plain silence.

It’s the intimacy in his gestures that has shivers running down your spine, taken aback by something only your wild imagination could have ever conjured. His casualness he puts in just few movements has the power of making your stomach doing somersaults, the butterflies returning like a tornado unannounced. Partially, you fear them. It always takes your full willpower to not let your feelings for him overwhelm you and trashing years of friendship into the toilet, even when you share moments like this one happening now. For the other part, you hate them. It’s the limbo you find yourself into, the rejection angling right over your head threatening to fall yet the strong desire to just go and kiss him already which constantly clutches your brain and confuses you.

You hear the thump thump thump of your heart in your ears and the trepidation that surges in your veins is like iced water, thinking he might hear it too. However, you remain in silent state as your hands are still interlaced. You’re not sure what to do next as you are unsure on what hell of a meaning you should give to all of this. After all, you’ve always been the best friend of his best friend’s boyfriend. Sharing awkward situations and couple crisis is nothing so important. Seokjin is a catch. You remember girls being head over hills for him, always surrounding the guy whenever he went. He’s a charmer. You’re just… you. A friend, a confidant sometimes. It’s not right for the both of you doing this. It’s intimate.

As you try to untangle your hands to both free yourselves, Seokjin squeezes harder to stop you. You can feel his muscles stiff under your touch and suddenly this feeling of urge coming from him you can’t quite decipher.

“I was thinking,” he says hurriedly, before clearing his throat, “I was thinking how everything could be if we were together.” There’s a bit of silence. “I mean, as boyfriend and girlfriend.” He clarifies. You miss the way he bites his lips out of nervousness, because you’re damn shocked.

What did he just say now?

Your mouth agapes like a fish out of water and your brain has a sudden malfunction before you actually register what just came out of Seokjin’s fully plump lips. It has your eyelashes battle furiously, while you try to wrack your brain on why he has just asked this. He must sense your confusion and your shock, because he laughs, but it’s not a wholehearted laugh. It’s more like it’s forced, nervous. Like he’s trying to hide dust under the carpet hoping no one would see him.

“What, you’ve never thought about us?” his tone is light, as if he’s asking you about the weather today.

He has? It’s the only coherent question that pops in your mind. You don’t know what to say.

“I-I..” Your brain reels while you try to come up with an answer, which inevitably doesn’t come out. You’d have expected anything – from one of his infamous dad jokes thrown here and there more often than not, to some useless fact he heard from Namjoon to start a conversation. Certainly, not this.

“Does the idea has never crossed your mind? Am I that repulsive?” This time, the hurt in his tone does not go unnoticed.

“No! You’re not,” your haste response is quick, frowning as he might be thinking something like that. You glare at him from the corner of your eye. “It’s just… you took me by surprise,” you sheepishly admit, tangling one of your fingers in your hair. Seokjin nods, probably coming to the terms he might has just thrown off a bomb without thinking. He just doesn’t know it has nuclear proportion.

The thick silence afterwards is tense, to the point it can be cut with a knife. You don’t dare to meet his eyes, focusing on the road instead, as he drives. The humming of the pick-up becomes your blanket for a while, shielding your thoughts from hunting you with question unanswered. But soon, the noise became too loud. So you have to ask.

“What would have changed?” You turn your head to him, as you catch the jolt in his shoulders, like he wasn’t expecting you to say something. But he’s quick on catching on and the answer is on the tip of his tongue before you can battle an eyelash.

“Nothing,” he confesses, “it wouldn’t have change nothing much.”

“Why is that?”

He snorts at your question. “We pretty much have everything there,” he says as the most obvious thing in the world. He gulps, then he continues. “You’ve always been there. When I struggled with assignments back in college, or when I freaked out because I thought no one would want to hire me right after graduation,” he recalls, shaking his head. Seokjin has always been the confident one, leading his way with his chin up and a beautiful, charming smile on his face, yet seeing him so downcast was a first. You were sure you had done an awful job trying to cheer him up. “Or whenever Taehyung and Jimin fought. Damn, that one time we went skiing? If it wasn’t for you, I would have lost my shit.” True to his words, the only thing you recall affectionately were the two of you in a random café drinking hot cocoa and laughing at stupid jokes he threw here and there, far from your very stressing friends. You smile fondly, your eyes landing on your hands. You didn’t even notice that you start fidgeting with them.

“Today, tonight�� would have been the same. Driving back home, drunk but happy because, god, our best friend finally married. I’d have hold your hand just like I did, probably mocking you because you were so naïve shielding me from that bottle of champagne. But I’d be grateful to you to no end, because this suit costed like half of my salary and I didn’t want it to be ruined. So, I’d say that I love you so, so fucking much.” He finishes with shuddering breaths, like he has just run a whole marathon. His words sound too much like a real confession and you can’t move, can’t breathe as you watch him with eyes full of tears, ready to spill them.

“Pull over,” you say finally. Seokjin starts to panic, looking frantically between you and the street.

“What? Why? It’s late and we’re in the middle of no—”

“Just do it!” you huff exasperatedly and Seokjin can’t do nothing but silently comply your request, stopping the car at the first improvised parked lot he finds. When the engine is turned off, you turn to him the same moment he does, and you notice how his shoulder are stiff and his body weary, as if he’s scared you can run off that same moment.

“You can’t do this.” You gulp, trying to force yourself to a steady tone. It’s fruitless. Your voice quivers and your lips tremble, so you take a deep breath to compose yourself. Seokjin looks puzzled, confused and scared.

“You can’t talk about ifs and maybes. You can’t say we have everything there, Kim Seokjin. How dare you? How dare you built a castle like it’s nothing to you, saying these things? You sure are something, huh? You’re always been a little dense, but I’d never thought it was so serious.” The frantic movements of your hands have Seokjin’s eyes to widen, as you sputter all those words. Angry, exasperated, you’re not sure anymore. “I don’t let you say those things when I do seriously love you, sounding so serious about—”

You don’t get to finish, because Seokjin’s mouth collides with yours, shutting down your little rant.

Breath hitched and eyes widened, you’re motionless. His lips are plump and soft as you’ve always imagined them to be, pressing gently to yours. He cups your face with his hands, brushing his thumbs on your cheeks with loving strokes. You finally close your eyes, letting yourself enjoy his touch as he finally moves slowly his plush lips onto yours. The kiss has your head to start spinning, clutching to the collar of his shirt as his cologne mixed with sweat and alcohol flare your nostrils, making you dizzy. You’ve never been this close to Seokjin in your life, yet this proximity has you already addicted, skin tingling as your pads brush his neck, fingers silently tangling in his dark locks. You feel his hands travelling from your cheeks to your back, pressing you closely to him, his toned arms surrounding you. You feel like you’ve found home after years of hopelessly wandering and you’re sure your heart is going to explode, because you can feel it thundering everywhere in your body.

