Gang's all here

Hey, everybody. My name's Mike, and it's been quite a few months since my last Ridemonkey.

Seriously, though, haven't been riding much over the past few years...living in India, becoming a parent, lots of moving around and uncertainty in my life...all kind of conspired against me. Been riding motorcycles some but very little biking, although I did try to commute to work in India once in a while on it. (Leading to a funny story of sexual harassment, er, "appreciation", by an auto-rickshaw driver after a flat tire...)

Anyhow, had my second ride in my new home in Mali today. Other than mangling my steel fork and disc rotor, it was one of those awesome life-changing kinds of rides, where clarity and giddiness and scenery and sense of place and light and speed and everything just combine. And even the destruction of my front end's integrity barely put a damper on it. Just glad I didn't need facial reconstruction or a wheelchair afterward...bent fork legs back into place and limped it on home with a smile for the ride and the fact that I didn't even have a scratch.

So hopped in here and am kind of astonished to see that it's still the same old faces at the tops of the threads. And, um, yeah. Hi there again.

MD

jdcamb said:

Hey dude. Our sense of abandonment has diminished over time. We sacrificed some goats in you honor. It was fun. I am the only one who had the balls to eat the hearts. I am sure you noticed how much they taste like liverwurst. How come they don't sell goat hearts at the grocery store?

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Obviously you don't shop at a Satinist-halal-kosher facility. For which you will burn.

Actually, sounds like things stayed pretty much the same...


Binary, ride pics on Facebook.

Nope.

MMike said:

I didn't think so

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What?

stoney said:

Wow throw in some vintage. MikeD, Golgi and Blue? WTF? Question: When you ride do you carry your gun(s)? I can't imagine being security personel in a lesser friendly country would have you without one.

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Edit: Misread this as "where do you carry" not "do you carry?" Ooops.

Where I am now, I usually just have a pepper spray in my pocket, mostly for the possibility of dog trouble.

If I have to ride armed, I tend to use a gun waist pack. (I once had a known well-known world leader decide to rent bikes on short notice in Idaho, and had to find a way to do a moving mountain bike protective detail on short notice...) I have a bellyband thing which might work but the neoprene in 110 degrees seems ungood to try here. Camelback made a line of concealment packs for a model year, but they are now nigh-impossible to find second-hand. Check also a company called The Wilderness, which offers the adaptable "safepacker" carrier. A kydex shoulder or chest rig (survival sheath used to make these) is an option too.

If I was riding somewhere where wildlife was a potential threat, I'd probably have a large-bore snub revolver in a single-side chest/shoulder rig.

Right now, I don't have the option of a smaller carry like my Airweight, which I don't like to have as a primary anyhow, so it's the heavy chunky SIG229 or nothing. And honestly, there's no particular reason to be carrying a gun while riding in my locale anymore than there would be anywhere else in life. My ability to respond to a duty situation is quite limited while I'm out on a ride; while I have a lot of response equipment (med, comm, etc) on me or in my vehicle in town, if I'm riding, I'm going to have to head home or to the office to jock up anyhow.

The odds are, on the trail, I'll need medical equipment for myself or someone else to save a life than I will need to use a gun to protect a life. And the methods of carrying on the trail are cumbersome and inefficient both for employment of the gun and for riding. I know the mantra of many is "never leave home without a gun" but I feel that attitude puts too great an emphasis on response and not enough on awareness/prevention. I'd feel like my life was pretty sad if I had to make interaction with the world outside totally contingent on having a firearm available.

DaveW said:

So after abandoning us for so long you just ebola back on in and expect all to be back to what it was?
Since you are back in Africa does this mean you going to order another obscure (you hipster you) brand frame to build up?

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Speaking of another frame, I'm totally in love with the Ti Kona Explosif. Alas, not much point in getting a hardtail like that when I have the Soverign to ride. But maybe it's time I went for one of the Jones bikes or something, you think? Enough hipster? Or is that too 2009 of me? Or just 2009 enough to be awesome?

And in all seriousness, the new Yeti F/S offerings make me feel kinda funny, like when we used to climb the rope in gym class.

Da Peach said:

.

Keep off the bush meat.

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Oddly enough, my guard did offer to share some dinner with me last night...a foot and a half long roasted rat they'd caught in the lot next door.