I have been busy with a few things, and havent had the chance to get online much, and now that I have a minute or two I'll try to give everyone a quick catch up.
I filed the appeal in Superior Court to try get my unemployment, but the way the courts move, I could be (and hopefully will be) back at work before it even comes begfore the judge.
On sunday the 15th, I led the 5th Annual Mt St Helens Memorial Run. It had been nice for a few days before, but late on the 14th the rains came in. By the morning of the 15th, the rain had already set a new daily rainfall record for the 15th of May. I figured there wouldn't be anyone at the start point, except for a few idiots that were going to ride with me. Man, was I wrong. With temps in the 40s, and heavy rain, 23 bikes rolled up to the start point. When we set off, everyone was already wet just from riding there, and after 35 miles and about a 2,500 ft climb in elevation, we rode into the clouds. Suddenly it got REAL cold, and my goggles fogged up so bad I could barely make out the yellow line in the center of the road. I knew we were close to one of the visitor centers, and turned in about a half mile after everything fogged up. One of the cars that had followed us up had a built in thermometer, and it read 39 degrees. We still had 15 miles, and about 2,000 ft elevation to climb. When I walked into the visitors center, I was told it was snowing only about 2 miles farther up the road. So, figuring I didnt want to get anyone killed on a Memorial Run, I let everyone know what was going on. We were turning back, and heading a few miles down the mountain where we could get some hot coffee before riding the rest of the way down to Hardtails Bar & Grill for the after run shindig. Guess what...no body gave me any argument. After about 30 mins drinking hot coffee or whatever we mounted up and rode down to Kelso to get our fill of hot food and beverages.
When the waitress came and took our orders we were so cold and wet, all we wanted was something hot. My buddy T was shivering so bad that after he got a refill of his coffee, he spilled about a third of it before he made it back to the booth. The hot food was great, and after a while everyone who had rode down from Morton with me jumped back on the bikes, and started the 70 mile ride back home in the rain. It was good to see that I was wrong about people not showing up for the run. I guess there are a few more hardcore (read that crazy assed) riders around than I thought.
Let me tell ya...nothing will wipe you out quicker after a long cold wet ride, than climbing into a hot tub for a good long soak. It sure made for a short night. But it felt so good to just cook in that hot water and get warm again!
I am still looking for work, trying to find something before the rope comes to its end, and snaps. There are a couple possibilities, but I dont want to jinx them, so will stay mum on that. Since I filed the appeal on the whole unemployment saga I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I hope to be posting more soon.
As always, Ride Free...there are some crazy fuckers out there that think they have to keep you safe from harm...dont let 'em. I hope to catch some of you ouot on the road somewhere, sometime.