As the pace of the kiss quickens, Seokjin’s tongue caressing your lower lip gently to enter your mouth, you feel your skin slowly heating up. You tug his hair, eliciting a moan from him that has you growing goosebumps. Time seems to come to a full stop, yet you feel like the fast forward button has been pushed, because the moment you face yourself you want to kiss him again.

You press your forehead on Seokjin’s, as your elaborated breaths are the only sound in the although quiet pick-up. “So, to answer you question, Kim Seokjin,” you begin, whispering, “I do have thought about things going differently.” You finally admit and Seokjin simply smirks, closing his eyes. He pecks your lips before distancing himself, looking at you with a fond smile on his face.

“If that’s so, ___, maybe we can both agree that from now on, things can really go differently.” He solemnly speaks. You nod, stifling a laugh. “I think so, yeah.”

You both fasten your seatbelts then, and Seokjin starts the engine to re-enter the roadway as everything goes back to normal. But it’s not entirely true, not anymore at least. The smile on your faces and your interlaced fingers proves that. You stay like this for the most part of your trip, even when you finally succumb to sleep.

You won’t let go his hand so easily.

And neither will he.

[traviswsoul]

Day 28 Brook's Memorial Park to Sunnyside RV Resort 50 miles

July 31, 3:49 time, 2,044 caloires, 13.2 avg mph, 1,014; climbed After so many days resting up I was ready to ride. The campsite was great, I went to sleep at sunset reading Thomas Paine’s The Age of Reason, which is blowing my mind, and then was at with the sun at 5:30. This was a great execution of the morning routine so I was able to run through the breakfast and packing like a pro. This was greatly assisted by having a dry tent, I think I’m learning something about dew, I believe dew doesn’t settle through the night as much as it settles in the morning after the sun comes up. It makes sense, if the air around a colder thing heats up then the surface of the thing gathers dew, it’s just condensation I’m thinking. This lines up with my observation and is encouraging me to get up as soon as its light, I really hate packing a wet tent! Adapting my body to routine of the sun is really exciting for me, I have always been a morning person and believed this to be the best way to make the most of the day. I hope that I can keep it up when I get off the road. It makes me think about how much time I have been outside, and sleeping and waking without a roof over my head that normally allows my controlling of light, and so many other things. I am enjoying an learning a lot from the simplicity of a narrow realm of control and adapting myself to nature instead of trying to force all the elements to adapt to my lifestyle. But, don’t get me wrong, I’m also looking forward to sleeping in when this is all over and I’m back in my bed, I need some black out curtains. ;) However this morning I had almost pedaled out of the park before realizing I didn’t have my Garmin computer in its place, I turned around and dug it out of some pocket it didn’t belong in, I’ve got to unpack and reorganize everything soon. Because I am no longer on the coast I no longer have maps and planned routes, instead I downloaded a route on the Ride With GPS app and when I was setting it up I checked avoid highways. This was a bad move. I rode for a couple hours, the last few miles down the same road, I knew I had a right turn coming up and that it was going to take eight miles toward the next town. This road was deep grey gravel with some packed spots from driving but like cars do to roads like this the packed spots were rippled and a nightmare to ride over. I had a little hope that it might turn into a paved road so I went almost a half mile before throwing in the towel and turning around. The way back was downhill and there were several times I was certain I as going to crash as I drifted through the loose surface. Somehow I managed to not though and arrived back to where I started. I happened to just get phone service at this same time so despite the chaos I called mom right away because she hadn’t heard from me in a couple days, and I promised her that wouldn’t happen. She was at a computer and helped find my way, as she has always done so well, even before computers. I’m actually really grateful for this mixup because I ended up cycling through the Yakima Valley hop farms. Eighty percent of America’s hops come from here, they grow all different varieties, the ones hop fans are familiar with as well as ones they developed and cultivated ones found wild. I am a huge hop fan myself and have in the last year become for intrigued about how they grow. My local brew supply store had some for sale in the shop one day that you could grow at home, then I talked with a friend of mine that farms hay about them and we wondered if they’d grow in the Texas hillcountry, surely local Texas beer brewers would pay a lot more for Texas hops than what whoever pays for hay. The field is covered with a grid of rope and wire suspended twenty feet up in the air. Ropes are run from it to the ground, one for each hop vine in the rows. They grow tall wrapping up the vine and reaching for the sun, it’s a beautiful sight to see. I stopped as soon as I did, parked my bike and walked in to inspect what this was. It was a young plot and none of the plants had mature hops on them so I didn’t recognize them right away. I did have a feeling it was hops from the baby buds I found on them, I took a sample to ask someone later but I didn’t have to, down the road was a mature field with towering vines and fully developed fat hops. I was beside myself, my ideas were confirmed and they had been on my mind for such long time so to see it in person felt like the coolest culmination of my ongoing farming lesson that has been this trip. I continued to ride turn after turn through hop farms all at different stages of growth approaching harvest and delivering those delicious betters flavoring my favorite hopy IPAs. All day I had been riding through or along the Yakima Nation Indian Reservation and the Yakima River. I will take this moment to not start ranting about the genocide that created the foundation for our sprawling across this “great” nation and the irony and conflict that I feel about national pride because we collectively choose to ignore this fact……If you stole someone’s TransAm you wouldn’t go blasting around town, blaring Metallica, yelling about it with your mulleted head hangin out the window, flying a flag with you name on it would you? How long after it’s been stolen and passed down to your kids does it become appropriate behavior? This is why I have a hard time with the braggadocios pride on Independence day, why I’ll always bring up smallpox at Thanksgiving, and could only wear an American branded article ironically. Budweiser beer has the word America in the place the brand name used to be, it’s way out of hand. People keep realizing the truth in the line Not all Donald Trump supporters are racist, but all racists are Donald Trump supporters, and they also see them selves as the greatest patriots as well, only adding to my resistance to align where I’m supposed to, patriotism, its a no brainer right? You go all gung ho about where ever your from and allow ideas that’s it’s the best actually hold water. That’s insane, It’s like religions knowing that all the others are wrong and mine is right. Clinging to nationalism, hyper patriotism and rejecting things foreign or different are blatant signs of insecurity and self doubt, in some cases, in my opinion. But since I’m not ranting about the patriotic forgetfulness of the blood on our hands after “founding” our country I’ll move on to my next flat tire. The Yakima river took me into Granger, there are dinosaurs in Granger, all over the town, apparently its a ancient river bed and some of the first fossils were found there. There really cling to there dino identity in Granger, theres not much really to be honest. I needed to eat and managed to find the only restaurant in town that was inside a little Mexican market and meat shop. I had a great time visiting with the three woman sitting next to me at the second of the only three tables there. I drank a bottle of appeared to be Mexican version of pedialite, that stuff you give to babies when they are sick and need electrolites, which I sure did, it was hot outside. The bonus was it was Horchatta flavored! I love Horchata and used to order the cinnamon rice milk drink at Magie’s, my favorite Mexican joint in my home town. I hope I find that again some day! It wasn’t much further to the next town, I had options, I could have stopped there or gone on but I was in no rush and then my tire popped a quarter mile from the first gas station of the town so it was decided, Sunnyside Washington would be home for the night. I had a hell of a time changing this tire. The one tube I tried to replace it with ended up have a bad valve in it and wouldn’t take air, I only realized this after wasting a buck in quarters and a CO2 figuring it out. When I the bike was finally ridable and put back together I spent a while riding around this big little town. I checked the Big 5 Sports store and the Walmart. Little air guns and pellet guns use CO2 but they don’t screw in so they don’t have threads to use with my tire inflator. So knowing there was nothing left to do I cruised around eyes for a spot to camp. The back of the Walmart had a line of overhead bushes and right behind them was 8 foot lane before a huge endless corn field, it would have been perfect but it was still early, I could use a shower, and didn’t want to not be able to leave my stuff to go eat or get water. Sunnyside RV Resort was a much better option for twenty bucks. I met some wonderful kids too there that were really interested in me, my stuff, harmonica and had all kinds of random ass stories to tell me like, about the bug at school, the treasure he buried in the yard, and the youngest just mumbled stuff constantly. They were are dirty from playing outside all day and not afraid of their curiosity. The six year old gave me a blue magic stone which was one of the half glass marbles from a fish tank, I’m keeping it forever. The guy who ran the place sent me to El Valle for the Lamb Shank and Cadillac Margarita. The lamb was delicious covered in enchilada sauce served with rice and cheesy refried beans, I didn’t need any liquor though so I passed on the Cadillac. I went to bed full and happy I was back on the road and in the full swing of things.

