Pastoral Birthday Ride

I made the two exposures above just before the entrance in to the Lake Loop section of Sherman Branch last night on my very alone Birthday celebration ride.

After work I rode home to meet the man with the 110$ new Thermo Coupler for the hot water heater. I learned that the thermo coupler is is a thin copper line with a sensor at the end that runs parallel along side the pilot line from the control module right to the burner itself. The TC is designed to be in the flame of the pilot and when it senses that the pilot has gone out it will automatically shut the gas feed to the heater off so as to not have gas in the house. This TC is basically like a fuse in a breaker box to prevent a bad thing from happening. So, of all things that could have gone wrong with my water heater this one was not so bad. 30$ part, 80$ house call but the knowledge of how to do it next time...priceless.

As soon as the AMP man left I headed out for Sherman Branch. I felt very fast for being as old as I am, must be those broken in and tensioned I9's that sped up the roll. I really appreciate the works of those responsible for getting this trail in place so close to my house. I have never really joined any groups that do trail work but at the same time I know that without them I would have no place to ride. Sherman is fun, fast and rolley with plenty of trees and varied terrain. I passed 7 riders on may way through and I was passed once not. The funny thing is that the 1st, 4th, 6th and 7th riders that I passed were the same person. The last time he let me by I asked him if I was actually bonking and was hallucinating that I was going by him again. Then he laughed and kept pedalling.

*QC NEWS FLASH: Speed Week has started in the Jar again, just like Christmas it comes every year. For those of you unfortunate enough not to be able to get down for all that there is to see and do, stay tuned for some photos and I will attempt to bring the emotional experience of NASCAR right to your screen.