Rain Rain Go AWAY!!!!

April 24, 2005: Fruita Day 4: Rain rain go away.

It rained last night. We took it easy in the morning since we’d been up late doing stuff the night before. We needed a break. The rain cleared off early, and we hit the trails on the single speeds. J wasn’t very happy about that. He really wanted to be riding his 5.5. He cheered up when the trails were PERFECT!

We didn’t know how long the weather would hold, so we did a spin around Rustlers, Mary’s and Horsethief Bench. About 10 minutes from the top of Horsethief bench, the heavens opened. It started raining lightly, then the hail came. It got to be about pea sized before it started to ease up. Pea sized hail is enough to sting pretty good, but not enough to raise a welt. For that we were happy.

The trail turned into a small flash flood. It was easy to see how people get caught out in something like this. In 15 minutes the trails had rivers running down them. It wasn’t pretty.

The ride was spectacular, even if it was only about 11 miles long. J did some GREAT riding in front of the camera. He did one drop that he wasn’t expecting to be as big as it was. It looked like the new fork saved him. The photo shows it completely compressed. He did a great job of riding a big rock garden. The boy’s got skills. ;)

We drove to Moab to pick up the 5.5, paid the guys at Rim Cyclery with money for the repair, and beer for their trouble. They were happy. The bike looks great.

Our dinner was just weird. We went to Eddy McStiff’s and the hostess showed that she might not have been hired for her brains. She told us to wait for her here while she scouted a table. When she came back, she didn’t know who we were. She rattled on about something to do with big tables in the bar. I said, “So you don’t have a table for us?” She looked stunned and pointed in the next room and said it was in there. The meal went’ down hill from there. Our waitress was okay, not so much because she was giving us good service, but more because she was concentrating all her efforts on pissing off the people at the tables around us. Fortunately she didn’t have enough energy to put to pissing us off. She charged us 69 cents for chips and salsa that we didn’t get and she made us wait to pay her for the meal. Those crimes were pretty mild compared to the stuff the lady a few tables over was complaining about. Lets just say it was a less than relaxing dining experience.

Jason compared it with the night before. We’d eaten there because they had free WiFi. Last night the food was good and the service was very good… maybe too good. Have you ever had a server that was really flirty? The chick serving us was a bit over the top in that department. I got the feeling that I could have had a lap dance if I’d asked and the tip was right. That weirded me out a bit. At least we got our chips and salsa.

We blazed that place ASAP and went next door for coffee. Much better place. Mondo Café. Stop there when you get a chance. You won’t be sorry. Great coffee and great breakfast food. I’m happily typing there right now.

I need to go home and clean some muddy clothes off so we can ride tomorrow.

Talk to you later.

Pete