Don't Touch That Tether

The second night of untethered tacos was as glorious as the first.

Though perhaps we enjoyed the no-ride-bedtime concept too much. We started late, rode far and then lingered after dinner; didn't make it home until Wednesday.

Tentative discussion at the end of last week concluded that we should revisit the Knot Hole tonight for a check-in. This was because XT was likely unavailable and no one else volunteered to handle the taco kitchen. However, now XT is IN, so tonight's tacos will be untethered.

FT3 Untethered First Edition

The return of Buttons marked the first edition and trial of "FT3 Untethered." Turns out that Buttons is a very capable and self sufficient taco maker, as he sat out the later half of the ride to rest his Achilles and prepare the tacos. The spread the XTeric had laid out was beyond compare. He even ordered taco papers and baskets off Amazon! Foil tins for food storage, and NO Recycling! It is clear that if XTeric and Buttons wanted to start a taco truck, it would be a resounding success. Here are some snaps from the evening. 

We were stalked by a bear during the ride near the over grown Cache. Fortunately, the last rider made it out without being eaten alive. There was talk of sand dunes. This video came to mind:

And so it goes. FT3 may be better cooks and food preppers than what is available late on a Tuesday night in Pollywood. When will we see FT3 Untethered Version 2.0?? 

FT3 UNTETHERED

Its happened at least twice before. We made our own dinner.

There was this night:

And then this one:

On a scale of 1 to 5, both nights were beyond categorization.

We will meet at the Blue Gouge Mine Road parking lot (also the Fleming Trailhead parking lot, also the start of Redneck Rising) at the usual time. XT has picked up everything for dinner service (food rye, cookware, taco baskets,...). Additional offerings encouraged. Also, everyone should bring a chair, a headlamp, and a shot glass if you think you'll want one. If this works out we'll never have a ride bed time again! (At least not until its raining slush.)

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Taco Report

Last Tuesday was very different.

New parking space

New tacos

Even the route had a different flavor. Biased to the northeast, we hit SPI roads, Park Creek, Barnes Back, 1A, and B is for Barf. Felt like the days when Lars would lead.

The pine Lodge was moderately busy when we arrived, and nobody noticed us. Chickenbake didn't ask for Taco Handles. And the party was still going when we left. Though Cappy hated everything about the experience at first, by the time we were leaving he couldn't wait to come back. And the consensus was that we would give it another Tuesday.

Some notes:
Bring cash for your tacos, if possible. Bar tab is separate from meal tab. The carnitas tacos (pictured) are superior. The ground beef are mediocre, though Chickenbake acknowledged that they weren't her best. I had no problem eating six. Wednesday morning reactions were mixed. At the parking area there is plenty of room to park down towards the gate and still be off the road. Do NOT make eye contact with the loud chick at the end of the bar. 

For anyone still reading, the running of Strawberry Kirkwood that went down on Sunday was the hardest ever.

The downed trees weren't too bad, but the steep snowfields on the Sentinel Trail were treacherous.

The Strawberry Jeep Road threw every possible condition at us, from long snow rides to hub-deep mud.

Can't wait for the next LRP.

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