Eric and his new bike!

Long time friend Eric picked up a sweet bike from a certain person that we all know pretty well. Tonight was Eric's first time riding it. He rode his wife's bike a few weeks ago on the taco ride, said he was hooked! Considering how much we partied and drank in Chicago, we both needed some detox for the week. Tranquility should be dry, let's do it!

No trails were harmed in the making of tonight's ride. Promise!  

The rain held out for the first half of the ride at Tranquility. Not muddy at all. We skipped the tree section by Fort Street and went straight for the south hill. Figure he needed to learn the ropes before trying to maneuver through trees. Eric was keeping up and doing great! Only one problem. Once we got to the top of the South hill, it downpoured on us. I mean poured! We stuck our phones and cameras in a ziplock baggie and waited the rain out. Do we turn around or continue on? We pushed on. And it was rather refreshing actually! I checked and the mud was sticking to our tires, but no harm done to the trail. No ruts. Just lots of mud and grass was all it was. Unlike the deep ruts that I saw probably from a few riders riding Tranquility on Monday. I felt like I was riding a fat tired bike, just floating on the trail. Made for an interesting ride down to the ice rink. My tires are obviously not mud shedding in design. But we made our way back up, then down the hill and decided that we should just take the shortcut back to the kiosk. Head under Fort Street then back to the softball fields where my car was at.

This was before the rain came. I thought we were in the clear!

Right after we passed the turn off for the new section (by the edge of the parking lot south of Fort Street), I came face to face with a skunk that was trotting our way on the trail. We both stopped in horror. It hissed then proceeded to raise it's back end and tail at me! I shrieked, jumped off my bike and ran with my bike back to where Eric was about 10 feet back. We both stopped and watched Mr. Skunk turn around and cut into the bushes. Wow, that was a REALLY close call. It was funny because I was mid sentence telling Eric that he should check for ticks when he gets home. Yeah, I guess watch out for skunks too. I got home, washed my bike off immediately. All better! Eric, glad you got out on your new bike! Hopefully we'll see you out on a MNR real soon!