Is there water on mars?

The funky beats were thumping in the Knotthole backyard as we hurriedly kitted up. Unless next week's crew departs with Navy Seal precision, this was the last Tuesday that started lights off.

He-who-doesn't-eat-tacos assumed the RideLeader responsibility, and led us to the Qualifier. B was figuring out the new tire on his 26" wheel and he lost control on the ramp from the road and nearly caused a four bike pile-up. We proceeded up Qualifier to the western extension, started rolling an out and back towards some houses but cancelled since motorcyclists had left the trail a rutted dust bowl. Continued up and over the radio tower hill, picking up a jeep track on the back side, then back around to Park Creek to power line to an off of powerline sneaker trail that was covered in sticks. One, or maybe several, of those sticks conspired against me and knocked hard into my derailleur. It got wedged up in my wheel and the force pulled the wheel out of the frame. Assessing the damage, my derailleur hangar looked like a corkscrew, the derailleur had a new 90 degree bend in it, the chain guides were smashed and four teeth were missing off the pulley. In a little over 10 minutes, using a pair of pliers and the FT3team as a human jig, Master Trailside Mechanic NoHandle forced, and squeezed and tweaked until the chain ran straight and I had a gear comparable to what B rides.

Back to the qualifier we climbed to a trail that drops to the Miwok loop, jumped on the lake loop CW, added in some Mars roving, and then back to the road. At this point Unknown Local was ready to jettison, and we four rode in circles around him like sharks hungry for more secret trails.

And then it started raining. Glorious big drops spattered onto the dusty trail and we breathed in the sweet aroma of the forest and laughed at the those unfortunate souls who missed the first precipitation of the season.

Reinvigorated, we continued on the Lake Loop to Rock Garden climb (NoHandle cleaned it) to 1a, to horse trail, to the lake to the Knott.

Our good times at the Knott were capped by a Chickenbake and chips offering. The real surprise came at pay time when Mother announced that it was her recipe. The original Chickenbake baker wanted to know if her dish was still better than the impostor. We all stammered, wondering what answer would ensure the most Chickenbake in our future.