PS. The encouragement from strangers and drivers everyday is amazing, powerful and really helps me push on sometimes when it’s slow. Please take note, If you want to express your excitement about seeing a cyclist on the road and cheer him on, be sure not to begin honking until after you have passed him and he can identify you as an ally by your fist pumping out the window. Ally’s honks don’t sound any different than Asshole’s

[tobytjohnson]

OCR-Week 3

This was started a while ago and I’ve been behind. I’m doing my best to play catch up.  

 OCR Week #3

Event: Spartan, Asheville

Miles driven: 823.7

Events: Saturday-Super, Sunday-Sprint

Approximate Distance: 13 miles

Medals Earned: 2

 Third week Down and I have accomplished my first Spartan!

              This week started off with leaving Brooklyn and slowly making my way to Asheville, North Carolina.  I decided to stop along the way because I had more time and less distance to travel between cities.  This was a welcome change from the push push push for the first couple weekends.  

              Leaving Brooklyn and the busy streets of NY behind I made my way initially out to Coney Island.  We have a tradition in our family that we eat, what we call, Coney Island hot dogs, every Halloween.  The magic in the Coney Island hot dogs and what makes them special is they have bean-less chili on them.  It is a recipe that my grandpa got from a guy years ago from Coney Island.  I figured I’d go out and see if any place could compete with this recipe.  Sorry Coney Island, my Grandpa’s recipe kicks your ass.  Basic chili on a hot dog has been done.  If it doesn’t have enough worchester sauce in it to make your eyes and mouth water at the same time then don’t even bother.  So I left Coney Island a little disappointed but figured I would carry on. It was getting to be later in the day and I wasn’t going to make the campground I wanted to in the day light. If I’m staying at a campground I like to make it during the day so I can see what I’m doing when I get there. Along my route was Atlantic City. I’d never been before and knowing what I studied in college (hotels and recreation), let’s just say I got a screaming good deal on a room.  Not just any room, a suite!  Which unfortunately since I’m on a budget could not use to its fullest extent.  No, I didn’t do anything illegal that I know of. Just was nice to the desk guy and he hooked me up.  I walked around, checked things out.  Atlantic City is exactly what you think it would be.  Casino’s, lot’s of food, carnival rides, and all the wondrous touristy things people love to buy, aka, CRAP.  Think of it like Vegas thought he was hooking up with Lake Tahoe but actually ended up hooking up with Reno, Tahoe’s inbred sister.  Put it on the ocean, and you have Atlantic City.  I will give the hotel credit though.  Great bed!  

The next morning, I ventured further south to catch the Cape May ferry that takes you to Lewes, DE.  Cape May is the furthest tip of Jersey and is a cute little coastal town.  I also wanted to ride the ferry. It’s not every day I get a chance like that, and I also used it as a chance to catch up on some work. I had some time before the ferry left so I stopped to check out the beach and get some breakfast.  The beach was great.  Any chance I get to see the ocean and watch the waves I am a fan.  I just stood there and soaked it in.  It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do that.  I will take full advantage every chance I get. On my way off the beach I met a teacher on her way to the beach.  She was on summer break with a broken foot.  Rachel, I hope your foot is healing and you can get back to running soon! After my visit, I went and got breakfast at a little local place called Dock Mike’s Pancake House.  Yes, this place is good.  For some reason, they couldn’t give me a single pancake with my order but could give me 6 large silver dollar cakes.  I didn’t argue, just wanted a pancake with my omelet, and if I had to eat it in smaller form, so be it.  Following breakfast, I made my way down curvy grass lined roads to the ferry. Paid my way on and enjoyed the air before moving inside to get some work done.  The rest of the day was mostly driving. I made my way to DC by way of back roads and some highways. Very pretty country.  I met up with Olwen, a member of Potomac Boat Club and my host for my time there.  

