Singletrack!

I finally got a chance to get the mountain bike out.  It was 27 and overcast, so the wet spots on the trail were frozen.  I died on the climb up with my gearing leftover from KC.  Once at the top, I stopped and watched a cloudfront roll it.  It was like a rock show fog machine- really cool.

There is a lot of red sandstone veins running through the hill.

After the ride, I rode straight to the shop downtown and bought a lower geared cassette. The 23-11 does not work up here.

From the top I could barely see downtown Rapid about a mile away.  It got much whiter than this and I got sort of disoriented for awhile.  I liked it.

I live here!!

(From the hill behind my house in Rapid City)

I celebrated my 8th birthday in Spearfish, South Dakota.

We always went up to Grandma's house in Deadwood- which is in the Black Hills- during the summer and I can't remember happier times.

In particular, July 27, 1979 would become and still remains my single most favorite day on this planet.  My Mom always let my sister and I call all the shots on our birthdays and I chose to spent it at the park in Spearfish where the cold mountain stream flowed.  I can remember my sis and I playing in the water until our legs turned blue from the cold water and then running out to make sure our legs wouldn't fall off.  I still have rocks in a jar collected on that day.  I got an Evel Knievel motorcycle toy and a giant chocolate cake with M&M's on it and we ate that cake right there in the park next to the rapids.

That night, lying in bed at Grandma's house, I prayed to God, Please I want to live here.

Thank you God.