Musings of a barefoot traveller

All dried out after 2 days in the garage, constant air blowing through the a/c system and one really really hot afternoon in the sun (I think I scorched my bum for this one). Also found the answer to the problem on the internet! Ain't google something? Apparently, for those sun roof and moon roof owners, there are drainage channels from the slot corners. The front drains into the front doors, the rear drains behind the rear bumper. These channels get clogged on a periodic basis and need to be cleared. After some tweaking and getting goo-ey black stuff on my hands, water ran clear out the drains. Hooray! It poured this morning too and the car was dry. Am much pleased.

I knew the moonroof was leaky but lately it seemed to hold up fine under inclement weather and I thought it must have slotted back snugly into place. Well, I was wrong. Wilmington saw the first of the fierce storms of this year's summer last night, and when I opened the car door to drive to aikido class I saw a steady stream of water flowing down from the moonroof onto the driver's seat. 2 inches of water lay on the floor. Threw a cover over the roof with A and rescued the electronic items from the car. As I was now car-less, was contemplating my options viz. getting to aikido class. It seemed like the commuter was my best bet, and I threw on rain gear and lights and headed out. Only to find much of Wilmington flooded. Cars were stuck in ditches, a fire engine screamed down Racine Dr, thundered roared and lightning flashed overhead. All the while, I was marvelling at the bike's ability to navigate through ankle to shin-deep brown water, and roll over unseen kerbs and pothol...

Kick off your summer with a mountain bike race! Pedaling for Peanuts takes place on May 31st, 2009, at the Blue Clay Bike Park, from 10am-4pm. Visit the website for a full list of race categories and fees. All proceeds benefit the Full Belly Project . Support from the local Wilmington community has been good, and we should be getting some rad prizes. There's also a Novice category for beginner mtb-ers who want to try racing. This modified 3.2mile course is not as technical as the BC main trails so theoretically, you could race it on a beach cruiser. Online registration should be open in a week or so, and check the race website for updates! It'll be fun!

Stomp was performing within driving distance, so A and I thought it might be a good idea to drive up to Raleigh to catch the show, and get a ride in the surrounding area pre-show. Sorta a belated V-day thingy, if you will. As he has already biked Crabtree and thought it to be okay, but not too great, we decided on Beaver Dam, which has trails of decent length, rated from beginner to intermediate. Plus it's free entry before March ($5/car otherwise). We were worried that it might rain all week, but Sunday dawned nice and sunny, cold (5-12 degC) but clear. The Outer and Inner Loops we did for a warm-up went rather smoothly, and my knee wasn't protesting too much from the strain I picked up a couple of weeks ago. A hearty lunch later, and we were raring to tackle the South Loop, all 7.3miles of it. Fell while trying to cross a log on an uphill which was off-camber, but just dusted off and rode on. Partway through the South Loop, we came across the entrance to the Drop Zone, which ...