Best Tree In The World

[Nanci]

I had a _great_ ride today with a different group than yesterday, the Strays, who advertise themselves as: The Strays is a touring group. We ride locally most of the time, and at other times we take off to ride in distant places. Sometimes we will ride with ride groups from other bike clubs, in their territory. As a touring ride group, we have no pace lines, no wheel hugging, and no racing. We are dedicated to riding with the idea of having fun and getting some exercise, and enjoying companionship and scenery. Our pace is typically in the 12-14 mph range, and this varies with the terrain and what there is to see on our ride. We sometimes stop to smell the flowers and check out the sights. Definitely not a ride for the impatient or hurried. Normally we ride about 35 miles maximum, but have been known to ride further occasionally, if the ride group feels up to it. Sometimes our rides end with a well-deserved visit to a restaurant. Strays expect a bit of self-reliance from our riders, so a willingness to fix your own flat tire is a necessity, as is the proper backup inner tube to fit your tire. Naturally, we will instruct you and assist you as required, but we expect you to take care of yourself. We don't dust our riders, nor do we leave them to expire on the side of the road. Strays stick together, as we are a sociable group. We are however repelled by the whining needy, and may make exceptions to our rules as needed.

So the ride was exactly as advertised, 31 miles, speed of 13 mph, a stop to check out this tree (wait till you see it!!!) a couple convenience store stops, a couple rests at stop signs, and it was with the President and Vice President of the cycling club! (I had not met them yet, and boy was I on my best behaviour!!) Plus one other girl.

Here is the tree we stopped to visit. It has some sort of award for being a big tree, though no claim to be the biggest, but it has its own park! Its dimensions are 80 feet tall, 150 feet of canopy, and a circumference of 366 inches. When you see it in the distance, in the first picture, it looks big. Very big. I am so glad I rode cyclocross across the field to get to it, because up close, it is awe-inspiring. Look at the picture of Lava next to it! I wonder how many hundreds of years old it is. Has to be 600-800, or even more...We walked around under it, saying "From here it looks like a snail, from here it looks like a dragon's foot..." I love it.

Nanci