IS PRETTY GOOD AND I PROMISE TO STOP USING LAME ACRONYMS

Marc truly is the prophet of our times.

Yeah so Nathan and I completely failed at getting anything useful done at Angel Mounds today. We took the chainsaw, had a can of gas, the pre-mix oil stuff, all set and ready to go. We walked all the way to the first tree down. Nathan starts up the chainsaw and attempts to cut the tree. Result? Failure. The chain was too dull to do anything other than char the tree.

So I walked all the way back to the car (easily a 10-15 minute walk by itself), grab the spare chain, and walk back out to the downed tree. Nathan gets the chain out and tries to put it on. The chain is the wrong size.

At that point we were pretty done but Nathan had used his bow saw on the tree while I walked back and forth to the car, and he had made serious progress. So between the two of us we kept at it with the bow saw. What seemed like it would take ten minutes ended up taking at least 30 more, but we finally got the tree separated. Unfortunately both sides were too big to move.

This tree is the first one down toward the bridge, and it's kind of V shaped. We hulked through the first part of the V which was the bigger part, so I figured we might as well try to get through the second part, which was significantly smaller, before we left. So we go start on that one, taking turns, jumping on it, getting stalked by fucking horseflies. Then while Nathan is talking to some bikers who rode by, I'm sawing away and get to a point where the branch is about to give .. and it gives just enough to pinch the blade of the saw. We tried all manner of pushing and prying and tearing and grunting and the blade WOULD NOT come free. So now there's a bow saw blade stuck in the tree.

Overall result: epic failure.

BTW Nathan, your bow saw (sans blade) is still in my car. I'll get it back to you later this week.

I'm still trying to understand the voodoo that is chainsaw chain replacement.  It's either overly complicated or overly simple and I'm just missing something.  I think we might need to go to a Stihl dealer to get one though.  If I fail at locating one I might just be frustrated enough to buy myself a chainsaw.

Gil's Four Seasons is a Stihl dealer. I bet if you take it there they can hook you up. Plus it has the benefit of being near your place. BTW, if you go there you might want to pick up some chain oil. I don't know how much is left in the reservoir but it would suck to run out.

I remember as a little kid my great grandpa always made me sharpen and maintain his chainsaw blades, the threat of losing fingers and such built character.  I don't remember it being a terribly difficult process though.

Someone over the weekend blazed a new trail, or re-cleared an existing but overgrow trail that leads off to the right by the back gate, it bypasses all the downed trees on the southernmost part of the trail.

Is anyone interested in an after-work ride this evening? I will probably be getting there around 5:45 or so.  I want to play around more with my clip-in pedals that I switched to over the weekend (I joined the dark side Nathan), so far I'm pretty impressed with them, not as difficult to use as I expected.

I hate clips. Every time I've ever clipped in at Burdette I've just fallen over because I couldn't get out of them. I can't even manual in them. I will never ride clips EVAR!!!

I have acquired a chain for the chainsaw and plan on going out to Angel Mounds tonight to finish cutting those trees.  If anyone feels like coming along I should be out there around 5:30 or so.

I will be there for sure, had already planned on an evening ride

Well tonight would have been my greatest triumph.....had someone else not already gone out there with a chainsaw and cut the tree by the bridge (and stole my sawblade) then made a new path around the big tree by the gate.  Motherfuckers.  I retaliated by cutting a bunch of limbs from the big tree and making a pile against it's trunk.  It might be workable into some kind of obstacle.  At least I got to cut something... 

I'm seriously considering buying an axe and going out there and chopping down a tree, just so I feel like I accomplished something. Those fucking woods are stealing my mojo!