So, I was writing up a ride report for a ride I did over Father’s Day Weekend in the Lost Coast and I had this whole section about future riding plans that just didn’t fit and really deserved to be a post unto itself. So here we are.
If you know me, you know I am a big Seinfeld Fan. In one episode George finds out he has 3 months off from the Yankees. He decides he’s not going to waste the gift he’s been given and declares this will be “The Summer of George!” You can watch just the first 35 seconds and get the idea.
The Summer of Mike
Frolf? Reading a book? Shrinkage? That’s not me. But it was the middle of a very rainy winter and after riding the LAB2V and then the CABDR last year I was naturally looking and thinking about what the spring, summer and fall was going to look like for 2023.
My 690 is built out beautifully and running like a champ. There’s a new ORBDR that was just announced and then there’s the WABDR, the IDBDR, and even a new rumored Norther CA BDR coming maybe in the fall. In November I was thinking of doing the LAB2V again and then hit the southern half of the NVBDR before switching out to finish off Death Valley. Oh and then Mike T and I want to do a Lost Sierra ride of 3 or 4 days in the Downieville area. So much riding! Hence… The Summer of Mike!
The Dead
If you know me, you also know that I am a dead head. I’ve been so since High School in 1974 when I was hand coloring shirts to send back east to some friends that were on tour. Anyways, for me it’s never been about the drugs, it’s always been about the music. This band, Dead & Company have been knocking it out of the park lately but they have also said that this is their last tour. Ever.
I had these grandiose plans of attacking the ORBDR in early July, then 1/2 of the WABDR to Ellensburg, only to make a 3 day stop at The Gorge for Dead & Company’s Final Tour. I was there a few years ago and it was magical. There’s nothing quite like seeing a Dead show live in the company of thousands of friends and family.
Truly magical!
My plan after that was to beeline it back home and catch the last of the 3 remaining shows in San Francisco the next weekend.
Grandiose. Magical. Incredible. There’s a lot of big words to describe my perfect year but to me it was simply The Summer of Mike. It was about riding the wheels off the bike and in the process catching the last shows of a truly incredible band. Not to be dramatic, but just like The Summer of George, it was not to be.
The SUMMER OF MIKE has been cancelled.
Admittedly, I am deep in a funk – or in a deep funk, take your pick. Everything I had planned or been planning for the last year is shit. All of it. My bike is fine. I am fine.
It’s all been effectively eliminated by money problems at work. It is what it is and this isn’t a pity party. I can always go ride next year when $$ are better but as it stands right now, I’ve already seen my last dead show. EVER. And that’s a huge blow. Unlike riding, I can’t go to a Dead Show next year when the $$ are better – the time is now, this is it.
This is the job I poured my heart and soul into, the job I work tirelessly M-F 9 to 5 each and every day. They simply can’t pay me. I don’t need to go into specifics and like I said it’s not a pity party. It is what it is. I’m looking for ways to make money, to make ends meet but as for The Summer of Mike – it’s cancelled. So you know… FUNK. Deep, Dark, Funk. That’s me, right now.
Ok, now on to my trip report.
He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, had a big cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and is currently building a perfect "BDR Weapon"). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.
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