The Baloney Pony & My Homies

This weekend market my eighth year at Homie Fall Fest, and one of the best ones yet.  Although defining HFF to the layperson alludes most of us, I think you can start with... single speed mtn bikes, personal style (or costume), beer, flasks, feats of strength, derby, more beer, ride, beer, final stop with more feats of strength, bonfire, and more beer....

With my MUSS, "The Baloney Pony", and my hubby, it was set to become another awesome day.  And along the way, we had some fun and make some memories... some of which we only remember once we turn the camera back on and we find out what we did.

Riding along hidden trains in the Minneapolis, challenging ourselves to do something stupid (or let the rest of the Homies tell you not to), we congregate with our friends we see often in our community, plus the ones that come from caves far far away to enjoy yet another year of drunked debauchery.

 This year took us along the river for miles, exploring areas I'd never seen before, hanging out under bridges drinking beer as the warm October sun tried to keep the chill at bay.

Somewhere under a bridge, down by the river, someone came up with a peculiar way to drink beer with a stocking over our heads.  Though the creep-factor was awesomely bad, Stevil proved the difficulties of drinking through the (hopefully clean) stocking.

So we improved and ripped mouth holes into them!  And then we drank some more..

The turn out was incredible and we took a moment for a very sweet and innocent family picture...

With one more stop to go, we got back on our bikes and followed the leader down the trail.  Hwood, me and a handful of others missed the final turn into the woods and didn't catch it till we'd made it some 20 yds down the path.  

When we decided to turn around and go back, I was caught completely off-guard when I saw a black figure barreling down on me mid-turn at a speed I couldn't beat.  The impact was fierce as we collided and slammed onto the ground.  Hwood and the guys rushed to my side to make sure I was okay.  I got up and took inventory, I couldn't find any injuries, even after the extra check to compensate for the booziness that may mask something.  He, on the other hand, had a bloody lip and this handlebars wedge within my front wheel.  It had bent one of my spokes and threw my wheel out of true, but it still got me to where I needed to go.

Once we got to the final camp, we settled in, cracked another beer and enjoyed the ride.  I got in on the relay with Hwood and Murph from Swobo, raging round and round the fire as we laughed and tried to take it to Geno and his dream team. I don't even remember who won... but I do remember that it was even harder to pull off the 2-person race with Jay on the pedals and me on the handlebars.  The booze definitely made the falls easier to take.

When darkness fell and we realized that the lights I intelligently grabbed for our ride home were dead, we decided to hit the trail and head home.  Leaving from Eagan with a cold headwind, we started to think of better ways to get back fast... When we got to Bloomington, we decided to hop on the light rail at the airport and get as close as we could to home.  The ride was slick, smooth, and we were soon back at the house and chowin' on some hot food.

After eight years, it's still awesome, and I love the tradition Jay and I have of bailing for pizza and laughing about the antics before we fell asleep (aka passed out).  My first Homie Fall Fest lead to my first kiss with my future hubby, my first mountain bike and a healthy bike new addiction.  I look forward to what more is yet to come...

Bruised, Boozed, and Smilin',
Kristy Kreme