Rained in @ Huntsville

Friday night dinner w/ parking space hosts Jamie & Morgan and biker Gracie. Jamie & Morgan are very active & leaders in bicycle advocacy here. Both are engineers, Jamie works for NASA putting things in space.

It rained all night and most all day Sat & night. Sun AM Morgan said his rain gauge collected 2.5″ of rain.

Trail work project was cancelled Fri eve.

Met Tim Barnack @ his house for what I envisioned a quick R & R of hinges for bed. Like most things w/ the van it turned into something more. Tim, fortunately for me has some creative building experiences. We used the beefier hinges and used toggle bolts to connect hinges to van body. The hinge would not lay flat against van wall so we shimmed them w/ a combination of a nut & several washers. 2 1/2 hour later the bed stays where it needs to be. Might still buy blocks of wood to wedge up the bed to take strain off hinges.

Huntsville paper printed article about Gracie and her MS and her success as an athelete. She is a focused racer w/ a trainer, sponsorship, and a large community that everybody knows Gracie.

Trails are too wet to ride here. Plan now is to ride Sewannee in TN on Tues as a day trip and on Wed leave for Oak Mtn and continue my odyssey. Gracie continues to be my guide for these 2 planned rides.

Forecast is for drizzle & fog today. Might ride mtn bike on streets for exercise.

Today the invitations and locations are sent out for the Big Dance. This week I find TVs to watch the Zags in play.

Fog cleared later in AM. Rode bike up Monte Sano toll road trail because it is almost all rock & rain would not affect and to learn how slippery the rocks get when wet. Rocks are slippery but kept my angles upright & slid over. Backed away from perceived potentail spills. Played @ park riding skinnies painted lines & curbs and even rode down stairs.

Fixed dinner @ Gracie’s for us. Several people asked if I was cooking in my van. No, I used her kitchen but all my stuff and I could have fixed dinner in my van but I lacked a guest chair. Break thru w/ her dog, Tsali, who finally allowed me to pet her.

Morgan & Jamie shared a Mountain Biking mag article about southern riding. The article introduction photo was of Tim Barnack. Articles included Monte Sano, Raccoon mtn, slatyfork: places I previously rode. i missed the issue.