Bass Pro

I needed some new soft bait, specifically frogs. The bass at the Fabick Nature Area have been pounding the heck out of them. I only had one left, and it was almost impossible to keep it in proper position on the hook, it was so beat up. Normally, I go to Denny Dennis Sporting Goods, here in Fenton for my fishing tackle needs. But today, I wanted to do something "more special" for the boys, so we were off to Bass Pro, in St. Charles. I got what I needed and they had a great time, looking at the fish aquarium (I was drooling at that HUGE largemouth in there. Got to be well, I mean WELL over 10 pounds) and all the stuffed critters. We actually spent over an hour in there, then went and ate lunch at McDonnalds. McD's claims to have the world's best french fries. Well, whoever judged the competition, didn't eat the sorry excuse for fries we had today. In fact, it's been eons since I was served fries that were edible at a McD. Not that I eat there often, maybe once a month with the boys.

On the way home, I looked down on the Katy Trail. It's been a crazy long time since I've ridden any of it, mostly because of the fact that I didn't have a suitable bike for it. Then I realized that I now do. The One Way's 700c x 35s, with inverted tread would be a good tire for it. Maybe I'll give it a shot in the near future and get some easy distance logged in. For those of you not familiar with the Katy, it's a reclaimed railroad line, running along the Missouri River and adjacent farmland. It's hardpacked crushed limestone (construction minus) and as flat as anything you can ever ride. I've only ridden it a few times, mostly from St. Charles to Defiance or so and mostly on mountain bikes, when it was too muddy to hit the trails. I think the last time I rode it was with Jyri Niveri and we did it on cyclocross bikes. It was insanely cold, at least I thought so. Jyri is from the friggin' Arctic Circle, Finland to be exact. He was in their Air Force and was in St. Louis for a year to go to Boeing and learn some flight simulator program, to teach other pilots when he returned home. What was making my face freeze, was making him homesick. The ride was in snow and ice and simply stupid!!! We MAYBE did a total of 10 miles, before turning around. We both crashed around 20 times each on the ice or snowdrifts. Yet, it is actually a fond memory! I wonder what he's doing now?