Yes, the sun does eventually come out

cool bird - no idea exact make and model

Hey, the sun was out today. Woo woo! The riding tour was in Brighton tonight. My fellow riders are on their little league baseball hiatus right now and that is a pretty darn good thing. As long as they are teaching their kids the "do as I say, not as I do" approach. We don't want to repeat history (ha, ha).

For those of you keeping score at home, the trails were great tonight. Not a leaf on one tree so you could see for miles on some hills. The post ride consisted of some form of bird (hawk?) hovering around the parking lot. One rider drove up from Toledo because there aren't many choices down there. Bummer. Also in the house was the van down by the river with most bumper stickers ever!

Happy Easter

Trail Head

van down by the river - most stickers ever

nice sunset over Bishop Lake but cold as hell five minutes later - waaa

Badwater Pledge Drive - Night Of A Thousand Gifts

In celebration of the upcoming fishing season and for no other reason than to celebrate, the founding fathers of the Badwater Bass Club gathered with prospective members of the club for cards, beverages, fish talk, and a handful of raffles throughout the night for some lovely parting gifts. The cards were treating yours truly quite well early in the evening as the winnings paid for most of my club dues. Unfortunately, the focus on the cards wavered as the night wore on. The tequila was good though.

Kudos go out to club organizers Al, Doke, and Keith for keeping the boat afloat (no pun intended) while outsiders were questioning the structure of the fishing tournament and it's rules. A fine fishing year it's going to be.

Trail Head       

sweet SWAG

big bucks

cooler/iPod player - gift of the night

Love thy neighbor?

Love thy neighbor. That was written or said by someone who obviously lives on a 600 acre farm in Wyoming with the next house on the road being two miles down. Don't get me wrong, I have good neighbors; they keep their houses up and aren't members of a band so I have no complaints. I do get a chuckle; however, with viewing their intricacies (using fancy words today). I know, we all have our own little quirks. I have the "check for wallet" compulsion when on trips and many (many many) other oddities that my friends and family I'm sure scratch their head over sometimes.

The first picture here was taken a few days ago. Yes, it is April in the D and this family still has their Christmas lights up. I was thinking maybe they just liked the view of the lights each night but they haven't been turned on since early January. They are also king of the "garage door must be closed at all times" fad. You open it up for a walk to the mailbox, come back, door down. Great people though. If I could only remember their names as my Dale Carnegie class seems to have failed me. The "Hi Tim" greetings from them are returned with a "How you doing?" reply from yours truly. Maybe I'll catch a break and overhear them talking to other neighbors and pick up the name. I wouldn't revert to such sneaky tactics but it's way too late in the game for "What were your names again?"  

The other picture here is a family looking to get a spot on the A&E show Hoarders. That is quite a lot of shi....stuff. Each year comes the subdivision garage sale and each year out comes the shi....stuff in hopes that this is the year that they can park one of their cars in the garage. Give the shi....stuff to charity you say? Not going to happen. The garage sale is usually sometime in May just in case you see something you like in the picture. Again though, great people.

"Love" thy neighbor though? I don't see me inviting them over for dinner and vice-versa I'm sure so I think I'll leave it at "admiring" thy neighbor.

Trail Head

Poser

I missed this lay up, seriously

Way back in the day, D. Mitchell used to whine (Mitch whine? That is rare, huh?) that he was doing all the work on the field and on the court (you have to admit it, he was a good athlete) and I somehow got more pictures in the paper than him. I must say, twenty-something years later, it makes the lying that much easier. My long field goal (of course a school record) is up to 52 yards this year. R. Crouse, my promotion manager, and Mitchell (who probably has the school record in real life) hater, will confirm it. That real life eight point, 10 turnover game against Lakeland is now up to 30 points, no turnovers, and free throws with no time remaining to win it.

That payoff to the Milford Times and Spinal Column photographers was worth it I guess.

Trail Head



this was the worst charging call ever



outstanding block AC

Crouse/Munson/Schmitt best field goal team ever



Dave getting ready for a face wash - blocking?



don't recall posing on this one but what the eff????

Schimmel is on his tip toes, seriously



Can this be any more cheesy?

I guess it can be more cheesy

2011 Molson Bike Tour Riding Schedule

Thawing has commenced, broken bones have healed, the little league schedule looks promising(hopefully...yeah, right), and it's time to ride. The 2011 riding schedule:

April 7   - rider's choice depending on conditions
April 14 - Island Lake
April 21 - Brighton
April 28 - Pontiac Lake
May 5   - Highland
May 12 - Milford
May 19 - Island Lake
May 26 - Brighton
June 2   - Pontiac Lake
June 9   - Highland
June 16 - Maybury
June 23 - Island Lake
June 30 - Brighton
July 7    - Lakeshore Park
July 14  - Highland
July 21  - Pontiac Lake (combo with Badwater Bass Fishing Club)
July 28  - Island Lake
August 4 - Brighton
August 11 - Pontiac Lake
August 18 - Highland
August 25 - Hickory Glen
September 1 - Island Lake
September 8 - Brighton
September 15 - Pontiac Lake
September 22 - Highland

September 29 - Milford
October 6 - banquet, location TBD

Trailhead meeting time is 6 pm. Times, dates, and locations are subject to change. Non-riders are, as always, welcome to join in for post ride hanging. Sunday morning riding (the Church of Tim) will again commence this year at various locations throughout the area.

Hope to see you all out there on the trails or in the parking lot.

Trail Head

Springasm

Yes, I just made up that word. The somewhat sense of accomplishment of surviving another winter and knowing the warmer days are coming. We did it! In celebration of the occasion, I dipped the kayak in at Central Park in Milford Saturday. It was just me and the many, many birds. There is still some ice to the west of the park near the dam. I tried to get cocky and float up on the ice as it wasn't even a centimeter thick. I had visions of me tipping in so I wisely backed off the ice portion ever so slowly. No fish were to be had but that's okay.

Hello Spring!

Trail Head

sweet Fiero!!

These are the Leechbombs....and this is what they do

The band that put the "Monkey" into "Monkey Man" was working their craft at Crouse Studios in Hartland Friday night. While guitarist Tom wasn't able to attend and Roger wouldn't comment on record on the absence of drummer Jim M. (good run Jimmy), he and Keith were doing their best Lennon and McCartney impressions to the song catalog for their upcoming studio recordings. I do recall hearing a few songs that actually had ends to them.

Keep on rocking Bombs.

Trail Head

storytelling in the roadie area