Dateline: Meridian, MS
Quiet parking @ bike shop turned noisey w/ cement trucks about 6:00AM. Plan was to get up @ 7:00, dash over to Lake Lurleen for ride & back into Tuscalosa for Zag game @ 2:30.
Drove to TH, beautiful AM & getting warm. Paid $3.00 entry & parked @ S. TH. Pushed off just after 11:00. Ran into a guy about my age shortly after starting who fed me w/ trail info. Trail system works its way around fingered lake w/ several wanderings. Nice trails. Tread was rooty & lots of sand from lots of sandstone. Good place to ride after rain as it drains well. 14.34 miles & 1488’vert. Little climbs over & over again.
Van temp outside was 86. Checked out showers on ride. Bath house is usual cold h2o. One in XG was better but restricted to campers. I parked just outside gate & walked purposefully to shower and returned unscathed.
Drove back into Tuscaloosa looking for a place to watch game. Saw a Hooters sign that said all games would be on. Burst in the front door just after 2:30 and the Zags weren’t on. I asked the manager to check the schedule. He said they play @ 6:30. I subtracted instead of added time zones. I only would have googled the girls during commercials.
Drove rt 11 SW into MS. Hit big box stores, parked in building shade, & walked over to Chilles to learn if they would have games on. Miss & UW were playing w/ UW ahead. The bartender was pulling for local team. We parted on speaking terms. Went back @ 6:30 but Zags were not televised. Shit. Poor beer choice & food was iceberg lettuce & fired stuff. Zag score was text score update. TV coverage was not going to be. After start of second half I walked across the parking lot to Best Buy hoping they might have game on. They turned it on for me. Zags struggled early but picked it up & squashed Akron. Zags make 2nd round. I suspected the bar tender was pissed @ me for rooting for UW but Best Buy guy said they had all the super channels.
Going to find a parking lot in this big box mecca. Tomorrow is a local ride.
Elevation is less than 400′.
Driving out of Tuscaloosa I pulled over to fire up the gps. A toy truck pulled up alongside and the driver, Lee, struck up a conversation. he asked if I needed directions. I said no I was driving back roads. He said he is active in trail work @ Oak Mtn. We chatted about rides elsewhere.
Hi Craig,
That was a good game! Gonzaga was pretty relaxed and playing slow in the first half. Heyfelt and Bouldin had good games. Looks like you having fun biking in the warm weather. The snow is finally melting here. We skied to Le Tour de Baldy this last Sunday. It was cold and rainy. We got soaked. Randy
FYI Graig…you can watch the games via a live feed on the internet if needed @ CBSsports.com.
Take care,
86 degrees – wow! We had the warmest day of the year today at 55 and I finished pruning the apple tree after pulling the last of the branch tips out of the snowbank. Zags can take WKY. They can take NC too but only if they play the whole game like they did in the 4th qtr against Akron. Cal and I will explore the spring skiing conditions tomorrow.