I decided to spend at least a couple days in DC considering I’d never been before.  As of right now I’d like to go back.  The morning after I arrived I met up with Sam Stitt, a coach at PBC.  He was nice enough to let me out on his launch so I could watch his practice.  There is something about watching a rowing practice that lets gives you a different view on a city.  Not only was the rowing fun to watch but I also got to see the city from the water. Not many people get to do that and it offers a great view.  Especially as the sun comes up.  Sam and I got some breakfast and some coffee following practice. It was good!  Now if you know me you know I don’t normally drink coffee.  I had a dirty chai which is far more caffeine that I take in in a month.  Thank you Sam for giving me the energy to walk around what seemed like most of DC for the day and not even get phased.  Looking back on my day I should’ve planned a little better. I got the National Mall and figured I’d see as much as I can.  I should’ve have known that I wanted to see everything.  I came out of the metro right next to the National Archives.  The houses the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence.  Can’t take pictures while you’re in the building so just know that they are there, they are written on parchment, which is animal skin, and they are written perfectly. It also houses a ton of other stuff! I could’ve spent all day in just this building.  But I pressed on and left this part of history behind.  This is where my planning kind of went out the window.  I should’ve looked more carefully at what I wanted to do and where I was going. If you know me then you know I like efficiency. I put in some extra miles that day. I went from the Archives to the Washington Monument, passed the reflecting pool, to Lincolns memorial, all the way back to the Air and Space Museum, and then over to the Capital Building. I spent time at each one taking pictures and checking things out but I spent the most time is the Air and Space Museum.  By far some of the coolest things from history I’ve seen.  The Wright Brothers flyer is in there along with so many other iconic air and space craft.  I spent over two and half hours there just checking out history of flight.  My pictures that I posted on Facebook don’t do it justice.  To be there and absorb the time through flight.  To see where it came from and what it is now is amazing.  Following my time at the National Mall I decided to get dinner at a local spot.  I felt mildly under dressed. But I didn’t pack a button up so my v-neck and flip flops would have to do.  I had a good dinner at a mildly preppy DC restaurant. It was fun soaking up a different city.  

The following day I learned that there was another Air and Space Museum. It’s about 40 minutes out of DC and was on my way so I decided to stop by.  If you’ve seen Transformers 2 then you’ve seen this place.  Walking in your view is directed right down onto the SR-71 Blackbird.  Fastest plane on the planet.  The info says 2,250 mph, give or take.  I’m sure it can do more.  When it was flown to DC from San Diego they said it took just over an hour!  Crazy talk!!  So after I drooled over the Blackbird I walked around and looked at everything before I made my way to the Space Shuttle Discovery.  A few notable planes to mention; Piper Cub, the Concord, and the Enola Gay.  The Enola Gay was a plane that was crazy to see.  I just stood there in awe of it.  It was truly a piece of history that changed the world.  If you don’t know what it did for history, it was the plane that dropped the two atomic bombs known as Fat Man and Little Boy (I hope I’m getting all my names and history correct). Point being, it is there!  It is a part of history and it’s there!! The interesting thing is I’m sure some people just walk by it like it’s another plane not knowing what it has done in its life.  Food for thought.  So after looking at a crazy amount of cool planes I checked out the space shuttle Discovery.  From what I know they brought that pretty much straight to the museum following its last mission.  A couple things I didn’t know about the shuttle.  It’s not smooth.  The tiles on the bottom are smooth, but the white part of the hull looks like its covered with tightly packed quilting.  If you knew this, good for you.  I did not.  Another thing about the shuttle, IT’S HUGE!  I figured it was on the larger side but movies and TV still don’t seem to put it into perspective.  It was just cool to see.  Makes you want to go back and become an astronaut.  It’s not too late is it?!  Surrounding the shuttle is a bunch of space memorabilia like capsules, rovers, and missiles.  It’s pretty crazy to see both ends of the spectrum when it comes to flight.  To see the first plane ever and then to see the space shuttle over two days is a mind rush.  Also, just to see how everything progressed through time is just cool.  

Following DC I pressed on toward Asheville.  The next day I decided to travel through Shenandoah National Park and camp there.  Nothing too crazy here.  The park was pretty and I’m sure the views were really pretty in some places.  The only issue I had was there was fog for most of my drive.  I pulled some good pictures I think.  I need to download them.  I stopped at a quiet campground in the middle of the park and had a quiet night. Finally pulled out the tent and put it to good use.  Of course I didn’t plan on waking up to rain.  I never really like packing my tent in the rain.  Since I don’t really have a chance to air it out it always smells great when I finally do. That’s beyond the point though.  I didn’t get to make breakfast because of rain so I considered this morning a fasting morning.  The way I’ve been looking at this whole trip is to go with the flow and to consider everything I do a training opportunity.  Like walking around the National Mall to not getting food when I’d like.  It’s all preparation for the Worlds Toughest Mudder in November.  

Making it into Asheville that evening was fun.  I was staying with friends from Austin who decided to run the Spartan Super on Saturday.  We stayed in an Air BnB which at this point was pretty much spoiling me.  Memory foam bed and a super clean shower!  Hot damn!  I like the bed in my truck but the rook of the truck and limited space is something to get used to.  I also enjoyed seeing familiar faces.  Even though I’ve been meeting new people and gaining new friendships, there’s something about seeing a friend that has known you longer than a week.  We got dinner at a local Italian place right down the street and it was good!  Don’t really eat a ton of pasta but following that whole 91/10 rule when it comes to diet I figured I’d survive the night.  Since that was the case I also finished off Lauren’s meat balls.  Can’t pass up good Italian.  We all got good sleep and were off to the races in the morning.

This was my first Spartan. I thought I had signed up for the elite event. Turned out I didn’t, which actually was a good thing.  I got to run with Lauren, really soak in the experience, and enjoy the race for what it is. I’m also going to take credit for helping her get a 5th place finish in her age category.  You’re welcome!  The Super was a good event!  I had a good time.  I also did a pretty decent wod the day before the event so my body was a bit tired. Bad on me, I know.  Either way it was a different experience from a Tough Mudder as expected. Also, since it was a televised event all of the “good” obstacles were on the tail end of the race.  I made it through most of them.  A few of my new favorite enemies are obstacles like “Olympus” and “Twister”. I know if I was fresh and my hands were dry I would’ve been fine but that’s not what OCR is all about.  Olympus is not made for tall people in general but I have an idea on how to attack it next time.  Twister is the same. Of course, most of OCR isn’t made for tall people. Sure, we have our advantages on certain obstacles but there are plenty that shorter lighter athletes can dominate on. This is me just being jealous that the obstacle beat me that day.  I made it through Saturdays Spartan Super with only 60 burpees. I was ok with it. I understand I’m not out to win. I am, however, out to be fit and have a good time while trying to raise money for a good cause.  Saturday night was spent stretching and staying mellow. If I remember right, I cooked dinner for everyone. It was just what everyone needed. We also watched Moana, which if you haven’t seen is a good movie with The Rock voicing a main character.  He sings!  I like that guy.  

