Helping the Homeless

I rode well through November, and was jealous to find that others did a December ride up in Copper Harbor. Not only did they have dry, frozen ground to ride on, but they were riding the very trails that squashed my confidence and brought my inexperience to the forefront. However, winter truly did come. It came in January after they made snow at Mt. Ripley and trucked it to the Tech Trails in time for the National Ski Championship races that were being held in Houghton. The citizens of Houghton County had to strongly encourage it, but winter did come. Winter lasted through January and February and waned in March. With the exception of the traditional spring snow storm bringing several feet of snow, March was pretty much the end.

Yes, spring had arrived quite early in the Upper Peninsula in 2007. I did my first road ride on the back roads of Negaunee Township on March 27th. The mountain biking season had resumed by April 21st!

Fortunately for me, I fell in love with a beautiful cyclocross bike on the MMBA web site. I think it’s safe to say that cyclists get turned on by bikes. Unless you’re that guy in the UK on an excursion with his bike who got caught in his hotel room literally with his pants down, most of us don’t think of our bikes sexually. However, there is a switch that gets flipped on as we ponder the possibilities of our latest discovery. This bike flipped that switch. I was turned on.

It was a cold February day when I was bike sick. I sauntered into the bike shop and explained that I needed a bike that offered a bit of versatility. I wanted something I could ride on the road, but would also serve as a backup to my mountain bike so I could ride the more gentle trails if my mountain bike was in need of repair.

It just so happened that there was a homeless Kona Jake the Snake sitting in the shop desperately seeking a home. It didn’t take much prodding. I agreed to take it. I took Jake home a few weeks later, just in time for my first road ride in March.