New Year Shenanigans

Well it has been an interesting weekend...

It started off Friday, not with mountain biking...but with birthday shenanigans...
When Lois asked what I wanted for my birthday I jokingly said "strippers!"... so she brought in this...

When I said that wasn't really what I had in mind...she brought in this...

So I thought I had just better leave well enough alone...and we settled on an evening at ShEd Brewery with friends who showed some True Grit...

EnglishJim instructing Lois on how to drink beer...like she needs help with that...

Blaze attempting a Newfie to Metis brain transplant...

Apparently something went wrong...

LawyerBob and his wife managed to avoid the camera somehow...lawyers are smart like that...

Anyways the Friday off had me primed for a weekend of mountain biking!!  And again...Ma Nature was all over the weather map!!  Global warming??  Or more global every possible thing!!!

There was obvious fatbike weather...

Which had me end up at BicycleWorks, where BWPaul pulled out his great big .... camera to take some random pics...

This pic was actually supposed to be of BigJoe, who you can almost see peaking around the corner in the background.  It was actually his birthday on this day...Happy Birthday Joe!!  (again no strippers were on scene at this location)

Oh...and maybe off topic...but today is my brother Rob's birthday...42!!!

Happy Birthday brother!!

Anyways...back to Mother Nature and her shenanigans...

Another day had freezing rain...leaving me to wonder if the fatbike, or studded 29er single speed would be the bike of choice...

As it turned out the trails were sheer ice...sheets of glass...

Luckily an early alert by AndreaB had me choose the proper bike...

Then it was back to perfect fatbike conditions out at Halton Agreement Forest for a ride with Team True Grit...

Parking lot start...(we were late cuz my ride, 

NewfieSteve had to stop to save a car wreck victim 

he encountered on his way to my house...true story!!)

True Grit on the trail...

True Grit on the rocks...

True Grit firepit...yes there is a firepit out on these trails!!

Two flats and a broken chain couldn't stop the ride...but a firepit...

Also ran into some celebrities on this ride!!!

Christine beauty queen!

Her husband Arlie, king of the world!!

Great to see you guys out there...perfect trail conditions!!

And apparently JeffS was on a ride and found evidence that my mom was in the neighbourhood!

(photo cred: JeffS)

Anyways it was a great weekend for mtb...and no crashes!!  Sort of...

And yes...the weekend included the end of 2016...so for all you statoholics...

My 2016 mtb stats...according to Strava...

And I won't detail my 2016 experience out of fear of waxing too poetic, or displaying writing skills as limited as my mountain bike skills...but I will say this.  For me and Lois, in 2016 current friendships were cemented, new friends were made, and 2017 looks to be rife with unlimited possibilities.  And amid a world that tries to fill our lives with chaos and illusory BS...what really matters is friendship, joy, and love...(and no...Joy is not a stripper...or is she??).

So...off we go...into 2017...

Stay posted!

Brother Rob's cat, Bertha...