Even if I suffered defeat and humiliation on the television, I felt a little more confident on the singletrack trails just north of my house, where Robbie, Jonathan, and I biked. It was a beautiful day. After settling into our saddles, we had a reasonably adventurous and daring time hopping logs and rocks, dodging trees, etc. While all of us suffered some injuries, I think Robbie's scrapes and bruises from his regular launches over his handlebars were the most spectacular. All three of us called out obstacles that we had climbed, or that had felled us, declaring victory or warning the others, respectively. A great time, altogether, although none of us could ever shake the feeling that we were headed the wrong direction on the trails...
Needless to say, we had plenty to eat. In addition to trying out the Q Shack, Mapleview Farm's ice cream, and a couple brunch locations, we visited Outback Steakhouse on Saturday night after biking (and after having lunch around 4). We had to wait a while for our table (by the way, Jonathan, can you get me that puzzle program for my iTouch?), but it was all business after sitting down. Our waitress took our drink orders, then asked whether we wanted to "start with a bloomin' onion." The brothers and I: "Um, no, but we'd like three shrimps on the barbie, please." A bloomin' onion? Only one? She then brought us a demi-baguette (not really the right word for the place) of pumpernickel. Jonathan graciously cut it into three pieces, and we scarfed it down in a minute. The waitress returned and, after we asked for more bread, said, "Oh, that was dumb of me to only bring one." She came right back with two more loaves.
Thanks Robbie and Jonathan. It was fun, in addition to being a great man-fix of meat, the outdoors, and video games (not the usual fare at the JIP house in Carrboro).