Moving on to Sunday!  Sunday was a sprint. Which I was signed up for the elite category.  Surprisingly enough I wasn’t too tired, at least at the start.  A Sprint is roughly 5 miles with about the same number of obstacles as the Super. All kinds of good times.  Waiting at the start I placed myself about mid pack and decided that I would try and stay here.  Since this again was my first time doing a Spartan, let alone an Elite Sprint I figured this was good placing for me.  They let us loose and we were off.  Throughout this entire trip it has been my goal to complete the course and not get injured.  So far that has been proving to be a good strategy.  Today when they let us go was no different. The only difference was my pace. It was a little (and I mean little) faster than normal.  I took on every obstacle as it should have been done.  Once again, I gained some enemies in the ways of obstacles. On the bucket carry my rocks settled which meant I had to do it again.  NOT COOL.  I still did it but I had another goal that day of not getting caught by any of the elite women.  Well, doing a second bucket carry helps the elite women catch up.  Whatever, I still pressed on and made my way through the course. Just like the day before, there were many of the obstacles at the tail end of the course. The organizers also ran the athletes through mud and water before we got to them.  That means out hands were wet and muddy which does nothing for grip.  I struggled with the same obstacles from the day before but I added one to the list of fails for the day.  Just the ring rig.  That upset me.  Any other day I would’ve smoked it.  Today wasn’t that day.  Overall I had a 90 burpee day for the sprint.  I completed the course with minimal errors and collected my medal. That’s always a good thing.

I was happy with my performance for my first Spartan event.  Everything is a learning opportunity and this was definitely a great one!  I spent the rest of the weekend plus an extra day with Lauren and her friend David.  We explored what Asheville had to offer by ways of art galleries, coffee shops, antique malls, restaurants, and of course breweries.  I have the card of one artist in particular that really hit a home run with me. Very bright and vibrant canvases with splashes of color that are not for the faint of heart.  I will find the card and attach a link.  You don’t have to like it but I do.  One day I will own a piece of his art.  Lauren and David had to get on the road and I had to press on to my next event after a day of galleries.  

Next stop: Western New York!

+�A�

[mamajeanetc]

Dubai - Part 2:  With Tim

Tim’s formal meetings ended Thursday evening with dinner, but a number of MJN people were still around on Friday and there were some small group meetings going on.  While Tim met his boss for coffee I finished packing so as soon as he was done we could go have some fun! 

Our first stop was the beach!  Tim got in a good workout -- running to the opposite end of the beach and then swimming back -- 5 times! (He’s training for a triathalon next month.)  I did some water aerobics during his first round, yoga on the beach during his second round, and read for his last 3 rounds.  I’m all about moderation!!

As you can see in this photo, there was a mosque right by the beach.  And it was Friday -- the muslim day of worship.  So, while we were on the beach we heard the call to prayer and then we could hear a worship service being broadcast from the mosque (although we couldn’t understand a word).  When we went to leave the service was still going on and we found that cars were double and triple-parked around the mosque.  It was a challenge for our taxi to get out of the area. 

We returned to the hotel in time to shower, change and check-out by 2:00.  We had a couple of hours before we were to be picked up for an overnight desert safari so we stored our luggage at the hotel and walked over to the mall to have a drink and check out the fish.  (Tim had not been to the mall or aquarium!)

The mall was much more crowded now that it was the weekend (Friday and Saturday in UAE).

We returned to the hotel and shortly before 4:00 were picked up by our guide from Arabian Adventures, Shaik Amir.  We drove about 45 minutes outside of the city to the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve.  On the way we passed “Silicone Oasis” -- a newly developed area focused on technology.  We also passed a camel racetrack, a camel hospital, and an area where there were a lot of camels!  Shaik explained that the camels are bred for meat, milk and racing.   He also explained the various reasons why camels race with rubber jockeys who are controlled remotely by guys driving along just outside the track.   I wasn’t sure if he was serious about this, but it’s true -- google “camel races Dubai” and you can watch youtube videos! 

At one point we saw a village off the highway that looked like all the buildings were very similar.  Shaik explained that it is a village of local people and they really like to maintain their traditions and families.  Currently, 85% of the population in Dubai is “foreigners”.   Anyone who is not a descendant of the original families is considered a foreigner and it doesn’t matter if you are on a 2-year expat assignment or if you’ve been living there for 50 years, that status does not change.  Concerned about maintaining their race, the government offers incentives for locals to marry only other locals -- a wedding gift of a 3-bedroom house and $70,000 AED to start your married life,  The government also pays for all medical care and education of locals, including college.

At the entrance to the reserve we stopped and Shaik let some of the air out of the tires for driving in the sand.

At this point we also joined a convoy of about 18 vehicles.  We drove a few minutes into the reserve area and then stopped at a little oasis amphitheatre where there were ice chests full of cold water and sodas, and we watched a brief demonstration on falcon training. 

We then got back into our respective vehicles and did some “dune bashing” -- kind of like riding a roller coaster, but inside a car.  It was a bit scary at times how closely the vehicles were following each other as we made quick turns and went over the dunes.  But it was fun!

After about 20 minutes we stopped for a photo opportunity.

And then the dune bashing continued for about another 20 minutes.  My stomach was just about to say, “Enough!” when Shaik said our ride was over.  The majority of vehicles went one way, while the 4 vehicles with our group that was going to spend the night in the desert took another route.   We parked the vehicles and mounted our camels to ride into camp!!

The sun was setting behind us as we rode. 

Getting the camel back down on his knees so we could get off was the most difficult part of the ride, but we all survived!

This is the common area of the campground.  In front are low dining tables where we sat on big pillows and just beyond that is the “living room” with low couches and pillows.  The “kitchen” was behind me when I took this photo and the building on the far right is bathrooms.  Individual tents were spaced around the perimeter.

Tim quickly selected the tent on the end and furthest from the common area.

Inside the tent was a double bed, small bedside table with flashlight, and another wooden table where we could put our backpacks.  It was very comfortable. 

