Althouse: The Erratic Mound.

October 5, 2015

The Erratic Mound.

A feature of the Seminole mountain biking trail... demonstrated by Meade...

I was in there for the first time yesterday. I ride the trail marked "easy," but this is the intermediate trail, which I rode in part, stopping to walk through all the most interesting obstacles, like this one, which is called, I'm told, "The Erratic Mound."

AND: There's a bypass to The Erratic Mound, for more timid bikers, though I'm even too timid for this, demonstrated, again, by Meade.

And here are some pictures of the volunteers who worked on the trail last week including (including Meade). The machine — and I don't mean Meade — is called a "mini-excavator." That's not Meade operating the machine, but Meade is in 2 of the photographs.

12 comments:

ken in tx said...: The brand name Bobcat is quickly becoming a generic name for mini-excavators like this.; 10/5/15, 8:08 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I don't know if Bobcat wants that to happen. In any event, the brand on that mini-excavator is Wacker Neuson.; 10/5/15, 8:12 PM
rcocean said...: I fail to see the point of the "erratic Mound" - why make things harder than they are. Why not just bicycle with one Leg?; 10/5/15, 8:57 PM
MikeD said...: I guess I'm just a confused 70 something, but my history classes taught that the Seminoles were indigenous to southern Florida? Why/how could they have a trail in WI? If the white invaders were to appropriate a native American/indigenous name for the trail, they should've chosen the Nez Pierce, while somewhat West of WI, they were an admirable tribe in all ways. Not that the Seminoles weren't, don't want to get caught up in some SJW thread.; 10/5/15, 9:31 PM
chickelit said...: @Unknown: Don't over think it. "Seminole" and "Erratic Mound" are euphemistic paronyms for lady parts. You can tell by the way Meade grunts when he's finished with each pass.; 10/5/15, 10:52 PM
Will Cate said...: I think that would be the erotic mound.; 10/5/15, 10:59 PM
BN said...: Meade, you're awesome dude. Just braying.; 10/6/15, 1:15 AM
BN said...: Oh damn, that autocorrety thing again.; 10/6/15, 1:16 AM
BN said...: But it never corrects the bad shit does it?; 10/6/15, 1:18 AM
BN said...: Brave New Girld.; 10/6/15, 1:18 AM
Paul said...: Ah soon enough those presently formidable lines will be as child's play. Learning the basic skills of weight shifting and braking are all that's needed. That and making sure you always have sufficient momentum. Mountain biking is so satisfying (and addicting) because it requires the development of real skills, coupled with a great physical workout, the challenge of negotiating obstacles, and the thrill of the downhill.; 10/6/15, 12:14 PM
Sprezzatura said...: NO!

Bobcat is sometimes, incorrectly, used to refer to skid steers.

Nobody calls an excavator a Bobcat.

Anywho, in my experience that machine would hardly pass as a "mini", it's soooo small. But, we do run big machines, so what we call a mini is probably a lot bigger than what urban, non-excavator folks would call a mini. I'm not sure what we'd do with something that small. It's cute though.

Hopefully Meade had some time at the sticks. It's fun. I'm more of a behind the scenes person, but I like playing on the machines every now and then. Meade should mess w/ a D10, for fun.; 10/6/15, 8:09 PM