This is where we live

I think this is a coke factory

For today's post we have a ride that Elisa and I went on for Memorial Day with the BBC (Birmingham Bicycle Club).  Thankfully we didn't have to get up too painfully early, and arrived at our meeting sight ready for action and adventure.  Many of the people that were there we didn't know, but thankfully there were a few familiar faces.  I was on whitey, my faithful steed, and Elisa was on a tandem with our pal Jerry.  The excitement and suspense was high folks, owing to the fact that this trip was Elisa's first tandem experience, and we were both secretly wondering how she would deal with her face right up to Jerry's ass for a whole day.

Elisa and Jerry - not lovers

We got off to a good start and made our way through downtown Birmingham, our destination being Turkey Creek Nature Preserve in Pinson.  No accidents, no car harassment, a few daunting hills, and some friendly chit chat, so overall a nice ride.  Once we arrived at Turkey Creek, Elisa and I were ready to jump in and have a grand ol' time splashing around.  Unfortunately most of our companions were not feeling so fancy free, and Elisa and I had to strip down to our bikinis in front of everyone (who, to say politely, were to the large part gentlemen not quite in our age range).  Awkward!

some of the crew

We had fun anyway squealing at the freezing temperature of the water and being grossed out by the muck in the water.  We crawled out after a few minutes and dried off on a rock before hitting the road home.  When we went to retrieve our clothes one of the friendly gentlemen noted that I had tossed my dress pell-mell into a fire ant pile.  He then proceeded to pick them all off for me while I contemplated riding back in my bikini.  Thankfully that did not happen and my dress was ant free by the time I had it back on.

The ride home was not quite as easy as the ride there for various reasons:

1. There was a fast crowd and a slow crowd, with me riding pretty much solo in the middle, so the fast group had to wait a lot for everyone to catch up.  That made the ride take a lot longer than anticipated

2. One dude got like 3 flats

3. One lady busted and broke her elbow while crossing a pretty crazy intersection

4. Another lady fell over while attempting to climb an insanely steep hill (I walked up, faster than those biking I'll add)

5. We took a faster way back because of the time crunch, which was along a 6 way highway with no tree cover - I got incredibly sunburnt

6. We were hella hungry

Patrick! He's a nomad, in case you were wondering.

By the end we were both grumbling, but overall had a pretty good time.  And lots of beer and margaritas afterward.  

Total mileage: i think around 42?