When we arrived our chef was already busy preparing dinner.  We were offered drinks and dates.

After settling into our tent, Tim and I joined the others in the “living room” for cocktails,

and hors’douerves.  We each were served our own “sample platter” with 5 different items.  I don’t know what they were all called, but they were all yummy!

When dinner was served we went through a buffet line by the grill and then sat in the “dining room”.  In addition to the chicken we had seen the chef grilling when we arrived, we had grilled lamb chops, shrimp, fish, hummus, tabouleh and vegetable rice.  After the main course they brought out a big bowl of fruit, followed by a date cake.  I don’t think anyone left the table hungry! 

Tim and I sat with the 2 women who had been riding in our car with us -- a mother and daughter from Austria.  There was also with a father and son from Germany at our table.  The mother and son didn’t speak a lot of English so the conversation went back and forth between German and English as the father and daughter translated, but it was a very interesting conversation in which we covered a variety of current events and certainly gained a new perspective on world politics!

Later in the evening there was an opportunity to enjoy some “green apple” shisha, but Tim and I declined and laid in our tent listening to the non-smokers choke!  It was dark enough inside the tent to sleep, but the moon was almost full and we were surprised at how bright it was -- even in the middle of the night.

In the morning I was the first one up and stood on a sand dune just beyond the campsite watching a gazelle under a tree as the sun started to come up.

The rest of the group gradually appeared as the sun peeked over the horizon.

After breakfast it was time to load up our vehicles and head back to the city.  But there was one more optional activity -- riding fat-tire bikes.  We were the only ones interested, so we headed to another camp area where they have the bikes and we enjoyed riding around for a little while.

As we drove back through the reserve area we saw a bit more wildlife -- another gazelle:

Several of these birds:

And some oryx in the distance:

On the way back to the city we asked Shaik about his life in Dubai and work as a desert safari guide.  Originally from Mumbai, he came to Dubai to try to earn some money to make a better life for his family.  He came for 2 years and has now been in Dubai for 15 years.  He goes home for a month each year.  A few years ago he got married while he was home.  His mother and sisters arranged the marriage and he did not meet his wife until their wedding.  He said, “In my culture it is different.  We learn to love after the wedding.”  He speaks very affectionately about his wife and 3 1/2 year old son.  They skype nearly every day.

Shaik is a really smart guy.  He is fluent in 5 languages -- English, Arabic, 2 Indian dialects, and Russian.  He didn’t just drive us around the desert -- he knew about animals, plants, local history and culture -- not a canned speech, but answering any questions we asked.  But because of the time and place he was born he struggles to make a living and build a better life for his family.  He lives far from his family and sees them once a year.  He shares an apartment and car with 3 other guys who also work as desert safari guides.  They live 60 kilometers away in the next state because they can’t afford to live in Dubai.  He said after 15 years he still has no savings.  But he loves his job!!

Shaik told us that once you are in Dubai and have a job, it is easy to get your work visa renewed every 2 years, as required by the UAE government.   If you are a good employee the employer will complete the forms and pay the fees.   You can do this until you turn 65.  Then you go home.  Shaik pays no taxes, but he also receives no benefits -- no healthcare, no retirement benefits, nothing.  He said some employers are just beginning to provide health insurance.

I hope the 5 star review I wrote about our safari experience and Shaik on TripAdvisor as soon as I got home helped him get the promotion he was to be reviewed for this week!

Shaik dropped us off at The Palace Hotel and we picked up our luggage and then got a taxi to the old part of town where I had booked a room for the night in a “Heritage Guest House”.  It was a little difficult to find -- the taxi driver had to call and then ask someone on the street for directions.  Eventually we noticed this sign on the street.  The entrance to the guest house is down that long walkway and not accessible by car.

After checking in, we were taken down another alley walkway, 

through a door, across a courtyard and up some stairs to our room.  It definitely did not have all the modern amenities offered at the downtown hotel, as evidenced by the “old school” lock and key, but it was clean and comfortable,

and we overlooked this pretty courtyard.

After a shower and a short nap we set out to explore the old city.  We were just a couple of blocks from the Spice Souk and Gold Souk where I had been on my tour, so we made a quick pass through that area (completely avoiding the pashmina vendors) so Tim could see it.

Then we wandered along some less touristy streets, which were lined by shop after shop of small wholesale vendors selling everything from powdered milk (of particular interest to Tim) to shampoo.

We saw a lot more locals in traditional dress in this area.  And people were working hard.

We were looking for lunch and Tim was hoping to find the local equivalent of a Starbucks, but we walked many blocks without seeing any places to eat (unlike downtown where cafes and restaurants were everywhere).  Eventually we saw a little outside Lebanese “cafeteria” and decided to give it a try.  The first 3 things Tim tried to order the waitress said they were out of.  When he asked about the chicken sandwich she said they could do that, so I ordered the same.  It didn’t look very big on the menu  and there was nothing in the photo except the sandwich so we told her we would like to share an order of fries also.  About 10 minutes later she brought out our sandwiches, and not only were there fries on both of our plates, but there were fries inside our sandwiches as well!  We both assumed that she had just split the order of fries between our 2 plates.  We were just finishing our meals when she appeared with a rather large plate of french fries!  Oops -- a bit of miscommunication, but no big deal -- we just ate more fries!  Our entire lunch, including drinks, cost 25 UAE Dirham, which is roughly equivalent to $6 US.  That’s about what we paid for 2 cokes at the mall.

I think it was at this point that I commented to Tim that being in the old part of the city felt like being in a different country compared to the glitzy (and expensive) downtown area!

After lunch we continue walking, headed toward the creek.  After just a couple of blocks, we came across the “local Starbucks-type” place Tim was looking for and stopped so he could have a cup of coffee.  As he was drinking his coffee, I was watching the guy in the red shirt over his shoulder.

Eventually I wandered over to get a closer look at what he was doing and had a nice chat with him.  Behind him is a big pot of dough.  He would break off a chunk and roll it out into a big circle on a round marble slab.  He would then drape the dough over that thing that looks like a small pillow in front of him.  Next he would lift the lid off the “oven” to his left and then flip the dough off the pillow into the oven.

This thin Iranian bread sticks on the side of the oven and bakes there.  I was thoroughly fascinated by the whole process!

