My buddy Mike

Hello Everyone, 

When Jonny and I were in Bend, we wandered into a bike shop and quickly fell into conversation with the mechanic, Mike. He is a great example of my favourite kind of person. Very knowledgeable and happy to share, and super positive about everything. A typical exchange went like this:

"What part of Canada are you from?"

"We're from Ottawa."

"That's fucking awesome dude. How long are you here?"

"Jonny's just here for the week, but I'm driving around for months."

"Dude, that's so rad."

His opinion of local trails?

"Phil's is fucking rad, dude."

Of Whistler, my next big stop on the trip?

"Whistler is fucking rad, dude."

Of local cold brewed coffee?

"This coffee is fucking rad, dude.

I  could listen to that all day. There is, however, a downside to his positive disposition. When Marie and I dropped in to his shop to get her brakes looked at and told him of our plans to come to Hood River, he described the trails here as "fucking rad." If he described everything that way, maybe the trails here were average at best and he's just super positive. 

But no, it turns out the world is full of wonders and he's not crazy for thinking the way he does. The trails here are awesome. We rode at Post Canyon, and it was amazing. Beautifully groomed trails, and more trail dogs than I've seen anywhere on my trip. For the first time, Arthur had company. I mean, he ignored them for the most part, but the option was there if he felt like being social. 

It's a lesson in humility. Sometimes the crazy positive guy is right and the coldly cynical person is the one who can't see the world as it truly is. 

Wes