Fixed Gears, Blue Grass, and Others Unrelated

Saturday I wanted to do a fixed gear ride in Greenwood, so I e-mail Russ, "Ride Saturday"? It turns out that we had the same thought, I just beat him to the keyboard. So plans were made, a thirty to forty mile ride with the club, meet at the usual place at 9:00. I pull into the parking lot and David Graig is there waiting. We both start getting our gear ready as others show up. Jim Cox, Milo, Shaun and Jeff Roanan, Nick (don't remember his last name, just that he lives in Princeton, Laurens Co, and that he is from one of the Dakotas), then Russ pulls up and another rider from the other direction. We set off down the rail trail and Russ says something about how we should talk about food, per our usual routine. For some reason I wasn't thinking about food, but that changed quickly. I think we got on the subject of curry. Russ was also concerned that his performance would suffer since he hadn't had his preride meal of steel cut oats with organic peanut butter, protein powder, and raisins. As we approached White Hall Rd(?) Donnis had a flat and Russ and I stopped to assist. We yelled,"Mechanical", as everyone else rode on. It was, of course, her rear tire that was flat. Then I remembered that the tire/rim combination on her bike was bad. Hard to get the tire off and hard to get it back on. After all three of us made an attempt, and much mumbling curses under our breath, and the assistance from a kind gentleman in an old pickup, we finally removed the tire and replaced the tube. The tire was not quite as difficult to place back on the rim, I guess we all held our respective mouths right. Soon after we were on the road and rolling. We found ourselves on Rock House Rd, home of the infamous Rock House. This time of year the house seems to disappear only to reappear at another time, it's kind of creepy", Russ says as we get near to the house. I agree, during the summer the foliage from the trees hide the house, then suddenly one autumn day there it is, like it appeared from another world only to lure unsuspecting teenagers with thoughts of beer and sex into its stone walls and disappearing again dooming the hapless victims to an eternity in, well, wherever it goes. Then we see the trail to the house and can just make out one of the corners and stone pillars. We eventually make it back to the parking lot and all decide to go to T.W. Boone's for lunch. Over our respective sandwiches and salads, we solve some of the world problems, I wont go into detail as some people may be offended, and I don't need to hear the wining. I get home at a reasonable time and do some yard work. I am able to mow the front and part of the back yard, then I have to deal with Kudzu, the scourge of the South. When I'm done there is a pile three feet tall and four feet long at the road and I just made a dent. After that a shower. Then we dropped Miranda off at my Mother-in-law's and the wife and I went out for some Mexican. The carnitas Mexicanas were awesome. From there we headed to Owings for some Bluegrass music. I was able to find the place with no problem, there's not much in Owings. We find a parking space around back an walk to where a group had gathered outside. It was a bit scary at first, I heard banjos and if I saw Ned Beaty run out of the woods I was out of there. There was a woman with a mullet and a guy with what I could only guess was the 50's version. A pompadour up front and long in the back. We go inside the Owings Music Hall and find a seat. I think half of my church was there, including David Craig. The music was fantastic. I was especially impressed with a ten year old boy, Alan, who played the banjo, and a fifteen year old girl, Kayla, who played the violin, or should I say fiddle? After a couple of hours and two bands, we headed home. We will have to do this again. We picked up Miranda and all to bed. The next morning we all went to church. For Lunch we hit the Clock mmmmmm good. Then home to clean up before Matt and Andrea came over. Matt brought some mussels and tuna for supper, along with some penang curry. We chit chatted for a while and Adrienne, my wife was impressed with Matt's weight loss. The last time she saw him he was 300 pounds now he is down to 245. He is starting to look like he is supposed to look. We gear up and try to get in a few miles on the bike. Andrea is still new to cycling and has trouble with drinking while riding. Matt tries to coach her but she just needs to get more comfortable on the bike. At one point he tries to hand her a bottle while on the move and I hear,"No! Squirt it in my mouth".
We decide to cut off a few miles and turn on Tuege instead of taking HWY 39. When it dumps us out at Lisbon Rd, we opt to take a right back the way we came instead of a left, the clouds were dark that way and I saw flashes of lightning. The pix were blurry for some reason , but what can you do. As we ride down Lisbon Rd, I'm up front and I hear Andrea, "Matt!", and he rides past me with his shorts pulled down. That is an image forever seared into my mind and no, I did not get a picture! We make it back to Harper St EXT, with five miles to go and it starts to rain. Matt is up front and I'm in the rear with Andrea in the middle. The rain gets harder and the wind picks up. Then it turns ugly. We stop just off the road where 127 goes under Harper St Ext. At this point it is a challenge to stand and it is raining sideways. We can't ride because we can't see, Andrea is shivering uncontrollably and it's not cold. I say a little prayer, "please send someone to get us". Soon after the lightning starts to get close, then a SUV pulls up and the driver offers us a ride. Matt and I stack the bikes in the back as Andrea hops into the vehicle behind us as the lightning pops all around us. "Your timing is perfect", I say as we load the last bike. Travis, the guy in the SUV and his wife, in the vehicle behind him were the answer to my prayer. He saw us on the side of the road and turned around to help. Travis and his wife took us home, they had moved down in May, he is originally from Michigan, who said all Yankees are rude? When I got out of Travis' vehicle the road at the curb infront of my house was over my ankle. We unloaded the bikes, thanked Travis and his wife, and got inside and in some dry clothes. We got a blanket on Andrea and when she felt better we started Supper. Seared tuna coated in sesame seeds, broiled mussels for an appetizer, outstanding! I put on a pot of rice and sauted some onion and peppers and made a sauce. Garlic, soy sauce, red pepper, lime juice, sugar, and sesame oil. Matt made some wasabi paste to go with the tuna. Shortly after supper Andrea and Matt had to leave, we all had to get up early the next morning. What a weekend.