As I was watching him make the bread our waitress came over and said, “You must try some.  The next warm bread is for you and your husband”.  So, when he took it out of the oven she put it in a basket and took it to our table.  We were enjoying it when my new friend, the bread baker, turned to look and I gave hin a “thumbs up”.  My intention was to let him know that we enjoyed the bread, but as soon as I did it I said to Tim, “Oh no, I think he thinks we want more.”  Tim laughed and said, “Yes, and if they bring another one we’ll enjoy it.”  A couple of minutes later the waitress was back, with another fresh hot bread that my buddy had made especially for us, with sesame seeds!

Fully carb-loaded, we set off once again toward the creek.  The Dubai Creek is a natural salt water inlet from the Persian Gulf approximately 10 kilometers long that served as the nucleus of the developing city more than 200 years ago. Dubai has been a port city since 1902 and in the 1950s the channel was dredged to make it deeper and the banks reinforced to allow larger vessels.

As we were walking along the creek there was a small boat tied up between 2 dinner-cruise boats and the owner offered to take us on a one-hour private tour of the creek.  We discussed and agreed on a price and jumped on board!

As we cruised along the creek we were struck by the contrast between the sleek new buildings, and the “dhows” or cargo boats parked 3 or 4 deep along the shore, many of which looked like they were about to fall apart.

We also saw a lot of new construction.  On my tour someone had asked our guide if the construction goes on year round or if it is too hot in the summer.  He said work continues year round, but in the summer the workers break for lunch at 12:30 and have a siesta from 1:00 to 4:00.  And, yes, they use the word, “siesta”.

From the creek we also saw the US Embassy.

When we got back to shore we continued our walk along the creek where many of these dhows were being loaded.  The sidewalks were piled high with everything from refrigerators and air conditioners to car parts, furniture, and cases of cooking oil.  Due to embargos in countries such as Iran, goods can’t be shipped directly to or from Iran.  But the UAE does not have the same restrictions so goods are shipped into the UAE and then re-shipped from the UAE.

Everything is hand-loaded and they pack as much on each dhow as possible.  As you can see in this photo they pack it on however they can make it fit!

We headed back to our room, making a quick detour through the spice souk once again to buy a deck of cards at a souvenir shop so we could play cribbage.  This deck of cards turned out to be the perfect souvenir of our trip -- each card has a different picture to remind us of the many aspects of Dubai, we bought them in the old part of town, but they have all the glitz of downtown!  It’s difficult to read in the photo, but that top left card is a Certificate of Authenticity stating that the Gold Foil in these cards is 99.9% pure 24 carat gold!

[ridecyclingadventures-blog]

From Adventure to Misadventure - the CT

The Colorado Trail, a ride that had been placed on my heart for over a year had finally come to pass.  Months of research and planning.  Months of gear analyzation and packing, Months of mental preparation and training all thrown away in one sentence, “By the way, this is my last day on the trail.”

On July 28th I left Jackson, WY, leaving behind my wife and two children to embark on the biggest bike adventure I had ever attempted, the Colorado Trail (CT).  Although I wasn’t going to be racing the CT I was planning on scouting the route for the 2016 race.  I arrived in Denver that night excitedly anticipating the next day launch.  In Denver is where my cousin Taylor would be meeting me as he flew from San Fransisco that afternoon.  Taylor arrived late that evening to the hotel, and it was midnight before we finally crashed.  

Day 1: The next morning came early as we loaded our bikes on the truck and were driven to the Waterton Canyon trailhead.  After making a final gear check and fist bump, we were off!  It wasn’t long before we passed the first CT racer (1st place, and new record holder at 3.5 days) tearing down the canyon road towards victory.  I was amazed at what little he was carrying on his bike compared to my touring gear.  I guess I better look into lightening up for next year I thought.  

We crossed through a gate at the top of the canyon which was the start of Segment 1.  This is were I first began to notice that something wasn’t quite right with Taylor.  I’ve been riding with Taylor since he was 14 years old.  Now at 23 he had turned into a very talented and strong cyclist.  At 6’2” and maybe 165 lbs Taylor was a solid climber, or at least stronger than I.  As we began to climb the switchbacks on Segment 1 I noticed that I was easily pulling away from Taylor.  Although the trail wasn’t that technical I found Taylor preferred to walk his bike over the smallest rock obstacles vs riding them.  Primarily a road cyclist I assumed at the time that Taylor was just struggling with his technical skills with the added weight of all his gear.  At the top of the climb Taylor reported that he felt like he was, “breathing through a straw” and that he just “couldn’t push” himself at all.  I became concerned that at this pace we weren’t going to make it to our first camping spot on the trail by nightfall.  We pushed on.  A few hours later we began our decent towards the end of segment 1 and again I noticed Taylor seemed to be struggling to just keep his bike on the trail, he looked weak!  At the end of segment 1 (mile 16) we stopped for a break and to eat some food.  During that time we saw the second place racer on the CT, and again I was shocked by what little he was carrying for gear on his bike.  We gave him an update on the race leader and he was off again.  Taylor however seemed less than impressed to continue.  We began the second big climb on the day when we started Segment 2.  Quickly, I had pulled away from Taylor again on the switchbacks.  My fears were confirmed when he finally got to the summit 45 minutes behind me.  He wouldn’t eat, he wouldn’t drink and he wasn’t making any sense.  Taylor had altitude sickness.  

Not something to mess around with, I knew we needed to get him to a lower elevation quickly and get him off the trail.  Back at the junction between segments 1-2 I was hoping to find cell coverage.  Fat chance!   Looking a the map I figured we had a 14 mile climb out of the canyon we were in to get to the main road and hopefully cell coverage to call Taylor’s parents who were in Denver staying with friends.  I went ahead to move quickly and left Taylor to plug along at his 3 mph pace up the paved climb.  About an hour and a half later and nearly 8,000 feet of climbing on the day I reached the main road and cell coverage.  Taylor had been picked up by a couple and given a ride to a near by convince store to call his parents.  I waited maybe 5 min and was picked up by them.  We drove back to Denver so that Taylor could rest and heal.  

At this point in time I had a lot of mixed feelings going on.  First of all I was worried about Taylor.  Altitude sickness can be brutal and can take days to recover.  Secondly, I didn’t have extra days to complete this ride, only 10 and I was already behind by 1/2 a day.  That night as Taylor was attended to by his Mother, I contemplated my next move.   I informed Taylor and his parents that I was going to continue the next day without Taylor and depending on how he felt he could join up the next day or so.  They agreed to take me to the beginning of segment 6 the next morning.  

