“Did I lose my goggles?”

Yesterday afternoon was…fun.  There really isn’t any other way to put it.

Mark could have gone to Prophetstown to ride at Gussy’s, but he was so sore from the three games of rugby on Saturday in Eau Claire that he opted not to.  Instead, he decided to just play on the track at the house.  Chwala was doing something for church, but that still left Tom and Scottie B. as potential riders.  Tom said he’d be there at 4, and at 3:30, Scottie B. called to say that his tube had a flat.  Mark and I went to the farm to see what was going on and found him and Bill trying to take the tire off the frame – that was amusing, especially when Mark accidentally stepped on the pry bar and completely ruined Scottie’s progress.  Add to that Scottie attempting to use airplane glue instead of rubber cement with the patch kit and Mark and I not being able to find the kittens, and it was a very amusing 30 minutes at the Boie residence.  Mark and I went back to the house and Tom had just arrived – after some tweaking and draining and grunting and swearing, we finally got that blue Honda to start.  Scottie called back to say he needed a ride (his new truck isn’t insured yet) so Tom and Mark took Tom’s truck back to the farm and returned with Scottie and his red Yamaha in tow.  I noticed, as the three suited up and strapped on their helmets and jumped on their bikes that they  matched – Mark in an orange helmet on an orange bike, Tom in and on blue, and Socttie in and on red.  I asked if it was on purpose and this was the response –

Mark: Yup
Tom: The helmet came with the bike
Scottie: This one was on sale

::giggles:: SO fitting to their personalities!

Anyway, I watched and listened as they raced and bumped their way around the track, laughing at how slow Tom had to ride (he hadn’t been on this bike in almost two years, only his street bike) and enjoying watching them clear the driveway and be highlighted in the setting sun.  As the clouds took over and the wind picked up, Mark challenged Scottie to ride around the pond (a stunt that is actually a lot harder than it sounds and is too hard to explain in this entry).  What ensued can be summed up in one word – MUD.  It was messy, hysterical, and pretty cool to watch him ride his bike around the marshy banks.  Eventually, we got Mark’s dad to bring out the tractor and hook the chains up to a bunch of branches and shallowly rooted saplings, yanking them out of the riverbanks to make the new “pond challenge” part of the regular riding trail.  Everyone but me ended up dirty, but no one cared, even when it began to sprinkle.  The wind was creating beautiful ripples on the swamp water and the feeling in the air was beautiful.

It was, all in all, one of the most enjoyable afternoons of my life (though this small entry can hardly do it justice).

::shrugs::  I guess you just had to be there.