He is big, the biggest I have ever known.

This is Max, an almost 8 year old male Great Dane that came into our lives in November 2002 when he was a year and a half old. I went for a ride at Poplar Tent Mtn Bike park and when I signed in on the board I noticed that there was a 3 x 5" index card with his for sale notice on it. I called the number later that day and learned that the 18yr old kid trying to sell this dog actually meant that he was for give away to anyone who could provide a better home to this large K-9 than what he was able to do. It turns out that the kid was on his way to boot camp for the US Coast Guard(hahahaha) and he let the dog be in possesion of a relative who had Max tied to a stake somewhere behind a single wide trailer in Iredale County. The following morning this Coast guard recruit drove down with a Max who stepped out of the back of the pick up truck rather malnourished and sort of scared. Once Mary and Danger came over and gave a sniff the pack quickly opened up and accepted the third which within minutes all were frolicking in the back. The kid drove away leaving his dog in a way better situation. Over time Max's health inproved and in the now he is very happy to be part of the pack. He is a gentle giant that has no idea of his physical size which is presently 145 pounds, a healthy weight for his size. Great Danes are a German breed that came about in the late 16th, early 17th centuries to hunt out the wild boar. Apparently men on horseback would follow these big dogs running through the woods as they chased out and exposed the boar for the men to kill. I have taken Max out on the trail and have been chased by him in the rain, what a sight 30 or 50 of these animals would be running through the woods.

The weekend was good, I was able to get in two rides. Saturday was some mountain bike time at Sherman Branch and Sunday I broke out the road bike which needed some maintenance before going out for 2 hours. I wound up on some roads I had never been on and even in the strong wind coming out of the south and west I managed to have a good time in the saddle by myself. The only thing that would make me feel better about my road bike right now would be a new saddle which I will be keeping my eye out for.