Day 2: At the top of Kenosha Pass began Segment 6.  I was dropped off and planned to ride the 35 mile segment (east and west parts) that day.  It felt great to be back on the bike and moving at a reasonable pace.  I prayed that Taylor would heal and could join me again soon.  The East half of Segment 6 looked and felt like Colorado plucked it right out  of New England.  It was technical with rocks and roots, off camber descents and steep punchy climbs.  Growing up on trails like this in NH, I was ear to ear smiles.  This was my kind of riding and I was loving it.  I met up with a group of guys on their annual ride of segment 6, and they kindly let me tag along.  Meeting people on the trail was one of the things that I was most looking forward to on this ride.  I love to know peoples story, their motivation, and their passion whether it be day bikers or through hikers.  Finding that common piece in each one of them to explore is fascinating to me.   I left my new friends at the beginning of the west half of segment 6, and began to climb up to my first real mountain pass of the trip at 12,000 feet.  The trail was beautiful and almost all ridable besides some small sections.  At the saddle the views were wonderful but the sky was grey and it began to rain lightly.  I made my way down the descent and into the parking lot where Segment 7 began.  I was picked up by Taylor and his Mother and surprisingly Taylor looked good, and he reported that he felt a lot better than this morning.  I was hopeful that he could join me in the morning, Segment 7 over the 10 mile range was one segment I was really looking forward to.  

Day 3:  I was joined again by a slowly recovering Taylor as we embarked on segment 7.  I’m going to take this time to explain segment 7.  I’m not sure why I was told by multiple people that this segment was fun.  I had a different choice of word, STUPID!  Stupid hard, stupid steep, stupid technical, and just plane stupid to attempt on a bicycle loaded with 40 lbs of gear.  Taylor and I essentially hiked 12 miles (the first 8 with over 5,000 feet of climbing) in 5.5hrs.  Sounds like a great hike you might say.   Yeah, I agree it was beautiful at the summit, and frankly all along the trail.  As a hike it was great! The problem was, I wasn’t hiking I was “biking”.  Note to self, in the future just take the 10 mile bike path from segment 7 parking lot to Copper Mountain!  Here’s the kicker to this story…Taylor gets bitten by a small cat-dog about 2 miles from the finish of the segment, and proceeds to get yelled at by the owners, informing him that HE is a hazard to the trail.  Unreal!  Taylor’s Parents were waiting for us at the end of segment 7 in case he needed to bail, but with the high amounts of adrenaline coursing through his veins at that time, it was the best he’d looked thus far on the trip!  

After a call to the animal control officer and statements from both parties on the biting incident we had lost valuable time on the day.  We decided to catch our “last ride” and be dropped off in Leadville, CO for the night.  This would mark the first night sleeping in our tents and using our gear that we had been carrying this whole time.  It was great!  

Day 4:  we woke up early and were pedaling by 7:45am earliest start thus far.  I had high hopes to make it to Buena Vista before dark.  We had a long road/gravel section leading us to the trailhead and Taylor seemed better.  He still wasn’t able to eat much which I feared would come back to bite him later in the day, but spirits were up and frankly after yesterday, anything was an improvement.  We entered the trail and immediately began to climb steep endless switchbacks.  I was able to ride 75% of the climb but I’m pretty sure Taylor walked the majority.  He started to not look good again, damn!  After the climb we enjoyed the plushest section of the trail so far.  Fast flowing descents, amazing views and great weather into Twin Lakes.  We stopped at the Twin Lakes store to collect our resupplies and eat lunch.  We realized quickly that we packed way too much food and there was no way we were going to be able to use it all.  We made plans for Taylor's parents to swing by Twin Lakes on their way to Durango to pick up the remainder of our boxes.  We were off again.  Somewhere along the next 5 mile paved stretch we missed the access point to the trail and ended up having to ride road all the way into Buena Vista.  With impending weather closing in on us as we reached the town limits we decided to get a hotel room for the night, shower and eat a good high caloric meal of burgers, nachos and beer at the Fault Line Brewery.  

Day 5 We had a bit of a slower start to this day, eating breakfast at a great little diner in town before heading out the find the trail head.  Again, the trail immediately began to climb back into the mountains and Taylor again was struggling.  This time however, it was different.  physically he seemed okay but mentally he was broken, he looked pissed, conversation was minimal and it was obvious he wasn’t having fun.  We had planned for a short day today just segment 13 about 18 miles with only  about 3,000 feet of climbing.  We knew we had the upcoming stretch of remote long days in the woods ahead of us and we thought we’d get some rest today.  At the top of the first climb on the day, about 6 miles in Taylor dropped his bomb.  “By the way, this is my last day on the trail.”  I couldn’t believe it, we were finally doing the ride we had planned.  We were finally riding our bikes, and were about the take on a challenging section of trail out beyond the assistance from the rest of the world, back in the thick of it, survival mode.  “I’m just not having any fun carrying all this crap with me.”  he said.  This is what this trip was suppose to be all about, the challenge, the struggle, digging deep, finding out what you’re made of.  This was the part of the trip I was most looking forward to, and in one sentence he threw it all away.  

I needed some time alone to get my head around this.  I carried on along the trail, not waiting for Taylor on every climb or technical section, not being concerned on how he was doing or feeling, I was broken.  I went through moments of anger and moments of frustration, moments of sadness and moments of selfishness.  I don’t think Taylor understood what this trip meant to me.  I have two small children who require a ton of effort and time, I work hard at job to provide for my young family.  I don’t get many opportunities to take a trip like this.  This was my “Big Trip” and just like that it was taken from me.  I proceeded awhile longer then stopped to wait for Taylor.  

At lunch I asked what the plan would be now that we were no longer riding the trail.  Taylor suggested riding to Salida, CO and spending a couple of days riding the trails there and then having his parents drop off my truck and driving to Durango and riding a couple of days there, before we head back home.  Seemed like a good solution to our problem, and so that’s what we did.  We road 18 miles on pavement to Salida, CO got a hotel and explored the town.   We went to the Absolute Bike shop and inquired about a nice long ride to complete in the morning.  The shop manager sent us out to do the Rainbow trails.  The trails were amazing, well built and fun.  The next day my truck was dropped off to us, along with the rest of our gear and we set off to Durango.  I had forgotten what a beautiful drive through Ouray and Silverton, CO was.  While driving over those winding mountain passes I made the decision that I wasn’t done with the CT.  No, far from it.  The CT might have won this battle but I win conquer  this trail someday.

Happy Adventures, Craig Jordan